Page 99 of Night's Reckoning
“He’s not dead! Whoever meant to kill him failed. We can save his life.”
Tenzin crouched next to Benjamin, stroking a hand over his cold cheek. “He will not die.”
Cheng gripped her shoulder and shook it. “Do not do this. He didn’t want it. You know he didn’t want it.”
The Italian girl was standing in the crowd, sobbing. “Someone do something! Take the sword out of him,Madonna, take it—”
“Do not touch the sword!” Cheng and Tenzin both roared.
Her eyes rose to meet Cheng’s. He had been in battle. He knew exactly what kind of wound this was.
“He might not die,” she said quietly. “But he’ll never walk. He’ll never climb a mountain. He’ll never fly if the humans are allowed to heal him.”
“He did not want this.” Cheng shook his head slowly. “I won’t do it.”
She watched Ben’s eyes. They were open, but he wasn’t listening to them. He was in too much pain. “I’m not asking you.”
Cheng reached for her wrist as Tenzin moved to lift Ben, but she snarled and bared her teeth.
He whispered, “He will not forgive you, Cricket.”
She looked at Ben. Looked at Fabia crying. Looked at the panicked faces of the human crew. Looked back at Cheng.
“So be it.” She picked him up, not thinking twice about the weight of his body, only cradling him carefully so she didn’t disturb the blade that was keeping him alive.
Tenzin took to the air and flew. She emptied her mind of everything but the mental image of the courtyard where her father would be drinking tea and feeding her carp as they darted between the boulders and fountains in her garden.
“Tenzin?”
“Shhh.” She glanced down. “Be calm. Be quiet.”
“Don’t change me,” he whispered. “Don’t you dare.”
“I’m not.”
Tears filled his eyes. “You promised me. Do you remember?”
The pain clogged her throat. She choked out, “I remember.”
“So don’t you dare.” His voice was barely over a whisper.
“Ben, be quiet.”
“I need to tell you something.”
“Tell me later.”
He laughed, and a drop of blood stained his lip. “I’m dying.”
“No, you’re not.” She blinked at the red that filled her eyes. “You’re not going to die.”
“I don’t feel anything.” His voice was like a child’s. “That’s so weird.”
“Benjamin, be calm.” She forced back the scream that wanted to burst from her throat. “Just be quiet.”
His eyes closed and he fell silent. Tenzin moved with inexorable purpose, her mind on nothing but her father in the courtyard.
He will be there.
