Page 97 of Between Soul and Vessel
I eyed its side, illuminated by moonlight, looking for any sort of movement. Just barely, I could see its ribs rising and falling. “No, it’s alive,” I answered.
The horse burst upright, and it charged at us. Nostrils flared, white mane flying straight back, its wings spread out.
Vatara was quick to move, using her tail to protectively sweep Artemesia into her. Kaleb and I leapt in the opposite direction from one another as the horse stampeded past us.
I swirled around to face the horse, reaching for my powers, bracing for it to come at us again. But it didn’t turnback—it just kept going, racing off into the distance, which eagerly swallowed it whole.
Loud, rumbling sounds, like stone smashing against stone, came from the direction the winged creature had gone in, as if a rockslide was happening on one of the mountains in the distance.
A thunderous, unnatural roar blasted from there—like a violent wind being forced through too small of a space, amplifying it. The hairs on the back of my neck rose in standing ovation for the haunting bellow—one I did not care to hear an encore for.
“Winged horses can’t make that sound, can they?” Kaleb asked, wide eyes fixed straight ahead.
“Nope.” Artemesia popped the p.
Trees cried out as their branches and trunks snapped in two. The ground groaned, as if a heavy, unbearable weight were being placed upon it. The forest floor trembled beneath my feet, shooting shockwaves up into my legs, growing in force with each passing second.
“And they probably can’t do that either, can they?” Kaleb chuckled nervously.
“Definitely not,” Artemesia confirmed. She turned to Vatara, who lowered immediately, the two working in perfect tandem. Artemesia reached up, her arm now fully healed, and she slung herself over the side of the gryphon. Urgently, she directed us, “Come on. We need to get out of here.”
Kaleb stood with his mouth agape as he stared in the direction of whatever was coming toward us.
“Come on, Kaleb,” I urged, snatching his hand and dragging him over to Vatara.
When the three of us had mounted, Vatara flared out her wings and shot from the ground. It wasn’t until we were above the tree line that I looked back and sawit.
A giant, forged from the mountain behind it. Clumps of trees stood on the cliffs of its vessel, creeks stretching across it like a network of veins. I had thought the giant I faced in the arena was huge, but in comparison she wasn’t even half this beast’s size.
“What is it?” I asked Artemesia, my arms wrapped around her waist, Kaleb’s around mine.
“Something we won’t stand a chance against,” Artemesia hissed as she steered us away from the giant. “It was most likely conjured by a priestess who can bend the will of earth, which means we need to find her first.”
I scanned the indigo sky. Von and Folkoln had led the empress’s warriors away from us, across the lake, bringing the battle closer to the ground, using Harper and Ryker’s flame arrows to aid them.
I didn’t recall seeing so many fighters before, which meant reinforcements must have come. Dozens of them. Still, Von and the others were holding them at bay.
I zeroed in on a female, positioned behind the others. She hovered in the air, her purple robes floating around her. Her hands were raised, her eyes fixed on the giant.
“There!” Kaleb and I exclaimed at the same time.
“I see her,” Artemesia replied as she pulled her sword from its sheath and handed it to Kaleb. “Take this.”
He unwrapped his arms from my waist and took it. “Thanks?” Kaleb replied with a degree of question as he eyed the sword.
“Vatara, we need to get closer,” Artemesia told her.
Vatara let out a piercing screech in reply.
“Hold on,” Artemesia warned us as Vatara angled upwards, shooting us high into the sky, above the battle below.
The well within me swelled with power, nudging at the surface as if it wanted to show me something. Trusting in it, I allowed it to overflow into my palm. I curled my fingers, and a round handle formed within them, the color of gold tinted with rose. It shot out from one side to the other until it was eight feet long. At one end, twin prongs formed, chiseled into the shape of slender, curved wings. The points were lethal and sharp.Deadly.
Vatara tipped her beak to the ground, tucked her wings in, and dove straight for the earth bender.
“Guard the priestess!” shouted one of the riders as they charged for us.
Heeding their command, more and more warriors started to fly toward us, looking to cut us off.
