“Fire!” the shout came again. This time, Ashd lurched upwards, then seemed to almost fall backwards before getting his wings back in order. He twisted around, nearly crashing into another vreki before they were back heading in the right direction. An angry hiss sounded in Koradan’s mind. The spear had missed, but only just, and allowing for a little leeway in the translation, Ashd had just said the vreki equivalent of ‘fuck this human scum’.
A second or two later, Koradan felt a dark shadow cross their mental link.Badj has fallen, Ashd told him. Koradan felt a flood of sorrow course through him, both his own and Ashd’s grief mixing in his mind. Badj and his rider, Vingarin, had served under Koradan for more than eight years. They were both treasured friends, as well as fine warriors.
Keep going,he told Ashd, his heart feeling heavy as he said it.We will mourn them later.He longed to ask how the rest of the riders were doing, but he didn’t dare distract Ashd. A third wave of spears were shot skyward as the ballistas were again reloaded, but by now, they were out of range. The muted grey of the battlefield gave way to the darker shades of the forest as the trees swept past beneath them. Koradan gave Ashd a mental nudge, changing his direction a little more to the west. Directly to the south lay the main human city, and it was imperative that they avoid it.
They flew on, the sky clear, the night seeming strangely quiet after the noise of the battlefield. The only sound was the rushing of wind past Koradan’s face and the rhythmic swish of Ashd’s wings. It was almost peaceful, and Koradan had to work hard to keep from dwelling on the loss of yet another member of their team. They weren’t anywhere near safe yet, and as callous as it might have been, he could not afford distractions. Instead, he kept his eyes on the ground below, watching as forest gave way to farmland, then a small town, then more farmland, and finally back to thick forest. Somewhere in this strange new world was a place they would eventually call home.
Mountain?Ashd inquired, some minutes later. Far in the distance, the jagged peaks of a low mountain range were silhouetted against the stars.
Yes, head for the mountains,Koradan agreed. It would be harder for any humans to follow them there, and the vreki were well practiced at flying between narrow cliffs and climbing sheer rock walls. It was as safe a place as they were likely to find.
They crossed a river, and Koradan stared downward in awe at the thick ribbon of water meandering across the landscape. The last rivers of Chalandros had dried up years ago, and now the only source of water was from deep wells drilled through rock. Imagine what it would be like to have enough water to bathe in. Toswimin. He shook his head, feeling a bit like he was dreaming. He felt a mental nudge from Ashd, who asked a question in the form of an image – a vreki with a mouthful of green leaves.
Yes, I’m sure there are plenty of plants to eat down there, he agreed with a smile. Growing enough food for the vreki in Chalandros’s arid environment had been a constant challenge, and he wondered if that was part of the reason the Stone King had released them from their duty – not so much a benevolent gesture of good will as a means to have fewer mouths to feed. But even if that was the case, he wasn’t going to hold it against the king. The great monarch had done as much as he could to help his people, but even kings had their limits.
The mountains grew larger as they approached, though they were still too far off for Koradan to see much in the way of detail.
A sudden jarring sensation shot through his mind.Must stop, Ashd told him. Then Koradan got the impression of a hot pain in his left arm.Bnaa injured, Ashd said.
How bad is it?Koradan asked. If they could just get into the mountains, just past the first row of cliffs, they’d have a much better chance of avoiding the humans. Time enough to assess the damage and hopefully to allow Bnaa to heal.
But already, Ashd was sinking closer towards the ground.No fly. Wing pain. Blood. Spear.
Koradan muttered a curse to himself. But at the same time, he wasn’t going to argue with the vreki’s assessment. Bnaa was a trained battle steed. If he said he couldn’t fly, then he couldn’t fly.
Land in the field, Koradan told Ashd, spotting a large, open stretch of grass about a kilometre ahead of them. There would be enough space for all the vreki to land safely, while at the same time being far enough from any human settlement to avoid attracting attention. Then, once they’d seen how bad the injury was, they could decide on the next course of action.
Ashd sent a pulse of agreement, then tilted his wings to head for the field. Taking off for a vreki was a relatively simple thing – a short sprint and a leap into the air, then they could put their impressive pectoral muscles to use. But landing was an entirely more complicated matter. The vreki had evolved in an extensive mountain range, and their favoured method of landing was to simply grab onto a handy cliff face. Landing on the ground was a far less graceful exercise. As they came in close to the ground, Ashd opened his wings like sails, slowing them as much as possible. But an animal nearly two metres high and six metres long did not stop easily, so they were forced to do an awkward skidding run across the dirt. A vreki’s long hind legs were well equipped to propel them forward, but not so good at slowing them down.
The instant they came to a stop, Koradan undid the straps holding him into the saddle and leapt to the ground. Rodgard and his vreki, Mergh, were already on the ground, while Rigolard and Lign were just about to touch down. But it was clear Bnaa was in trouble long before he reached the field. His left wing was hunched, and there was no way he was going to be able to slow himself with it the way Ashd had. And if he tripped during the landing, it was entirely possible he would crush Melowin, his rider, with his own weight.
Over to the left, Sigmore and Bel, the last two members of their team, landed with all the grace the vreki could manage, while the rest of them watched Bnaa as he approached the field. He was going too fast, barely able to control the angle of his descent. His hind legs touched down first, pin-wheeling in a desperate attempt to control his speed. A vreki’s front legs were far weaker, designed to cling onto cliffs but not to do any heavy lifting. Somehow, Bnaa managed to keep his front end lifted until he slowed down a fraction, then took some of his weight on his front legs, those short limbs pedalling even faster than his back legs. Then he simply dug his hind claws into the dirt and he and his rider skidded gracelessly, ploughing up a long tract of the field as they finally slid to a stop.
CHAPTER THREE
Koradan sprinted over to Melowin and Bnaa, Rodgard and Rigolard thundering along close behind him.
“Are you all right?” he asked Melowin, as he unstrapped himself and slid down off Bnaa’s back.
“Bloody stubborn beast,” Melowin snarled, glaring at Bnaa. The usually cheerful man was seething, and with good reason. “He hid his injury from me. Didn’t tell me until it was damn near too late for us to makeanykind of landing. It’s a miracle we managed that as well as we did.” But even as he snapped the words, Melowin was already easing Bnaa’s wing out from his body, seeking out the injury. His short temper was born of a deep concern for his mount, rather than any real anger. “Alfrix curse it. You’re covered in blood.” There was blue blood dripping from the joint of Bnaa’s wing. “Where’s the wound, hm? Come on, tell me.”
Reluctantly, Bnaa stretched his left wing out, flinching as he did so. And it was easy to see why. There was a hole in the muscle between the first and second bones, large enough that Koradan could have put his whole fist through it.
“He must have taken a spear through there,” Koradan muttered, peering over Melowin’s shoulder.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner, you daft creature?” Melowin asked the vreki. Bnaa simply snorted and shook himself a little.
“No, you are not okay,” Melowin said, no doubt having a mental conversation with the vreki. “You have a gaping hole in your wing.” There was a strip of flesh hanging down, and Melowin gently eased it back into its proper place, though it was immediately obvious it wasn’t going to stay there. “We need medical supplies if we’re ever going to get this to heal,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder. “It needs to be stitched and bandaged and treated to prevent infection.”
Koradan looked around the field, hating how helpless he felt. “Where the hell are we going to get medical supplies out here?”
I go check, Ashd announced, having meandered over on somewhat clumsy legs in the last few minutes, and without any further ado, he gave two great bounds then leapt into the air.
“What? No, Ashd! Come back, you raving git!” Koradan shouted after him, but it was too late. Ashd was already in the air and too far away for their mental connection to work.
“Where’s he going?” Rodgard asked, but Koradan could only shake his head.
“He didn’t say. Presumably to look for somewhere to get something to treat Bnaa’s wound, but the gods only know what he thinks he’s going to find.”
