AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I managed a single glance to my right, where soldiers streamed from the entrance of the Caverns in chaotic confusion, hounds snapping at their masters, mages sending spears of magic after us, but we were out of range.
Yet they wouldn’t give up. They’d follow us down onto the flatlands, if the Taranth archers didn’t get us first.
“You have three fucking arrows sticking out of you,” Anaria snapped. “You look like a pincushion.” Thank the gods she hadn’t spotted the ones sticking out of my mount.
“I’ve never been called that before.” I mustered a faint smile through the pain, every jolting stride of my horse sending a fresh wave of pain through me. “I had no idea you were such a sweet-talker.”
We both turned at the sound of hooves approaching, then Tristan caught up. “You got shot,” he said dryly. “You need to learn to duck. Maybe Anaria can teach you since she’s not full of arrows.” His eyes flared wide when he realized my horse was moments away from going down.
“He was too busy shielding me to think about himself.” Gods, she sounded pissed. “You’re a fool, Raz, if you think you can protect me from everything. You’re no good to me dead.” Her anger faded, replaced by fear. “Do you hear me, Raz? You are no good to medead.”
Her voice broke on that last word, transitioning from a fierce growl to a sob, tears sliding unchecked down her face, leaving trails of dirt. Each tear cut into me sharper than any arrow embedded in my flesh.
“We can’t stop. You have to keep going.” Tristan’s red hair blew over his face when he looked back over his shoulder. Whatever he saw behind us…he kicked his heels hard against his horse.
“Move, Raziel.Now.”
I urged my steed faster, trying to keep up the pace, but my side was soaked with blood, my fucking arm nothing but dead weight. My horse grunted in pain with every stride, head slung low. Anaria dropped back to keep pace with me, her eyes fixed on the arrows. “I’m fine. Keep your eyes on the ground in front of you,” I warned, trying to brace my worthless arm on my leg, but the damn thing kept slipping off.
“How bad is it?” I asked Tristan, since I couldn’t turn around to see what, exactly, chased us.
“If we don’t pick up the pace, we won’t have to worry about turning into monsters,” he muttered grimly. “Come on Raz, you have tomove.”
I couldn’t. My horse was struggling, and from the sound of his breathing, he’d go down in a matter of minutes. Behind us, the baying got louder, a frantic, ravenous howl that sent my heart racing.
The hounds would be on us soon, and unlike the soldiers and mages, they did not care about rewards or gilders. All they cared about was carnage.
I wouldn’t let anything happen to Anaria. I could die knowing she'd never forgive me for what I was about to do. But if it meant she stayed alive long enough to live her life, then this would be worth it.
“Make sure Anaria gets to Zor.” Tristan reached out and ripped Anaria’s reins from her hand. “Do not stop until you get there.”
“No, I’m staying with Raz.” Anaria fought to take back control, but Tristan was too strong and urged his mount to a gallop, taking Anaria with him.
“I love you. I will always love you, in this world and the next.”
The last thing I saw was her pale, tear-streaked face looking back at me.
Behind me, taloned paws thundered, then my horse went down, the rocky ground tearing chunks of flesh out of my face as I tumbled over and over across the rocky ground until I finally came to rest in a crumpled heap.
A second later, the fetid, stinking breath of a hound swept over my face.
21
ANARA
My chest crumpled when Raz went down.
He crashed to the ground with enough force to break his entire body, then rolled over and over until he lay still in the dirt, the arrows broken off from the force of his landing, blood pooling in the dirt beneath him.
“You fucking arsehole.” I tried to wrestle the reins away from Tristan, tried to turn my horse around, but there was no convincing a thousand-pound animal to do what I wanted by tugging at its mane. “Go back.”
I cast a blast of magic, but the shot went wide, spiraling through the dead forest, tearing rotten trunks apart into deadly splinters. Then my magic guttered inside me, like a candle in melted wax, as I saw what pursued us.
The beasts were bigger than Tavion’s wolf, with hairless, cracked, dark gray skin, gaping mouths, and small white eyes. One of them slid to a stop beside Raz, nudging his limp form with its nose. A trio of mages appeared around him, one of them talking fast, pointing at the collar, before they leashed the beast with magic and yanked it away.
The other two hounds never stopped. They raced behind us, and even from here, I saw the shredding power of those sharp, taloned paws and the ferocious intent in their eyes.
“Take me back.Take me back to him,” I screamed, yanking so hard I ended up with handfuls of horsehair. “You fucking bastard.”
