Page 13 of Heart of Night and Fire

They picked through the swamp, side by side, mud squelching under hooves, while that same eerie silence hung in the air like a bubble on the cusp of bursting. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as flashes of movement slid in and out of Zarya’s vision. Trying to catch sight of the source, she’d whip her head around, only to find nothing but blackened trees and decay wherever she looked.

Their slender trunks grew together like claws reaching skyward, a canopy forming overhead. Coal-black vines looped through the boughs, hanging so low that they had to duck to avoid being caught in their snares.

As they plodded on, the swamp began to give way to a healthier forest, as withered bark and dull leaves transformed into fresh greens and rich browns. The boggy ground eventually firmed into hard-packed earth, easing their travel.

“How far does the swamp go, exactly?” Zarya asked.

Yasen’s forehead pleated before he shifted in his saddle and flicked his reins in an impatient gesture, apparently not deigning to answer her question.

“Where did you say you lived?” Vikram asked from behind, a guarded thread in his tone.

“The southern shore,” she replied, wondering if she should have ever revealed that information as she took in Yasen’s deepening frown.

Sure, Row’s constant reminders of her safety had been schooled into her for as long as she could remember, but they had also never made any sense. Why was the world okay for everyone else and not for her? Row was just an overprotective guardian, and he had to understand that she was no longer a child. There was no harm in these two knowing where they had come from.

As the swamp receded entirely, the forest seemed to be compensating for its dreary neighbor as flowers burst in every direction, their petals thick and glossy with every color under the sun. The wind rustled vibrant green leaves, and a peacock strutted through the bushes, its arced tail resplendent in hues of emerald and turquoise.

Zarya gasped with delight, pointing towards it right before her stomach clenched again and her shoulders rounded. She clutched at her midsection just as the sounds of rough snarls rippled from deep in the trees.

“Yasen, we need to move. Kimpurusha in the forest,” Vikram called as his arm tightened around her waist.

“Hold on!” Yasen barked, addressing both her and Aarav, who rode on Yasen’s other side. “And get low.” He snapped his horse’s reins, and it shot forward as they arrowed through the brush, leaves crunching as shadows closed in around them. The growling grew louder, and the queasiness in her stomach spread, her insides roiling.

Yasen spurred his horse forward, and Vikram followed close as Zarya clung to the horse’s mane, one of Vikram’s arms still banded around her. It seemed to take forever to reach the edge of the forest as darkness pressed in, filling Zarya’s lungs, clogging them with sludge.

Finally, they broke through the tree line, and the landscape spread onto a rolling, grassy plain. The sun was visible just above the horizon of the Nila Hara Sea to the east, casting the sky and water in brilliant hues of pink and orange.

With nothing barring their way, they opened up their horses and streaked across the sun-beaten grass. Shadows chased them, their howling growing louder, their snarls hungry and desperate. Zarya swayed in the saddle, her nausea dragging her through churning darkness, causing her vision to smear at the edges. Vikram again tightened his arm around her, keeping her upright, his shallow breaths in her ear as the horses thundered across the plain.

As they rounded the crest of a hill, a city came into view up ahead. Its high golden walls stretched out for miles, everything lit so brightly that a dome of golden haze bled into the descending darkness. Even with bile burning a sour line in her throat, it was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen.

But she would have to admire it later because something swiped at her injured leg. With a cry, she kicked her bare foot, meeting only air. Vikram veered his horse to the left, trying to evade a second hit.

Stealing a glance over her shoulder, Zarya caught sight of a pack of lion-like creatures chasing them across the plain. They were white and translucent like the naga, but where the serpents had been fleshy and corporeal, the lions shimmered in and out of focus like apparitions. She’d never seen this manner of demon before.

A flash of copper split the darkness as long white teeth snapped and lunged for the horses, who sped faster and faster. She caught another flash of light from the corner of her eye, dirt, and grass leaping in the air, forcing the white shadows to retreat. The horses ran harder still, but whatever had slowed the kimpurusha had been temporary, and the demons gained on them again, giving chase like they had wings on their paws.

Ahead, a pair of enormous iron gates stood open at the city’s entrance. At least forty feet tall, they looked strong enough to withstand an army of thousands. But with horror, Zarya realized that the gates were currently shuddering closed.

Whispering a prayer, she bowed her head, clinging to the saddle. Vikram bent over her, gripping the reins with his free hand. Sweat ran down her back and down her temples as her stomach heaved and churned.

“Almost there,” Vikram said, his voice faint on the wind. Zarya looked up. The iron gates were almost fully closed now. They had only seconds before they would slam shut, leaving the four of them out here alone with these monsters. Her stomach twisted again, and she fought down another wave of nausea that threatened to upend her stomach.

Yasen shouted a command, spurring his mount harder. Another flash of copper light sent the demons scurrying back. Zarya looked over her shoulder as Vikram threw out his arm, sending two more blasts of light behind him. The earth shuddered as chunks of soil and grass slammed into the lions, throwing them off course.

It slowed the kimpurusha for a moment, but they shook off the attack and took up the chase again. Vikram flicked his reins, shouting out another command. His voice rang out over the thundering of hooves and the rushing wind.

Less than a hundred feet stood between them and the gate as it groaned on massive hinges, only a small sliver of light winking through a narrow gap that was currently shrinking far too quickly for her liking.

Eighty feet.

Forty Feet.

Ten feet.

Zarya held her breath as they pounded closer and closer, certain the gate’s immense weight would crush them.

With only the slightest opening left, she felt a swoosh of air as they stampeded through, Yasen and Aarav right on their heels.