Page 4 of Of Nine So Bold

Beyond the slats, figures swam into view. Humans, judging by their size. Light glinted in sharp flecks that speared my eyes—metal, maybe. Armor?

Soldiers.

Oh no.

Other people were with themtoo. Ones that might’ve been wearing leather and… Wait, was that an axe over the shoulder of the blurry figure nearest to me?

Hope flared. Ozias. Yes, I was furious at him for hiding whatever the hell he was. And sure, I had no idea where that left him in terms of being trustworthy. But right now, I’d take that over being the prisoner of Aneirans.

My vision cleared a bit more as the figure turned, revealing a dark-haired man with a cruel twist to his lips and nothing but ice in his brown eyes. The emblem clasped to his chest shone in the sunlight.

Dread sank over me. Not Ozias. A Huntsman of the queen.

Gods, this wasn’t good.

“—get those winged bitches and fly him, then.” The Huntsman’s words pushed past the thick feeling in my ears. “The queen ordered us to deliver him quickly, not waste time slogging along this?—”

An irritated sound came from near me, cutting the man off. “Dammit, the stoneskin’s awake.”

Gods help me, Iknewthat needling voice. Something strange had happened when last I heard it, before all of this. Something…

The memory of eyes flashing brilliant orange raced through my mind, and adrenaline followed. That wasn’t really a man at all, but a Voidborn, at least on the inside.

On the wood floor of the cart, I attempted to wriggle away, but I couldn’t move fast enough.

Something jabbed my neck.

“Stubborn bastard,” the Huntsman chuckled. A screeching cry like an enormous bird came in the distance. “He’ll wish he stayed unconscious soon.”

I tried to open my mouth to swear at him every bit as vehemently as Clay might have done, but it was too late.

The world swirled and disappeared again.

3

GWYNEIRA

There were several roads to Lumilia, but this had always been the fastest.

Until now.

“Fuck.” Clay glared at the shattered bridge ahead of us. Posts of splintered wood stuck up like broken bones from the riverbank, all that remained of the bridge’s anchors, and beneath the pink-gold light of dawn, the raging river that the bridge once spanned glinted and flashed, almost as if it wished to taunt us with how fast and dangerous its waters would be to cross.

Raking a hand through his blond hair as if to pull the gold strands out by the roots, Clay threw us all a frustrated look. “They knew we were going to follow, didn’t they?”

Gods, I prayed he was wrong. We’d all been soaked by the heavy rain last night, as if even the weather had conspired to slow us down in our pursuit of Niko. Maybe the fact the bridge had collapsed into the river was mere coincidence brought about by time and nature.

Though that didn’t explain why Clay, whose power over water was incredible, couldn’t help us continue past it.

“What’s the problem?” Dex asked as if thinking the same thing. Tightening his legs on his horse, he sent the creatureforward to where Clay stood holding the reins of his own mount. The former soldier was the de facto leader of the giants around me, owing to the fact he was always thinking three steps ahead, if not more. To hear the others talk, he was a significant part of why they’d survived the war between their nation of Erenelle and my own country, years ago.

Clay flung his free hand at the river in irritation. “Damn water doesn’t want to listen to me.”

“Could it be more of those bracelet things?” asked his twin brother, Lars.

“How?” Clay gave him an incredulous look. “What’d they do, lace the river with those?—”

“They anchored bodies to the riverbed,” Casimir interrupted, certainty in his voice. “Possibly ones with those ‘bracelets,’ as you call them, attached.”

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