30. Three hot, three mad
30
Three hot, three mad
Talon
W e’d taken out the initial group, but more were coming. Lots more.
With difficulty, I reined in Mirilith’s blood, stepping back and trying to make a more tactical decision.
“Fall back!” I shouted at Nidori and Kaine. Kaine reappeared and rolled his eyes but started the retreat.
Nidori wasn’t as easily persuaded. She continued to weave, eyes glazed over in fury. I wasn’t even sure if she heard me.
I went and scooped her up. She growled at me, batting with her small hands before blinking.
“Time to go,” I said.
Nidori screeched and twisted, summoning thick, thorny branches that sprouted from the ground in front of us. That would definitely slow the new arrivals down.
She panted heavily, squirming until I let her go. She shot to the ground, lifting up a satchel, but thankfully, she continued on with us .
We ran, finally reaching the edge of a cliff. A river thundered far below, echoing up the stone ravine.
There was a single wooden bridge leading across. I took it, running, Kaine right behind me. Nidori was struggling with the bag; I wondered what was in it that was worth stealing.
We had reached the other side when we heard a yell. Our pursuers were closer than I thought.
We looked back at the bridge, the only path across the chasm.
“Hmm. Seems like the only choice is to blow it up. With fire,” Nidori said, not hiding her glee.
“What!?” I spluttered.
Kaine grinned. “What an excellent idea.”
“Absolutely not. That’s a terrible idea,” I said firmly.
“Who died and put you in charge?” Kaine asked.
“Yeah. It’s two votes to one,” said Nidori.
I glared at them. “Votes of insane persons don’t count.”
“So, it’s two votes to none, then,” snipped Kaine.
“Ha!” said Nidori smugly. “He called you insane.”
“Oh, come on. Can we please blow it up?” Kaine looked at me with puppy dog eyes. “Pretty please?”
Fuck. That look… It wasn’t supposed to work when I knew what he was doing. Nidori landed on his shoulder and stuck out her bottom lip, joining him. More noises echoed from across the way.
“I’m not having anything to do with this,” I said, throwing my hands up. They couldn’t really set a bridge on fire without me.
At least, that’s what I thought…until Nidori opened the satchel. My jaw dropped as she revealed several small, round bombs. She cackled as she pulled one out.
“Careful!” I said. Shit, did she know how dangerous these were ?
“Here, sweetheart, I’ll help you,” Kaine said happily, scooping them up.
“Mirilith’s ashes.” I groaned, sitting down heavily on a rock. “You two are literally insane.”
They ran back towards the bridge, and I stayed well back. Perhaps I should have helped them, but I didn’t know shit about explosives, except to stay away from them, and I figured at least one of us should be given a fair chance to survive.
They left them in a pile in the middle of the bridge and rushed back towards me, Kaine running and Nidori flying. They were both giggling like maniacs.
“Did you light them?” I asked.
“No need,” said Kaine confidently. “We have you.”
My protest was interrupted by the sounds of our pursuers nearing. There was also a loud screech I couldn’t place, but sounded like a very angry creature. We were running out of time.
I sighed and summoned a small ball of fire in my hands. I launched it towards the pile on the bridge.
I had just a second to cover my ears before a sound like a thunderbolt went off, and a massive flash illuminated the air around us. Nidori’s eyes shone, the explosion reflected in the glassy depths as she stared at the explosion.
“Ha ha!” Kaine said triumphantly. “Always wanted to do that to something.”
“Wow.” said Nidori. “That was amazing! I’ll be honest, I was a little disappointed I hadn’t seen any explosions yet.”
“Right…” I surveyed the burning remains of the bridge. Figures, too dark to make out properly, stopped on the other side, thankfully not able to cross. “Now that we’ve destroyed a thoroughfare and let every living creature on this side of the mountain know where we are, let’s leave.”
I turned to go, but frowned as another wave of heat hit my back. I turned. Had the fire spread that quickly?
I was blasted backwards as a flaming beast crashed into me. The side of my head burned, and a horrible singey smell met my nose. I cursed, sitting up and trying to extinguish the flames on my head. It would take something extremely hot to actually hurt me, but my fire resistance did not extend to hair or clothes.
I hadn’t got a good look at what had hit me; I staggered to my feet and looked back.
It was an erusei- perhaps the same one that we had met climbing the cliff. The great winged horse was no longer made of mist, but was surrounded by a shimmering wave of heat. Its mane and tail burned brightly as it circled back around, readying for another charge.
Erusei in mist form were not a threat. It’s fire form was a different story. It was extremely powerful right now, having just absorbed all the energy from the explosion.
I looked around, searching for Nidori and Kaine, and caught sight of them back by the bridge. Nidori was on Kaine’s shoulder, and he was baring his teeth as the erusei turned its attention to them. Fear gripped me, making my blood turn cold as it circled above them. Nidori would be burnt to a crisp if it approached, and I doubted Kaine would fare much better.
Standing up straight, I clanged my sword on my shield and extended my wings, trying to attract its attention. Mirilith’s curse flowed within me, calm and tame, lending me strength. I yelled loudly as it turned back to face me.
The erusei dived at me, and I braced myself this time, leaping towards it and trying to clip one of its wings with my sword. I needed to take it out before it turned its attention to the others. It was not expecting my attack and swerved to the side, crashing into the ground. My blade missed, but I had grounded it at least.
The plants around it crackled and popped as they were scorched by the waves of heat. Nothing but a ring of blackened ground was left where it stood. We had to take it down soon, or it would start a forest fire.
Vines shot from the ground as I ran towards it again—Nidori’s work. The effort was useless; they were incinerated before touching the beast. Fear flared in me as I saw her work. I prayed she and Kaine would stay far back.
The erusei reared up as I approached, and I felt the air drying out and my lips cracking as I came closer. The heat was welcome; it filled me, energised me. I dodged its kicking hooves and went for its wing again, this time hitting my mark. The creature screeched as I crippled it, my sword glowing red hot as it came out the other side. It stumbled as an arrow struck it in the chest, and I took the opportunity to go for a death blow, sinking my blade deep into its heart.
It shrieked again, its legs giving out, and it fell to the ground. Already, its flame had dimmed from a blinding white to a darker orange.
I was panting, my breathing coming in ragged gasps. It snorted as the fire on its mane and tail died out completely, and its heat slowly dissipated. I sighed as it left, and I was returned to the cold night air. I let my sword arm swing down in relief. Everything was all right. Nidori and Kaine were safe.
Then I stood, looking down at myself, the relief giving way to horror. I was smeared in ash and soot, my shirt completely gone. My armour had survived, but it was scorched.
I gritted my teeth as I sheathed my sword. My beautiful breastplate. It would take hours to remove the scorch marks. I didn’t even know if I could get it clean with the equipment I had. I could feel a vein throbbing in my temple.
“Kaine? Nidori!?” I called out. “Hello? Where are my idiot companions who got HALF MY HAIR BURNT OFF?! ”
Nidori approached, Kaine not far behind her. I folded my arms, scowling at them. They were pristine.
“Talon, you seem tense.” Nidori laced her fingers together innocently.
Kaine raised an eyebrow at the dead erusei on the ground.
“I’m filthy !” I said, my voice cracking. “And I don’t have a shirt anymore!”
“I mean, you don’t really need one, right?” Nidori said hopefully. Kaine turned his attention back to us. He didn’t look the least bit sorry.
“Apologise!” I demanded.
“Bad luck, mate.” Kaine shrugged, turning to go.
“Bad luck?!” I said with a strangled growl, leaping at him. He let out a yelp as I tackled him to the ground.
“You arrogant, pretentious—agh! You could at least pretend to care,” I said as we rolled over, struggling until I was on top of him. Finally, I managed to pin him down.
He paused, then grinned at up me. “I should piss you off more often,” he said, hand trailing up to my neck. The hair on my nape stood up as I became very aware of how our bodies were pinned together. I struggled to stay focused. Make him apologise. He couldn’t flirt his way out of this one.
“Stop that,” I snapped, swatting him away. “I need an apology.”
“For what?”
“Um, for blowing up the bridge? For attracting the erusei!? ”
He met my gaze, his face softening. My train of thought crashed and completely derailed as his fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer, so he could whisper in my ear.
“Come on, darling, you know apologies aren’t my style,” he said in a low voice. “How about I make it up to you later?”
I cleared my throat.
“I guess that’s acceptable,” I managed to say.
“So,” he said, meeting my eyes and raising an eyebrow, “are you going to get off me?”
Right. I sat back, and he raised himself up on his elbows, shooting me a cheeky grin.
I blinked, trying to figure out if I’d won or not. I jumped as Nidori popped up beside him.
“I am so sorry, Talon,” she said somberly. “I can make you a vine weave shirt, if you want.”
“Sure,” I said, and she beamed, twisting her hand and growing a thin tangle of vines and leaves to cover me. I stood, testing it. The texture was strange—smooth and almost damp—but it would have to do for now.
“Please don’t tackle me,” she said, looking up at me with her large eyes. “At least, not till I’m bigger.”
I gave her a crooked smile. “I promise, Kaine is the only one I’ll be tackling.”
Kaine shot me a wink.