Breath of Dragons (A Pandoran Novel) (40 page)

"Princess?" I choked. "You've got the wrong—"

Rakken pulled my head back farther and I struggled to keep my footing on the slick stones. "I know
exactly
who you are, and the price on your head is enough to set me up for the rest of my life." He sounded like he really enjoyed the image of his future.

"You'll get nothing if I'm dead," I grunted, trying to free my arms, but they wouldn't budge from Marr's grip.

"Who said anything about killing you?" Rakken said, and Marr starting pushing me forward.

I could feel the presence of the other three behind us. I wouldn't have much time. I'd have to move fast and pray Alex and Vera were in the stables with horses readied. Tripping over my feet, I tried reaching inside of myself to find the magic that had recently broken free. Without it, this would never work. I just needed to buy a little more time to make sure I had a good grip on the power. "The only way you'll be taking me is dead," I spat, feeling the edges of heat deep inside my gut. It jolted awake at the slightest touch.

This idea seemed to amuse Rakken. "How's that? Without weapons and magic, you can't fight back. Actually"—he jerked my head closer so that I could feel his hot breath even through the fabric on my cheek—"they did tell me you were pretty, and they weren't lying in the least. Don't mind if we have a little fun with you first."

The heat swelled in my torso. I leaned my head forward enough so that I could slam my skull back into Marr's nose. His grip on my arms loosened, and I twisted around enough to kick him where I thought his crotch would be. My foot landed true, based on the shock of pain coursing through Marr's body, but before I could rip the cloth from my head, two of the other men seized my arms and held them in place.

"You'll pay for that, you little wench!" Rakken growled.

Warmth bubbled in my chest, hotter and hotter as power coalesced there, until my lungs felt like they might burst. Ignoring the strain in my arms, I gave the warmth the gentlest push, pressing the hot energy down my limbs and toward my fingers. The air felt hot and one of the men shrieked and let go of my arm. The other man shrieked soon after, and he let go of my arm too. Freed, I ripped the cloth from my head; both men had caught fire, cloaks burning. They dropped to the ground, rolling on the wet cobblestones to put the fire out, while Rakken looked up at me with a mixture of surprise and fury, mirrored by the third man, who now looked a little afraid to approach me. "But you're not…he said…" Rakken started, eyes wild.

But I didn't waste another moment. I bolted and was swiftly lifted from the ground by Alex, who was on horseback. He pulled me up and I climbed into the saddle behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist as he ran our horse at full gallop. Vera was on another horse, right behind him as we galloped down the main street, away from the men.

"After them!" yelled Rakken, and I looked back just in time to see him and his men sprinting for the stables.

"Perfect timing!" I yelled, holding him tightly.

"We aren't free of them yet!" Alex yelled back.

We galloped down the cobblestone streets, deeper into the heart of the village. I had no idea where we were running, and people dodged out of the way as our horses thundered down the mostly empty streets. But the town hadn't been that large. I figured there was probably this one main drag; the only problem was that I didn't know where it ended. And then the road forked in two.

Alex veered our horse right and I held on tightly, noticing the portcullis up ahead.

"Close the gate!" Rakken's voice boomed in the night. I looked back; Rakken and his men appeared farther down the road, galloping after us.

Gears and metal cranked ahead, and the portcullis started lowering.

"Come on…" Alex pleaded, digging his heels in our horse.

The portcullis slid down lower and lower and right as the iron prongs were almost level with our heads, we exploded through.

"Open the gate!" screamed Rakken, and when I looked back, he and four other riders were pacing impatiently behind the portcullis. But the guards were already raising the gate.

Our road wound back up the cracks between hills.

Alex jerked our horse off the road so hard that I thought our horse's legs were going to slide out from under him. Alex and I leaned into the turn, and I held on to Alex so tightly I worried I was hurting him. Our horse finally righted himself on the open terrain and I loosened my grip and glanced back to make sure we hadn't lost Vera. To my relief, we hadn't, but we hadn't lost the other riders, either. They were speeding up the road, and one had already veered off in our direction.

The moon broke through the clouds, illuminating the hillside in a soft, pale light. It was empty except for high grasses, but from here I could see nothing that would provide cover or escape. Our horses thundered on, and I had no idea how we were going to lose them.

Heat pulsed through me from Alex. A streak of light arched from him and headed straight for the riders. Just before impact, a soft, diffuse glow appeared between Alex's beam and targeted rider, like the rider had raised a small shield made of light. The light hit the shield and bounded off into the sky, where it was lost. Alex tried again, firing at a different rider, but the same thing happened.

"They're using dark magic to make the shield," Alex said, his voice tight. "I can't penetrate that."

I'd been lucky. They hadn't been expecting me to use magic, which was why I'd succeeded earlier. Now they knew better.

Little flickers of light sprang up and soon all five of them were holding these dark magic light shields. They weren't taking any chances, and they also weren't wasting any time. I felt the thrum of air behind me, and Alex jerked our horse to the left just as something sank in the ground ahead of us with a sharp
snick
.

"We need the princess alive!" Rakken yelled.

Vera cursed behind me. "Where the blazes are we supposed to hide on this bare hill?"

Alex ran our horse in a kind of zigzag, trying to avoid the archers' arrows. Still, an arrow whizzed through the air and landed in our horse's rear. Our horse screamed in pain, foundering as we ran and barely regaining his footing.

My heart sank. "It's a black arrow," I said to Alex. Our poor horse. And poor us, if we didn't lose them soon. There was no way the three of us could ride on Vera's horse. Our horse struggled up the hill, foam already forming at his mouth. Not good. Then our horse slowed and stopped.

Another arrow landed with a
snick
and our horse lurched forward. The fletching of a black arrow stuck straight out of his neck. Our horse's front legs bent as he skidded forward, and Alex and I leapt out of the saddle right as our horse dropped to the ground. My heart ached from the pain coursing through the horse's body, but then Alex gripped my hand and jerked me to my feet, bringing me back to our current danger.

Vera and her horse had stopped right beside us, her horse panting. And then I realized we were standing at the edge of a ravine, which must have been the real reason our horse had stopped in the first place. The ravine was much too steep for horses, and the three of us couldn't ride off on Vera's.

We were trapped.

Chapter 19

Alliances

V
era dismounted. "We have to climb down."

Alex's and my horse lay on the ground, wheezing and making horrible sounds that made me feel dreadful.

"Hurry!" Vera was already over the edge.

Alex grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the horse, and the three of us began climbing down the steep rock face. Our boots slid and hands flailed in desperate attempts to keep from tumbling down, and the rock wall was just high enough to make such a tumble potentially fatal, or at very least make one acquire an impressive collection of broken bones. It was difficult seeing in the dark, though the moonlight highlighted shadows and some of the steeper sections. I could hear the riders overhead. They'd reached the edge of the ravine and were murmuring to one another. A few of them dismounted and began climbing down after us. There was one good thing about them following us into the ravine: The other riders were no longer shooting arrows at us.

"You can't escape!" Rakken's voice echoed through the ravine. "Surrender now, and we might let your friends live."

I might have been naïve about some things, but I wasn't stupid. We continued to scramble down the ravine, sending rocks and loose gravel clattering down. I heard a crunching sound below and looked; there were three more riders waiting for us at the foot of the ravine. We were surrounded.

In my distraction, I missed my next step and I went tumbling. Rocks tore at my hands and cloak, digging into my back and elbows. I flailed to grab hold of anything, but everything I grabbed slid down with me. Luckily, we'd already climbed about halfway down, and it wasn't long before I was thrown flat on my stomach onto the floor of the ravine, coughing and choking and
hurting
. My hands were raw and bleeding, and spots on my legs and tailbone felt unusually tender. Before I could even catch my breath, one of the guards who had been waiting for us down here grabbed me by the hair, jerked my head up, and shoved a blade against my throat.

"Hold it right there," he growled at Alex and Vera, who were just now getting to the bottom of the ravine.

Alex had been reaching for his sword, but when he saw the blade at my neck, his hand stopped. "You can't hurt her," Alex hissed, furious, his hand hovering near the hilt.

"No, I can't
kill
her," the man continued. "But I can hurt her pretty good and make you watch."

Alex's expression turned murderous, his eyes flashed with violence. Left with no other choice, he moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword and turned out his palms to show that they were empty.

"Good, now back away," said the guard.

Reluctantly, Alex moved the slightest step back, and then the men that had been climbing down after us caught up, pinning Alex and Vera's arms behind their backs. They didn't even try to fight back because there was still a knife against my throat. The guard yanked me to my feet and I cried out softly in pain. It felt like he was going to rip my hair out.

"I got her, Rakk," my captor yelled, pulling me back against him. The metal dug into my neck so deeply I was afraid to swallow, lest the simple rise of my throat puncture the skin. And then my captor bent his head low so that his mouth was near my ear. "I've an idea. Let's see what's under all this wool…"

Snick
.

The pressure on my hair released and my captor let out a soft cry. He let go completely and I heard a dull thud. When I looked back, there was an arrow sticking out of my captor's forehead, right between his eyes.

Snick
.
Snick. Snick.

The men who had been holding on to Alex and Vera suddenly cried out, collapsing on the ground with arrows sticking out of their necks. The horses above whinnied and the men standing near the ledge murmured to one another, afraid. There were more sharp cries and I thought I heard Rakken curse.

And then Rakken suddenly cried out and plummeted over the lip of the ravine, landing near my feet, dead. I looked at Alex and Vera, my heart pounding as adrenaline flooded my body. They were just as startled and confused as I was. And then the silhouette of a cloaked figure appeared, standing at the edge of the ravine.

Whoever it was slung their bow back over their shoulder and adjusted their quiver. It was the figure I'd seen in the dining hall, but what was the person doing here? Had this person really come to our aid? Or were we in even bigger trouble? Whoever it was
had
just downed eight men in all of a few seconds.

Vera had already grabbed a bow from one of the fallen guards, strung an arrow and pointed it straight at the figure.

"Please"—the person held up empty hands—"I'm here to help." The voice sounded young and familiar. Very familiar, and it was obviously male.

Vera did not lower the arrow, and Alex moved to my side, standing protectively between me and whoever-he-was.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

He hesitated. "I'd pull back my hood, but I'm afraid V, here, would skewer me before I had the chance to explain myself."

My jaw fell slack and I gasped. "Thad…?"

"You're right," Vera said. "That sounds exactly like something I'd do." She pulled the string of her bow back an extra inch for maximum penetration.

Alex jerked me completely behind him so that I had to peer around his shoulder to see Thad. Well, Thad's cloaked form.

"What are you doing here?" Alex demanded in a deep and threatening voice.

"I'd tell you," Thad said, palms still raised in surrender, "but it's a little hard to focus with an arrow pointed at my face."

"Try focusing with it
in
your face," Vera spat.

"Vera, wait…" I said, pushing my way around Alex, even though he tried desperately to hold me behind him.

"Give me one good reason why I should," Vera hissed.

"I can't give you that reason," I said. "
He
can." I pointed at Thad. "But he won't be able to if you kill him. Please, I want to hear what he has to say."

Alex's face darkened. "After everything he's done…?"

I leveled my eyes on his. "Yes. I have more reason than anyone to want him dead, but I would like some answers." I looked back up at Thad. "He did just rescue us, after all."

"And how do you know this isn't some ruse to hand us over to his father?" Alex's expression was a mixture of disbelief and indignation.

"I don't," I said, still watching Thad, "but he just downed eight men. If he'd meant to kill us, he would've done so already."

I heard Thad sigh even from where I stood. "And here I was beginning to think no one was paying attention. Thanks, Rook."

"Don't you dare think for one second that I actually trust you," I growled up at him. "I want to know why you're here—that's it. If you so much as move a pinky the wrong way, I'll sink an arrow into your face myself."