Page 123 of A Land So Wide
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The mining camperupted into chaos.
Elowen staggered back, pressing talons over her neck, trying to stanch the bubbling wound. Instantly the remaining Gathered went on the defensive: The two smaller Bright-Eyeds plummeted down from the cliff wall to protect their injured sovereign. One knelt over her, mopping at the blood, applying pressure, and screeching as loudly as a nest of cicadas. The other took a wide stance, enormous eyes darting from structure to structure, looking for other threats.
Hearing their cries of rage, the taller guard returned. Startled, he scanned the scene, trying to determine what had happened. When he spotted the knife, he dived at Ellis, wings spread wide to sail over the uneven ground.
“Get Ellis, we need to get Ellis!” Greer cried, leaping from their hiding spot.
She charged across the open space. Finn shifted form and swooped in after her. He tackled the guard midair, and they tumbled down together, rolling in a dizzying flash of bared teeth and claws and wings.
For a split second, Elowen’s eyes met Greer’s, sharp and seething. She tried speaking, but air whistled over her damaged vocal cords, andher words came out like nails across slate. Then Greer was with Ellis, and she pulled him to his feet. She pressed a quick kiss to his lips, mindful of his broken nose, all too aware of the Bright-Eyeds at their back.
He reached for her, looking dazed. “What are you doing here? How did you—”
“We’ve got to run,” she said, tugging him toward the forest. “Hurry!”
The guard Finn was fighting broke away from their brawl and circled after Greer and Ellis.
Greer swung her rucksack at the Bright-Eyed and slammed a blow to its side, but it recovered quickly, striking her across the temple so hard she fell backward, seeing stars. A high pitch rang in her ears, and she groaned, struggling to rise.
“No!” Finn cried, skittering toward her in a flash.
As he inspected her wound, Ellis went after the Bright-Eyed. He managed to land a punch to the monster’s jaw, but was knocked back as the tall guard lashed round. Ellis was thrown behind the moldering remains of an outbuilding, crashing through a post as if it were a stack of blocks.
“Finn, you have to get him out of here,” Greer pleaded.
He shook his head, gently prodding at her temple. “I’m not leaving you.”
“We can’t do what we need to with him here. Get him to safety, please.”
High over the camp, the tall Bright-Eyed roared with triumph before tucking his wings close, diving after Ellis.
“Finn,please!”
With a frustrated curse, Finn darted behind the building and grabbed Ellis by the scruff of his neck. He strained to lift both of them skyward, his great wings beating for all they were worth, kicking up snowflakes and bits of grit. Greer squinted, trying to follow their path.
“Stick to the plan!” Finn shouted to Greer before heading south.
“No!” Ellis howled, fighting and flailing. “You can’t leave her! Greer, you have to run! You have to…” The forest snatched away the rest of his words.
She watched them go, wishing she could follow, but the snow was too deep and they were too fast and she’d never be able to outrace…
She froze, suddenly aware that the commotion behind her had silenced.
Dreading what she was about to see, Greer turned.
Every Bright-Eyed’s gaze was fixed upon her.
She could feel blood trickling down her face, and saw how their eyes tracked each drop. Her mouth dried. Her stomach rolled over. It was a terrible thing to face another creature and realize you were so much smaller, so much less fearsome, and so very much alone.
She wanted to take a breath, to cry, to plead, tosomething,but couldn’t. Couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but—
The cloak.
Everything inside Greer screamed at her not to put it on. She saw Ellis’s face, his look of sorrow and understanding, his pity. If she wore it, she would no longer be the woman he knew, the woman he loved. It would change her in ways she could not predict.
But it would save him.
