“I think I’d rather take a horse,” Flent said, his face ashen.
Exeres walked right past them up to the first one. He looked up at it, holding out his hand and Thealos felt a prick of Earth magic rise up, strained, around the Druid priest. He approached slowly and the alerion head bobbed down. Thealos wondered if the creature would snap off his hand.
Exeres stroked the neck plumage, whistling softly to it. The alerion seemed to stare at the rest of them in disdain, but it enjoyed the Zerite’s attention.
“How did you manage it, Allavin?” Thealos whispered.
“Don’t thank me. It’s your doing.”
“What?”
“They had word from Avisahn to patrol the skies during the war. To help you and your mission should you need it.” He cocked his head. “We’ll be over the Shadows Wood by late afternoon. Ahead of Ballinaire’s army.”
Thealos bit his lip, excitement surging in his chest. “I’ll have to remember to thank Laisha for this.” Another idea sprouted in his mind. The wellspring did that to him constantly, feeding him suggestions. He gripped Allavin’s shoulder. “You’re not going in with us this time, my friend.”
Allavin turned, startled. Thealos squeezed his shoulder again and pitched his voice even lower. “Just hear me out. The last time I went into the warding, I was defenseless. There was no way to invoke the Silverkin’s magic without losing it to the Sorian. The Zerite believes that Tsyrke wants a truce, but he may want to use me to get his hands on the Crystal. I’ve already spoken with Ticatasy about this. If I’m forced to use it, I will be sick—too sick to move. I know that. If there’s a chance that I’ll lose the magic, then she is to take it out the exit into the plains. I need you to watch for her, Allavin. Get her out of Landmoor. Take her and the Silverkin to Avisahn.”
“And leave you down there?”
He breathed deeply and it shuddered in his chest. Ban it, Jaerod never trembled when he spoke! “I didn’t tell her this, Allavin, but it might…the magic might kill me.”
A look of pain filled Allavin’s eyes.
Thealos blinked quickly, squeezed the woodsman’s shoulder again, and approached the leader of the Shae scouts.
“Thank you for your aid. I will commend your group to the Princess of Avisahn.”
“We do our duty,” came the leader’s reply. He looked over at Justin, and seemed to be a little confused. “A Warder?”
Thealos nodded. “He’ll come with me. The girl and the Drugaen will go together. The Zerite and the Shaefellow. We are ready.”
“Come then. The alerion hate the plains. These winds are…unnatural.”
A glint of fear glistened in Ticastasy’s eyes as she reached up to grasp a Shae scout’s hand. He pulled her up on the saddle harness and fastened a leather securing strap around her seat and tightened it firmly. After giving her a length of leather to hold, he bound her arms to the harness. She jerked her head to clear the hair from her face and looked back down at Thealos with a nervous smile. He nodded to her and then mounted the other alerion. Justin—or Ravin—joined him on the other side of the giant bird and the Shae scout fastened him in the same way.
Without waiting for the others to finish, the Shae rider whistled sharply and nudged the bird with his knees. The alerion unfolded its wings, bunched its muscles, and leapt into the air with an upward lurch that made Thealos sick to his stomach. The huge wings beat furiously and the wind gusts rocked and pitched them. Blasts of wind struck his face as they climbed higher and higher, and he had to duck his chin towards his armpit to breathe. His hair whipped madly, his eyes stung, and he began to wonder whether they had made a foolish choice.
The mocking winds hushed slightly and the alerion no longer had to beat as hard to keep going. The enormous strength of the creature amazed him. Three riders apiece, yet not enough to unduly burden the creatures. Smells from the Inland plains rose up to meet him, and he breathed fresh air at last, untainted by the stench of Forbidden magic. He had smelled it so long that the purity of it made him aware. Bishop pine and cedar, rich earth and his own sweat. Earthy smells that sated his Shae senses and filled him with peace and made him long for a bath.
Raising his head slightly, he looked back and saw that the other alerion had fanned out behind the lead, riding in formation like geese. He saw Ticastasy far behind him, hunched over the saddle and staring down at the earth rushing beneath them. Flent had his face buried on the back of his fists, as compact and tight as an oyster.