Page 61 of Synnr's Ride

Hanna couldn't afford to look over at Jori. He was a far more skilled fighter than she was. He could handle himself.

Wrake battered her with strike after strike of his spark, so strong it started to reverberate through her wings and make her ache. She couldn't take this forever. Her wings weren't a muscle. They didn't tire. But eventually she'd run out of energy.

Hanna had to end this. And though there was a purity to fighting, dirty tricks got the job done.

The next time Wrake hit her, she fell back with a cry, careful to keep herself shielded but holding her wings limply.

Wrake couldn't resist the fallen target.

Instead of doing the wise thing and finishing her off from a distance, he came in close. And when he was right over her, Hanna struck, sending a blast of her spark straight to his exposed neck and watching as he fried.

He dropped.

She stood.

Jori was looking at her, face a mask of horror. But then it cleared and he ran at her. He didn't hug her, they didn't have time, but the relief was clear.

"I thought he got you," he said.

Hanna couldn't resist poking at the old wound between them. "Dirty spy trick."

"Thank the gods for that." He squeezed her hand, and then they were heading towards the cabin.

Morn Kark blocked their path.

His eyes slid past Hanna to glare at Jori. "You're a dirty traitor?" Kark spat the word, his scowl impressive.

"I think that's you," was Jori's response.

Both she and Jori were worse for wear from the fight against Kark's men, but the two on one odds were in their favor.

Except they needed Kark alive.

Killing a target was easy. There was no need to hold back. Fighting not to kill was like doing it with one arm and half a wing.

"It's over, Kark," Jori said. His wings were flared as wide as they could, spark crackling and ready to burst. "I'm taking you in."

Kark threw his head back and laughed, the sound a rumble of thunder. "It hasn't even begun, youpunting ynstit."

Hanna scanned the property behind him. She didn't see any movement, but Kark was so confident, she worried he had someone covering his back.

Was Zilly there? Was she alright?

The questions were on the tip of her tongue, but Jori was doing the talking and she wasn't about to let Kark know she cared.

"Then tell me all about it," Jori invited.

Kark took a step to the side, and she and Jori mirrored him. Tension rose with every centimeter they moved.

Hanna stepped away from Jori, moving to cut Kark off from the main path. She didn't want him running, not that there was any place to go out in this wasteland.

"Who cares about one little warehouse? We're bringing this defiled moon back to order. We'll cleanse it, and it will be welcomed back into the Apsyn embrace." His face was bright with conviction, his own wings jerking as he spoke.

Hanna couldn't keep her own scowl off her face. The man had never even been to Kilrym. He knew nothing about regular Apsyns, as if they cared about what went on with the Synnrs or wanted more war. But there was no trying to convince him, and no need.

He'd made his choices.

She made hers.

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