Instead, I’d been plunged into the horrors of it.
“Thank you,” I said, feeling the weight of Etan’s heavy stare on the side of my face. When the human released me, Etan was quick to fill the void and take my hand in his. His warmth was so much stronger than that of the man who’d touched me, as if the sun itself burned beneath his skin. He guided me toward Thunder without another word, severing the connection that only worsened the desire I felt to remain in the seaside village.
Perhaps it was my dread over what was to come and what waited for us beyond the walls that kept this place so protected from outside influences.
As Etan offered me a leg up so that I could mount Thunder, I settled into the front of the bareback pad and took his reins in my hand. “What does the wall protect them from?” I asked, my curiosity finally getting the best of me as I swallowed.
Etan accepted a leg up from one of the guards, mounting behind me and settling his groin against my ass, then he reached around me to take control of the reins as he spoke an ominous warning. “Let’s hope you never have to find out.”
TWENTYFALLON
The sun had nearly set on another day by the time we were even preparing to stop for the night. Etan rode hard, excusing the pace he set under the justification that spending a night with the open desert to our right would be a mistake.
Even Thunder didn’t seem to object to the notion of continuing on through the grueling, unforgiving fast walk that must have exhausted him in the heat. The only saving grace to the temperatures was the presence of the sea as we rode at the top of the dune closest to the water, letting the ocean air and breeze cool our skin.
The clothing I’d dressed in that morning had also helped ease some of the worst of the temperatures, the fabric and style far more breathable than the thicker, heavier gowns Mab had favored in Tar Mesa. The off-white linen draped over my shoulders lightly, without sleeves even though it had a hood, hanging loosely across my chest and dipping down to a belt at my waist. It fell out into a loose skirtwith slits that went high on the outside of the thighs, allowing me to sit far more comfortably on Thunder than I had previously.
Etan’s clothing was tailored from that same light, gauzy fabric. An off-white shirt dipped down at the front of his chest, where he wore several chains around his neck, revealing the curve at the top of his pectoral muscles. His pants were a different color than his tunic, a deep blue, belted at his waist and a few shades darker than the overshirt that covered the tunic, which had a hood that he often used to shield his face when the wind blew the sand up in a particularly violent arc.
Etan pushed Thunder into a trot in spite of the uneven footing as the sky began to change colors on the horizon, the deep red and orange painting the blue in a way that took my breath away. Even that couldn’t settle the unease I felt at the cause of Etan’s rush; I didn’t want to consider what might be hiding in the desert to instill that kind of fear in him.
There’d been minimal discussion of my magic, because we both knew that it was lacking from what had transpired in the Shadow Court. Even with that knowledge, I’d never stopped to ask Etan if he hadanymagic of his own or what his lineage might have been. All I knew was that his parents had dropped him off at the Summer Court and he’d been raised by Primordials.
But that told me nothing of his bloodline or whatever magic might course through his veins. Most of the children of the Gods had none, and that put us at a great disadvantage being out here in the open.
“If it’s so dangerous, why didn’t we bring your guards?” I hissed, wincing when Thunder curved over the top of a dune and made his way away from the sea. Etan steered him down the bank on the other side, pulling me back into his body behind me to shift my weight and counteract the sudden change in balance.
“It’s a journey we have to make alone. Trust me, I didn’t make the damn rules,” he grunted, nudging Thunder in the side until he picked up a slow canter once we hit the flat plains at the bottom of the dune.
I shut my mouth, deciding I would argue with him about the foolishness of these traditions when we made it somewhere safe to spend the night. We pushed along as the sun began to fade over the horizon, Etan’s occasional curses as he looked over his shoulders ratcheting my anxiety ever higher.
“Etan,” I started, not knowing what to say. I didn’t know what we were looking for or where we were going, but the only thing I saw before us, behind us, and all around us was an endless expanse of desert.
“We’re almost there,” he grunted, bearing the weight of my body thrashing as he pushed Thunder into an open gallop. The fact that I’d never even seen a horse until recently worked against me, making me completely unable to figure out what to do with my body in this new gait. Etan held me still as I winced, my eyes catching sight of something in the distance to our left.
“What the fuck is that?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper even though the words felt shrill. It was as if my eyes couldn’t connect with what I was seeing, the red mass a mirage in the distance. I couldn’t tell if it was a trick of light or the wind manipulating the sand into a shape, and I squinted to see better.
“Fuck!” Etan hissed, pulling to the right on Thunder’s reins. The horse obeyed with a quiet whinny.
The red massmoved,surging forward in a motion that felt oddly reminiscent of the way Thunder’s gallop felt beneath me. That same rear-charged motion propelled the thing forward, and it closed the gap between us with an unnatural speed that Thunder’s exhausted form couldn’t outpace.
I looked over Etan’s shoulder, my eyes widening when I realized exactly why the motion seemed so much like Thunder’s. The figure was a horse and rider, a skinless monstrosity of red muscle and sinew. Tiny flames burned in the place of both the horse’s and rider’s eyes, erupting from its mouth. Where blood might have flowed through veins was only lines of fire, and I shuddered as the pair gained on us.
The rider didn’t have any legs of his own, the two somehow melded together with flesh alone so that they were one being. The rider had no hair or clothing, the inner working of the human body flexing with every movement. He was faceless, with only those burning eyes to add any definition to his person. In his hands was a long staff, the sharp blade already coated in blood.
“Oh my Gods,” I mumbled, turning to face the front and trying to focus on mirroring Etan’s body movements in the hope that it would help Thunder run faster. The sand beneath our feet began to change, shifting to more of the brown dirt that I’d seen in Nothrek. Soon the dirt was filled with blades of grass, the area ahead of us teeming with life. A copse of trees rose up in the distance like a mirage, mountains surrounding the wooded area as if to shelter it. Streams of water trailed down the mountainsides, cascading over cliffs to form waterfalls that drifted into the valley below as our path curved downward. The sound was as raucous as thunderfilling the air, only contrasted by the creature following us and gaining on us.
“We aren’t going to make it,” Etan said, forcing my hands to wrap around the reins. He released them entirely, turning to the rear so he could swing his leg over Thunder’s butt and face the creature as it caught up with us. “Aim for the woods. You’ll be safe there. The Nuckelavee won’t risk the Gods’ wrath by wandering into their sanctuary, even for a meal. Stay until morning and then follow the coast south to Vallania.”
I flinched, spinning back to look at him in shock as he vaulted off Thunder and rolled to his feet. He pulled the sword from the scabbard strapped to his back, preparing himself to fight off the creature he’d called a Nuckelavee.
“I’m not going to leave you,” I snapped, pulling on the reins to get Thunder to slow.
“Yes, you fucking are, Sunfire. Go!” He tossed dirt at Thunder, making the horse rear slightly before he took off in the direction of the sanctuary. I watched Etan, trusting Thunder to know the way to safety as the Nuckelavee reached him. His spear met Etan’s sword with the clash of metal.
I dropped the reins entirely, frantically searching through the packs strapped over Thunder’s withers and rear for a weapon that I might use. My hands found leather, and I pulled the pack of throwing daggers free with a grin. Taking the first in my right hand, I grabbed the reins with my left and pulled Thunder to turn around, heading back in Etan’s direction as I kept the throwing knife pinned to my side to maintain the element of surprise.
“Fallon!” Etan shouted, rage coating his voice as he swung for the legs of the creature that charged him. It jumped over his sword, sweeping the spear back and cutting across Etan’s arm with a skill that horrified me.
