“MAVE!” Emerian screamed. He reached for her, trying to pull her up. Kian took a defensive position as she tried to keep moving, using Emerian to help her up. Once she was on her feet, her nemari forced her to keep moving. She struggled for every step, but she wasn’t dead yet.
I’m not ready to die, Kristanya. You won’t get me this easily, Skies damn it.
They didn’t move fast enough. Mave turned to see Kian taking up the rear, an arrow now firmly embedded into his shoulder.
“Run without me,” she ordered. “Go. I can find a way out.”
“No,” he growled. “No, we’re not talking like that. They’re struggling to keep up in the underbrush. It’s going to be fine. We’ll get there.”
“Yeah, don’t talk like that. We’ll make it out,” Emerian said, readjusting his hold. He brought her arm over his shoulder and half carried her as she tried to keep moving her feet. He was pushing to move faster, and she was unable to keep up. Her broken wing was now dragging on the ground.
They splashed through a stream, and Mave saw it run red, her head spinning as the blood loss and pain started to hit her and take hold.
“Emerian, take this,” Kian ordered, holding out a bag. Emerian used his free hand to grab whatever it was and flung it over his shoulder.
Some Elvasi were catching up on them. Mave could hear them and tried to stop to fight, but Emerian kept moving.
“Kian?” he asked frantically.
“We’ll make it,” the warrior snarled. “Don’t worry. You’ll get out of here alive, young buck.”
“They’re coming,” she said, a gasp ending her words as pain ran through her. Her wing clipped a small tree.
“I know,” Kian said softly.
They didn’t make it to the cliff before another skirmish. Mave turned to see four horseback riders coming fast down a game trail. They must have taken the long route, but they knew the valley well enough to make it work. They had prepared this ambush well. They had time to prepare this ambush.
“Emerian, get Mave to the cliffside and fly her up. Set the charge to blow just the way we were trained to. That will give both of you time to leave and stop anyone from continuing the chase,” Kian said, turning his back on them. “Go…Now.”
“No,” Mave snarled, finding the energy to pull away from Emerian. “No, Kian. You are not—”
“I can’t fly. Emerian can, but he can only get one of us up before the other is overrun. That’s going to be you. You are going to get out,” Kian snapped, not turning to look at her. Every second they wasted, the Elvasi on horseback drew closer. “It has to be you. It’s been an honor to be your father. This is what parents do, Mave. We die for our children. I won’t stand by and watch another child of mine die, so I’m going to hold them off, and you are going to leave. Emerian, take care of my daughter. Get her home. I don’t care how much she fights you. Protect her with your fucking life, do you understand?”
“Yes sir,” Emerian said, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I swear on the skies to get her home.”
Mave fought. She screamed. She wasn’t going to let this happen. Emerian only continued to drag her away, forcing her to keep moving. Uninjured, she would have taken him. She could have killed him and gone to her father. Kian could go home. He was going to be a new father soon.
“NO!” she roared. “KIAN, NO! BABA!”
Soon, he was out of sight. She heard him roar and begin his fight.
Emerian dragged her all the way to the cliffside with her fighting every step. She knew Kian would put up a hell of a fight. He would take down a dozen of them before he fell.
“There’s still time,” she said, breaking his hold. She could hear the distant sound of steel hitting and a fight happening. “There’s still time!”
“No, Mave!” He grabbed her again. A roar made them both look up. This time, it was cut short, and with it, Mave’s heart was sliced in two and left bleeding—broken. She felt something die inside of her. She fell to her knees. “There’s no time,” he said softly. “We need to go.”
She was paralyzed. There were no more sounds of fighting in the distance, only the steady beat of footsteps coming their direction.