Bromley dashed off to the left and I to the right, grabbing my sword and raising it, ready to defend myself. As Brom’s horse galloped on, he drew up his crossbow, aiming.
But the beast was still diving much too fast, headed straight for Zach. He urged his horse to go south, likely in an attempt to get under the griffin instead of ahead of it. The griffin pulled up at the last moment, screaming and raising its giant talons. With a great flap of its black wings, it dove for Zach again. Except the monster had lost nearly all of its momentum, making it easy for Zach to catch its front talons with his sword. Inches from Zach’s face, the monstrous beak snapped and clicked, squawking with a deafening sound.
I turned to Brom. “If you see an opening, take it.” Then I kicked Lorena into a hard gallop, racing toward my partner and the monster. Have to get closer.
Vel whinnied and snorted as the griffin attacked his rider. Then Zach reared back and head-butted the griffin. It let out an earsplitting shriek of pain, shaking its beak and beating its wings as Zach tried to gain leverage over it.
The griffin was not as easy to kill as dwarves, trolls, and goblins. The beast had one very important advantage: wings. That was why four or five Royals were needed to take one down. They were strong, vicious, and could attack from above, leaving even a warrior as skillful as Zach always on the defensive.
Brom’s arrow just barely missed its flank. Gaining ground, I unhooked my shield from Lorena’s saddle as she galloped toward them, then I took aim and threw the shield. It whirled through the air like a disc, hitting the beast’s wing, and knocking it off-balance. Zach seized the opening and went for its neck, but the griffin beat its wings and took to the sky again.
“Zach!” I reached for him, my hand outstretched and waiting. There was a simple Kiss I could bestow upon him that would render the griffin’s wings useless for a few minutes, allowing us to attack on the ground.
Zach reached for my hand, bewildered, half his attention on the beast and the other half on me. When our horses drew close, my hand found his, and I pulled myself to him, the spell already forming in my mind, magic coursing through me, ready to be used.
Zach pulled back. “No, Ivy, don’t.”
“What—”
We both turned at the sound of the griffin’s wings as it dove for Bromley. Another of Brom’s arrows whizzed through the air. Zach let go of my hand, turned his horse, and headed for the griffin. Zach’s hand that held mine seconds before produced three knives. Three—two—then one—the knives flew skyward to hit the griffin’s furry flank. With another piercing cry, the beast rose into the clouds.
I watched, sword loose in my hand and my mind racing.
What in the Fields of Galliore is he thinking?
Maybe…maybe he just hadn’t been ready for it. Maybe he was determined to continue showing off to prove he never needed a partner. I kicked my heels, and Lorena took off after Zach, who had stopped by Brom and was dismounting.
I pulled up next to them and jumped down from Lorena as Zach handed Vel’s reins to Brom. “Watch him,” he said.
“What are you doing?” I asked him, my eyes on the griffin circling above.
Zach hefted his shield onto his arm. “Protect the horses with Brom. We don’t want the griffin wounding one of them.”
I grabbed his arm. “I don’t mean the horses. There’s a Kiss we can—”
Zach tore away and ran across the fields, his boots kicking up bits of grass and dirt.
I swore and handed Brom Lorena’s reins. “This is insane.” Then I grabbed Brom’s crossbow.
The griffin rose higher then tipped downward, beak first, streaking toward Zach’s lone figure like a meteorite about to hit the earth.
Zach stood his ground, shield up, preparing for impact.
I couldn’t believe it. He was going to try withstanding a griffin’s dive?
No. Cold hands, cold like Kellian’s, grabbed my heart and squeezed. We’ve only just started, and I’m going to lose him.
The griffin was close now, talons extended. I couldn’t watch another partner fall. Hoisting the crossbow at eye level, I took aim and shot the arrow into its wing. The griffin gave a shriek of agony. It dipped and flopped about, then steadied itself and flew higher and higher, up into the dark clouds, then northward, away from us.
As the griffin became a speck in the sky, Zach turned on me, fury darkening his eyes and drawing his brows together. He sheathed his sword and stomped over, yelling, “Why did you aim for the wing?”
He was angry for a good reason. When the wing of a griffin is hit, the monster retreats to heal, then comes back to terrorize villagers after a couple of days, deadlier than ever.
But I was angry, too. “Because we couldn’t have beaten it anyway!”
“You don’t know that!”
“I do.” I tossed the crossbow on the ground. “Better to have it run off than kill us, all because of your stupid pride.”
“Pride?” Zach halted. “You think I didn’t use the Royal’s Kiss because of my pride?”
“You wanted to prove you could beat the griffin on your own.” The wind blew at my cloak and wisps of my hair. Zach’s bangs swept off his forehead, revealing a faint white scar near his hairline.
“It has nothing to do with me wanting to prove anything,” he said, jaw set and eyes locked on mine. “I will never Kiss you.”
The words resounded inside my chest like the Myrial bells. He had refused my Kiss before—once, at the beginning of the fight with Amias, then the healing Kiss after the battle on the wall breach. But…but we were partners now. There was no reason for him to refuse me any longer.
The whole purpose of our partnership was to use our Kiss to defeat the dragon.
He had to know this. He had to understand this. I hadn’t heard him right. It was the wind. “What…what did you say?”
“I will never use the Royal’s Kiss, Ivy. You Royals have forgotten its true magic.”
A physical shock ripped through me, and my legs nearly gave way.
He really was a Romantica.
A heretic.
And I was bound to him.
Despite everything else, the first thing I thought about was my mother. Holy Sisters, what would she say if she knew I had a heretic for a partner? “As expected of your worthlessness.”
Bromley approached us, leading the other horses. He looked from me to Zach in confusion.
“Surely…surely you must be joking,” I said in a hoarse whisper.
“Troll’s breath.” Zach shook his head. “Yes, Ivy, I didn’t Kiss you to defeat the griffin all because of a joke. I enjoy laughing in the face of death.”
“You can’t…you can’t truly be a…”
“Don’t give me that look. You knew very well what I was. You all did. I made no secret of my bloodline,” he growled.
“Being born to one and choosing to follow their ways are two different things. Up until this moment, you led us all to believe you were a Royal. You came to Saevall’s Legion. You told us you wanted to protect the Lands.” My voice shook. How could we have been so naive to believe a Romantica would never try to disguise himself as a Royal?
“I do want to protect the Lands—battle the Forces.” Zach crossed to his horse, yanking the reins away from Brom and hoisting himself onto Vel. He leaned down to look at me, his eyes narrowed. “They killed my mother. There’s nothing I want more. But I’m not willing to give up my morals to—”
“Morals?” I cried, my voice shrill now. I felt Brom’s hand on my shoulder, no doubt trying to calm me down, but I shook him off. “The Romantica cult is nothing but a group of fools with misguided beliefs and nonsensical ideas.”
“They’re not misguided!” Zach roared. “And so help me, princess, if you refer to Love as nonsense one more time—”
“You’ll what?” I dared. “Now is not the time to believe in myths, Prince Zachariah. We are members of the Legion on a mission to defeat the darkest threat the world has faced in a century. True Love’s Kiss is a story told by cult-believers—not Royals—because it’s a bloody fairy tale!”