Page 103 of Kiss of Light

“Oh, it is.” Lemar leaned forward. “I helped design it.”

The centaur’s eyes widened. Then he opened his mouth and shouted at the top of his voice.

“They’re here! I have them!”

Tala didn’t hesitate. She leapt onto the bestial’s back, straddling it as if she was riding a horse. The bestial reared instinctively, trying to reach her with his arms. She grabbed his head, yanking it back so his throat was exposed. With one smooth motion she drew her blade across it and severed the larynx.

The bestial’s yells were cut off abruptly. Blood spurted and Lemar’s eyes blackened. If he hadn’t fed so recently, his self-control would be gone.

He side-stepped the gush as the centaur went down onto his forelegs. Tala calmly dismounted as he crumpled.

Behind them, there was the sound of hooves as the bestial platoon thundered towards them. Tala wiped her blade clean on the dead centaur’s withers.

“Let’s go.”

She gestured to Lemar to lead on. The sounds of pursuit dulled as they slipped among the trees.

“The wood lasts just a few metres,” said Lemar. “Then no-man’s land begins.”

“I think the centaurs may follow.”

“Then they’re already dead.”

Tala glanced at him but didn’t comment. They reached the other end of the treeline and she moved behind him. They emerged into no-man’s land.

It was an empty wasteland. A barren expanse of sand and stone. There was nothing here, not even animals or insects. Tala strained her ears but heard only silence. The normal sounds of nocturnal life were absent.

It was deathly still.

Behind them, they heard the centaurs entering the trees. But Lemar didn’t let that break his concentration.

“Behind me,” he ordered. And stepped into the wasteland.

He kept his pace slow and steady. Tala saw him tilt his head. He seemed to be listening to something, but whatever it was, her demon hearing couldn’t catch it.

His route was strange. He’d go a few steps forward, then crab to the left, then forward again. Tala felt a prickle of apprehension. At this rate, the centaurs would be on them in seconds.

“Lemar, we need to hurry or…”

He held his hand up sharply and she subsided. This time he went to the right. Then forward for maybe ten metres. Tala’s patience cracked again.

“How long till we get out of here?”

“About a mile.”

“Why can’t we just zip across? You blur, I shimmer…”

“Try.”

“Huh?”

“Try to shimmer.”

She fixed on a point a few metres forward and concentrated. Nothing happened.

“What the actualfuck?”

“Speed dampener. Nothing can move fast here. Not Vetali, not sprites, and not demons.Especiallydemons. It’s part of Palissandra’s defence system.”

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