Chapter 1 Devil on My Back #2
‘Whatever you need to do—don’t consider me.
’ As she darted away from Carnage, who took those precious seconds to change course, I reached down for the mounting strap and yanked it up, tying the end to the harness so it wouldn’t flap or catch her legs.
Then I leaned down, extended my arms to the limit of their reach, and twisted my wrists into the neckstrap to lock myself against her back.
‘I’ll stay on—I’m here with you. You just stay alive! ’
There was a moment, a rush in the bond from my dragon, a sense of oneness. Of singularity of purpose. Then she screamed and banked.
The leather cut into my arms and waist, pulling me against her neck as Akhane flew.
I’d once seen a bird dive and claw at the head of a bull that walked too close to its ground nest. I was reminded of that—the larger animal frustrated and furious, but unable to keep up with the small, shrieking missile.
Just one wrong move and that bird would have been on the ground under the bulls hooves.
Instead, it tussled with his horns and pecked at his face, turning that massive weapon into a furious, quivering rage.
Carnage roared. Not with promise this time, but with pure fury as Akhane ducked and twisted, rolled and dived, as she desperately fanned her inner fire to a weapon’s strength.
For a moment, I had hope. I knew if she’d done this in a battle witnessed by others, the Furyknights would tell the story for years.
‘I cannot… flame him…’ Akhane gasped. ‘My fire is weak—’
Plumes of smoke poured from her nostrils with every heaving breath, immediately blown into the night by our swift and constantly changing passage.
Despair ached in my chest, because no matter how amazing she was, she would tire quickly at this pace—and neither of us were na?ve to the fact that Carnage was a highly trained, mature bull with the advantage of both experience and size. In a direct clash, we would not win.
I couldn’t help Akhane, and my limbs already shook with weariness. I’d soon become little more than dead weight. But there was no time to consider the implications, or make a new plan.
The city drew close, and with it, the distant strains of music, and shouts of men drifted to us on the wind. The sounds of safety, taunting me. Of witnesses. Or victims if we judged this incorrectly.
Still no sign of our mates.
‘Stay away from the city, Akhane. We can’t risk hurting innocent people if this becomes a fire fight.’
Akhane didn’t respond, but I felt her agreement in the bond as she completed that dizzying, backward flip-and-twist again, her momentum throwing my limp body against her shoulder, so my temple and cheek scraped on her scales.
Carnage screamed.
Then screamed again—a furious roar that shook the air as if he’d taken a blow.
I gripped the harness straps with numb hands, praying silently, my heart thudding in my skull, and braced for the next bank, praying it wouldn’t be our last.
But instead of another sudden shift in direction, Akhane glided, dropping to fly over the tree canopy, so low that I could make out individual leaves under her claws… passing in a straight line.
‘Akhane, what—?’
‘Our enemy retreats.’
I was tied to her so tightly, it took moments to push high enough to look over my shoulder—just as Carnage raised his head and back-flapped, roared again in sheer rage… as he turned and flew to disappear into the night over the hills.
I blinked, unwilling to believe what I saw, then untwisted my arms from the straps and sat a little higher, looking in every direction—had Kgosi appeared? Was Carnage being chased?
But no, there were no telltale flaps, or new dark shadows in the night. No ancient roar of threat—and no Donavyn in my head.
Nothing in the bond from my mate, in fact.
‘Akhane? What’s happened? Why did he run?’
‘I do not know, Bren. But I thank God that he has.’
We were only moments from the city walls. Akhane banked—slowly this time—taking a long, slow berth that followed the wall. Moments later, she cautiously turned to face the direction in which Carnage had disappeared. But he was gone, shrouded by the night.
I couldn’t shake the instinct that he’d reappear, suddenly leaping on us from under the trees below, somehow. But as moment after terrifying moment passed and he didn’t return…
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Neither do I, Little Flame.’
And then it hit me, Akhane was exhausted. More tired than I’d ever felt her. Quivering with it.
I had to get out of here, but to where?
If Ruin was associated with Hanson, he had access to the Crown District, and would find us there easily. If Kgosi had heard Akhane’s fear, he’d gather Donavyn and they’d come.
Donavyn.
God, I wanted him close. Him in all his bluster and protection and certainty—even if I disagreed. I just wanted him near.
Then his voice echoed in my head, a memory of the day we’d entered Emberholt and established the safehouse at the Inn.
…This is your bolt hole… If you’re attacked and escape, you leave and come here… I will find you…
My throat wanted to close with the yearning to have him staring down at me sternly, infuriating me with his over-protection.
‘Land, Akhane. Over there, back at the clearing. You land. There’s a pond where you can drink. Get under the trees and rest.’
‘But—’
‘It was Donavyn’s order to me—if we were ever attacked, I was to come straight to the safehouse and he’d find me there.
That means Kgosi will find you here. We have to, Akhane.
We don’t know if Carnage is gone, or just hiding—so you get down and out of sight, and I’ll go to the safehouse.
They’ll find us. They’ll know what to do. ’
With a heavy sigh, Akhane flapped once or twice, but let herself glide, losing what little height she’d gained, and circling until she barely cleared the trees and could drop into that clearing near the road.
My arms were so tired, shaking with weariness, I almost toppled off when she landed, because I was so weak, I could barely hold the neck strap anymore.
Akhane lowered herself to the ground, crawling on her belly to slip under the trees, while I wrestled to unclip with my numb and shaking fingers that were suddenly unwilling to grasp and tug. But finally, I was free.
I lost my grip on the mounting strap just a few steps down and had to jump, but Akhane had lowered herself to the ground, so the drop wasn’t as long. I rolled the moment my feet hit, only my ankles jolting with pain from the hard ground.
I lay there in the dirt for a moment, blinking and breathing, assessing my body, which felt limp, my limbs weak as the noodles we were sometimes served at the dining hall.
Worried, Akhane turned her head and nudged me with her snout, but I just patted her and lay there, staring at the stars and breathing.
I didn’t know how we’d survived. I didn’t know why Carnage hadn’t simply flamed us out of the sky. But we were here.
I had to get to the safehouse.
Donavyn would find me there. I knew he would.
He’ll come for me.
It was a mantra in my head as I staggered to my feet, leaning on Akhane’s shoulder until I could be sure that my knees wouldn’t give, then, with a whispered apology for leaving her, I turned and stumbled towards the road.