A Warrior s Desire - By Pamela Palmer Page 0,53

of those who'd died there were flying around him, screaming at him, flaying him with their silent fear.

But the pounding of the Esri horses had been growing steadily louder.

Beside him, Tarrys ran, her hair whipping back, her face a mask of concentration and determination.

If she was terrified, and she had to be, she didn't show it.

His admiration for her tripled.

Her body might be small and delicate-looking, but there was nothing delicate about the size of her heart or the strength of her spirit.

He couldn't have asked for a better companion.

He glanced at Tarrys.

"Are these horses like I think of horses, or another strange Esri creature? "They're from your world," she told him breathlessly.

He threw her a confused glance.

"My world? Fifteen centuries ago?" "Their sires were.

Humans can't breed here.

The Esri tried often enough.

But your horses can."

"Damn.

I should have brought my gun."

"You would kill a horse?" "I'll kill anything I have to in order to keep us alive and unenslaved.

An arrow between the eyes will do it, Tarrys.

You can't be soft."

She threw him a look of such affront it made him smile.

"I'm not soft."

"You're not, I agree.

There's no one I'd rather have by my side right now."

Her expression turned skeptical.

"I mean it."

A look of wonder warmed her eyes.

"Truly?" He nodded once.

"Truly."

As she turned to face forward, he caught a glimpse of her smile and he thought his affection for her might swallow him whole.

They were in a shallow valley, which hid them from their pursuers for now.

Or rather, hid their pursuers from them.

The Esri knew exactly where he was.

He thought he could make out the distinct sound of four animals.

Maybe five.

"How large is the king's stable?" "I've heard there are five."

"Just five? In all of Esria? " "They breed here, but not easily."

"Then it sounds like they've sent them all.

They'll be coming from the right.

We should be able to see them when we crest this ridge coming up."

They were still close to a mile from the forest's edge.

What he wouldn't give for a car about now.

Or a tank.

Never breaking stride, Tarrys pulled her bow off her shoulder, grabbed an arrow and cocked it.

His tiny dancer had turned into Robin Hood.

Robin Hood in a Friar Tuck robe.

How she ran in that thing was beyond him, but she didn't seem to be tiring any more than he was.

Then again, fear was a powerful energizer.

For both of them.

As they crested the hill, the riders appeared in the distance, five men, white as ghosts, dressed in the requisite silver tunics, black pants and cloaks of the Royal Guard.

At the rate they were traveling, the Esri would be on them long before they reached the woods.

"If they take me down, Tarrys, keep moving.

You can hide out in the forest until they're gone."

The look she threw him was pure determination coated with acceptance and unhappiness.

"I'll find the princess.

Your mission will become mine."

Her eyes flashed.

"But don't you dare give up, yet."

He grinned at her.

"Not a chance."

As the Esri neared, he caught his first good look at their horses.

My God.

Their heads were misshapen, their snouts too short and slanted upward, and they didn't have a bit of hair.

No manes, no tail except a bony-looking stump.

One of the creatures appeared to be jet- black, but the rest all had flesh of a pinkish-white.

They were, without a doubt, the ugliest animals he'd ever seen.

"Those things are not horses," he muttered.

Horselike creatures from some horror story, maybe.

"Shoot them, Tarrys.

Take them out of their misery."

She threw him a quick look of amusement.

"I'd rather take the Esri out of theirs."

As she spoke, she started firing arrow after arrow.

True to her word, he watched her arrows pierce the eyes of the Esri.

Shouts of pain echoed over the field as three of the five lost their seats and crashed to the ground, their mounts scattering.

"Nice shots!" Charlie crowed.

But the other two guards kept their heads and their seats.

As if choreographed, the pair reached up and pulled the arrows out of their eyes at almost the same moment, tossing them aside.

Tarrys released another volley, all three going through the face of one man, knocking him to the ground.

"Nice job."

Tarrys nodded, but there was no triumph in her expression.

"I'm out of arrows."

Hell.

The fallen guards were already on their feet, running toward the forest to cut them off.

Keeping immortals down was an impossible task, no matter how many arrows you had.

Interestingly, each of the guards carried a bow and quiver of his own.

"They're not shooting at us.

Maybe they don't realize I'm human."

"Perhaps the king has ordered you brought back alive."

Her