This place was hell. It had to be. Stinky, terrifying, hot-as-balls…hell.
My lungs tightened again.Breathe! In. Out.
Wait…
I watched as a man placed a little boy atop a gray horse. That pudgy kid, those chubby cheeks…ho-ly shit!It was the kid from the field! He was stillalive!
For a second, my racing pulse slowed. Tears—this timehappytears—welled in my eyes.
“Away!” Belanna yelled as she swung onto her stallion and sprinted off.
With a sound like rumbling thunder, the rest of the soldiers nudged their horses into a gallop.
I had just enough time to see Cheriour leaping onto a broad chestnut horse, settling a wounded kid in the saddle in front of him, before my steed lurched down the hill.
“Whoa!” I yelled. “No, don’t—whoa, easy! Go slow? Please?”
Sacrifice pricked her ears and chased after the rest of the horses, ignoring me. Her hooves ate up the ground. The wind whipped through my hair. The muscles along her back rolled and bunched as my ass smacked against the hard leather saddle.
I held her mane in a white-knuckled grip as we cantered behind the group of soldiers, weaving in and out of the trees.I’m gonna die. Definitely gonna die.
9
Terrick
Iscorched every blade of grass and destroyed several proud and beautiful trees. The plumes of smoke drove animals from their homes and sent them on a mad scurry to find safety.
“Help!” I screamed until my voice turned coarse.“Please!Help!” My fire-wrapped fingers trembled.
The ashy fragrance of smoldering wood and plant life filled the air. Some animals choked or sneezed as they darted through the vapors. It was only after a family of frogs hopped away from me, their eyes bulging, that it occurred to me I was standing near a pond.
“Water is fire’s enemy, love,”Mama had once said when she’d mended a burn on my palm.
I stepped into the pond, gasping when the cold water bit my skin and plunged my head beneath the surface. It hurt to open my eyes underwater, but I did it anyway, and I blew bubbles when I began crying in relief. The fire was gone!
But it returned once I attempted to step out of the water.
I dove under again. The fire left.
I emerged again. The icy wind lashed across my wet skin, seeming sharp enough to leave wounds.
The fire clung to my flesh, refusing to relinquish its hold.
The cold made my chest tight and sluggish. The water rocked my body, forcing me to shift my feet to maintain my balance…
I screamed when the soft bottom of the pond abruptly vanished, sending me plummeting deep into the water. My arms and legs flailed. Not in an organized fashion, as I didn’t know how to swim. These were short, panicked movements, which only made me sink more quickly.
I glanced up, seeing the dim light of the moon shining at the surface. No matter how hard I fought to reach it, the water fought harder to push me down.
Black spots danced before my eyes as my lungs tightened. I reached a hand up, desperately trying to grasp onto something,anything, that would help pull me from the water.
I jolted in surprise when my fingers brushed against a soft, yet solid, object.
Another hand.
I was hallucinating, surely.
Fingers wrapped around my wrist. It was a big, powerful hand, and it pulled me to the surface.
