Riders (Riders, #1)(95)

A flare of flames came up fast on my right—it was Riot, gone to fire. He flew a tight circle around the creature. It screamed and screeched to a halt. Then its body rocked up, rising like a boat on a swell. I knew what was coming before I saw the stinger whip down.

I released my sword, dropped, and rolled beneath the scorpion’s body—the only safe place around. The stinger struck the spot where I’d just been, driving into the dirt. I saw it lash back up. Then I heard a sharp crack as the scorpion’s underbelly shuddered above me.

Stupid thing had stung itself—and I was underneath it.

Tucking my arms, I rolled to my left as fast as I could. Not fast enough. A huge weight collapsed onto my leg. I felt a sharp jerk in my knee and pain shot up my thigh. I tried to free myself, but the scorpion weighed a thousand pounds, at least, and my foot was too far beneath it.

Riot thundered up, nostrils flared, his entire body blazing. One look at the frenzy in his eyes and I knew he didn’t understand. He thought the scorpion was hurting me, which it was. But his answer was to slam his hooves into the creature’s armor.

“Whoa, Riot!” I yelled. “Riot, no!”

He kept going, every stamp cracking the creature’s thick shell into a mash as he worked closer to where my foot was trapped. He was going to crush my leg.

Marcus ran up. He took Riot’s reins and pulled him back. I collapsed on the dirt, needing a second to absorb the relief. My own horse had almost maimed me. Marcus came back and stood over me.

“What did you go and do, Blake?” With a tug, he withdrew my sword and slid it beneath the creature’s body, leveraging the weight off my leg.

As I rolled up, climbing to my feet, I felt a strain on the outside of my knee. My eyes burned. My throat was raw. A dull, muted ring sounded in my ears.

“Where’s Sebastian?” I asked.

The fires around the bluff seemed to be losing some intensity.

“Not here,” Marcus said. “It wasn’t him before. It was Malaphar. Samrael was bluffing.”

“Yeah, but where is he?” I focused in on the signals from the cuff. Bas didn’t feel close.

Marcus’s gaze fell to the key around my neck. “Where’s Daryn?”

“Getting help.”

Nearby, Jode fired at one of Bay’s beasts as it tore out of the darkness, making a charge our way. Half the creature’s thick gut disappeared, incinerated. It toppled to the earth and released a final yelp of agony.

Across the clearing Bay threw her head back and let out a roar. Her hordes immediately responded, flowing around her as they plunged through a gap in the fires, disappearing into the night. Ronwae and her multiples scurried after, and the battleground began to clear.

Were they going after Daryn? Why would they? She didn’t have the key anymore. It was around my neck. The Kindred were drawn to its power—so they’d come after me.

At the center of the clearing where Bas had stood with Samrael, I saw a familiar whirl of darkness. Shadow formed up. She looked right at Marcus and me as she reared, letting out a desperate braying sound; then she took off, disappearing on the trail heading down the mountain.

Fear speared into my veins as Marcus and I mounted up and put our horses on a tear after her. Jode fell in with us, none of us saying a word.

We were doing exactly what the Kindred wanted. The key thudded against my chest as I rode, drumming right against my heart. But it was Sebastian. We had to find him.

We rode down the trail we’d walked a hundred times over the past few weeks. The fires receded as we left the bluff behind and descended to the river’s edge. The darkness grew thicker and I knew exactly why.

As we reached the end of the trail, my grasp of time felt off. The ride had taken forever and it had been over in an instant. Our practice field along the river’s edge—so familiar after all our time there—was a pool of darkness. I knew the river should be dead ahead, but I couldn’t see it.

We slowed the horses to a walk. I moved to the outside, putting Marcus between Jode and me. Our horses put off more illumination than Ruin—but it didn’t help much. I couldn’t see more than five paces in any direction. Up on the bluff, the glow of the flames was visible. A long column of smoke lifted into the sky.

A distant sound caught my attention—one I hadn’t heard in weeks. The drone of helicopter rotors carried through the fjord. Was that a Norwegian response to the fires, or had Daryn’s message gone through? How much time had passed since I’d seen her? An hour? Two? Time felt elastic.

“I’ve had about enough of this,” Jode said, drawing an arrow into his bow.

He fired, starting at twelve o’clock, and then moved on, working clockwise. Turning in a circle as Marcus and I stayed clear.

I spotted movement in the inky blackness. Alevar, flapping away in a clumsy, wounded flight. I signaled his position to Jode. He loosed another arrow.

Hit.

Alevar spiraled to the earth and sank out of sight.

Two down. Five to go.

I looked at Marcus. Bay leapt suddenly from the black void, teeth snarling, so much bigger than her monsters.

The horses startled. Riot bolted forward. Ruin and Lucent darted right. Marcus swung the scythe and missed—it was the last thing I saw. Riot galloped, surging into the darkness. I reined him in, leaning back, but he wouldn’t slow.

I couldn’t see anything anymore. I’d lost Marcus and Jode. I heard Riot’s hooves hit gravel, then splash into water. We’d run right into the river.