The Malevolent's Mark (The Song of Excalibur Saga Book 1) by Ripley Grimms

Author:Ripley Grimms [Grimms, Ripley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2021-09-07T16:00:00+00:00

28

FLIGHTLESS BIRDS

“WELL, HELLO AGAIN,” Mordred said with a flap of his wings as Birdie struggled in his arms. “Did you have a nice nap?”

“Let me go!”

This was bad. This was very bad. Using her head, she leaned back to smack it hard against Mordred’s, but he dodged it with a laugh.

“I’m sorry, do you want me to drop you?”

“I want you to put me down!”

Mordred stayed low but kept his eyes straight ahead. Birdie looked back over her shoulder to see the cliff’s edge by the bridge of track connected to the other mountain. Running along with it, just behind them, was Gawain, who spattered the snow with crimson blood as he cut down two dragonkin in his chase after her.

“Birdie!”

“Gawain!” she shouted, and her hand shot out to grasp his.

“First name basis already?” Mordred said, and he kept his hold on her tight as his wings pumped harder. Gawain charged, his fingertips just grazing the hem of her long coat. He lunged for her, but Birdie let out a yelp of panic when the ground suddenly fell away, and she plummeted into the ravine with Mordred.

“What’s the matter?” he said in her ear. “Scared of heights?”

A black river snaked below, the current deadly. Was he going to dive in? They’d freeze.

“Up, up! Take us up!” she said. They were so close to the water that Birdie could feel the spray sting her face.

“But I thought you wanted down?”

“I said up!”

At what had felt like the last moment possible, Mordred grinned and spread his wings wide to catch an icy draft that lifted them up and out of the ravine. Over his shoulder, Birdie saw Gawain stumbling to stop at the ravine’s edge.

“He looks worried now, doesn’t he?” Mordred said, sly.

“Put me down right now, or I’ll—”

“What? Leap from my arms and straight to your death?”

Mordred banked hard to carry her away from the safety of the forest and the knights. Birdie pushed at his chest, and Mordred’s grip around her went slack as he dropped a hand from her waist. She cried out, tightening her hug around his neck and his hand threaded itself under her knees to hold her against his chest like a bloody princess. She glared at him, and Mordred beamed.

The bastard.

“You did that on purpose.”

“Did I?”

He’d just wanted to get a better hold on her. Below, the train laid in pieces like charcoal scattered across the desolate moors, shrinking fast.

Teeth chattering, snowfall coated both their hair and eyelashes. “Th-that wasn’t f-funny.”

“Hmm, well, I thought it quite humorous. Still do.”

Birdie peered over his shoulder at the pair of feathered wings sprouting from his back as they caught the moonlight. It was an illusion of some kind, another trick of his magic.

“Just one of the many things I could teach you if you’d stop being so stubborn.”

The treetops blurred beneath her boots, and Birdie felt a cutting reply die in her throat. She needed to convince him to land somehow and soon. Every stroke of his wings was like that of a clock telling her that the time to escape was running out.

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