Riders (Riders, #1)(94)

He leapt forward in a thrust of sheer power, dead ahead.

Right into a wall of fire.

I did everything I could to wrap Daryn up with my body, my armor, all of me as Riot thundered through the heart of the fire. The world went bright orange, then white. A high, piercing sound filled my ears. Was that Daryn screaming? Even with my armor, my legs began to heat up, scalding, but worse by far was the feeling of Daryn’s fingers digging into my ribs in pain. Hot went to searing. Then we went past searing and I wondered if I’d pushed too far.

Then we punched through, into open grass. Into cool dark night.

I reined Riot in and we came to a stop. Then I prayed the next few moments wouldn’t destroy me.

“Tell me you’re okay.”

Daryn was trembling in my arms. “I’m okay.”

She peeled away from me and slid out of the saddle. As she landed, she sucked in a breath and her right foot came off the ground.

I dismounted. “Where are you hurt?”

As I came to stand in front of her, a smell hit me. My stomach seized when I realized what it was. A wound spread over her calf. Red and raw at the center, charred around the edges. I couldn’t look away from it.

Was it from Riot? Had Riot and I done that? Or had the fire?

It shouldn’t matter—she was hurt. She was hurt.

But it mattered. I wanted to know—had I done that?

Focus. Next step.

“You need to get somewhere safe. You need a doctor.”

She nodded tightly. “I’ll go to Isabel.”

My gaze went to the trail that led back to the tourist station. The Seeker. Daryn’s friend would help.

Riot pounded the earth with his hoof. His eyes were bright, ferocious, and fire curled all over him. He looked how I felt.

“He wants to go back,” Daryn said. “You want to go back.”

I wanted to be everywhere. With her. Back in the fight.

“I can get down the mountain, Gideon. You have to go back.”

“The key’s around your neck, Daryn. They’ll track you down.”

“No. They won’t.” She lifted the chain over her head and dropped it around my neck. “It’s no different. You’ve been protecting it all along.”

I nodded, agreeing. I had Riot. I could fight to defend the key. And by taking possession of it, I’d take the heat away from her so she could get to Isabel. It was the least bad option.

I told her how to reach Cory at Fort Benning. “Tell him you’re with me. Tell him we’re in a live, hostile situation and that we need to get airlifted out of here. Have him pull our location up on a satellite.” Cory was smart. He’d go to the right people.

I knew I was breaking this thing wide open but we were losing. We needed all the help we could get. And I wanted Daryn out of there. As far and as fast as possible.

“I will,” Daryn said, as she backed away. “I’ll call him, Gideon. I know they’ll come.” She hesitated. “I’ll see you,” she said. Then she ran.… She ran into the darkness, her stride hampered by the burn on her leg.

I swung into the saddle. Riot and I folded right into fire and shot back to the battle zone. Back into madness. As we reached it, I searched for Marcus, but I didn’t spot him. I didn’t see Sebastian, either. Mounted on Lucent and firing bright arrows, Jode was easier to find.

He was in a standoff with the fire demon. Pyro had taken cover behind a cluster of rocks. Jode’s arrows were keeping him pinned there, but Jode had the hordes to contend with, too.

Riot and I formed up behind Pyro at a full gallop. Jode spotted me and immediately withheld fire. Pyro popped up, thinking he had an opening.

Mistake.

I swung the sword with everything I had but Riot’s power did most of the work, cleaving the demon in half.

That was one. Six more to go.

Riot and I kept on, picking the monsters off, but they never ended. There were always more and I saw why. The smaller scorpions rolled off Ronwae’s body like marbles, and then grew steadily in size. And the gruesome humps on Bay’s thick fur came off, like grizzly amoebas, forming into her mutated replicas.

Time took on a bizarre quality. I saw flashes of Marcus’s scythe swinging in wide arcs. Jode and Lucent, at the center of a hail of bright arrows. Every second felt isolated, clear as a picture. Every instant was endless. I was in a fog. I was in the smoke and spatter of war, fighting to live. Nothing had ever felt more distant and real.

Nearby, Jode nocked an arrow, swung to the left, and fired. Behind me—almost on me—one of the smaller scorpions scuttled through shrubs, snapping branches.

I didn’t have to tell Riot to go after it—he went.

The creature was fast on its six skittering legs, but Riot and I shifted and made up ground, re-forming as we came even. The scorpion let out a shriek as it saw us, and its stinger lashed down. Riot surged to the side, dodging, then let out a roar and responded with a burst of power, his legs and mane lighting up.

We came up on it, drawing closer. Close enough. I firmed my hands on my sword, reached up, and buried the blade in its armor.

The scorpion veered sharply. My elbows slammed straight, my shoulders almost tearing out of their sockets. I flew off the saddle, and my knees smashed into the ground, then I was dragging along beside it.

The creature jerked left and right, trying to toss me as I hung on to the sword buried in its side, trying to get my feet under me. Trying not to get trampled. The skin on my palms ripped as my grip slipped. I couldn’t hold on much longer.