I would die first.
But I’m not alone in my desperation. Maxim and Stellen won’t let me escape without a fight. They need the Oracle as badly as I do.
Risking a glance behind me, I make out Maxim racing toward his serpent and leaping onto its back. It’s already rising into the air when his feet leave the ground, and within seconds, he’s soaring after me.
Across the way and to my right, I make out the white bodies of four giant wolves racing past the edge of the village and into the open, heading toward the mountains.
It’s the only way out of here.
I once made the mistake of believing Frost wolves could never match my eagle’s speed. After all, a flying creature will always beat a beast running on the ground.
Not those fucking wolves.
They run faster than any other land animal and can reach immense heights when they leap into the air.
Stellen has split up from his people, his wolf faster and stronger, already scaling the side of the mountain I’m approaching.
Icy spears strike past me, shooting up from beneath my eagle and to my right, driving me further into Stellen’s path.
No doubt he’ll plan his attack for the nearest mountain peak. His people will use their icy spears to force my eagle low enough for his wolf to leap into the air and take us down.
What’s more, Maxim will let it happen.
His serpent soars after my eagle, turning when my eagle turns, rising when my eagle rises, keeping a short distance between us while mirroring my path.
He can’t use his power, or he’ll risk burning the Oracle, so he’ll stay on us, let us go down when Stellen’s wolf grabs us, andthenhe’ll come after us. He won’t be afraid of the fight that will inevitably follow.
Fuck that.
Banking slightly right and soaring dangerously low, I watch carefully as Lilis and her men rally for another barrage of icy projectiles. I can practically see Lilis’s cruel smile. She must think I’m getting desperate, or that I don’t see their plan.
A flurry of ice rages toward me.
At the last moment, I lean left, and my eagle responds instantly, wrenching us up and into the clear air.
Maxim’s serpent flies directly into the path of the ice. His reflexes are as fast as mine. Flames ignite behind us, and, at the corner of my eye, the icy spears evaporate into nothing.
A firebolt forms in Maxim’s hand.
It shrieks through the air, directly at Lilis and her men.
They scatter before it hits the ground, sending rivers of lava chasing after them.
I can’t help my smile. Maxim must be fucking fed up right now if his fire isthathot.
My grin vanishes as my eagle soars up the side of the mountain. We’re dangerously low, and I’ve lostsight of Stellen’s wolf. We’re no longer in his original path, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t change course…
The white beast appears out of nowhere, leaping from the edge of the mountain, its claws raking the air and its teeth gnashing at my eagle’s exposed right side.
My bird screeches and jolts to the left, wildly beating his wings as the wolf flies past. But the white beast isn’t my greatest concern.
Stellen leaps from the wolf’s back right into the air, one of his white-bladed swords striking neatly toward the exposed side of my face where my armor was burned off.
It’s a perfect killing strike.
His long blade will slice right through my head, right through my skull, killing me without harming the Oracle. He will catch her before my dead body falls…
At that exact moment, the Oracle changes her position.
