Taryn grabbed her free arm and told her to brace herself, tearing some cloth off of his own shirt for her to bite down on. Once she had the cloth in her mouth, he gripped the arrow.
Taryn grimaced. “I’m sorry,” he said, before ripping it clean out.
She screamed as her legs buckled. Taryn snaked his arm around her waist and held her up before she could fall to her knees. Once her breaths finally evened, they stood. She eyed his abdomen and commented, “You’re next. That needs to be taken care of.”
They worked together, quickly wrapping the fabric from Airess’ skirtaround his waist. Airess tied the knot, making sure the fabric was tight enough to apply pressure to the wound.
“We have to leave.Now.” Taryn uttered, his voice wavering slightly.
They scrambled outside, arm in arm, trudging towards their horses despite the pain.
“We just need one horse to make it to the docks. Untie the other one so it can roam free.” Taryn said with a grimace, as he untied the horse.
“Taryn, you need to rest. Surely we can find somewhere–”
“No,” he snapped. “You just killed the Guildmaster of the Mrkynian Guild. They will be coming for us, and soon. We have to leave this country immediately.”
Taryn mounted, hunched over with blood oozing from his knife wound. Airess climbed on behind him, wrapping a firm arm to add pressure to his stomach. They rode to the docks.
“Taryn, we are a vision of murder. We will get arrested on sight. How exactly are you planning to make it out of here alive?” Airess asked as their horse accelerated.
“We will do what we must,” Taryn said darkly. “We have to.”
Chapter 26
‘My brother will look for you when you cross over to the Old World.
Be ready.’
— Unsent correspondence from Paulyr Moros
Airess
They dismounted their horses quickly and sprinted to the docks. Airess’s legs pumped beneath her, her muscles burning and her shoulder throbbing as she ran by Taryn’s side. She knew he wasn’t doing so well, his face was losing color by the second as they headed straight towards their new beginning–or demise.
Commoners shouted at them as they rushed by, their heavy footfalls already fading behind them as they scanned for a boat to hijack. It wasn’t their best plan, but it was the only one with two guards on their tail. Luckily, this time, the guards weren’t Shadow Wielders.
“This one!” Taryn yelled as he pointed to a small sailboat. He began to untie the boat from the dock, motioning for Airess to hop on. An arrow flew by, Taryn narrowly avoiding it as he ducked.
As Airess jumped onto the boat, another shot flew by. The arrow grazed Taryn’s unscathed side as he landed on the boat. Thankfully, they missed, but more blood soaked the fabric of his shirt. Taryn waved his arms, guiding a mass of water and flooding the dock, washing away everyone, including the guards, into the sea. Before Airess could protest his methods of escape, the boat jolted forward.
Airess stared at him in awe, not fully realizing the strength of Taryn’s Waterborne Magick until now.
Taryn had both arms splayed out behind him. He moved them in a rotative motion, propelling the boat forward with his water Magick. A wake spread behind the boat as they picked up speed, and in that moment, Airess saw a determination within Taryn that she had never seen before. The wind rustled his brown curls and blood-soaked clothes. Despite everything they just went through, he stood tall amongst the sea.
In the corner of her eyes, she saw a blot of white amongst the treeline. Airess squinted, and her eyebrows rose as she recognized the familiar owl perched on a branch. Its cloudy grey eyes blinked as it watched her ride away. Airess stared at it, not able to explain the pit in her stomach at the sight of it.
It flapped away as soon as she made eye contact with it, leaving Airess bewildered.
The boat began to pick up speed as Taryn wielded it forward. Airess sat up, the air around them blowing her hair and clothing so violently she had to hold her dress bunched in her fist. She glanced back at Taryn. He looked like he could pass out at any moment, his face pallid.
“Are you all right?” Airess yelled over the roaring winds.
“Besides the stab wound, I’m doing just fine,” Taryn retorted sarcastically.
Airess bit her lip while she watched him. She knew Taryn was too stubborn to announce his pain, but she didn’t know how much Eryx had done to his mind with the Oathmark before she had killed him.
She thought about her kill, and how she should feel remorse. But no guilt came. Airess did what had to be done, and she portrayed a strength she hadn’t known she was capable of.
