“Heir of Ares, huh?” Croak said with a sly grin and she snapped her eyes to him. He winked back at her. “You thinkheneeds help from a mortal?”
Jason opened his mouth to reply, but Daris tilted his head again and Jason quickly shut his mouth.
Croak wasn’t deterred. “Maybehealready has Athena’s Weapon.”
“Croak,” Terena said in a low voice.
“What?” he shrugged, then held out a hand to Daris. “No offense, Daris. You could definitely be someone’s weapon, obviously. But… how would you even know the Heir? What if the Heir was sitting?—”
“That’s enough,” Rydon said.
Croak looked over at him and shrugged.
“We’ve had a long day,” Terena said into the silence. “I’m to bed. I wish you all a pleasant sleep.”
With that, she turned on her side, her back to the fire as she pulled the edges of her cloak tighter around her and closed her eyes with a deep sigh.
“I’ll take first watch with Michael,” Daris said in answer, and Terena heard the others mutter their assent as they bedded down.
Croak bent over Terena’s hip and whispered loudly, “Are you sure you don’t want to switch places and take the watch with the handsome commander?”
Her only response was to jerk her elbow back sharply, a satisfied smile on her face at Croak’s yowl of pain.
Terena bolted upright,thrashing against something heavy, her chest heaving with fear so potent she lashed out wildly.
“Stop! It’s me! Stop—Ren!”
Her blood roared in her head, her ears rang with it, dissipating enough she heard Croak’s words, heard him hissing at her to stop. Her eyes focused finally and she saw his face, tight with concern and pain. He exhaled, his breath heating her face.
“Gods,” Terena said, her voice hoarse. “Your breath is rancid.”
A scoff sounded behind her as Croak’s mouth tilted up in a smirk. “I’ll breathe on you again if you don’t stop fucking hitting me.”
Terena held onto his forearms, her grip easing as embarrassment washed over her. She glanced around and saw the others watching her with varying degrees of concern and wariness. Terena sat up.
“The prince again?” Croak whispered so only Terena could hear.
She nodded.
Croak pulled back and kissed Terena’s forehead before he stood. “All better now,” he called out and winked at Terena. He groaned as he rose, his knees cracking. “Yikes. I’m too old for this. Promise us a soft bed tomorrow, Daris.”
Daris and the others seemed inclined to ask about the nightmare that had Terena thrashing so violently, but they remained silent and took their cue from the others as they went about the business of breaking camp.
Rydon and Gabriol strode to their horses, hoisting their saddlebags in place. Croak muttered about visiting Gaia for his morning prayers—which was Croak for taking a piss—while Terena gathered her bedroll, shaking out her cloak and tossing it over her shoulders.
They reached the falls a short while later. From there, they had to search for the caves beneath the falls Melanos had mentioned, so they dismounted to search. They looked for ten minutes near the base of the falls. Croak and Gabriol stayed with the horses while the rest wound their way up to the top of the falls.
As they walked further on, their group separated. Daris and his men were a hundred feet ahead of where Rydon and Terena walked. Somewhere in that area was an entrance to the cave system where they would find Bethana, the serpent.
The water ran swift, rapids dragging the rocks beneath, pulling along tree branches and other debris from the banks on either side. Terena crouched, setting her bow down, and cupped her hand in the cold water. As she drank, she looked around and spotted Rydon meandering further north, keeping close to the edge.
They were a few hundred feet from the drop to the falls when the first arrow landed near Rydon.
Terena snapped up, turning toward where the shot came from. Rydon ran to her, his sword out. Another arrow whizzed at her back and Terena spun, eyes wide, when she saw the riders on the opposite bank, arrows trained on her. She pulled off her bow and reached for an arrow as Rydon yelled out.
“Rivermen!”
They were on either side of the river, the ones on their sidecharging straight at them. Terena nocked an arrow and let it fly, her left hand snatching up the next arrow and nocking it as Rydon shot past, engaging two men behind her.
