Page 60 of Wraithwound

“You know what the oath says. I won’t hesitate to protect her from any and every threat,” Cross said.

“I really hope you know what you’re doing, Theron,” Taryk said.

“It’s not your concern⁠—”

The sound of hooves nearing interrupted the tense conversation. She didn’t quite know what to make of it. It wasn’t necessarily what Cross said, but how he said it. It made her insides feel warm, and her heart still.

“We’ve confirmed there’s five of them. The guards at the gate are ready to let you out,” one of the new voices said.

She heard the hooves of horses depart and guessed Cross and Taryk were headed to assist with something at the main gate. She was about to head back to her room when another voice drew her attention.

“Is that Cross Theron?” a soft female voice asked.

To hear a woman asking after Cross stirred something strange inside her.

“Didn’t you see the scalian leathers?” the man asked. Lena’s brow furrowed as she thought back to the creatures in the plains with their thick, stone-like skin.

“Do you think what they say about him is true? That he’s the ‘most effective soulbound to ever exist?’ He doesn’t look old enough to have killed that many wraiths⁠—”

Effective? Lena scoffed. Try unskilled. If they only knew the mighty warrior has almost died twice in the last few weeks.

A furry tail whipped against her leg gently, and Lena looked down to see the eleuth scampering away. She briefly considered staying to listen to what was being said outside the stable gate but followed the eleuth instead.

It led her through a well-lit passageway in the back stocked with extra hay, saddles, mounts, and several shovels. She finally reached a dead end and looked up to see the eleuth clinging to a suspended wooden ladder.

Lena’s skin began to prickle, and she glanced around, making sure she and the eleuth remained undetected. She followed the creature up the ladder to a sort of loft that had been carved into the stone above. A worn chair was the only thing occupying the space, and it faced a circular window that opened to the expanse of the plains beyond. A fine metal grate, reinforced with thick iron bars, had been welded atop it, making it so that nothing could get out. Or in, she realized.

Lena marveled at the construction of the multi-layered window until she realized what it was. Another guard tower of sorts. A way to watch for what might be approaching from the plains opposite the main gate.

The eleuth perched on the chair and used its tail to signal out beyond the window to the plains. Watch, it seemed to say.

Lena turned, scanning the darkness beyond. Without the glow of the aurora, which didn’t appear as bright near Lythara, she had to rely on the moon’s pale light to illuminate the plains. She had just begun to wonder whether she had misunderstood the eleuth’s signal when she saw movement.

Large, night-dark figures ran down the plains. She squinted, trying to make out what they were, and realized they were large, feline adjacent creatures nearly the size of a small horse. They had sleek black coats, perked rounded ears, and a long trail of fur that started on the top of their heads and ran over their backs to their thin, long tails. Their paws were enormous, tipped with claws that glinted like steel in the moonlight.

Could it be they were actually made of steel?

Lena nearly pressed herself against the grate, trying to get a better look at the scene unfolding before her, when a flicker of green light caught her attention. The flicker exploded into a trail of green fire, and a sword emerged from the darkness.

Lena gasped, and before she could wonder, pale violet flames tinged black at the edges erupted from nearby. Cross and Taryk were on the plain.

A cold burst of fear made her legs go weak and stomach lurch. Lena’s hands shot up to the grate. She watched, eyes wide, as four black beasts aimed towards them, closing the distance between man and beast faster than any animal should be able to.

Taryk moved first, riding out to meet the beasts, with his cropped blonde hair reflecting the moonlight as he rode. Cross broke off, riding in the other direction and prompting the beasts to split up. Two continued to race toward Taryk, and two split to head off Cross.

Lena followed the trail of purple fire racing across the plain and sent a silent prayer to the Goddess that Kharon’s strength would endure.

But he didn’t need Kharon to carry him for long. Once he managed a sufficient distance from Taryk, he leapt off his horse. The second his feet hit the ground, he moved. Fire trailed through the darkness in graceful arcs as he worked to keep the beasts that circled him at bay. An unsettling clicking noise echoed through the plains, and she realized the animals were communicating with each other.

Cross kept his head slightly cocked, ensuring he could see both beasts as he slowly turned with them, each step a calculated move.

Then they attacked. Both creatures lunged at him, one extending its claws to swipe at him and the other coming in with teeth. Cross spun, avoiding the metal claws that would have ripped his flesh open. With a slash of the sword, he cut through one of the beast’s legs. A screeching roar pierced the air, but Cross was already moving, plunging his sword through the creature’s open maw.

Goosebumps grew all over Lena’s body as she realized she recognized that roar from the night Cross had stumbled back into their camp and collapsed from blood loss. Had these beasts been hunting them the entire time they’d been crossing the plains? The realization made Lena sick.

A second roar shook Lena out of her thoughts, just in time to see Cross evade the second creature that lunged at him with snapping teeth. He moved beautifully, as if each step was part of a dance that had been ingrained in his soul.

He deflected the metal claws of the second creature once again, managing to keep it at bay. And then it stood. It towered over him on its hind legs, while Cross was forced to forfeit a step, then two.