Glissa spurred her mount on as she came up behind the ascending attackers. She leaned forward over the pteron’s shoulder and swiped with her sword at the last flyer in the phalanx, cutting through its metallic wing and slicing into the tail. The injured beast spun out of control, and she pulled on the reins to guide the pteron up to the next one in line. Just as she came into range for another strike, the flock flipped their tails in unison and began a steep dive.
The metallic creatures shifted their silver wings and rolled over, turning back toward Taj Nar. Glissa yanked on the reins, but under her inexperienced control the pteron was too clumsy and slow to follow. The flock easily pulled ahead of her. As she dived after them, the silver flyers let loose another volley of lightning. Only half of them fired, though. Before Glissa could wonder why, the other four broke from their dive and began climbing again. Glissa followed the rest of the flock but kept her eye on this new group. They rose until they were directly over her, then tilted their wings to roll and attack her from above.
Glissa kicked the pteron to spur it on, leaning forward to push its nose into a dive. She needed speed. She knew she couldn’t out-maneuver those lightning bolts. She headed straight for Taj Nar at blinding speed. She had one chance, and she wasn’t even sure she could get the pteron to do what she needed, but she had no choice. One bolt of lighting would shred the pteron and her if they got close enough to use it.
The elf maneuvered the pteron back and forth, cursing the creature every time it turned too far. Ahead of her she could see a small break between buildings on the far side of the courtyard. Behind her four sets of silver wings still followed. They were getting dangerously close. Glissa kicked the pteron one last time and flattened herself against the back of the beast. They hurtled toward a narrow gap between the buildings. At the last moment, Glissa pulled back hard on the reins and jammed her feet into the pteron’s shoulders to force the beast to fold in its wings.
They sailed through the tight opening, the wingtips of the pteron just scratching both walls as it skidded through the passage. Glissa glanced back. The creatures following her frantically whipped their tales back and forth, trying desperately to avoid the walls. It was going to work!
Glissa looked forward again and screamed. Rishan had stepped from a doorway just ahead of the pteron.
“Get back!” she shouted.
It was too late. The pteron’s wing knocked Rishan off her feet as they raced past her. Glissa rolled back over the tail of the pteron, but the bird’s momentum carried her into the courtyard. She scrambled to her feet and ran back, but the globe-headed flyers were already in the passage. They bounced off the walls as they tried to fly through side by side. The lead beasts slammed into each other, shattering both globes in the impact.
The entire passageway exploded in a roar of blue flames that sent Glissa flying back into the courtyard. She slammed into the legs of Dakan’s statue and rolled to the ground, stunned. Through the haze of her ringing ears she heard two more explosions. Her tactic had worked. She had killed all four beasts. But at what price?
Wearily Glissa pushed herself back up and ran to the doorway at the edge of the passage. Flames still licked at the walls, but the elf ignored them. She shielded her eyes with her metallic forearms and pushed her way past the flames. Her arms and legs felt like they were on fire, but she kept going, coughing as black smoke threatened to choke her lungs. She bumped into something soft in the smoke and dropped to her knees. It was Rishan. Glissa grabbed the young healer’s shoulders and pulled her from the fire, but one glance as the smoke cleared told her there was no hope. All that remained of Ushanti’s daughter was a charred corpse.
Glissa sat holding Rishan’s blistered head in her lap. Tears welled up in her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks. She knew she should tell Raksha, knew there was still a battle to be won, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t leave the young healer alone. She couldn’t face Raksha now that she had brought death to Taj Nar.
A cheer erupted from behind her. She looked up to see the remaining beasts winging their way back into the crimson light of the red moon. Glissa knew the cheer would soon turn to tears, but she couldn’t avoid her responsibilities any longer. The elf sobbed softly as she picked up the blackened body of Rishan and carried it into the courtyard toward Raksha.
CHAPTER 12
“We believe you should leave now,” said Raksha after the service. His shoulders were slumped, and his head hung low. He looked far less imposing than when Glissa had first met him at the gates … but that was a lifetime ago.
In a ritual of fire held in the courtyard, they had offered the body of Rishan and the warriors who died that morning to the yellow moon. The leonin howled while the bodies turned to ash, but the sound was not jubilant like the noon ritual the day before. These were wails of sorrow. Glissa, Slobad, and the golem stood in the burnt-out passage, well away from the throng of leonin crowded around the statue of Dakan and the ever-burning flame.
“I think you are right,” said Glissa.
The Kha’s eyes looked vacant, as if he were lost and looking for his way home. She was surprised he hadn’t tossed them out the gate already.
“I am sorry for your loss.” There was more she wanted to say, but she knew none of it would matter.
“Farewell, Glissa,” Raksha said. “You will always be welcome here.”
Glissa hesitated a moment, then hugged the large leonin. Raksha stood impassive. Glissa’s tears welled up again.
“I shall not return,” she said. “Not until the danger that follows me is gone. Not until I have found the one responsible for Rishan’s death and made him pay.”
Ushanti emerged from behind the Kha. “You are the one responsible, elf!” screamed the seer. She glared at Glissa with a rage the elf had never before seen in anyone’s eyes. “You killed my daughter just as you will kill us all!”
She slapped Glissa across the face. Blood streamed from a long gash on the elf’s cheek, mixing with tears. Ushanti raised her arm again, and Glissa saw blood dripping from the old seer’s claws.
Ushanti’s claws stopped an inch from Glissa’s gut. Raksha held the seer’s wrist and pushed her gently away from Glissa into the arms of a warrior.
“No,” he said. “No more bloodshed.”
Ushanti struggled against the grip of the warrior. “You!” she screamed. “You would welcome this elf back into your house? Death follows her like a plague. You’ll see. You will all see!”
“We are the Kha here, Ushanti,” growled Raksha. “You would do well to remember that.” He motioned to the warrior holding Ushanti, and the leonin pulled the old seer back into her quarters.
“Don’t blame her,” said Glissa. She wiped the blood and tears from her cheek. “She has every right to hate me.”
She looked at Slobad and the golem. “We should … we should leave. I’m sorry.” She wiped her eyes and crossed the courtyard. Slobad followed with the golem. Neither spoke until they were out of sight of Taj Nar.
* * * * *
“Where do we go from here, huh?” asked Slobad.
“I don’t know,” replied Glissa glumly. She had been walking aimlessly since they left. She had no idea if she was headed toward the Mephidross, Slobad’s old lair, or somewhere else entirely. “The serum is our only link to the robed figure, but Ushanti won’t help us with that now. I don’t blame her, but we need to know where the serum came from.”