Page 45 of To Sway a Prince
We wove deeper into the valley, the mountain walls rising up around us into steep stone barriers. The spires and tors were thicker and larger here, some of the tors especially concerning with the way the erosion had left large chunks rounded and precariously balanced. The weather-polished stone contrasted sharply with the coarser chunks that had been recently broken off. With the wind howling louder and whipping at my hair, it was hard to tell whether the unease I felt was from my surroundings or my instincts warning me about something else.
Zephyrus growled. His head flicked to the right. I followed the line of his sight, seeing the leviathan turn beneath the mist, rolling onto his side.
There!
A spear embedded deep in the leviathan's shoulder, the flesh around it inflamed and infected. "What happened? Is that a bone fae insignia in the end cap?"
Ramiel's eyes widened. He leaned over Thalorion's side, his expression grim. "Yes. It was one of the last incursions a few months ago. Some bounty hunters from the bone fae and others." Ramiel urged Thalorion higher and out to the right. The rushing thunder of the winds intensified. His jaw clenched as he considered this. "Bone fae spears like that are enchanted. It'll keep burrowing deeper. We need to avoid disturbing anything else down there. Especially the leviathan. If we agitate them too much, the leviathan may attack the barrier sooner rather than later. Ithoks. Poor creature. No wonder he's been so aggressive. This will take very particular healing magic."
"Can we heal him from here? I know some neutralizing spells." I leaned down hard on the right, peering at the leviathan. He swam through the murky Chasm, sometimes vanishing within the mist and then reappearing. From this angle, the barrier looked like little more than clear gel, but the leviathan moved with the poised ease of a crocodile in tropical waters. "I don't know what your magic usage is at, so if you can't, could you show me the runes to make and I heal him?"
"It can't be done from this—" Another thunderclap interrupted Ramiel, closer now. He frowned, a muscle in his jaw jumping. "That wound is deep, but I know how to counter bone fae magic. It may not even require significant magical expenditure—more a proper mixing of reagents. If we can get it to the leviathan, it might be enough to allow him to heal himself. At least to start. Then we'll finish with runes if needed."
My shoulder throbbed again, a dull ache spreading across my old scars. I rubbed it absently, careful to keep my expression neutral. "Let's try it. Any solution that won't trigger your curse oradvance its timeline is worth attempting." Getting the leviathan to calm down and avoid the barrier meant we'd have more time to heal Ramiel as well. I'd definitely take that.
The wind intensified, whipping my hair across my face despite my enchantment. The storm clouds had advanced with alarming speed, turning the sky an ominous charcoal gray. Lightning flashed, followed by a rumble that vibrated through my chest, louder and stronger than Zephyrus's growl.
We were in deep among the mountains now, and that meant we had much less room for maneuvering. Zephyrus slid around one of the spires and between another set. He scraped his claws across the rough granite and then thrust his wings down again as he got through.
Another boom of thunder shattered the sky.
Ramiel swore under his breath as Thalorion wove through another set. He vanished from sight though I could still hear him clearly thanks to the pendant. "We stayed too long. I'm sorry. I was too focused on tracking the leviathan." He glanced at the darkening sky. "We need to leave. Now." Thalorion uttered a long series of deep trilling calls.
Zephyrus growled in response and started flying up away from the Chasm, Thalorion leading the way. I scrunched down to shield myself better. The sharpness of the weather intensified, warning that rain was soon coming. It worsened by the second. My fists clenched tighter around Zephyrus's horns.
The wind howled around us, buffeting our dragons as they fought to gain altitude. Then the rain came, pelting hard and sharp. Each droplet stung. Zephyrus huffed and steamed, his wing thrusts steady. Thunder boomed directly overhead.
I tightened my grip, chafing at our pace. It felt as if we were hardly moving. Even Thalorion was struggling as the winds grew stronger. Lightning cracked across the sky in a jagged formation, nearly blinding me. I flinched and ducked my head. We werestill amid numerous spires and tors which kept the dragons from going full speed as they had to weave through.
The air tingled, the hairs on my arms and head prickling. My focus snapped to a tall stone column that jutted up just a few feet away.
ZRAKT.
A blinding flash of light and a deafening crack shattered the sky. Thread rot! I barely had time to comprehend it. The bolt of lightning struck a copper-veined spire behind us.
My eyes widened. Stone shattered, chunks breaking free and crashing into a neighboring tor. The entire formation groaned, then collapsed directly toward us.
"Bank hard!" Ramiel shouted.
Zephyrus veered right as Thalorion swerved left, both dragons, desperately trying to escape the falling debris. I flung my right hand up. My magic zinged and spun over my fingertips in a ragged net. Narrowly, I swept it up and knocked one of the pieces away. Another chunk of the jagged rock still cut through and clipped Zephyrus's side. He roared in pain, faltering mid-air, wings stuttering.
"Zephyrus!" I clung to him as we dipped dangerously low. Vaguely I heard Ramiel shout something, his words booming in my mind but too distorted for me to follow.
Below us, the rocks struck the mist-covered surface of the Chasm. Instead of sinking through, they hung suspended, stretching the barrier like weights on a taut sheet, their points sinking into the gel-like substance.
Zephyrus struggled to regain altitude, his wing movements uneven. Blood seeped out from under the bruised and twisted scales from his wounded side.
I focused my magic, weaving golden threads into a healing knot. The poultice formed beneath my fingers, and I shot it down against his scales. His breaths were ragged, his shouldersrolling with the movement of his wings desperately seeking momentum.
"Come on, Zeph. You can do this," I urged.
Another gust knocked us sideways. My grip slipped, and I slid across Zephyrus's neck. No! I scrambled to get up, but my right hand plunged into a broad tendril of purple mist.
Cold—bone-deep, soul-numbing cold—shot up my arm. My vision blurred. Knots take me! What was that? I couldn't even breathe! Then my lungs loosed, but black dots danced in my vision.
Droplets of Zephyrus's blood fell into the mist like fat ruby teardrops. The tang of iron filled my nostrils. "You're all right, big guy, you're all right," I gasped, my right arm hanging limp and a band of fire along my wrist.
"Astraia!" Ramiel shouted, his voice now distant despite the pendant. "Astraia, get out of the mist. It's reacting to you!"
