Sawyer
Awareness began to seep back into him, and he knew he’d run out of time. His guardians weren’t going to find him. He had to get out of this mess himself.
The training with Andvari helped him quell his panic.
Breathe. Focus.
His wrists were tied, stretching his arms wide like the sacrifice they intended him to be. He gave the ropes a gentle tug and felt a bit of movement.
Breathe. His legs were free but… he didn’t have clothes on. He didn’t know why it had taken him so long to realize it. His body throbbed, bruising deep to the bone in places. The scratches down his side from Magdalen burned.
Breathe. Focus.
Sawyer rolled his head to the side and could make out the post they’d staked into the sand.
The rope holding his arm was attached to it.
They weren’t expecting him to be conscious for what they planned on doing to him.
The cloying scent of incense reached his nose.
They were burning something nearby, preparing for the ceremony.
He wouldn’t let it happen.
He concentrated his reserved strength on his right arm.
Breathe. He pulled with all his might and the post toppled to the side.
He wrapped his hand around the rope and pulled it up so he could hold the post in his hand.
It was only a little thicker that the staffs Andvari used during their training.
He could do some serious damage with not much more than a stick. Andvari had made sure of it.
Breathe. He focused on his other wrist next. He rolled off the makeshift altar they had him spread out on and managed to untie his wrist. His legs were weak, and his head was spinning. Even though the wind was cool, his body was hot. Too hot.
He shook his head, trying to clear away the fogginess in his mind but nothing helped. He had to get out of here.
With the post clutched in his hand as a weapon, Sawyer crept out of the circle of rocks. He focused again, digging deeper than he’d ever had to, and ran.
It hurt. His entire body screamed in agony with every step, but he had to put some distance between them. He thought Frey and Sol were human, but honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure. If they were some sort of creature, they’d find him easily with their enhanced senses.
He ignored the pain and ran, keeping to the stretch of beach for only a few minutes before dipping into the woods. His feet were bleeding, cut up by the unforgiving undergrowth.
Breathe.
He heard a bellow of rage from a distance. They’d discovered he was missing already. It wasn’t enough time. He hadn’t gotten far enough away, and his strength was already waning. He ran, holding the staff in front of him to prevent at least some of the limbs from slapping him in the face.
Goddess, he thought, help me.
A firefly blinked in front of him then another, not much further away. Then another. A line of them. He followed them. Every few feet another blinked, stretching out into the woods, leading him away from danger. She was with him, even if She couldn’t help more than this.
Breathe. He could do this. He focused on the little glowing forms until the pain got to be more than he could ignore. He stumbled, caught himself against a tree and tried to fight back his cry of pain.
Something crunched in the undergrowth.
He wasn’t alone.
He adjusted his weapon and forced his body into a fighting stance. He wasn’t going down without a fight.
He could see movement.
Something big was coming through the trees. Really big. He fought back another whimper of fear.
A huge horse pushed through the trees into the small clearing where he’d stopped. It was a silvery gray that shimmered in the moonlight. Its back was taller than his head. But instead of losing his mind to terror, he calmed.
“Help me,” Sawyer whispered.
He sounded weak and he hated it. He tried to force himself to stand but his legs weren’t cooperating.
The horse looked at him and Sawyer realized this wasn’t a normal horse. No, he should have figured that out sooner from the sheer size of the creature. His eyes were intelligent, knowing.
“Please,” Sawyer whispered.
The horse gave a slight nod then moved slowly forward. Once it was within touching distance, it lowered its head then its front legs.
It took a minute for Sawyer to realize it was offering to let him on its back, the position so similar to the one Draco took when he offered Sawyer a ride on his back. “I don’t… I don’ t know if I can get on,” Sawyer said.
The horse huffed before shaking its mane.
Something else moved in the woods behind him and Sawyer knew he’d run out of time.
He grabbed a handful of mane, whispered an apology, and used the last of his strength to pull himself up and onto the huge back.
He kept the staff but arranged it down the horse’s side so it wouldn’t catch on anything.
The horse turned and walked back the way it had come, maneuvering through the trees more quietly than a creature its size should be able to manage.
Sawyer clung to its back, one hand tangled in the mane and his thighs attempting to hold on more tightly. The horse weaved through the trees until the sound of the ocean grew stronger.
Sawyer tried not to freak out. The fireflies had led him to this creature. The goddess had a hand in it. He would be okay.
They walked out of the trees and onto the sand. The horse didn’t stop. He walked to the waves, and then into the water.
Deep.
Deeper until the water was at its neck and then the body between his thighs trembled and shifted into something else, something he couldn’t quite focus enough to understand as they began to move through the water.
Fast.
Faster than Sawyer could even explain. They flew through the water, going away from the beach and deeper into the sea.
He clung to the mane, tangling his fingers into the long hair and praying he didn’t lose consciousness and his grip.
The ocean water flowed over him, stinging his wounds and sapping the last of his strength.
He had no idea how long they swam. He was fading in and out, but he managed to stir when the body he clung to trembled again, and then they were walking out of the water, onto another beach.
This one with a beautiful cabin built next to the rocks and trees just offshore.
He shuddered as the wind hit him and chilled his dripping wet skin.
The horse picked its way carefully over the stones, climbing up to the small yard in front of the cabin.
Then he knelt again, and Sawyer managed to slide off his back.
He hit the ground with a thump, his legs not willing to hold him up anymore.
He slid to the side, staring up at the huge creature above him.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
The creature shimmered and then a man stood where the horse was only moments before, tall and broad with the barrel chest of the horse he’d been moments before.
His dark hair was short, and he had a short beard as well, short enough that Sawyer wondered if he’d just stopped shaving for a while.
Didn’t they have something like that in November?
His thoughts blurred again, a gray haze washing over him.
“What’s your name?” His voice was deep and melodic. His eyes shimmered with the same silvery blue as his mane had.
“Sawyer.”
“Sawyer,” he repeated. He bent down and scooped Sawyer up in his arms. “Sawyer, I am Saeward. You’re safe now.”