Page 125 of Silver Claws, Crimson Tears
—Zephyros! Move!
We dive sharply, wind shrieking past my ears. The distance between us and Silas’s falling body seems impossible to close. Ignemara roars, flames spewing from his maw as she tries to maneuver beneath him, but three Screechclaws block their path, slashing with their blackened blades.
I reach desperately with my power and try to create a vortex to slow his descent, but he goes past a mound that obstructs my view. I hear a crash as I cross the mound. He’s falling through skeletal branches and finally disappears into the barren landscape below.
Oh, Goddess!There’s no way he survived that.
I’m about to go after him, when from below, a harpy slamsinto Zephyros’s wing, her blade scraping the membrane. Pain flashes through our bond. Fury ignites inside me, and I run down Zephyros’s neck to his back. Suddenly, the harpy swoops upward, coming for me and closing the distance before I can use my wind power to keep her away.
“You want to play?” I snarl, grabbing her arm as she tries to stab me. “Let’s play.”
I pull wind into my palm and slam it directly into her chest. Her ribcage collapses with a sickening crunch.
The harpy’s body plummets away from me, but I have no time to savor the victory because another screech tears through the air, closer, more savage.
—Behind you!Zephyros warns.
Something slams into my back with crushing force. My Tethers snap, and then we’re falling. Claws dig into my leathers as wiry arms and wings wrap around me like a vise. The animal hisses in my ear, her rancid breath hot against my neck.
—RHEALYN!Zephyros’s roar crashes through my mind, panic and rage intertwining. I glimpse his silver form diving after us.
Wind rushes past as we tumble through open air, the ground spinning below us in a dizzying blur. The harpy’s wings envelop me completely, her body locked around mine so tightly I can barely breathe, let alone move.
“Get off me!” I thrash wildly, but the creature only tightens her grip.
The ground rushes closer… trees, rocks, death all spiraling toward us. This bitch is willing to die to take me with her. My heart hammers out of control. I can’t break free. Can’t summon enough wind. Can’t?—
—Breath Bind, Rhealyn! NOW!Zephyros commands.
Breath Bind! I’ve never performed the maneuver. There’sno practicing sucking the air from living lungs with intent to kill. No one would volunteer for that. But I’m falling to my death, and this bitch chose the wrong Skysinger to die with.
I reach inside myself, and—with desperate focus—visualize her lungs, their shape, the air filling them. Then I clench my fist andsqueeze. In the same instant, the Screechclaw spreads her wings to slow our descent, seeming to cower in her own suicidal attempt. As my power seizes her, the harpy freezes midair, her body going rigid. Her grip loosens to claw at her own throat, and her eyes bulge in silent horror as the air crushes from her lungs.
But I’m still falling.
The ground rushes up, a patchwork of dead earth and jagged rocks that will shatter every bone in my body. Cold terror floods me.
“No!” I refuse to die like this.
With seconds remaining, I twist my hands beneath me and pull wind from nothing, concentrating it beneath my feet. The Vortex Lift forms shakily, fighting gravity. A second later, I slam into the ground, the impact sending pain lancing through my ribs and hip. But it’s a controlled crash, not a fatal one. Dirt fills my mouth as I roll, finally coming to a stop against the base of a withered tree.
“Fuck,” I gasp, spitting dirt and checking my limbs. Nothing broken—barely.
Above me, Zephyros roars his relief. Then a warning…
—Look out!
I wipe dirt from my face, scanning in all directions for the Screechclaw, but her corpse lies nearby. My side throbs, as I force myself to stand, using the tree for support, trying to find the threat.
A flash of movement to my right catches my eye. Two harpies burst from behind a massive boulder, sprinting towardme with unnatural speed. Not flying, running, their wings tucked against their backs, their taloned feet kicking up dust.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mutter, quickly gathering wind in my palms.
Before I can form a proper attack, they’re on me. One seizes my arms, the other my legs. They lift me effortlessly, carrying me away from the battlefield with alarming coordination.
“What the fuck?! Not again?” I buck wildly, kicking and twisting against their iron grip. “Is there a special on Skysinger abductions I wasn’t aware of? Maybe a two-for-one deal on stealing women who can control wind?”
Zephyros sweeps close above, roaring a warning. He can’t help, not without risking injuring me. His attacks aren’t subtle.
