up to see one soar over his head, going over double the speed of their horses.
“How?” a warrior yelled in frustration and shock.
“Gryphons are aerial predators,” Kick answered. “Elvasi know how to use it.”
They burst into a clearing, and Zayden pulled his horse to follow Mat as he cut to the left. A screech, a horse’s neigh, and a scream right behind him had him kicking his horse to move faster.
All I have is a fucking dagger. I can’t take them in a fight right now.
“Ride harder!” Mat roared from the front.
It wasn’t enough. Two more riders swooped down into the clearing, and Zayden was knocked from his horse, sent flying as talons tore open his shoulder. He pulled out his dagger as he tried to get up, knowing his horse was either dead or running for its life. He blinked, trying to clear his vision as he moved, heading for the closest treeline he could see. A horse ran up beside him, and Kick was suddenly at his side, throwing an arm around his waist.
“Don’t stop,” the old male ordered. “Don’t stop. Keep going. We can get into the trees.”
“Your horse, you idiot,” Zayden growled, looking for where it went.
“Fuck the horse.”
Zayden and Kick kept moving, breaking through the treeline and into the underbrush. Before Zayden could let out a relieved breath, he was shoved to the side. Mat was there, his sword drawn, staring down the gryphon riders in the field. Zayden tried to count who was dead and who was alive, but he couldn’t get a good idea. Mat was with him, and so was the older male, Kick.
“What the fuck are we going to do?” the old male asked, staring down their enemies as the Elvasi let their gryphons gorge on horse meat while the riders stared down the Andinna.
“If we run, they’ll chase,” Zayden whispered.
“And they know they’ll catch us, which is why they’re letting the gryphons have a snack,” Mat said, panting.
“Where the hell is your horse?” Zayden asked, a little pissed that both of them lost their way out of this.
“Jumped off it behind you, and it probably already ran off.”
“Fuck. You could have made it back to her.”
“Not without you,” Mat hissed. “Don’t be fucking stupid.”
“Both of you boys need to stop bitching at each other and start thinking of a way to get us out of this mess,” Kick growled. “Do you think anyone else made it out of the clearing?”
“No idea. There are four gryphon riders in front of us, but they normally run in larger groups. Who knows where the others are at this point? Hopefully, running for their lives and not getting eaten.” Mat sounded stressed, not that Zayden could fault him. “Let’s just walk away slowly. Maybe we can bait them into getting to a place where we can kill them.”
Zayden looked down at his dagger and sighed. It wasn’t a good option, but it was the best one they had.
They had gone from over a dozen to three.
They began to back away, and one of the Elvasi laughed. It was Kick who was brave enough to turn his back on them and start running first.
“They want to play with us,” Zayden pointed out as the Elvasi didn’t follow.
“Then we need to win.” Mat thumped his shoulder as they ran. They went deep into the trees, not paying attention to the direction. They jumped a river, using their wings to catch the air, and kept moving. Zayden’s arm began to throb, and his vision went blurry again. He wobbled once, bumping to Mat, who grabbed his arm silently. There was no way they could stop and look at his shoulder, not yet or probably any time soon.
They finally had to stop as the sun was beginning to drop again.
“We need to stop and rest,” Mat said, panting hard. “Why haven’t they followed us yet?”
“Maybe they have orders to stay near their camp?” Kick offered, shrugging. “We need to look at that.” He pointed at Zayden.
Zayden didn’t reply for a moment. He found a large rock and leaned against it, panting while he tried to keep his eyes open. He found himself staring at Mat, who had brotherly concern written all over his face.
“It’s not fatal,” he finally explained. “The bleeding slowed down and stopped while we ran. I’m woozy, but I’m not dying. Thank the Skies for being Andinna.”
“Yeah…” Mat walked to him and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Anything else?”