Chapter 50 Valenna #2
Valenna sat up. Evander’s group had already started. They had distracted the dragobat so she could escape.
So Evander hadn’t been panicking; he was too busy planning. Acting.
A captain to his core.
Valenna knelt, her knees brushing the shadow.
From this end of the tunnel, it seemed a short journey, only about twenty paces.
But Haldir was holding onto Evander’s shoulders from behind.
She wanted to yell at Haldir to let him go.
If he lost his nerve or lost his footing, he’d drag Evander down with him.
Samara joined Valenna.
Evander threw the first stone, and the dragobat’s talons groped for it. The creature was growing frustrated, more ferocious with each disappointment.
When the second stone struck, the claws were already waiting for it, curled at the edge of the bridge.
Haldir’s restlessness was palpable; his breaths echoed. Valenna caught a movement above the bridge, and she craned her neck to make it out. Two yellow orbs glowed above them.
The creature had moved.
Valenna gasped and, catching Evander’s eyes, pointed. He barely had enough time for a sharp inhale before a blur of black streaked toward him. He slid to his knees, and something swooped above him, its talon scraping his jacket.
With a yelp, Haldir tried to shove Evander aside so he could pass him. Off balance, Evander caught Haldir’s arm in an attempt to steady himself. They wavered, then disappeared over the edge.
“NO!” Valenna screamed. Samara grabbed her, trying to stop her; she swore and shook the girl off. Charged down the path.
No, no, no, not here. Not like this. Not when they were so, so close to freedom.
Giles and Ignatius were on their stomachs, reaching over the edge.
Valenna slid beside them and let out a sob of relief.
Evander and Haldir clung to the edge of the pathway, suspended over nothing.
Valenna tore off one of her boots and hurled it further down the path.
The dragobat swooped after it, a blur of black and crooked wings.
Valenna gripped Evander’s arm. He was trying to climb up, but his fingers slid.
“No, get Haldir first,” Evander panted.
Valenna almost laughed. If Evander thought she was going to save that sniveling coward and let him fall, he was out of his mind.
She grasped a handful of his jacket and tugged, trying to pull him up, but to her horror, Ignatius and Giles followed orders like good little soldiers, and together they dragged Haldir to safety.
Caught behind Valenna and unable to run, he lay on his stomach and covered his head with his arms.
Wings beat the rank air. Valenna clutched Evander, expecting the talons to dig into her flesh and carry her away. As the wind buffeted her, someone shouted, “Here!”
Samara was running down the bridge. The creature swooped into view, the sunlight shining on its fat, scaly belly and its pointed, fox-like face. It let out its piercing cry when the light touched it.
Samara hefted a stone onto her shoulder and cast it into the void. The dragobat spiraled after it, chirping.
“Help me!” Valenna cried.
Ignatius and Giles bent down and helped Evander to solid ground, then he hauled Haldir to his feet, and they ran.
Valenna’s neck prickled. Her one boot pounded hollowly.
Sunlight warmed her cheeks; she was suddenly breaking out of the shadows, into the bright morning.
She spun around, eager to share her relief with Evander.
“We made it!” she began, but as Evander reached the exit, the dragobat shot out of the depths. He slid through the opening as it dove behind him and sank its talons into Haldir.
Blood spattered Evander’s face. He lunged out and clamped both hands around Haldir’s leg.
The dragobat flapped its wings, lifting Haldir into the air. Evander hung on, and Valenna jumped on him, looping her arm around his chest. Tugging.
Haldir screamed in pain as they played a grisly game of tug of war with the dragobat. Blood showered like rain.
The creature lurched, and Valenna’s hands slipped on Evander’s waist; she lost her hold and fell hard, her chin striking the dirt. Evander’s heels scraped, and he clung onto Haldir’s ankle.
Haldir wailed, and Valenna’s stomach pitched. A powerful sensation, a river of warmth, ran from behind her ribs, spread to her fingertips. It wasn’t acidic and burning like her old magic. This was warm, tingling, like light or static electricity.
And then, with a rending groan, the earth split and flowering vines burst beneath her feet.
They crawled over the stone walls, wrapping around Evander’s legs, rooting him down.
The dragobat squealed and released Haldir.
He thudded to the ground, and Evander dragged him out of the cavern and into the sunlight.
Haldir’s face was gray, his body limp. He bled from six deep punctures in his chest and shoulders.
“I need bandages! Quickly!” Evander barked, tearing Haldir’s shirt open.
Haldir gurgled, blood bubbling between his lips.
“You are not going to die!” Evander commanded. “You cannot die!”
Valenna grabbed whatever she could find—jackets, Ignatius’ shirt, someone’s rucksack—and pressed them against the wounds. Haldir breathed out a low rattle and his chest stilled.
“No!” Evander shouted. “NO! You cannot die!”
He shook Haldir, his face livid.
Valenna gripped his shoulders. “He’s dead, Vander,” she said. “He’s gone.”
Evander sat heavily and pressed his arm to his forehead, looking stunned. With Haldir dead, they were doomed to fly into the invasion at the front. The first dreadnought into the teeth of the enemy.
The Dread Five crew stood still as statues, edging away from the red rivulet running past their boots.
Evander rose to his knees, gathering himself like a man picking up spilled groceries. Then he stood.
“Well done, everyone. None of you should feel one ounce of shame. You were brave. That man”—he pointed at Haldir’s lifeless body sprawled in the dirt—“was the coward.”
Valenna raised her eyebrows. It seemed callous when Haldir had died only moments before, but Evander had never been one to gloss over the truth for niceties.
He looked at her and lifted his shoulders. “He was.”
“He was,” she replied, and she had the absurd urge to laugh; she stifled it.
“What do we do with the body?” Samara asked. “Should we bring it with us?”
“We have to bring it with us,” Rosemary said. The sun slipped behind a cloud, and the mountain fell into shadow. “We have to prove the dragobat killed him and not …”
But before she could finish, wings thundered in the cave entrance and the dragobat shot out, grabbed Haldir’s body in its talons, and, before anyone could react, disappeared into its lair.
Everyone stood in shock. Then Valenna said, “We need to get out of here.”
Evander was already taking her hand, moving to the front of the group, waving for them to follow him. They hurried down the path, casting anxious glances over their shoulders.
Valenna did not like what Evander had just done—refusing help for himself to save Haldir.
Silvanlight Evander would never have done that.
She’d resented his somber self-containment before, but now she wished he would be a little more selfish.
Selfish men survive battles; fearless captains make terrible sacrifices.