CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Corvin, run!” I screamed as the manticore awakened, rising to its feet.
With a thunderous roar that showcased a terrifyingly sharp row of teeth, the manticore drowned out his response.
Its golden gaze swept the cavern with predatory intent.
It didn’t take a hunter’s instinct to guess who it would choose as its first target. It was me—I was the closest prey.
Before I could truly fear for my life, the manticore struck, lunging at me with its claws extended, crushing me tight within its talons, despite my futile attempt to dive out of its way.
Nix yowled ferociously as the manticore’s attack knocked him from my shoulders.
Terror pulsed in my veins as the manticore flew me higher, higher, and higher still—right up to the jagged stalactites dangling from the cavern’s ceiling.
Below us, I could see the other manticores awaken, provoked into a feeding frenzy.
The manticore circled high above the other members of its pack as they snarled and snapped their jaws below.
Then, it dropped me.
“I got her!” somebody shouted the moment the manticore opened its talons.
Then I was hurtling down, down, down, the ground rushing up to meet me.
Paralyzing fear finally took a hold of my body.
For an agonizing moment, I stared death in the face.
Time became a whirlwind, moving fast and slow all at once.
I tried to feel the thrum of the moon’s power, to call forth its silvery light, but terror prevented me from thinking straight.
Everything blurred into color and motion: my long black braid whipping my face, the manticore’s yellowish-white fangs flashing below, the flapping of bluish-gray wings, a set of hands reaching out for me—
A whimper escaped as the world abruptly stopped spinning.
I found myself at the cavern’s edge, cradled in the arms of a strange man, his hand supporting my neck.
He grinned down at me. “Hello, I’m Tercel.
” I stared blankly back at him, still in a daze.
I wanted to thank him for saving my life, but what came out instead was, “Those aren’t raven wings,” like the bluish-gray wings at his back were a personal affront.
He had light brown skin, a thick black beard, and hair long enough to tie into a knot at the top of his head.
The man just laughed, his grin turning devilish, as he took us back toward freedom.
“You’ve seen Corvin’s wings? Not all Zrocan shift into ravens.
Some of us are built for speed. These are falcon wings.
” His voice turned mischievous. “It looked like you needed a professional. Now let’s get out of here—”
The cavern exploded into a flurry of wings and claws as every single one of the manticores took flight.
“For Stormcloud’s sake!” Tercel swore loudly as we hovered much too close to the dangerous beasts.
I could hear panicked shouting coming from somewhere near the entrance.
My brain tried to make sense of the scene before us—five large manticores chaotically circling the central chamber, the occasional bright streak of lightning arcing between them as they worked themselves into another frenzy.
How long until they attacked? Frantically, my gaze sought a path through the chaos.
A gap, wide enough to let us through. Any means forward, to reach the cavern’s entrance unscathed.
Except, there wasn’t one.
Tercel must have come to the same bleak conclusion because he swore again, indecision written on his face, like he was unsure where to fly next.
In the end, the manticore made the decision for us.
A blinding flash of lightning zigzagged in our direction.
“Look out!” I shouted as Tercel jerked us to the left, narrowly avoiding the bolt of lightning.
A plume of dust obscured our vision as the bolt made contact with a stalactite instead, showering us in crumbling rock debris.
Tercel gasped as a large chunk of rock glanced off his shoulder.
The dust cleared, uncovering a manticore barreling straight at us, barbed stinger posed to strike.
Tercel started to turn his body. He was going to shield me. Shift our positions. I didn’t want that, didn’t want him to be harmed protecting me. There was nothing else to do—when the manticore flew close enough, I leapt from Tercel’s arms.
He let out a surprised grunt as I pushed off against his chest. Then I heard nothing except the wind roaring past my ears as I fell, my arms desperately reaching out for the manticore below, its broad back my only landing surface.
It was that or the cavern floor, and I knew I wouldn’t survive the latter option.
As soon as I smacked into the manticore’s body, I scrambled and clawed and scraped my way forward, burying my hands into its thick, coarse mane. The manticore bellowed in outrage—an ear-splitting promise of retribution.
I clenched my fingers tightly as the manticore thrashed its lion-like body, trying to dislodge me.
At my periphery I spotted Corvin’s midnight-black wings, but then I lost sight of him amidst the flurry of winged beasts filling the cavern.
A woman briefly entered my line of sight too, darting between the manticores, suspended by the graceful flutter of beautiful, iridescent pixie wings.
Her skin was a shade paler than mine, and she had ginger curls that bounced around her freckled face as she flew.
She expertly dodged the swipe of an outreached claw.
She appeared to be engaging the manticore in front of her with a long length of rope.
Trying to entangle its legs? That reminded me, I had rope in my satchel.
But I was severely limited by my inability to fly.
If I could just think of some other way to quell the manticore’s fury.
Another flash of lightning lit up the cavern, followed by a cascade of falling rock.
The manticore plunged us downward, doubtlessly in an attempt to send me tumbling from its back.
My cheeks vibrated in the wind as my braid wrapped itself around my neck, bringing the pleasant aroma of the moonflowers tucked along its length closer to my nose.
Moonflowers. I wasn’t powerless. I never was. How could I have forgotten?
We leveled out near the ground. With deft fingers, I plucked a single moonflower bloom out of my hair.
“Looks like somebody needs another nap,” I told the manticore through gritted teeth, wriggling forward along its back.
I plonked the moonflower onto its head, calling upon the delicate petal’s sleep magic.
Pure white tendrils of magic seeped from the flower, trailing toward the manticore’s broad nose.
Its magic was more potent than I’d anticipated.
The manticore ceased flapping its wings.
Then we hit the ground—hard. The moment the manticore’s body slid across the cavern floor, I lost my grip on its mane, tumultuously rolling off its back, wincing as my hip bounced painfully against solid rock.
Across from where I now lay, the manticore peacefully slumbered.
I relaxed my body, savoring the feeling of firm ground beneath me once again.
A warm body curled itself up against my side.
“Have you forgotten you cannot fly?” Nix asked wryly. “Are you hurt?”
“Not seriously,” I responded, changing to a sitting position.
I ran a hand soothingly through Nix’s fur, in part for comfort and in part to inspect him for possible injuries.
Fortunately, I found none. “How about you? Are you okay?” I asked him.
Nix blinked his amber eyes at me. “Yes. We should search the cavern for an alternative way out.” I jumped to my feet.
“I can’t leave now! The moonflowers—I have to help!
” Nix looked resigned, holding the sleeping manticore in his gaze.
“Very well. I suppose we can stay and help Bird Boy. I didn’t realize you’d invited him along. ”
“I didn’t—”
With a loud thump, a second manticore hit the cavern floor, its wings and legs tightly secured with rope.
Too focused on the aching pain radiating through my hip, I nearly missed the moment Corvin’s friends landed, proudly inspecting their handiwork.
There was the woman from before, who possessed wings.
And another woman, who dropped from the sky astride a slightly crooked broomstick.
A black cloak hung from her shoulders, a shimmering, incorporeal darkness that whispered of magic, its existence barely perceptible in the dim light of the cavern.
A Fae woman, a witch, and a falcon shifter.
What did that imply about Corvin’s identity?
A witch should hail from the Kingdom of Adrasea.
The woman with pixie wings from the Kingdom of Solaris.
Or one of the Fae courts. I didn’t know much about shifters.
Tercel had called himself something—Zrocan? However, the word was unfamiliar to me.
“Let’s go introduce ourselves,” I said to Nix.
Hobbling slowly forward, I approached the women, favoring my bruised side as I walked.
“—worried it will break free,” one of the women finished saying as we drew close enough to hear their conversation.
I scrutinized the snarling, hog-tied manticore.
Clearly, confining it had done little to abate its rage.
It roared and I visibly flinched. Plucking a moonflower from my braid, I inserted myself into the discussion.
“I have something that might help,” I said, a tentative offer in my voice.