Page 70 of Tusks & Saddles
Welborn winced at the thought.
“Can you see the water tower?!” Miss Eaves shouted near his ear.
Welborn snapped out of his anxious musings—whatever they were—eyes set on the horizon. They had covered a lot of ground very quickly, but even an inexperienced rider like Welborn knew that Sandy was losing steam. Before them was more desert and plants with a few more boulders to the left of the flat topped mountain. The water tower was—
It was a speck on the horizon, something Welborn had only been able to spot because of his keen eyes recognizing shapes he wasn’t familiar with. A habit he picked up the night after his mother had died.
“I can see it but it’s way off! We need more time!” Welborn exclaimed.
“We don’t have more time! I have four shots left and I can only afford to miss one! We need to lose them or we’re done! Unless you have any other magic tricks, we’re shit out of luck, Welborn!”
Miss Eaves was right—she was always right. Welborn had spent a lot of the divine magic casting a spell he had never done before. New spells—they were tricky. Required more energy, more magic, more focus. One out of three wasn’t bad, but not ideal. There was a chance if he cast something, it wouldn’t go off, but what else could they do? The water tower was so far away and the rumbling beneath Sandy’s pounding hooves was starting to grow.
Welborn had to make a decision and his mind offered up only one option. It wasn’t guaranteed, but it was the only thing he could think of.
“Okay, okay! I think I have an idea!”
“You think—”
“Just trust me, Miss Eaves!”
He expected her to reprimand him, but she didn’t. Her spine straightened, and suddenly she was pressing closer to his chest. Close enough that Welborn could feel the press of her armor against his, felt her breasts—
Breasts!
Another loud crack went off, causing his ears to ring badly. Welborn could worry about hearing loss and Miss Eaves breasts later! What he needed to do was focus his attention on the path ahead. He tightened his hand around the leather rein, and raised his free hand to the symbol of the All Seer.
I need to time this right. Too soon and I’ll send us flying into the ground. Too late and we’ll be eaten by Giant Slithers. C’mon, Welborn, don’t mess this up!
A tickle along the scarred hole in his hand brought his awareness back to the task at hand. He kept his eye on the residual boulder up ahead, counting the second under his breath as Sandy neared.
“Welborn,” Beatrix said.
“Three… two…”
“Welborn!”
“One!”
A spark of arcane light flew from Welborn’s hand toward the boulder, causing a loud rumble to echo throughout the plateau. Within seconds, the boulder swelled in size. It tore from the ground and cut across their path. That’s when Welborn realized he had made a grave error. The magic had extended the boulders stretch across their path, but in doing so they had melded in such away that only Sandy’s head would be able to clear the small archway.
“We have to jump!”
“What?!”
“Grab what you can!”
“You—”
Welborn prayed that Miss Eaves listened to him as he let go of the reins and wrapped his arms around her middle. The moment Sandy’s hooves aligned with the boulder, Welborn used all his strength to throw them from her saddle and onto the small ledge of the rock formation.
They hit the surface hard, Welborn taking the brunt of it. He heard the clatter of Miss Eave’s suitcase before he saw it, too busy wincing at his bruised ribs. Miss Eaves pushed off of him, snagging his wrist and hauling him up.
“Move, move!” she urged.
Welborn didn’t need to be told twice. He followed the narrow side of the rock, climbing higher until they were at the very top. From his vantage point, he spotted Sandy past the archway. He was relieved that she had made it, but concerned as she was running aimlessly. Welborn only hoped that the rock had gone deep enough to prevent the giant slithers from going through it. If they went around, it would at least give Sandy enough time to—
“Welborn!”
