Page 58 of Fire in Stone

He let his wings out, ready to fly to her. A zap of pain crippled him for a moment. Both wings hurt, riddled with holes from the projectiles of the weapons shot at him back in the world of humans. The tip of the right wing dangled uselessly in the wind. The slim spine was broken. The skin had been mangled to shreds, probably from him being tossed against the rocks in the rapids.

He searched for the quickest route down to the beach. Then, he would have to swim around a steep cliff that separated the beach from the path with the women and Amber.

Before starting his descent, he tossed one last glance at the group to mark their exact location in his mind.

The women appeared suddenly alarmed. They scurried off the path. The one with the swords glanced up before helping Amber to hide behind the rocks.

He paused, trying to figure out what had scared them. He looked up at the sky, like the tall woman had done.

High among the gray winter clouds, three winged shapes soared. They glided lower and lower to the ground—three gargoyle men.

Did the approaching men scare the women? But why?

Clearly, the women knew more than he did about the place and time that Amber and he had arrived to. He thought it wise to follow their example and ducked under a cliff to hide too.

The men landed on the beach below and folded their wings. All three were dressed in suede pants with soft leather boots and embroidered wool tunics with slits on the back for their wings. They didn’t hide their wings, draping them over their shoulders like cloaks instead, for the added protection against the wind.

“Is that where you saw them, Osym?” A tall man with dark, weathered skin asked the one with sandy hair and a ruddy complexion.

Osym peered into the rocks surrounding the beach.

“Here… Or maybe on the other beach, down the stream?” he sounded uncertain.

“Well,hereor down the stream?” the third one asked impatiently, his long dark hair blowing in the bitter winter wind.

Elex didn’t like his hungry impatience. There was something feral and dangerous in that man’s urgency.

“I don’t know!” Osym huffed a frustrated breath. “I thought I saw a flash of red, the robes worn by the Sanctuary’ssalamandras.”

“A flash of red,”the long-haired one mocked. “Maybe you should lay off wine for a while if you’re seeing things. Flashes aren’t women, you idiot.”

The first man, who appeared to be the leader of the small group, licked his lips. “Keep it quiet. Both of you. No one can know we’re after the king’ssalamandras.” His dark eyes narrowed, scanning the area. “I saw a path from the air. It’s behind this cliff. Let’s search there.” He spread his wings, getting ready to fly in search of the women.

Concern stirred in Elex. The women clearly wished to avoid this encounter. Whatever the men’s intentions were, he had a feeling they couldn’t be good. But how could he stop them? One against three?

The men seemed well-fed. They were armed and warmly dressed. He was injured, his fire depleted by the cold and the crossing from another world. He couldn’t fight them, but maybe he could distract them.

He stepped out of his hiding spot.

“Greetings, good men.”

All three pivoted his way. The leader drew a long sword. Knives appeared in the hands of the other two.

The alarm on their faces eased as they took in his sorry state.

The leader’s eyes briefly paused on the remnants of Elex’s red shirt that Amber had gotten for him. His wings had shredded the back of the garment. The rocks in the river had ripped huge holes in the front. But Elex hoped that the shreds of the red material were still large enough for the leader to believe they were the “flash of red” that Osym had spotted from the air and abandon the search for the women.

“Who the fuck are you?” The leader lowered his weapon.

“I’m a traveler.” Caution dictated him not to disclose his name or title, at least not until he learned more about thewhenhe’d landed in and who these people were.

Osym slid his gaze down Elex’s beaten-up form.

“You don’t look so good,” he stated.

“I…” He adjusted the waistband of his ripped, soggy pants. The right side of them was soaked in blood from the wound on his thigh. “I slipped on the ice and fell into the river. It’s a strong stream. I barely got out alive.”

The leader smirked, with not a hint of compassion in his narrowed eyes. “Where are you going?”

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