Alison bent over him, blocking his vision.Her blonde hair dripping blood onto him as she shook his shoulder.“Get up, warrior.”
“Can’t,” he coughed, clutching his torn side.“Leave before they come back.”
“Not a chance, kid.I don’t leave my warriors on the field, let alone my family.Get up.”
Knowing it was useless to argue with his soul-guardian when she used that tone, he let her heave him up, vision swimming as tried to focus.Pain seared through him with each step, only one of his legs working.But she kept a strong arm under his shoulder as she carried him away from death.
“Keep moving.I’ve got you, kid.”She pulled him another few steps toward safety.“Not bad for your first battle.Still need to work on your blocking though.”
He wheezed in an attempt at a laugh.She’d been on him about that since the day she’d put his first sword in his hand.
The thud of hooves and angry shouts grew louder, echoing through his aching bones.There was no way they would make it.
“Ali—”
“I hear them.”She stopped and leaned him against a tree.Her hand closed around his where he held the stone—the one she’d given him.“Stay with me, kid.I’ll get you home.”
He nodded, believing her.If they didn’t die today, she’d keep her promise.Always had, no matter the cost.
The clash of metal grated his nerves as he waited in the shadow of the tree.Sweat stung his eyes, blurring the images in front of him.Alison and the enemy she was battling disappeared, vanishing into the fog.
He lurched forward as his surroundings shifted.When his eyes refocused on the battlefield, it had changed.
A different forest.Eldrin trees towering high around him rather than the bright Zamyran plants.
A different battle.His arm and chest taking on the brunt of pain rather than his stomach and leg.
A young, feminine scream pierced his ear drums.The curtain of fog billowed around multiple figures, obscuring their features.
Bright red hair shimmered in the dark night.The mist parted for an instant to show him a young, fiery girl, kicking and screaming as she was dragged further away from him.No!His to protect.
Mist swirled to reveal a hulking warrior approaching, hiding the girl from view for a second as he took her from his comrade.Shifting, he lifted a different, now bound child toward a black horse.
Her hair had changed in color to the dark gold of lentha nectar.Not as familiar as the red-haired girl but still his to protect.The thread around his soul that connected her to him pulled tight.She cried out with soft, whimpering screams as she was slung over the horse and secured with the wide bands of a prisoner harness.Her disheveled braid was secured with a leather band that matched the bindings on her wrists and ankles.A black stone bounced against her neck with each jarring movement.
He wrenched forward, stumbling toward the girl, but the shadows wrapped like tendrils around him and held him back.No!His to guard.
He only managed to move his broken body a few feet when the horse carrying the child ran straight toward him, clipping his arm with a deadly crunch as it flew past him.Brown, tear-drenched eyes met his for an instant, piercing his soul with loss as she was taken away.
The wrenching pain pulled him into blackness, young screams and hoofbeats following him into the dark.
Fury,fear,andpainheated Raiden’s blood to a boil.“Need to go.Save her.”He repeated the words over and over as instructions to his mind.
Pain lanced his side as he tried to sit up, his head swimming with images and waves of darkness.Lightning sparked in his chest, pulling at him incessantly.Something was wrong.
“Shh, you’re okay.”Cool hands touched his chest, pinning him in place.
The fiery pull dimmed as he tried to follow it.
“No.She needs me.”He fought to move, to get up, but was pushed back down.“I promised.”
Loud avian squawks made him tense, the woman murmuring to them in response.Fighting to focus, he opened his eyes briefly to glimpse Daya.Behind her were two sets of feathered wings.
“Raiden, stay with me.”
“Can’t,” he panted.“Have to get to her.”
He was burning from the inside out, his lungs heaving with the effort to breathe, let alone speak.
