“We need to jump.” I increase my pace once more. “Hold on.”
I feel her grip tighten. I don’t have time to determine if the damned Bluecap is still with us as the land runs out and I leap into the air.
For a while, we could be falling, we could be flying. I don’t stop running, despite there being nothing beneath my hooves. The air around us changes, becoming charged with magic and, somehow, thicker, as if it is trying to find a way of holding us up.
We are being borne on this strange air, over the water below, to the land, to the opposing cliff which is no longer a cliff but the infinite dunes of the Underhill. My hooves touch down, and I am forced forward by my own momentum, until I can skid to a halt, where I shift into my human form once again, catching Hazel in my arms, a movement I don’t think I’ll ever tire of.
“My mate.” I drink in her scent.
Her little body trembles. Her beautiful eyes study mine.
“I think I preferred the first portal we fell through,” she says as she breaks eye contact and looks around. “Where’s Linton?”
“In my experience, he’ll either turn up or he won’t. And his help is not always the most welcome.”
I lower Hazel to the ground, not really wanting to let her go. She takes hold of the sword hilt.
“I don’t think we’ll need help,” she says, fiercely. “I think we’ve got this.”
Her confidence courses through my veins. I feel my tail swishing behind me, yet another phenomenon which has been brought on by my beautiful Hazel.
“How are we going to find the Thegn?” she queries, touching the amulet around her neck.
“Chances are, he’ll come to us, once he believes he is strong enough. So we need to find the best killing ground.”
Hazel narrows her eyes and looks over the dunes.
“We’ve seen most of the Underhill. I’d say this place is as good as any,” she says. “Unless you have a better idea.”
“I agree. We know this is an exit, and the other ones are not as accessible. I certainly do not want us to stay here any longer than necessary.”
Hazel climbs to the top of the nearest dune and drops to the sand. I’m instantly by her side.
“What ails you, my sweet mate?”
“Get down!” She grabs at my leg.
“Why would I want to lie in the sand?”
“Because we need to keep a low profile until the Thegn arrives.” She pulls hard on my trousers again.
It makes my todger stir. Perhaps I would be better off lying at her side. I drop to my knees and snuggle up to her.
“This is good.” I sigh.
“We’re supposed to be strategising, Warden,” Hazel says with some exasperation but a smile on her face.
“This is a strategy,” I rumble, sliding my hand around her waist and pulling her closer to me. “Admittedly, it may not stop the Thegn, but I am enjoying it.”
“How are we going to stop the Thegn?” Hazel makes no move to stop my advances, and I take advantage, pressing my lips to her cheek.
“The amulet you wear gives protection against his, but also, it has the power to neutralise the amulet of Backworth.”
“I’m not sure about neutralise,” Hazel says, her eyes scanning the sand and the shore, which still has the mist we left what feels like an age ago.
“If we neutralise the amulet of Backworth, the Thegn will be vulnerable, more vulnerable than before it had it.”
“So I can use my sword to kill it?”
