Page 39 of Crown of the Dunes

“Go!” I shouted at her, already reaching over my shoulder to unsheathe my saber. A mount wouldn’t do me much good against a flying adversary anyway, and I couldn’t let the child stay in harm’s way.

As blown open as my mind was with the desert’s power, Cail understood my meaning clearly. She took off down the street, and thankfully the child threw his stubby arms around her neck on instinct, clearly as used to being on horseback as all children of the Ballan Desert were.

I could not spare them any further thought as a hooked talon swiped at me, tipping a skeletal wing. I jumped back, avoiding being gutted by the hooked appendage by mere inches.

The skeletal bird pushed its advantage, bony feet scraping over the stone ground as it advanced. I brandished my saber in front of me, trying to keep it at bay as I eyed its wicked talons and razor-sharp beak.

A lick of magic in my mind gave me the barest warning, and I jumped aside without a second thought, a mere moment before the monster’s neck snapped forward. Its beak clacked where I had been standing a moment earlier, and surely would have snapped my spine in half with the force of its bite.

Instead, I spun toward it and stabbed, driving my saber into the dark pit of its eye socket. It reared back suddenly, the handle of my saber ripped from my grip so suddenly that the corded grip burned my palm. Standing tall, it beat its wings forward in anger, buffeting me with wind that whipped my braid.

For a horrifying moment, I thought it was going to take to the air, carrying away Erix’s saber, and my stomach dropped. Before the monster could take flight, a sharp whinny cut through the air, and hoofbeats pounded down the street behind the bird.

With a flash of golden mane, a horse reared. Hooves crunched down on the monster’s spine, and it crumpled. As it fell, the stallion didn’t abate, trampling over it and crushing it into the ground until it stopped twitching.

My heart leaped into my throat at the familiar gleaming coat. It couldn’t be—

“Daiti!” The call came out as a choked sob.

I ran forward and threw my arms around his neck, ignoring the creature’s black blood squelching underfoot. I let nearly my entire weight rest on his shoulders as I buried my face in his mane, gulping down deep lungfuls of his sweat and sunshine scent.

He nickered happily, as if he hadn’t just violently crushed a creature to death with his lethal hooves, and I almost choked on a laugh.

I wanted to stay there, my face buried in his mane, for as long as I could, but the clash of battle a few streets over grabbed my attention. The noise had grown closer. And if Daiti were here, that meant Erix couldn’t be far either.

I wrenched my arms away from their death grip on my stallion’s neck and reached for the handle of the saber. It pulled free from the monster’s eye socket with a nauseating squelch, and I grimaced at the black blood that coated the blade, slick with the iridescence of oil.

Sparing Daiti one last pat of encouragement, I flung myself onto his back and spurred him back up the street toward the palace, keeping my sword drawn. Thankfully, the homes and side streets were empty now, all the citizens having fled to safety.

We galloped toward the main pathway up through the tiered levels of the city, where the sounds of the fighting were the most intense. As we rounded the last corner before the entrance to the palace courtyard, my heart plummeted.

The gate hung off its hinges, as if blasted open by an enormous gust of wind. Already, riders from the clans and Kelvadan clashed in the entrance. Curving silver arcs of sickle blades caught my attention where Aderyn engaged a familiar woman—Izumi—who snarled with feral rage. Not far from them, I recognized another face twisted with hate: Dryden, one of the riders I had trained with, faced off against Nyra, who looked like she fought against tears. He must have been among the riders that deserted Kelvadan for the clans.

I nearly jumped into the fray without a second thought. A broken cry ripped from my throat as I slashed at an attacking clansman. He managed to get his blade between us, but Daiti lunged forward, helping me use my weight to force him from his mount. I didn’t watch him fall, turning to find my next opponent, when a painful tug in my gut stole my breath away. My gaze snapped to a familiar dark silhouette in the courtyard.

A cloaked and masked figure sat atop a steed as black as midnight. He stood out against the crowd as starkly as the statue of Kelvar he stopped his mount beside.

Emotion filled my throat, choking me with equal parts anger and relief.

How dare my heart stutter at the sight of him, within my reach after so long, when he now fought to destroy my home, even after everything we had been through together? The heat of betrayal and the palpable need to throw myself into his arms waged war in my chest. Together, they boiled into anger—fury that just the sight of him could throw me into such a state of agonized confusion.

A scream ripped from my throat, and Daiti charged into the fray, riders scattering before us, like grains of sand on the wind. Erix had dismounted and was running toward the palace doors now, but Daiti and I were faster.

We broke free of the crowd, and I threw myself from Daiti’s back, tackling Erix. Together, we tumbled to the ground. The force of my leap carried us head over heels, and Erix managed to tuck in his legs, kicking out and throwing me onto the stone behind him.

Somehow, I managed to hold on to my saber and not dismember myself with it. He was on his feet before I could draw a breath back into my aching lungs, and he swung down at me, forcing me to throw my blade up in a haphazard block.

Before he could strike again, I rolled and swept my leg to take his base out from under him. He managed to dodge back, but it gave me the second I needed to get back on my feet.

I snarled at the masked face before me, the back of my eyes burning as I met a lifeless sheet of metal. The Erix I had slept with under the stars was nowhere to be found, and I was faced with a familiar monster once more. Where before, the mask had been a symbol of fear, now I only saw the pain of betrayal when I looked at it.

Even worse though, was the fact that I still itched to drop my sword and throw my arms around him. To beg him to never let go.

It was the same way I had wanted to watch my parents burn and run into their arms in equal measures every time I thought of them when I was alone at my oasis.

With a wordless cry, I lunged at him, swinging my saber down in a brutal cut. Erix knocked it aside, making an opening for his own furious slash. I sidestepped, swinging my saber toward his unprotected side, but he was too fast.

He whirled around, his blade blurring in a silver arc. I barely got my own weapon up in time, and sparks flew as our sabers clashed. The deafening riot of battle around us was nothing compared to the screeching in my own mind as I faced off against the expressionless mask.