yelped, eyes screwed shut. Sharp pain sparked above his right eyebrow and he lost his balance, dangling helplessly from the harness and leg straps, feet kicking Arrow’s beating wings in a frantic search of the stirrups. Arrow roared and tried to adjust with Kalai as dead weight on his back. Gunshots tore the air. Kalai didn’t know which way was up. The world spun around him. His hands found the front of the saddle and he clung on tight, Leyra’s roar and Tauran’s shout of “Pull up!” breaking through the noise.
Arrow reacted before Kalai could, ascending higher, out of range of the creature’s jaws snapping closed in the air below them. Kalai blinked, something warm and wet blurring his vision. When he rubbed his eye with the back of his hand, it came away bright red. Gasping, he looked around. They were up high, leaning sideways as Arrow circled the scene, nervous rumbles vibrating the insides of Kalai’s calves.
Leyra’s sharp cry made Kalai twist the other way, Arrow protesting at the shift of balance. Leyra was on the ground, the massive, eel-like creatures writhing in the water around her. A splash. Kalai’s horse threw itself into the muddy pool in a frantic panic. Its scream when the giant eel dug its teeth into its body tore at Kalai and he turned his gaze away, searching for Tauran in the chaos.
“Tauran!” Kalai shouted. His grip turned white-knuckled on the saddle. “Arrow, down!”
CHAPTER 33
The creatures burst from the surrounding water with a sound like an explosion. Tauran had no time to react. His horse darted forward in fear, and Tauran let go of Kalai’s horse to keep himself in the saddle. He swore, yanking the reins to keep his horse away from the water and the creatures moving around him.
“Leyra!” He barked, twisting around. His horse tossed its head and nearly tripped, forcing Tauran’s attention forward. “Leyra, come!”
A canvas of white extended in front of him, Arrow hovering in the air. Arrow kicked his legs, jaws and eyes wide with fear as the creature on the right turned its attention to him. Tauran drew his pistol, aimed and fired.
“Pull up!” Tauran shouted, Arrow reacting just in time to evade the creature’s snapping jaws.
The beasts were massive, snakelike, with jaws full of long, thin teeth. Their eyes were milky gray, shifting in the sockets of the beast just cheated of a meal as it turned its attention to Tauran. Tauran couldn’t see the other creature, and he couldn’t see Leyra, both facts turning the blood cold in his veins.
“This way, fucker!” he snarled, kicking his horse to move faster. If he could keep even one of them off Leyra, maybe she would have a chance. He released the reins with one hand, aimed and fired again at the glistening barrel of the creature’s body.
The creature shrieked, the sound like metal grinding stone, tearing at Tauran’s ears. Tauran’s horse panted, racing across the soggy ground, faster and faster—
The creature burst from the water and flung itself across Tauran’s path, its giant body hitting the ground and blocking his escape. It was too late to stop. The horse’s hooves skidded, the animal whinnying in fear as they collided with the creature.
The horse fell. Tauran pushed away from it, scrambling to free himself, but not fast enough. The stirrup caught on his left foot and he cried out when the full weight of the horse came down on his leg, the saddle horn digging into the side of his knee with such force he thought the bones might break for the second time in his life. Just as fast, the horse was on its feet, yanking Tauran’s foot from the stirrup. The horse jumped head-first into the water, but the creature didn’t see it. It raised its head, round milky eyes focused on Tauran sprawled on the narrow path, his escape cut off by the slimy section of its body. Tauran reached for his pistol, drew, aimed and fired. The pistol gave a damning click. Empty.
Deep, gurgling pops bubbled from the creature’s throat as it centered in on him, head raised like a cobra ready to strike. Gooey strings of drool spilled from between its teeth when it opened its jaws and struck.
Leyra’s body hit the side of the creature’s head with a sound of crushing bone. Wings flapping, she dragged its head onto the pathway, the creature’s snake-like body writhing as it screamed, its head locked in Leyra’s vice-like jaws. The creature was six times