Chapter Fifty-Three
Skylar Cathal
“It’s an alan!” I cursed.
The male counterpart of the species was twice the size of the females, with black feathered wings and even deadlier talons at the tips of his feet and arms. “Hurry, Nisha!”
Sensing my urgency, Nisha folded her wings, sending us into a deadly dive straight toward the earth.
“Sky!”
Shaw’s voice echoed across my mind, but I closed the door to his thoughts, needing to focus every ounce of my strength on clinging to Nisha’s back and not splattering on the ground below.
The speed of our dive formed tears in my eyes as the winds whipped past us.
I was helpless, putting all my faith into Nisha and praying she knew what to do.
The female screeches faded as they broke off, but I could still feel the male lurking behind us, keeping pace with my mount’s speed.
I willed my eyes to open, fighting through the force of the swirling winds.
“Shit!” I cursed. “Nisha, fucking pull up!”
Before I could take another breath, Nisha’s wings opened.
My chest violently collided with the base of her neck as I fought against the force of gravity pulling us toward the earth.
Nisha banked to the right, but she wasn’t fast enough.
The alan roared, his talons reaching for one of my pegasus’s wings, slicing through the magnificent feathers, with blood staining his ebony claws.
“No, Nisha!” I screamed as my mount desperately tried to adjust our flight.
Struggling to remain upright, Nisha flapped her uninjured wing, fighting to extend the other to keep us from crashing into the dirt.
She kicked and neighed in the air, but her efforts fell short.
The pegasus’s legs skittered across the blackened earth, buckling under the force of our landing and sending me tumbling over her body, crashing onto the ground.
Somersaulting, I pulled my head in, protecting myself as best I could, relying on the armor of Aegis to help keep me alive.
As I came to a stop, I forced myself onto my hands and knees, shaky but thankfully alive, with my bow still clutched in my hand and my blades strapped to my thighs.
Nisha was injured about twenty yards to my right.
I rose onto my knees, strapping my bow across my back, unsheathing a short blade with the alpha’s dagger in my other hand.
Tilting my head upward, I scanned the midday skies above, searching for the male harpy.
Black wings blocked the rays overhead as the male dove toward me with vengeance in his menacing cry. Pivoting on my knees, I held out my weapon, ready to fight.
A roar sounded to my left as a giant panther leaped into the sky between me and the male harpy. Jaws open, teeth bared, and blood… So much blood.
Shaw latched onto the male’s throat in mid-air. His teeth tore through the flesh of the creature with ease, the bones cracking as the neck severed in his mouth. The alan released a final cry before his decapitated body hit the ground.
The sky above us erupted in cries from the surrounding females. The ear-shattering scream sent a blinding pain through my skull. I fought to silence their magic, wrapping my own around me like a barrier. I reached for Shaw’s mind, encouraging him to do the same.
“Link your mind with me,” I told Shaw. “Let me help guide your magic.”
Without hesitating, Shaw let me in, and he was able to follow my guidance to shield himself.
“Thanks for jumping in and saving the day,” I said as I rose from the ground, thanking the Gods that our ears were no longer ringing.
“Being your beta is already proving to be a handful.”
“Never boring.”
Shaw released a shallow growl, sounding very similar to a curt laugh.
I glanced around, searching for Nisha, but she was nowhere to be found.
“The pegasus you were riding is fine. She trotted toward the outcrop near Crimson City lands. Her wing was injured, but she seems to be all right for now. She’ll survive.”
I nodded, trying to assess where we landed. Nisha must have flown toward Crimson City because the ground beneath our feet wasn’t black and barren. It still held sagebrush and scattered desert flowers.
“We need to get back into this fight. The tower can’t be far from here,” I said as I bit my lip, searching for the pull of Daxton’s magic. “That way,” I said to Shaw, pointing west.
“Then let’s go. Are you able to keep up?”
“Are you offering a ride?” I asked with a mischievous grin.
Shaw growled, baring his teeth. “I’m not a fucking pony.”