Emberhawk - Jamie Foley Page 0,35
to wrench its tail free.
Ryon shifted and slammed his machete down on a thick joint, where hairy foot met spidery leg. It cleaved straight through, shearing the foot off.
The d’hakka screamed in tandem with the pain in Ryon’s shoulder. He gritted his teeth and swiveled his blade to hack at another leg, but the d’hakka skittered back up into the tree. It raced away from him as fast as a branch runner, vanishing into the distant darkness.
The forest fell silent aside from Ryon’s own panting. The trees waved the nightmare goodbye, and everything stilled.
Ryon gritted his teeth at the inferno in his wound. The sight of the creature fleeing should have given him hope, but it filled him with dread. D’hakka weren’t known to abandon their quarry, especially after landing a sting.
A wave of exhaustion slammed into Ryon in defiance of the energy coursing through him. It used the sedative, not the poison. And combined with the fadeleaf . . . He cursed himself. Cursed Felix.
“Are you okay?” Kira called.
Ryon opened his mouth to respond, but his tongue felt like loose tar in his mouth. His blade slipped from his grip without his permission and thumped to the ground. His knees melted and sent him face first into the earth.
The forest twisted and swayed. No . . . she can’t fight it alone . . . His own thoughts felt distant, as if they’d been carried away on the gentle night breeze.
A face appeared before him, dark and flawless with eyes as blue as the second moon. Kira’s expression was etched with worry, and she cried something he couldn’t discern.
“Run,” he choked out as the darkness embraced him.
16
KIRALAU
Kira stared down at Ryon in horror as his eyes fluttered closed. He relaxed into the earth with an oddly peaceful expression.
She lowered an ear to his lips and pressed a hand into his neck. He still breathed, and his pulse was strong.
Did he say run? She grabbed his good shoulder and shook him. “Ryon!” I told him not to take that bleeding fadeleaf!
He didn’t respond.
Was he stung? Shuddering with excess energy, Kira clenched her hands into fists to steady them. Her ankle throbbed from her descent from the oak, but the rest of her basked in victory. We just fought off a d’hakka!
Click, click, click.
Kira looked up in the direction the d’hakka had disappeared. Multifaceted eyes gleamed as the eight-legged creature raced toward her, unhindered by a severed limb.
Gods, no. Panic flew her into the woods, hobbling like a maimed doe. She’d already lost one throwing knife, which had been as harmless as a feather against the creature’s armor. Please, no!
The sound of its legs scurrying through the trees stopped, and Kira dared to glance over her shoulder. The creature was on the ground, leering over Ryon with half an arrow sticking out of one eye and a front leg dripping something dark onto Ryon’s still form. It made a soft chittering noise as it used its other legs to lift Ryon’s limp body up and ease him onto its flat armored back.
Kira’s heart pounded so hard she feared it would burst. It only wants him? Ryon’s injured arm flopped across the d’hakka’s back as it situated him. Maybe it can’t carry both of us . . .
She watched in disbelief as the creature slowly turned to the nearest oak. It held Ryon with two long, thin legs and began to ascend.
Kira held her breath. It seemed content to leave without her. She was free. Free of Ryon and of this close call with death. She could just wait until it left and run home with Ryon’s weapons and her brace.
The brace that he’d made for her. And the herbs that he’d given her, even though he’d clearly needed them more to stave off infection for his wound.
The wound that she’d caused him.
She couldn’t let this happen to Ryon—not to anyone. She wouldn’t wish this on her worst enemy.
The d’hakka moved much more slowly with its prize on its back. Its legs twitched carefully from limb to limb, easing away from their tattered campsite while clicking as if in pain.
Kira urged one foot in front of the other, even as everything inside her head screamed along with her abused ankle. She found Ryon’s bow and one of his many arrows. She nocked it and lifted the white feathers to her chin. The design was different from her father’s bow, but she could wield it just the same.
I could hit Ryon. Her arms