Warriors of Wing and Flame by Sara B. Larson

Author:Sara B. Larson [Larson, Sara B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250208422
Google: slHEDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1250208432
Publisher: Tor Teen
Published: 2020-10-27T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

INARA

I glanced over my shoulder again. “I think they’re gaining on us!”

“He’s going as fast as he can,” Loukas responded, his voice tight. But he whistled to Maddok and kneaded his hands along the gryphon’s neck, urging him to give us a little bit more.

“Can you still feel it?” I asked. “Is it getting stronger?”

“Yes,” was all Loukas said. This plan hinged entirely on us following the cotantem and reaching Barloc first, before the others. If they caught us before we caught him …

No, I cut the thought off. We’ll make it. We have enough of a head start. This will work.

It had to.

I glanced back again.

“You’re just going to make yourself even more upset if you keep doing that. Focus on what’s ahead of us—on what you have to do if we catch him.”

He’d done a masterful job of acting like he’d passed out again, making it so convincing, I nearly believed him. Especially when he almost fell off Maddok. We’d waited until we were sure everyone was asleep, and then waited a little bit longer, just to be certain. It couldn’t have worked out better for Zuhra to ask if we could rest again, saving me from having to do it and possibly raise any suspicion.

But now came the even harder part—tracking Barloc down, taking him by surprise before he could attack us, and then …

I’d take back what he’d stolen from me.

Though the air above the trees was much cooler than on the ground, the sun still beat down on us, relentless and nearly unbearable, as we rushed away from my family and the other Paladin, chasing the elusive cotantem that Loukas had also felt before he’d pretended to lose consciousness. My body kept flashing hot then cold then hot.

You can do this. You can do this.

“You’re sure it’s him and not a pocket?” I asked.

Loukas groaned and I remembered too late that I’d already asked him that. “I told you, it wouldn’t be getting stronger.”

“Right.”

“Are you sure you can do this?”

I didn’t hesitate. “Of course!”

“You seem very … nervous.”

“Just because I’m nervous doesn’t mean I’m incapable. You keep him from attacking us, and I will do what I have to do.”

We both fell silent after that. I resisted the urge to look back to see if the others were still gaining on us. We’d hoped they’d stay asleep longer. At least we had a significant head start … but would it be enough? We would have very little time to act.

Loukas suddenly tensed, his arms stiffening around me.

“What? What is it?”

“I felt—”

Before he could finish, darkness closed in on me.

I saw Barloc sitting alone at his desk at the library, Paladin books open in front of him, but he stared forward unseeingly. Loneliness pressed in on him like the darkness that swelled beyond the reach of the solitary candle he had lit. Loneliness and a longing that burned hotter than any fire, hidden away deep within him—a longing to go to the world his grandfather had told him about.

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