“Salem,” I agreed, nabbed the skirt, tugged it on, grabbed the vest, shrugged it on then bent and snatched up my belt. I wrapped it around my waist on the run and saw that Noctorno had already disappeared.
I fled the space and saw him saddling Salem.
“In there,” he jerked his head to the space where the wood was kept. “Arm yourself.”
Arm myself?
I skidded to a halt three feet away from him. “With what?” I asked stupidly.
“It doesn’t matter,” he answered curtly, cinching the strap under Salem’s proud chest. “Just as long as it’s sharp and you can wield it.”
“Right,” I whispered, ran to that space, snatched a lethal looking knife off the wall and ran back out.
When I arrived, Salem was saddled, a sword in a scabbard at his left side. Noctorno put his hands to my waist, hefted me up, wasted no time swinging in behind me and this was good.
Really good.
For I learned what all the fuss was about.
Vickrants.
Everywhere.
Their near transparent wings flapping hideously, their claws reaching, their scaly skin glistening, they were filling the cave.
“Hee-yah!” Noctorno barked as he dug his heels in, Salem’s mighty flanks bunched and we bolted out the mouth of the cave, vickrants following in a swarm. “Home, Salem,” Noctorno yelled over the wind rushing in our ears and the branches slapping at our bodies, vickrants darting through the trees and making passes at us, so close, I could feel their vile, cold, leathery wings and smell their stench.
Yikes. I forgot their stench.
Fetid. Hideous.
“Take the reins,” Noctorno commanded, extending them to me.
“What?” I cried.
“Take the reins,” he repeated.
“I don’t know how to steer a horse!” I yelled.
“Take the bloody reins, Cora!”
I took the reins.
He immediately pulled the sword out of the scabbard and with one arm locked around me holding me tight to the safety of his body, the other one struck out with powerful swings and blue sparks and sharp hisses met his blows.
A smaller vickrant landed on Salem’s neck, claws digging in, the horse screamed his fury but kept charging ever onward through the dangerous rock and scrub. Noctorno was busy swinging so I leaned forward with my knife, lifted it high and stabbed at the foul creature. Blue sparks flew back into my face, the thing shrieked and fell away.
Whoa.
I did it.
I did it!
So I decided to do it some more.
Okay, so I clearly wasn’t as gifted with a knife as was evidenced by the practiced swings and thrusts that Noctorno performed with his sword but it didn’t matter. When he was swinging right, I concentrated on anything that got close on the left. Same with his left, I went right. When he was circling his sword overhead, anything went.
The creatures shrieked, yelped, sparks flew and this happened not only from the shaft of Noctorno’s sword but the sharp blade I carried.