warrior, pulling him out of the line of fire. A third landed with him, then a fourth.
“Let’s go!” he ordered. “Run and don’t stop. Forget the weapons. Fly when we get back to our landing clearing!”
He ran with them but heard the sound of horses being woken from the camp, mixing in with the rest of the chaos. They reached the clearing before any Elvasi reached them. Zayden was the last in the air, watching his warriors get into the air before following them. They flew hard and fast. Zayden tried not to think about the two bodies he left behind. He couldn’t think about them yet.
When Zayden crash-landed into the valley where they had hidden their horses, he was tackled to the ground.
“Get off me, Mat!” he yelled. “Get off.”
“I thought it was you,” the male whispered, holding him close anyway. “Skies, I thought it was you.”
“I’m not that fucking easy to kill,” he growled. “You know that.”
“Who did we lose?” Mat asked, finally pulling away.
Zayden took the chance to get back on his feet and dust off, glaring at his friend.
“Tekyv and Satien,” he answered finally, sighing. “Tekyv was killed first. Arrow to the eye. They wanted to capture us. Idiots forgot nets, so it was probably a rush decision when they realized we were there. Satien was shot out of the sky as we were leaving.”
“Where’s your sword?” Mat was frowning now, looking him over.
“We left them. I had the group pretend we were surrendering to get the Elvasi to relax just enough for us to jump into the air and start our escape.” Zayden sighed, rubbing his face. “Could have gone better.”
“Could have gone worse,” Mat countered. “We’ll say a prayer for Tekyv and Satien at our next rest spot. We won’t be able to recover their bodies.”
“We never can,” Zayden whispered. Mat thumped his shoulder and started moving. Zayden watched him get to his own horse, then realized everyone was watching him and had heard the entire conversation. That wasn’t a bad thing, but it made him feel guilty. He’d lost two. Mat had gotten out with everyone, but he had lost two in a sloppy capture attempt by Elvasi.
He pulled himself onto his horse, sad he didn’t have his sword on him anymore, but he still had a dagger. He tried to think about the sword because it was easier than thinking about the two warriors.
Should have gone off without a problem, Skies damn it.
He knew the two warriors who were gone would be welcomed with open arms by Kristanya in the afterlife. He knew they would be given a warrior’s welcome by her, or so said their beliefs.
He rode beside Mat, and they pushed their horses to get them out of the valley and farther away from the Elvasi. As they came over the top of the small hill that marked the edge, Zayden felt chills run down his spine at the screech of a gryphon.
He knew that sound all too well, and it was all too close.
“Someone, tell me that was a wild gryphon,” Kick said, gruff and anxious at the same time. Zayden recognized a little of himself in it.
“Let’s fucking hope—”
A hunting horn sounded and echoed off the surrounding mountains—another screech, then another.
“I didn’t see any fucking gryphons in the camp,” Mat snapped. “Ride. Everyone ride!”
Zayden spurred his horse on, looking over his shoulder.
“Neither did I. Do you think they were patrolling and just missed us while we hit them? Did we really get that lucky?”
“Apparently, and I’m blaming this on you, asshole. You had to mention the fucking gryphon riders, and here they are!” Mat yelled and pushed his horse to start in a hard gallop, passing everyone and taking the lead, making a path for everyone with his charge.
Zayden couldn’t argue. He had astoundingly bad luck sometimes. It always paired with freakishly good luck. Finding the maps of Lothen’s plans and having to fight for his life to get out of that camp. Finding out Rain and Alchan were fucking, but also getting the female of his dreams as his wife.
Now, he had successfully snuck by a gryphon rider unit, only for the riders to track them down.
Sounds like a normal mission for me. Tell me, Goddess Kristanya, what did I ever do to deserve this? What have I done to incur the wrath of the black dragon?
They rode hard, barreling through the trees, but it wasn’t enough. Another screech told them they were being followed. He looked