Chapter 12
Osid
When I heard her screams, I assumed the worst. Yet here I found her with not one, but two terror wings dead in her wake.
A long mass of red and black lay strewn across the ground, and my jaw fell when I’d recognized the corpse as yet another monster.
She stood atop a boulder in the ravine and roared her ferocity into the sky while the terror wing’s brethren retreated.
Mud caked the back of her green coat. Blood streaked across her violet curls like a crown of victory while her brown skin glowed in the sunlight.
Indomitable. My Blair was indomitable.
“How did she do that?” I was so captivated, Ko’s words nearly made me jump.
“What should we do, sire?” Biesabu asked, mouth agape.
Ko, being the more seasoned warrior, did his best to put on a brave front.
But he, too, looked completely ashen by the sight.
Skeleton Gorge was off limits for a reason.
The deadly creatures that called it home, along with its tendency to flash flood, made it the first line of defense against northern invaders.
Even the half-suicidal berserkers from Bloodcry would choose the mountain pass over it.
I had suspected Blair might be venomous, but to take down three monsters of this size on her own?
Unheard of. It must have been a vicious battle.
Waves of power akin to pride mixed in with the rhythm of her current, and my legs ached to close the distance between us. To fall to my knees before her in praise and bury myself inside her until my woman was fat with my young. Until I remembered that she wasn’t mine. She left.
A knife twisted in my gut.
If anything, this display of power only solidified the theory of her working against us.
The general was a conniving man, and wouldn’t risk a female until he was absolutely sure she would come back unscathed.
But what was her mission? Nothing was missing from my chambers when I awoke.
No reports of warriors with their throats slit in the night.
She could have been gathering intel. Feigning ignorance to our language to get a proper look at the layout of our fort.
That had to be it. If the general was planning a large-scale attack, information about our numbers and weaponry would be crucial.
And like a fool, I fell completely into his enchantress’s snare and left her unguarded after falling asleep.
Shit. My father would skin me alive if he were here to see his heir fall for such an obvious trap.
Blair still had not spotted us. If we moved quickly, we might be able to subdue her before she lashed out with those deadly claws. Stealing my resolve, I said, “The plan hasn’t changed. If she’s working with that fallen king, we need to know.”
“She may run if we approach,” Ko said. “I’ll take my horncrest and loop around to the north side in case we need to cut her off.”
At my nod, he took off into the trees. Biesabu cast a worried glance after him, then fiddled with the net hooked onto his belt. “What?” I asked, annoyed.
His throat bobbed before he cast his eyes to the ground. “Are…are you sure about this, sire? Maybe we should just turn back. It doesn’t look like she took anything on her way out. She might have just been passing through.”
Understanding dawned when I noticed his eyes shifting to the terror wings at her feet.
He was still a young man, and unused to the harshness of battle.
Facing off against a creature capable of taking down giant beasts was probably too much for the hunter to handle.
Tracking was one thing; risking your life against a stronger opponent was another.
Now that I think about it, the battle with the raiders yesterday might have been the first time Biesabu had ridden out with the other warriors, and that was a small skirmish at best. I placed a hand on Biesabu’s shoulder.
“Don’t fret. If it comes to a fight, leave it to Ko and me.
I brought you on this mission because Jivorn said you were his best tracker, and you’ve proved that by leading us here.
You will not die this day, you have my word. ”
The worry did not leave his eyes, but Biesabu squared his shoulders and nodded. “I will not fail, my king.”