“Asha!”I hiss.
Her body trembles ahead of me as she backs away.
I don’t think a single man has ever taken down a terragulf on his own as they are enormous, and Tempest men are not stupid.
“Come behind me,” I tell Asha, “and when the beast attacks, as I fight it, run toward the village. It is a clear shot.”
“What about you?”
“Worry not for me. You need to get to safety,” I growl, pushing past her toward the beast.
There must be something wrong with the terragulf, as its head is held upright, not in a stalking position.
“It’s enormous…” Asha’s voice trails off.
“Just skirt around it as we battle, and you should be fine.”
“Can you beat it?”
“I am much too stubborn to fall to such a beast.”
It is a lie I must tell her because nothing matters more than her safety.
I crouch, squinting my silver eyes, growling so that it sees me as a threat.
It stands instead of charging, perhaps because it is wondering if Asha tastes better than me.
CLICK, CLICK, CLICK…
I wait for the beast to charge forward, but it stays rooted in place, its golden eyes staring.
It sees two and does not know which one to pounce at.
Knowing how much more dangerous this situation is for Asha, I span my arms out, making myself look like the bigger threat.
“When I charge, and it is distracted, you must?—”
“I’m not leaving you,” she says defiantly. “And I don’t believe you should charge.”
Panic rises in my chest. “You must, and you cannot stop until you are at the village.”
“Look how it’s acting,” she whispers.
We cannot stand here all day, talking while the terragulf decides who first to strike.
I must protect my Little Vaeyark, even if I must do so with my life.
“Asha,” I rasp, my chest rising and falling in erratic bursts.
“Yes?”
“I love you, too.”
With those last words, I charge forward, to certain death.
20
ASHA
