“All are free.” Gareth scoops me into his lap. “Except this changeling. She is bound to me.”
“In that case, who needs freedom?” I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him.
Our bond must be particularly powerful right now, because I feel as if Arin is moving beneath me.
He pulls back, then jumps to his feet, dragging me with him.
It wasn’t our bond. It’s the mountain. “What in the—”
“Look out!” He throws me back against the side of the ledge as huge chunks of rock begin to fall all around us.
“Clotty!” I reach for her and pull her to safety as Gareth grabs the nearest unicorns and stations them beneath the slight overhang. We’re safe from the smaller rocks, but if a boulder should crash down from above, we won’t survive.
I keep Clotty’s hand gripped in mine as the mountain rumbles, the deep vibrations tickling my lungs somehow and making me cough. Gareth stands between us and the falling debris, his body pressing back, sandwiching us away from danger.
A boulder crashes close to Parnon. He simply wrinkles his nose at it and crosses his arms. The unicorns whinny, but don’t try to run. They know the slope is the deadliest place to be as hunks of rock continue to roll away, some of them exploding on impact, others leaving disintegrated stone in their wake.
After a few more deep rumbles, the mountain quiets.
We all seem to take a group breath. I wipe the sweat from my brow and share a relieved look with Clotty.
“Was anyone hurt?” Gareth calls.
“Over here!” one of the Cranthum fighters yells.
“Stay here.” He kisses my forehead and dashes off even as a river of pebbles still moves along the mountain’s surface.
I step forward and crane my neck to see up the mountain. “I think maybe it’s over?”
“I hope so.” Clotty keeps her grip on my hand. “Come back. You’re making me nervous.”
“Fine.” I lean back beneath the ledge and give her what I hope is an encouraging smile. “We survived.”
“Thank the Ancestors. I don’t know what—”
A piercing shriek cuts through the air, and I instinctively cover my ears. A blast of cool air rushes by, and then a shadow falls over us as more rock shimmies down the mountain around us. The unicorns whinny, but Boland clutches all their leads in his palms.
Iridiel calls, “Steady,” as the other unicorns are anything but.
“What was that?” I plaster myself against the rock wall. “Was it a—”
“Wyvern.” Clotty squeezes my hand so hard it hurts when a blast of hot air swirls around us.
I flinch as the shadow grows. From above, a massive red snout and blue scales appear, the nostrils wide and the tongue forked. I can’t breathe. The creature keeps coming. I don’t scream until I see a huge serpentine eye looking right at me.
15
Gareth
Iridiel rears up in front of me as I swing my sword at the great scaled beast.
“No!” He lands a vicious kick to my chest, and I fly backwards, the taste of blood already on my tongue. I roll down the rocky mountainside, shards of obsidian digging into my skin. But Beth’s fear has me on my feet again, though the rock collapses beneath my soles, and I have to jump and climb.
Parnon joins me, his large frame skidding down the slope to my right. Cursing, he braces himself against a bolder and scrabbles back to his feet. “Winged worm!” He shakes his fist and charges ahead just as the stone man is tossed on top of him. They both go down in a heap and roll so far down the terrain that I lose sight of them.
The others have drawn their weapons, but Chastain holds up a hand, keeping them back. I won’t be cowed, not when Beth is in danger. With great leaps, I race back to her.
Iridiel eyes my approach, then turns and prances over to the wyvern. He speaks to it in a language I don’t understand.
