Page 36 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

“Shit!”

I grab my necklace and try to teleport, thinking of the village I visited before, the one Wranth told me so much about. I don’t want to leave him and the others behind, but I’m no fighter, and maybe I can get help.

Instead of sharp pain, a dull ache flashes through my body, but it doesn’t matter that my burnout is getting better, because my magic still doesn’t work.

“Shit.”

As the first couple of birds dive toward me, I dart behind a tree trunk to avoid them, so glad I changed into my sneakers back at the bookstore. But more wait on the other side. There are at least fifty birds in the air. It doesn’t matter how fast I am—I can’t avoid them.

More dive, horrible beaks open, eyes blazing red.

One jabs into my other arm, and I force my lips closed to keep in my whimper. Wranth fights with everything he’s got. The last thing he needs is a distraction.

I bat away another of the nasty birds, its red talons scraping across the back of my hand. Then I duck around the tree again, playing another round of keep away, which puts me right back in the sights of more of the birds.

Wranth roars, and I take a second to see him strike a powerful blow to the kelpie’s neck.

Another flash of pain on my upper arm. Dammit! These things areeverywhere.

It’s too many. I can’t keep away from their attacks, and I’m starting to get kind of woozy. My muscles feel leaden, moving my arms as hard as lifting too-heavy dumbbells at the gym. My knees wobble, threatening to give out. A spurt of fear shoots through me, because I know in my bones…

If I fall down with these birds attacking, I’ll never get back up.

No. Fuck that. I lock my knees and squint, fighting off the darkness hazing the edges of my vision.

Wranth calls my name, voice frantic, but I can’t even see him through the cloud of beating wings.

A smoky shape leaps from the tree overhead, plowing through the mass of birds. Before it even reaches the ground, the ones closest to me go quiet, hanging in place in the air instead of diving to attack.

“Shadow!”

The cat stands, a bird trapped in his mouth, his green eyes bright with triumph.

I immediately feel better, the world snapping back into clarity around me, my body strong again.

“Don’t kill it!” Wranth yells as he parries a kick from the kelpie.

Shadow growls.

The kelpie bursts past Wranth, two tons of muscle and menace.

Wranth runs, but he runs away from me.

“Ha!” the kelpie cries out. “Run, you coward! The human is mine now.”

No. That’s not what’s happening at all. I bite my lip to hide my grin.

Wranth bellows my name a split second before he winks out of sight. I duck, and he goes sailing over me to crash into the kelpie, the impact driving his sword deep.

It gives one last gargled neigh, then collapses.

“Are you all right?” Wranth spins toward me as I stand.

“Yes, thanks to you.” I beam at him. “That was brilliant!”

“We were fifteen feet apart.” He gives a shrug like it’s nothing, but I can tell he’s pleased by my praise. “It was simple math that the tether would get me to you more quickly.”

Shadow gives another growl, and Wranth pulls out a small leather pouch.

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