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He dug in his pocket for something and came out with a syringe. He removed the casing and jabbed it in his injured leg. His back arched and he let out a howl of intense pain. Then he straightened up. Although he still walked with a limp, he no longer appeared to feel the pain.
He clutched the war hammer in both hands, snorted at me, and then pawed at the ground with his uninjured leg.
My eyes widened with fear.
I knew what his pawing at the ground meant.
He was going to charge.
He would destroy everything in his path and I had no intention of being there when he did.
I hopped on the back of the arjath and prayed it was faster than it looked.
Chax grumbled under his breath beneath me. He was burning up and running a fever. Sweat broke across his entire body. It didn’t look good.
But it would look a whole lot worse if I couldn’t get us away from there.
The arjath struggled under our combined weight. I considered hopping off and leading by the harness but I already knew I couldn’t outrun this horned beast.
I held on and snapped the reins.
The arjath made a disgruntled “Meh!” noise and bolted forward.
The ground shook as Iron Hoof built up momentum. His haste was interrupted only by his limping leg.
The arjath, scared by the creature hot on our heels, ran a little faster. He leaned forward to counteract the extra weight he was carrying.
In the farmhouse window, the little green boy waved.
I focused on the path ahead and prayed the arjath wouldn’t trip or collapse out of exhaustion. Either one would spell death for the both of us.
I glanced back as Iron Hoof roared and tore through a flimsy fence. His limping leg didn’t pull up high enough and snagged on a piece of wood. He tripped and fell. He was up a moment later but he’d already lost his momentum.
Don’t stop now, little arjath, keep on going, I prayed. Just until we get far enough from the creature so he can’t see us.
I peered at Chax beneath me, rocking violently side to side and curled up in the arjath’s thick fur.
Sleep, my love. Sleep. Rest is coming.
But not for me.
I gritted my teeth against my sudden exhaustion and pushed through it.
We would live to fight another day.
Another day.
I only hoped it would be better than the last one.
Once we crossed the horizon and Iron Hoof was no longer in sight, I knew I should have slowed the arjath down. But then I began to fear the horned creature might try to sneak up behind us.
To be on the safe side, I decided to keep the creature running—until we got a little further ahead. Around the next bend, I thought. But the monsters could easily cut through the forest and come lurching out from the shadows.
We needed to keep moving.
Eventually, the arjath was what told me to slow down. Its breath rasped hoarsely in its throat and it struggled to put one foot in front of the other.
The poor thing was shot.
