Sons of Zeus (The Warrior Trilogy #1)

He didn’t understand why he’d been taken. Maybe this guy had seen a chance to have a prisoner — maybe he thought Riq was a close friend to Alexander since they’d been fighting side by side. Maybe the dude just wanted an excuse to get away from the battle and save his own skin.

It didn’t matter. Riq had no intention of reaching whatever the soldier’s destination happened to be. Risking the man’s wrath, he turned his head to look back in the direction from which they’d come. The horse jumped over something just as he did it, and his chin banged against the leather of the saddle. He bit his lip and cried out in pain. The rider punched him, right in the kidneys. The pain was intense — a flash of agony.

But then Riq saw Sera. And Dak behind her. Sitting on a horse. Coming at him. Coming for him.

My friends, he thought.



“Almost there!” Dak yelled, every muscle in his body tense. There was something amazing about riding on a horse like this — especially through a sea of fighting armies. The adrenaline pumping through him seemed like it had been amped up a million times over.

“What do we do?” Sera shouted without turning back to him. Dak knew keeping the horse under control had to take a ridiculous amount of concentration.

Dak had no idea how to answer. “Just get close! Something brilliant will pop into my head!”

She muttered something that he couldn’t hear. He imagined it was something to the effect of “We’d be better off using my head.” But this was Dak’s moment. He felt as if the others had saved him so often and had, whether meaning to or not, always treated him like the annoying little brother. But today he planned on becoming the big brother.

The sounds of war — screams and clanks and yells and grunts — filled the air as they rushed past countless soldiers battling one another. Sometimes the sight of it was gruesome, and Dak had no idea who was winning. But they kept their course, dodging and weaving and jumping whenever they needed to. Riq was only a few feet ahead of them now, the dirt kicked up by that horse’s hooves dusting the nose of their own horse. The thunderous roar of their galloping thumped in Dak’s ears.

Then, just like that, he knew what he was going to do. And he was glad he didn’t have time to think it over.

“Pull to the left!” he yelled at Sera. “Get as close as you can!”

Thankfully, she didn’t ask for any more details and guided the horse accordingly. Seeing her trusting him like this, following his command, made the whole ordeal worth it. Unless he died. He really didn’t want to die.

The horse kicked into high gear and lunged ahead, pulling even with Riq and his captor, who looked over at them like he’d just seen an alien spaceship zoom in. He yelled something unintelligible, then reached for the sword that hung from his waist, holding Riq down with his other hand. But Dak wasn’t going to let him get his weapon or do anything else.

Holding on to Sera’s shoulders for leverage, he brought both of his legs up until he could get his feet under him, then crouched on the saddle. The soldier had grabbed the hilt of the sword, had started to pull the weapon from its sheath. Dak straightened his legs with full force and jumped, leaping across the narrow gap between the horses and slamming headfirst into the shoulder of Riq’s captor. The man slipped several inches but then grabbed the pommel of his saddle, fighting for balance. Dak wrapped his arms around him and fought like crazy, tugging at the big guy with what little strength he had, trying to get him off the horse.

Riq was free now, but in too awkward of a position to do much. Dak could see him attempting to get into a sitting position, but the horse’s jouncing movement slammed him back onto his stomach. Dak kept struggling, avoiding the man’s punches and elbows, weaving and ducking his head in all directions. Squeezing as tightly as possible with his arms lassoed around the soldier’s chest, Dak picked up his flailing feet and settled their soles against the side of the horse. Then he jerked backward with his arms and kicked out with his feet.

It worked.

He and the soldier tumbled off of the horse and slammed into the ground.



Riq scrambled, twisting this way and that until he could finally get in a position to throw himself into the seat of the now-empty saddle. Filled with dread at what might’ve happened or would happen to Dak, he grabbed the reins and pulled back, too much too fast. The horse reared up on its back legs, kicking its front ones, and Riq toppled off as well, landing with a graceless thump onto the ground.

But then he was on his feet. Running. He saw Dak and the soldier who’d kidnapped him each struggling to gain the upper hand. Even as he looked, Riq saw the man climb on top, pinning Dak down with his legs.

“No!” Riq shouted, running harder.

The soldier pulled a dagger out of some hidden pocket, lifted it toward the sky, ready to drive it down and end Dak’s life. Riq was too far away. His throat almost ripped from the scream that burst out of his lungs. The man’s arms swung with a mighty force toward Dak’s chest.