Page 35 of Fires of the Forsaken
Another arrow went flying. And then another.
The horse bolted. The stirrups clanged against its sides as it weaved through the trees.
“Ye alright?” Belanna knelt beside me, resting a palm on my shoulder.
“Jesus!” I clasped a hand over my heart as it wentwhomp-whomp-whompat record speeds. Heart attack. That wasdefinitelygonna be in my near future.
The guy on my right grumbled again. He lifted his head to stare at me blearily before he flopped down and carried on sleeping.
“Ye alright?” Belanna asked again.
“No,” I mumbled. “No, I’m notalright.But I’m alive, so I guess that’s something.” My heart wasn’t slowing down. Ithurtas it hammered against my breastbone. “That—that horse…”
“It’s following yer scent.”
“What?”
“Cheriour told me ye freed a Púca—a very foolish thing to do. Monstrous creatures, Púcas are.”
“Pooka?”
“Aye. And ye got quite close to that one. It learned yer scent. I saw it following us earlier, but the damn buggard is too fast. And too smart. I can’t get a clear shot. Anyway—” she thumped my shoulder again.
I winced. Belanna’sfriendlysmacks were hard enough to bruise.
“—if ye see it again, and I’m sure ye will, kill it.”
“Kill it?”
“Aye.”
“With what? The power of my mind?”
“Ye haven’t got a weapon?” Belanna’s brow furrowed.
“Oh…sure. Yeah. Y’know, I totally forgot about the machete I have stashed in my bra.” I tapped my palm against my forehead. “Silly me.”
A smile flashed across Belanna’s face. “Here.” She reached into her leather vest and pulled out a piddly knife.
I took it from her. The blade was barely longer than the palm of my hand. “Thanks, but what am I supposed to do with this? Poke the horse in the eye?”
“If ye can. It’s a small target, to be sure, but it’d bring the beast down. Ach, don’t worry,” she ruffled my hair. “I’ll be watching out for it too. But it’s always best to be prepared.”
With that, she gave me another bone-rattling thwap on the shoulder and walked away.
* * *
Cheriour wasthe worst travel companion ever. DearLord!The dude didn’t respond toanythingI said. And, the next morning, I really tried to get a conversation going.
“Do they make cushy seat covers for these saddles? Because my butt iskillingme.”
“Okay, but Ibuprofen is like the miracle drug, y’know? I wish you guys had some.”
“Is a horse supposed to shit so much? Or does Sacrifice have an irritable bowel?”
Like, c’mon, those were all decent conversation starters.
“You guys ever heard of vitamins? And how vitamin deficiencies mess with your body?” I said this as I choked on an ultra-dry cracker. Kaelan had called ithardtackwhen he’d shoved it in my hand earlier. It’d been the only item on the menu for breakfast.
