“It's nothing good, I can tell you that much. Quickly, get on my back.” Lephas knelt down on one knee.
Lori hopped up gracefully and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. The commander was on his feet in an instant.
“Move! South! Go, go, go!” He ordered.
Haros and all four soldiers set off at a sprint, running as fast as the thick snow would allow. Lephas followed closely behind.
Lori held on tightly to the demon as they barrelled through the undergrowth. Thorns and branches whipped at her but she kept her head down without complaint.
There was another louder, longer howl from Karn.
“Where are they?!” Haros shouted breathlessly from beside Lephas as they tore through the woodland.
“I can't see them yet!” Lephas responded.
“Who’s ‘them’?!” Lori cried.
“You'vegot nothing to worry about, Princess!” one of the soldiers replied with a bitter laugh.
“Come on, Little Dove. You must have known he would send someone to find you?” Haros pulled his sword free from his back.
“Faeries?”
“The King's Guard, to be precise,” Lephas replied. “Your father's men have found you.”
“No...” she whispered, gripping Lephas tighter with her thighs.
“There!” one of the soldiers shouted.
Lori and Lephas looked up. A large, white war stallion thundered towards them, spraying snow and debris in its wake.
Lori felt the blood drain from her face seeing her father's crest emblazoned over the horse's battle armour. The knight sat atop the mount had a long pole arm, and its sharp blade was pointed straight at them.
“Sit tight and don't run from me!” Lephas shouted over his shoulder. His sword sung as he pulled it free from its scabbard.
“Hold!” Haros shouted to the other soldiers as they primed their weapons.
The youngest soldier dropped back and hopped up onto a nearby snow-covered boulder. He pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back and readied it in his bow. The forest fell so silent, Lori swore she could hear the string of his bow creak as he pulled it taught. From nowhere, she saw a frightened young doe leaping gracefully through the woods a short distance away. She prayed the animal would make it away from this place in time.
There was a loudthunkas the demon let the arrow loose from his bow. It whistled through the air and embedded itself with a sickening crunch in the neck of the war horse.
The creature let out a horrific screeching sound as it crashed to its knees. Dirty snow, branches and stones sprayed up into the air, and the knight was thrown violently from the saddle.
Like lightening, Karn sprinted into the meleeand made a bee-line for the fallen soldier. Lephas whistled, short and sharp. The wolf dove forward with aclear understanding of his master’s command.
Lori squeezed her eyes shut, but not before she saw the throat of the knight ripped out, bright, fresh blood spurting through the air. Though she hid, pressing her face into Lephas's back, she couldn't escape the horrifying, gurgling scream.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Adrenaline raged through his body and blood pumped loudly in his ears. Lephas span to the left, just in time to block the flash of a silver sword aimed at his head.
The swords clashed loudly, sparks flying. He sent the ambushing faerie sprawling with a vicious kick.
He didn't have time to think. A second faerie knight charged him and lunged forward with a heavy, spiked metal shield. Lephas leapt backwards, the air rippling in front of his face, as the shield narrowly missed him.
Sensing an opportunity, he struck forwards whilst the knight stumbled from his misjudgement. His sword sliced easily through the man’s thin chain mail and blood spurted from the faerie's mouth. Lephas drove his sword out through the other side of the knight’s body.
The commander pulled his sword free quickly, keeping his back – and, more importantly, Lori – to his own men. The girl clung so tightly to him he could feel her trembling. She was no longer shackled. Why hadn't she made a break for it yet?
