the knights search the wyldwood, particularly around the borders of the courts. And let’s hope he’s not found his way into Tir Na Nog.”
“The other courts won’t like it,” Glitch muttered. “We’re not really supposed to go into the wyldwood without their permission.”
“This is my son.” I fixed him with a piercing glare, and he looked away.
“I don’t care if we have to tear up the entire wyldwood. I want him found, is that understood?”
“Yes, sire.”
I nodded curtly and stepped to the edge of the balcony, spreading my arms. The glider spiraled down from the wall and crawled up my back, unfurling its wings. I looked back at Glitch, watching us solemnly, and sighed.
“Wake the queen,” I told him. “Tell her the situation. This is something she needs to know right away.” He winced, and I didn’t envy him the job. “Tell her I’ll be back with Kierran soon.” And with that, I pushed myself off the edge and swooped into empty space. The air currents caught the glider’s wings, bearing us aloft, and we soared in the direction of the wyldwood.
I didn’t have to search far. Only a few miles after I crossed the border of the Iron Realm and entered the wyldwood, I spotted the glint of a glider’s wing in the moonlight and pushed my own glider to land nearby. Leaving the two iron creatures to buzz at each other excitedly, I clicked on a f lashlight and studied the ground around the landing site. Despite my human vision, centuries of hunting and tracking through the wyldwood could not be forgotten in a few short years, and I soon found a set of small footprints, leading off into the tangled 310/387
undergrowth. Grimly, praying nothing would find him before I did, I followed.
A few miles in, the tracks took on an ominous cast, as something large and heavy joined the smaller prints through the forest. Stalking them.
Soon after that, the stride between the prints lengthened, stretching out to a run, joined by snapped branches and twigs, and my blood ran cold.
When I found his bow, broken and splintered, dread squeezed my chest until I could hardly breathe, and I started to run.
A scream shattered the still ness of the night. It turned my blood to ice, and I charged blindly in that direction, drawing my sword as I went.
The icy fey weapon seared my hands with cold, but I was too far gone to notice.
“Kierran!” I shouted, bursting through the undergrowth. A roar answered me. Something huge and terrible clung to a tree a few yards away, beating batlike wings for leverage and clawing at the branches.
Its body was bony and leonine, with blood-red fur and a matted black mane. It’s long tail ended in a spiky ball, bristling like a huge sea urchin and leaving spines in the adjacent trees as it thrashed in frustration.
High overhead, a small, bright figure pressed back into the limbs of the tree, trying to scramble higher, away from the vicious beast swiping at him a few feet away. His tearful blue eyes met mine, but his cry was drowned out by the bell owing of the monster below.
“Hey!” I roared, and two burning red eyes snapped to me. “Get away from him now!”
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The manticore howled and leaped off the tree, landing with a booming crash on the ground. Lashing its tail, it stalked toward me, its shockingly human face pulled into an animalistic snarl, baring pointed teeth. I gripped the sword, ignoring the numbing chil that spread up my arm, and took a deep breath.
The manticore lunged, hooked talons swiping at my face, jaws gaping to tear into my throat. I dodged, lashing out with the sword, cutting a gash in the monster’s shoulder. It screamed, an oddly human wail, and spun with blazing red eyes. Its tail f licked out, almost too quick to see, and I felt something thwap against my legs.
Blinding pain came seconds later, nearly dropping me to my knees. I reached down with one hand and felt the long black spines of the manticore’s tail sunk deep into my leg. Knowing it would continue to pump venom into me the longer I left it, I grasped the spine and ripped it away, clenching my jaw to keep from screaming. The spine was barbed at the end, and tore a gaping hole in my leg, but manticore venom would quickly paralyze and kill its victim if left in the body.
Overhead, Kierran cried out in terror. The manticore growled and stalked closer to me, red eyes glowing in the darkness.
I could feel the poison burning its way through my leg, and fought to remain steady on my feet, watching as the monster circled me, twitching its deadly tail. Waiting for the venom to take effect. Casually, it f licked its tail again, and I felt another barb slam into my shoulder, making me gasp. I didn’t have much time left. Numbness was creeping through my leg, and soon my arm would follow. But I had to save Kierran. I would at least make sure Kierran got home safe.
Feigning weakness, I staggered and fell to my knees, letting the tip of my blade strike the earth. It was what the manticore was waiting for.