Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,10
knew there would be no magic at his call. Depleted first by Aida’s chaotic plundering and with no rest since, the wellspring of power within him was as dry as his homeland.
The sensation of being watched grew stronger. Eerie yet familiar, it was the same as he’d felt in the dungeon—a vicious thing that tormented a tiny Omega, leaving her with wounds so deep in her flesh only an old, forgotten magic could heal it. Thumb sliding over the gleaming edge of the blade, Er’it murmured a prayer beseeching the Hat’or. His blood dripped down the warming metal in shimmering threads only to spatter dead and lifeless on the forest duff crushed under his feet.
Cloud bright and floating through the darkness, Kal thundered toward Er’it, braying and rumbling. His hooves kicked up the fetid ground in rank clumps to explode into the air. Coat shimmering with a light all its own, the Phylix stormed through the narrow space between Er’it and the trees, large teeth snapping, rending the sooty shadows. Shredding the night, he trumpeted it down around their heads.
Then he stood, sides heaving with hoarse bellows of air he sucked in with lips curled back, showing the glistening whites of his fangs to the remaining murky twilight dwindling back through the trees. It left the forest dim but not bathed in pitch, letting Er’it see the twisted, gnarled branches soaring over them, all of them reaching with ugly fingers and ill-spotted greenery. There was no trace of the lush and verdant land they had crossed through until now.
“Shall our debt be repaid, then?” Er’it asked Kal, knees loose as relief swam through him. Leaning into the still tense Phylix to rub his cheek against Kal’s velvety shoulder, Er’it’s laugh was little more than a ragged croak when Kal huffed a sigh in reply.
Keeping a hand on Kal’s muscled neck, Er’it stood back to gain his bearings. No longer adrift in a sea of charcoal and ash, he saw the path clear as day. Reminded that the others lay far enough behind that he could no longer hear them, or at least behind a wall of magic silencing them, he didn’t doubt Ath’asho threw a fit of temper worse than a mother hen.
“We have to go back for them, Kal.”
Kal pricked his ears forward then back, shaking out the tangles in his mane before he began a slow walk forward. Heading down the path winding through the trees, he walked farther into the forest and away from their friends and allies.
“Kal, they can’t get through without you.” Er’it jogged to catch up, muttering a string of curses under his breath as he realized Kal had gotten his way whether or not Er’it liked it. “Fine, but I’m telling Ath’asho this was all your fault.”
Kal made a sound reminiscent of a horse’s nicker, a subterranean chuckle as he paused and bumped his shoulder against Er’it in a wordless invitation for him to mount Kal’s back.
“No running. I haven’t ridden bareback in too long.” Grunting with the strain, Er’it hauled himself up then collapsed over Kal’s neck, gripping the thick locks of his mane to stay astride. With a groan, he admitted to the Phylix what he would not to another human. “I should have stopped. Rested. At least eaten something.”
Kal snorted and eased back into his slow walk, waiting for Er’it to gain his balance before edging into a swift lope that made the stands of trees whirl by in a drunken swerve. Nose tipped to the air, Kal followed something only he could sense. Not a scent, even a Phylix wasn’t a hound to track that way. Something else lured him on, showing him the way to go despite the indistinct path. Seemingly veering off track all too often, Kal picked up speed as he became more certain of his direction.
“We agreed no running, Kal,” Er’it hissed, holding on as tight as he dared while being jostled hard enough to make his teeth rattle around in his head.
Kal ignored him, as he was wont to do. The feathery strands of mane and tail flew out behind him as he raced along, snapping in an unseen wind, pennants of focus and determination. Ears swiveling to catch the slightest hint of a sound, it was only when Kal bared his teeth and trumpeted a challenge that Er’it’s concern overwhelmed his trust.
As soon as it began, it was over once more. Kal broke into a run, dodging the looming shapes that sped by