Page 101 of Untempered
It was a disorienting reminder I was riding alongside a Matri’sion. But it was more than that for Audrey, who had an arrow notched and crowded her horse closer to Ylva.
Ylva just laughed. “You’re sharp,” she threw casually over her shoulder toward Isolde.
And then chaos erupted.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE
ISOLDE
“It was that night that Hruudwulf’s sorrow was heard. From that day forth, that place was known as Wolfswail. None can walk there without sensing the grief of his betrayal soaked into the stones.” ~ Southern lore
Ididn’t bother trying to give Chay directions and didn’t dare distract Audrey. My horse had lost its head in the blast of wind that had forced my eyes closed, and I steered it best I could, loosing an arrow based on my memory of Ylva’s position.
Branches were groaning and cracking under the force of the wind. I could hear hooves and cleared my vision enough to see Ylva clutching at the arrow in her chest. My horse wanted me to flee in the direction Audrey had gone, and that sounded perfect to me.
My heart beat heavily. I felt slow, but I’d been fast enough to cost them their princess, at least.
Leaning low, I hugged the side of the horse and let it have its head, keeping track of Audrey and Chay from the sound of the crashing underbrush and their horses’ heaving breaths and terrified whinnies.
Breathe,I willed of Audrey.Breathe. Guide her.I felt an arrow pass me by, and fury pulsed through me. Regardless of what I’d said to Chay, Ihadn’tthought it would really be a trap. I would never have allowed Audrey to take such a risk. I didn’t expect Ylva to be our ally, but if she was a neutral party, that was better than an enemy. And Audrey was going to need allies.
My legs straining, I pulled myself up and tried to see ahead. They were silent to our ears.
Magic users didn’t use bows.
The Worgs had come to fetch Ylva.
Ahead, I caught glimpses of a clearing through the trees, of Audrey fighting for control of Storm, and of a posturing Raider’s Ban warhorse in his element.
Well, he wasn’t the only one.
Against other foes, I’d’ve sent my horse on its way and laid in wait, but I wasn’t fooling these people’s superior senses. Instead, I reined in my girl, slowing her as she broke into the clearing.
“How many?” Audrey was shouting.
I had no idea. I’d caught a slight movement from the corner of my eye. That, and the tightness of my gut, had told me all I’d needed.
“They’re Worgs,” I said to the pair. “They’ll hear you coming, they’ll smell you. Use a stream to muddy your scent.”
Chay pointed his sword at the sky. “Magician,” he said grimly.
My bow followed my eyes, but my arms felt heavy, and even with the battle energy forcing my heart to beat harder, I still felt too damnedslow.
The sorcerer was a dark blot against the clouds. He dipped from my view, vanishing into the trees like a leaf fluttering from the sky. I struggled to make sense of that when I saw Chay moving, shield on his arm, and his horse high-stepping arrogantly.
Arrows bloomed in his shield, two of them. I blasted a whistled warning. Audrey twisted, dropping down beside her horse as we’d practiced. But she kept falling, graceless, tangled.
My heart twisted, too. Just as graceless. Just as tangled.
I was in my forest, and it was early morning. Giselle lay before me, her body still warm, her eyes glassy. I reached out, dirt on my hand, and closed her eyes. But they didn’t close the way they did when the Commander did it. Her lashes prickled. I tried to get purchase on the skin of her lids and ran the pad of my finger over the moist softness of her eyeball. My stomach rebelled. I tried again, dropping my bow so I could hold her head still.
The wind gusted around us. Chay’s sword came down against Storm’s side, and the horse danced around Audrey, lashing out at him. She rolled free, staggering toward the closest source of cover, a big, moss-covered rock. Her saddle slipped drunkenly where Chay had cut it loose.
I drew in a breath and cast my eyes around for targets, sitting high to make myself vulnerable. “And I heard Worgs shot like ’sion riders,” I said derisively. “That’s five shots I’ve counted you’ve missed. How many more arrows did you loose?”
To prove my point, a shaft skimmed past Audrey, and she fell back against the stone. She’d saved herself, barely, falling backward hard. Her hands dropped to her sides, and she made a noise of pain that I heard against all reason, over the horses and the wind, over my own drumming heart and the roaring in my ears.
There was no target in the trees, though. There was nothing except the blur of more shafts. Not even coming at me. And they were so far from me.
