Page 27 of Of Blood and Fire
I twisted around, casting more white-hot flame at the second kiln, and heard the somewhat muffled explosion. We swept on, raining destruction wherever we could, approaching the end of the valley and the two wagons fast. The Mareritten warriors there hadn’t retreated; they were standing their ground and raising their spears and bows. Cowards, they were not.
It was odd though that they weren’t equipped with the acid tubes. Perhaps they simply hadn’t made enough of them as yet to waste them on something as simple as guard duty.
Sweep around,I said.You’re not accurate enough to burn the Mareritt without taking out the captives as well.
She grumbled softly—she really didn’t care all that much about the captives and was only resisting the desire to flame because one of them was my kin—then banked hard as the Mareritt released a rain of spears and arrows at us. As the forest of would-be death flew past us, I hit the bastards with fire. Those in the front bore the brunt of it and were ashed before they could even scream. The rest threw themselves to the ground and rolled about in an effort to stifle the fire burning clothes and flesh. I continued to stream flames at them until their very bones disintegrated. Overkill, perhaps, but also very satisfying. The mote in my eye chose that moment to pop, and blood welled past my lashes. A warning I was pushing limits, and one I would ignore. Getting the captives out of here was all that mattered right now.
Kaia turned sharply again and approached the first cage—the one with Garran. I wished I could warn him and the others to keep low and hold on, but that was impossible, and we were running out of time anyway. The Mareritten warriors were gathering. Worse still, there was magic building in the air—I could feel its stinging caress across my face.
We need to get out of here, Kaia. Fast.
Can’t hurry. Dangerous.
For the men inside the cage, not us.
I took a deep breath in an effort to calm the urgency, then flung fire at the barrage of arrows flying toward us. It cindered most but a few got through; one speared through the membrane between her second and third phalange, a second skimmed past her wing claw, and the third thudded into my thigh.
Her roar drowned out my yelp of pain, then she snapped her head sideways and unleashed a fierce blanket of fire, sweeping it left and right, setting the grass, the bushes, and the approachingMareritt ablaze. They didn’t instantly cinder, and that had been deliberate on her part. She wanted them to suffer.
Then, with surprisingly gentle precision, she wrapped her claws around the cage and ramped up her wing speed. She grunted softly as the cage swung free of the wagon, and then we were angling away from the area to give Yara room to sweep in. I hoped she hurried, because the magic was still building.
Told Yara, Kaia commented.You hurt. Tend.
When we’re clear, Kaia.
She grumbled her disapproval again.Where go?
I hesitated.Fly toward the Igna River and follow it for a while. The Mareritt will expect up to fly straight back to Esan.
Take longer.
Yes, but it’s probably safer.
Would rather burn.
So would I, but I need to keep the men in the cage safe.
A comment that was met by another grumble. But she relayed the information to Yara and, once we were clear of immediate sight of the Mareritten encampment, swung right. I carefully turned around—doing my best to twist at the waist to prevent my leg from moving, though pain still ripped through me—and saw Yara rising, the cage swinging lightly as she lifted it free from the wagon. Kele was streaming fire at something behind her, but I was too far away to see what, exactly. Then Yara banked sharply, and a green ball of power shot past her, barely missing her left wing tip.
Mage magic, not Mareritten.
It arced down to the ground and splattered across several trees. Thick, black smoke began to rise, but no flames appeared. Instead, the trees appeared to be disintegrating at the point of impact. The sphere was obviously a less-explosive brother to the ones that had destroyed the war room.
I swore, but there was nothing any of us could do now. Our priority had to be getting the men in the cages as far away as we could before either the Mareritt or the riders could chase after us. Kaia flew on, keeping to the clouds to avoid being easily spotted by both possible pursuit and any watchers that might be below. Once the encampment and smoke were far enough behind us, I hunkered behind her spine to get out of the wind, then unsheathed my knife and carefully cut my pants away from the wound. The arrow tip had gone straight through, and though the wound was bleeding, it wasn’t spurting, which at least suggested no major artery had been hit. I wasn’t about to pull the thing out, though—I had no idea what it might have nicked on the way through, and it was always better to err on the side of caution. I took a pain potion, then rubbed on numbing salve, gritting my teeth against the scream that tore up my throat, and waited for what seemed like forever for the stuff to start working. Once I could no longer feel the flesh around the arrow and the burning heat of agony had begun to ease, I poured antiseptic potion around the wound, then dragged out a bandage and carefully wrapped the arrow in place to ensure it didn’t move and cause more damage. Once I was sure the damn thing was secure, I grabbed the longer end and sliced it away, then repeated the process with the arrowhead, leaving only the shaft stump in my leg.
By that time, we were on the other side of the river, following the broken landscape toward the Blue Steel Mountains. I dragged out my long viewer and twisted around, searching the sky behind us for anything that suggested pursuit. Yara and Kele lay to our left, a good ten wing sweeps behind us, but beyond them, there was no glint of gold or anything else to suggest the riders were aware to come in this direction.
I hoped it remained that way.
Where stop?came Kaia’s weary thought.
The ground below us was pockmarked with rock-laden hills and scrubby woodlands, neither of which would provide much cover from the riders—if they were looking this far afield for us, that was. I raised the long viewer and checked for any sign of Mareritten patrols or watch stations, but couldn’t see anything more than a large drift of cervine.
Let’s set down on the grassy steppe beyond those trees up ahead, then you and Yara go hunt.
Plan.
I smiled, but tension slithered through me as we swept over the treetops, then slowly descended. We were about to find out just how well—or not—the men in the cages had coped with been flown at speed and without anything more than the chains to keep them secure and rags to keep them warm.
