Ten #3
Ratuk hit the entrance of the alleyway with a grinding crunch that raised the hair on the back of my neck.
The statues clogging the opening screeched against each other and the wall as the rock beetle continued shoving his way forward, using his horn and pure brute strength to clear a path.
Limbs snapped, stone ground against stone, and rocks crumbled as the enormous beetle plowed his way through.
Something grabbed my ankle and curled around the heel of my boot. I looked down to see a statue with half its face gone grasping
Ratuk’s saddlebag with one hand, the other clinging to my foot. I let out a yelp and tried kicking it away, but the statue
released its hold on Ratuk and fell, taking me down with it. I hit the stone street with a jolt that knocked the wind from
my lungs, but instantly scrambled upright, kicking at the jagged, ruined face of the statue clawing at me. That did nothing
but send a jolt of agony through my leg, and the statue scuttled after me as two more rushed in. I dodged one’s swipe, ducked
beneath another, and hit the wall of a building, boxing myself in. The pair of stone killers closed in with arms raised, and
I braced myself to die.
Raithe’s sand dragon lunged in front of me, the kahjai bending down to smash a rusty pipe into a statue’s head. This time,
instead of sparks, the blunt weapon crushed the skull beneath it in a cloud of broken shards and dust, and the statue reeled
back. Headless, it spun to face the iylvahn on the dragon, as the rest of the statues did the same.
“Sparrow, go!” Raithe shouted, staying in front of me as he fended off the statues that lurched forward, clawing at both him
and the dragon. “Get to Ratuk! Hurry!”
I looked up to where the rock beetle was sweeping his horn around in a vicious circle, sending statues flying back from him.
He looked enraged, berserk even, and my stomach clenched.
“Ratuk!” I shouted, but the rock beetle didn’t seem to hear me through the chaos of grinding stone and flailing limbs.
Putting two fingers to my lips, I blew out a piercing whistle, as I’d seen Kysa do.
Ratuk turned his head as the whistle rang through the alley, and his eyes met mine. With a bellow, he swung his head, smashing
a statue aside, then charged. The ground shook as the rock beetle rumbled toward me. As he drew closer, he lowered his head,
bringing his horn close to the ground. He didn’t slow, and for a second, I panicked, wondering if Ratuk was going to run me
over, before I realized what he was doing.
I took three steps, leaped onto the horn, and felt the rock beetle toss his head, flinging me over his back and into the saddle.
A shriek behind me made my blood run cold. I spun in the saddle to see Raithe’s sand dragon surrounded by statues, clawing
and snapping at the monsters that grabbed for it. But the dragon’s sharp claws and teeth scraped off the unyielding stone,
doing nothing to impede them, as the statues pressed forward. Raithe swung his makeshift weapon, knocking several back, but
there were too many clawing at him and the dragon; he would shatter one skull only to have another replace it, and the statues
continued to press forward.
“Raithe!” I cried, “Get out of there! You have to jump!”
The iylvahn rose in the saddle, tensing to spring, just as the sand dragon let out a panicked gurgle. Stone fingers sank into
its neck and yanked it down. I cried out as both Raithe and the sand dragon were pulled under and buried beneath the relentless
limbs of the statues. I heard bones snapping over the dying shrieks of the poor dragon, and bit back a scream of horror.
“Ratuk! Help them!”
The beetle charged, scything into the cluster of effigies with his horn, flinging them away.
I caught a glimpse of the mangled body of the sand dragon, literally torn to pieces, and my heart nearly stopped as Raithe emerged from the mess, covered in blood, but alive.
A statue swiped at him, clawing at his face, and he kicked it in the chest, causing it to stagger backward.
Unhurt, it caught itself and lurched toward Raithe again, but it gave him a moment to look around and spot me.
I bent in the saddle and extended my arm as the statues lurched forward. “Grab my hand!”
Raithe turned, took two steps forward and sprang for the rock beetle. His fingers closed around my wrist, and I pulled him
onto Ratuk’s back, feeling his heart pound as he settled behind me in the saddle. Raising my fist, I struck my mount’s carapace
as hard as I could, feeling his bloodlust rise up in response.
“Let’s go, Ratuk! Clear the path!”
A few statues still blocked our way, and more clawed at Ratuk’s flanks, their fingers raking down his hard carapace. Ratuk
gave an almost impatient bellow and surged forward, tearing himself free from the horde and knocking statues aside. The remaining
statues fell behind us, and the alleyway was suddenly clear.
Ratuk put his head down and charged. More statues tried getting in our way, but the rock beetle was unstoppable, barreling
through them with barely a thump. We fled through the streets and soon reached the outskirts of town, and the grinding of
stone on stone finally faded behind us.