“Enough talking,” Grayson barked.
“I thought you had questions.” I couldn’t keep a hint of amusement out of my voice.
“I do. But you two don’t have any answers. And until she wakes up, we can ride in silence.”
Haven moaned, and we all stiffened.
“Is she in pain?” How quickly Grayson forgot his demand for silence.
“She kept that fire vortex going for hours. She spent too muchmagic. She’ll rest. Then she’ll be fine.” Gods, I hoped I was right.
“And if she’s not?” Flynn demanded.
“Then we take care of her. She saved our lives.”
“While saving her own,” Grayson noted.
“She could have left us outside that vortex. There were twelve wraiths. Twelve. No way we survived twelve of those fuckers. She saved us. Plus, without Haven, that wolven would have dragged Flynn’s lazy ass into the woods for a quick meal.”
Pierce turned in his saddle and scrunched his face. “Don’t mention Flynn’s ass and meal in the same sentence.”
Flynn flushed. “What were you doing while the wolven dragged me?”
“My magic is spotty in the woods.”
“You have a fucking sword.”
True. But I’d been too shocked to use it. Haven—only Haven—had saved him. “You owe her.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“A life debt.” I smirked at him.
“I know,” he snapped. “But you owe her too.”
“Unlike you, owing Haven a debt doesn’t bother me.” I’d happily repay her tenfold.
“Are you two going to bicker all the way to Angelfire?” Grayson demanded.
Probably.
Haven’s eyelids flickered.
“Haven?” My voice was gentle.
Her body stiffened. Fight or flight? I could see the options flash in her eyes.
“You’re safe,” I told her. “We’re out of the woods.”
She relaxed in my arms, and her gaze shifted to the sky. “Where are we?”
“Armor Fields.” So named for the number of warriorswho’d given their lives defeating a horde of wyverns. The grass was lush, an emerald green that spoke of rich soil.
Why weren’t farmers tilling fields? Growing crops? In a land that struggled to feed its citizens, good land should never lie fallow. Perhaps it was out of respect for the fallen. According to legend, the battle between the king’s soldiers and the wyvern (horrible creatures, with bodies like snakes, heads like dragons, and wings big enough to blot out the sun) had lasted for days. With too many soldiers to bury, the bodies (half of them ruined by the wyverns’ venom) had slowly returned to the earth, leaving behind rusting armor.
Haven stiffened in my arms. Soon she’d make me let her go. “Wyvern.”
“You heard the stories?” I gazed down at her. “The army defeated the wyvern.”
