Willing Sacrifice
Page 51

It was the warrior side of him that stood before her now, tall and fierce. He opened a pouch of dried meat, drew his sword and gave her a nod. “Stay here until I say, then run. Got it?”
She gave a mute nod and struggled to gather her wits.
Torr moved quietly along the line of thorny brush, skirting the edge of the lizards’ territory. When he was a few yards away, he stepped forward and yelled, “Now!”
Grace took off at a dead sprint.
She made it all the way across the narrow land bridge before she gave in to the urge to look over her shoulder.
Torr was holding his own, fending off snapping jaws and powerful tails. He danced between the animals, grace and strength on blatant display.
This wasn’t like the attack he’d fended off when Brenya had summoned him here. He was ready for this, and his skill shone through.
Part of Grace gloried in the sight, completely enthralled by the way he moved. The rest of her was terrified that something would go wrong and he’d get hurt, or worse.
By the time she was released from the mesmerizing show long enough to look where she was going, it was too late. Something thin caught against her shin, sending her into an uncontrolled fall. She hit the ground hard. Tiny filaments made from some kind of transparent fiber wrapped around her body. They seemed to be spring-loaded, and at the end of each one was a small, clear crystal.
Several of those crystals smashed together, sending a beam of light into the sky. It cut through leaves like a spear and glowed bright against the dimming sky.
The second Grace realized what had happened, bits of the knowledge Brenya had given her flooded her brain. She knew instantly that this was a trap set by a Warden. That beam of light was going to lead it right to her, and once that happened, both she and Torr were dead.
Chapter 22
Grace screamed Torr’s name. The sound was one of sheer terror.
He immediately disengaged from the group of lizards he’d been holding at bay and ran toward her. He tossed out every bit of food they had, hoping it would keep the animals occupied long enough for him to reach Grace.
He saw her dangling a few feet off the ground, her body bundled inside a net. Several pencil-thin beams of light shone into the sky. Crystal shards littered the area, giving off a low hum of energy that he’d felt only a few times before in his life.
There was magic here, and that couldn’t be good.
One strong swing of his sword cut her down. She landed hard, letting out a whoosh of air.
“Warden trap,” she wheezed.
Definitely not good.
Torr didn’t waste time asking how she knew. It made too much sense for him to question.
The strands binding her body were too tight for him to risk slicing with his sword. From the redness in her face, he worried that they were also making it hard for her to breathe. Still, that wasn’t the worst of their worries.
Those glowing beacons were going to bring every nasty thing hiding in these woods right to them. He had to ditch the beams and get her away from here before it was too late.
The light seemed to be pouring from broken crystals. He cut through the strands attaching the crystals to her body and lifted her over his shoulder.
“Sorry about this,” he said as he set out at a fast jog.
Her poor body was bouncing on his shoulder. He knew it had to hurt, but whatever pain she suffered now wasn’t as bad as what any Warden would do if it found her.
As soon as he’d put a little distance between them and those beacons, he set her down to check on her.
She was still conscious, but barely. Her breathing was shallow, and each breath seemed to give the strands room to tighten.
“I’m going to give you some room to breathe,” he told her. “Just hang on.”
A flare of recognition lit her eyes for a second before they closed.
Frantic, he patted her cheek to wake her up, but she didn’t respond.
The time for careful was over.
Torr used the tip of his sword to slice through the strands over her tunic. The leather split open, but so did the strands. He tried to avoid the places where there was no leather to protect her. He hoped that opening even a few of the tough fibers binding her would be enough to give her relief.
She pulled in a huge gasp of air.
In the distance, the sounds of crashing leaves and wind chimes filled the air.
The Warden was here.
“We have to run,” he told her.
She nodded weakly.
“Try to stay quiet. I’ll get the rest of your body free as soon as I can.”
“Cave,” she choked out. “Not far.”
“Which way?”
She frowned for a second. “North. Under the big rock.”
That had to be good enough for now.
“Hold on, honey. I’ll get you free as fast as I can.”
The trail Torr had left behind was created in a panicked rush and easy to follow. As soon as the Warden found it, they would be screwed.
At least he only had one set of tracks to hide. With Grace over his shoulder, he was going to be slower, but he had centuries of experience in hiding his trail.
He kept careful tabs on her pulse as he moved as fast as he dared. The farther upslope he went, the thinner the brush became. The sound of wind chimes was distant, but he could still hear it whenever the wind died down.
“You doing okay?” he asked.
Her voice was strained, but she said, “Yeah.”
He made use of the paths the Hunters had cut through the trees whenever he could. When he couldn’t, he moved slowly, being careful not to break the small branches and leaves surrounding them. He checked behind them every few yards, making sure there was no visible path to follow and that nothing was on their tail as he headed toward the big rock she’d talked about.
Finally, he saw a rock big enough to be named for its size.
It looked like a glacial boulder deposited here millennia ago. The surface of it was smooth from wear and covered with tiny fossils. It was the size of a house, perching precariously on a hillside. In the gap between the boulder and the hillside, he saw a small opening.
He wanted to scout out the space first, but he didn’t dare leave Grace out here, completely unable to defend herself or even run away. Instead, he carried her up the steep slope and angled himself so that he could peer into the opening. A few sparks of power later, he saw nothing inside except some dry grass and sticks that appeared to have once been the nest of an animal. As old and scattered as the debris was, he doubted the animal had been here in a long time.