I rushed forward, using their distraction to my advantage, my sword slicing through the bellies of each snake I could reach. Their bodies fell in pieces, twitching and jerking, before they stilled beside a snowbank. The gryphon roared, turning so suddenly, his tail knocked me aside. He steadied himself just long enough to face me. But beyond him, I could see more nahashim coming—the larger ones, the kind that could incapacitate, and carry me back to the Imperator.
With another whine, the gryphon nudged his head against my hand, flattening his belly at my feet. I stared as his tail twitched in agitation, and he emitted a squawk that ended in a roar.
I was about to yell at the gryphon to get up, to fight before he was bitten. But then he snarled, his tail moving frantically. I realized what I had to do.
Grabbing hold of his fur, I climbed onto his back. I’d barely gotten a grip when he rose up on his paws, his front talonskicking out as his wings flapped, blowing my hair into my face as he took off. We were moving so fast, running straight for the mass of snakes and trees. We lifted off the ground and I squeezed my eyes shut, my heart plummeting.
I started sliding off, shocked at his speed. I wasn’t used to flying this fast, nor riding bareback. Fuck—I wasn’t used to riding gryphons at all! They were nothing like seraphim. His wings flapped, and he flew even faster, the ground falling farther away from me.
“Shit! Shit!” I was losing my grip, slipping as he continued his vertical ascent. But then his body righted, lying flat, and I collapsed against his fur, my entire body shaking with cold and fear as we soared above the trees.
I had to tell Rhyan what happened, tell him not to come back.
Icy wind bit at my nose and cheeks, licking at my fingers as I tried to wrangle the vadati stone from inside my armor. But I couldn’t maneuver around the metal and maintain hold of the gryphon. Tightening my grip with one hand, I loosened my belt, letting the folds of my soturion cloak fly free. Then I reached beneath my tunic, ripping the chain from my neck.
“Rhyan!” I screamed into the stone. “RHYAN!”
“Lyr?” he answered immediately. “What’s wrong?” The wind was so powerful, I could barely hear him.
“Don’t come back!” I yelled.
“What? Why?” The stone brightened with more blue light. “Lyr? Where are you? What happened?”
“Nahashim! They attacked at the cave.”
“Fuck,” he said. “Are you hurt?”
“No!”
“Okay then I’m—”
“No!” I yelled. “Don’t. I’m safe. Flying.”
“You’re … you’re flying? On the gryphon?”
“Yes, yes,” I said, trying not to show my panic. “Now, help me. Tell me what to do.”
The gryphon screeched and any body heat I’d managed to maintain was sucked from me as something flew into my peripheral vision. I screamed. A nahashim wasflyingbeside us. The Godsdamned snake had grown wings.
Fuck! These things really could do whatever it took to find their prey. It was several yards behind us, but it was catching up, far too quickly despite its tiny body moving against the wind.
“Lyr? LYR! What happened?” The stone lit up with a fresh blue light in my hand. “Are you okay?”
“Lyr!” Meera’s voice. “Lyr, answer! Now!”
“The nahashim,” I said, panting. I could barely breathe. “It can fly!”
There was a string of unintelligible curses on Rhyan’s end, and the gryphon picked up speed. I was having trouble focusing on my surroundings. The trees below me were just a blur of dark green pine topped with snow. But everything was quickly fading into the darkness as the sun continued to fall below the horizon. I had no idea how to direct the gryphon, or where to go.
“What do I do?” I yelled.
“Get closer to the gryphon’s head,” Rhyan ordered. “Go. NOW!”
Snowy wind began to blast against my face, but I did as he ordered, my thighs squeezing over the gryphon’s thick spine as I inched forward. “Okay,” I yelled. “Now what?”
The nahashim’s wings looked so thin and wiry, barely more than snake skin. But it was flapping with so much ferocity, it was going to be beside us in no time.
“Lyr,” Rhyan said. “I need to know where you are. I need descriptions of your surroundings. Landmarks. Details. Anything specific. Anything you can tell me.”
