I at least wanted toslowhim down.
For the same reason, I didn’t hold back.
He flew backwards, moving fast. A low grunt of surprise left his chest.
His limbs seemed to pinwheel as his hands sought a hold.
I didn’t wait to see where he’d land.
I scrabbled to my feet, using the tree, and heard a crash in the woods, like a broken branch. I didn’t look back, but pushed off the trunk I’d been leaning on and darted in a zig-zagging run through the trees. The alcohol seemed to have mostly leeched out of my system by then, or converted into adrenaline maybe, in terms of its obvious effects, but the shock of the flight, of the landing, of my body feeling like it had been locked in a clothes dryer with the machine on high heat, still made my steps half-stumbling.
I managed to get a little momentum and increased my speed, until I was running as fast as I could towards the brightest part of the trees. I glimpsed moonlight on the grass between the trunks, Vulcan Lake sparkling in the distance.
I was still too far from the castle.
My mind paused on that. I wondered if running out into the open was the best idea. I dismissed the thought when I realized he’d find me faster if I remained in the trees.
My best bet was the lake.
I might not be able to get to the castle before he got his wings back on and came after me, but I might be able to disappear into the lake. I could hide in the reeds until he gave up, use a spell to allow myself to hold my breath for longer, or keep diving to where he couldn’t fly after me as easily, not without getting waterlogged.
It occurred to me then, I had to get word to the castle.
I concentrated without slowing my pounding strides.
I ran headlong into a tree when I let my vision blur for too long, and gasped in pain.
Screw it. I’d get in the water first.
Once there, I’d conjure something that could take a message back to Mir and Draken. They had to be frantic already. They might’ve already gone to the administrators, telling them someone had kidnapped me right off the Promenade.
I burst out from between two large elms and flung myself into the tall grasses of the field. I broke into a harder run, no longer caring about using up my reserves.
The lake was only maybe twenty meters away.
I pushed myself even faster, focusing everything on that one thing, listening for the sound of wings, looking for shadows across the grass that might give me some forewarning?
A hard body collided into me from behind.
I tumbled forward, unable to compensate.
Both of us landed hard in the wet grass, and I fought him before we’d even stopped rolling. He hadn’t bothered with the wings, the bastard. He’d simply lit after me on foot, and run me down like a wolf dragging down a deer.
I beat at him with my fists, swinging at his face.
He cursed, and I heard a sharp cry of real pain.
“Gods-damn it! Stop! You maniac! Stop!”
The voice shocked me into brief stillness. It didn’t occur to me until that second that he hadn’t been hitting me back. Or that neither of us had spoken other than that one, harsh word he’d said when we first landed, distorted through the metal mask.
Now, my eyes refocused, and I found him half-lying on me, his hands gripping both of my wrists, his lip bleeding down his already-bruised and swollen jaw, another trickle of blood coming from his hairline, possibly from when I’d thrown him across the clearing.
It shouldn’t have surprised me, I thought, staring up at those furious gold eyes, the white-blond hair, now speckled with blood, and the taut, pained expression on his face.
It was Caelum Bones.
24
