Page 40 of Tethered Thrones

“Blessed be…” Clem hummed, lost in some incantation. I didn’t have the strength to be irritated, as his spells had helped some. Landslides, concealment against trees, lighting strikes.They were nothing miraculous but powerful enough that even the other humans who fought with us began to defer to Clem, not just us, the more powerful in our pack.

And I had been proud of him, up until today. His irritation was palpable, demanding we drive deeper and deeper into enemy territory despite our protests.

Tsuki’s emissary? Clem was becoming one of her devoted loons as her blessing seemed absent now. The only thing stopping Gaulu was our corporeal steel, blood onyx, fangs, and claws slashing through what remained of our enemies.

“Bracken, there!” Clem shouted over the boom of my thundering wings, releasing a war screech as humans lined their catapult our way.

I swooped left and ducked low, a familiar back side coming into full view, Kiar defending his rear, while Sun, bullheaded, fought in front of our undead king. Odd fissures dotted the landscape around them as I swooped lower, and I could hear Clem murmuring against my neck, his hot breath branding me as magic melded with the air.

“Hold tighter. Hold steady,” I demanded, the sky darkening too fast for mid-day. The sun was not supposed to set for a few more hours. It was all so strange.

“She’s near,” Clem interrupted, squeezing my neck tight. “She’s coming. She’s coming, and she’ll… She’s… Goddess, please…”

“Clem? Oh fuck! Oh no. Clem! Clem don’t you dare faint on me,” I demanded as we nearly collided with a flaming ball of rock.

At the worse possible moment, Clem went stiff. Terror seized my heart as he jerked, and I was forced to plummet lest he fall to his death.

“You come with your visions at theworstpossible moment,” I sneered as we fell faster, the sky nearly pitch-black when it should still be painted in yellow, orange, and red hues.

I made eye contact with Kiar, and he lifted on his tail as high as he could, taking Clem into his arms as I barreled towards a formation of human soldiers rushing him. Then I landed, shielding them both.

We fought, all surrounding Hadi and Sun, but Kiar was handicapped without the use of the arm holding Clem. Javelins broke through my defenses and pierced him. But he never let go of him.

“Up there!” Hadi shouted, a tiny bluff able to hold us all and get us away from the rows of soldiers clashing on the battlefield.

I took Kiar and Clem with me, and Sun leaped onto Hadi’s back. By the time we made it, the earth was shaking violently, and I wondered if Tsuki and Taiyo would destroy our world now since we seemed set to fail in our mission to redeem it.

“What is wrong with Clem?” Kiar demanded lips pressed to Clem’s sweaty forehead as he convulsed.

I swept the battle with my eyes, Hadi and Sun pressing in on us so we all shielded Kiar and Clem. Our enemies’ eyes were on us, ravenous, swinging hooks onto the rocks to climb, and we were trapped, unable to move Clem without one of us sacrificing our full fighting abilities. And Kiar was badly injured already.

“What’s wrong with him?” Kiar asked again, panic setting in as blood gushed from an open wound on his shoulder, his lips pressed to Clem’s cheek now, fangs erect.

Sun flew to their side and took over, holding Clem so that Kiar could stem the bleeding in his shoulder.

“Tsuki’s blessing, I suppose. Just pray she has a sliver of sanity left, or this is all about to go straight to hell.”

Chapter 13

Sun

Iheld Clem tightly while his body continued to quake and shiver. His eyes sometimes opened and sometimes closed as the visions continued to overtake him.

We all knew what was happening at once this time when he fell into the spell. That didn't make the situation any less tense, or the timing any less unfortunate.

It had felt like a betrayal to leave those that fought with us to handle the emperor’s men on their own. The fighting could still be heard close by, but Bracken had moved us a little bit deeper into the trees where we would be less easily seen.

“We should be fighting,” I murmured, but Hadi shook his head.

“You are no longer just a soldier, Sun. More rides on your shoulders.”

“He’s right,” Kiar agreed. “As you know, if one of us was killed trying to keep Clem safe it would all be for nothing.”

His shoulder was still bleeding and the slash across his tail from days ago still shined white against the black of his scales, so I didn’t have the heart to argue.

I looked up at the sky at the dark, angry moon. It was so strange to see it blotting out the sun like that. A miraculous vision in the midst of all the chaos.

“What are you thinking Tsuki?” I wondered aloud.

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