Chapter 47
XANTHOS WAS LYING on his side in his stall. I could see that the straw scattered around his battered body had been scorched; his flowing white mane was singed and seared. I’m not certain what kind of flame-throwing weapons the thugs had used, but one thing was totally clear: they had come to these stables with orders to kill.
Xanthos was barely clinging to life. His blackened rib cage rose up and down very slowly, the movement accompanied by a wet death rattle creaking up from his lungs.
My brudda, I reached out mentally to my fallen friend.
Believe it or not, a slight grin twitched across his muzzle.
My brudda, he thought back.
What did those animals do to you?
The worst they could, Daniel. They live to hate. For this, we must pity them. For they will never know the one true love that unites us all.
Hang on. I can fix you.
No, Daniel. There are some things even you cannot repair.
I’m not going to let you die.
It is not your choice, brudda. We are all mortal. Otherwise, we would be gods, no? Fate has…
His voice grew fainter in my head.
Xanthos? I pleaded.
I could sense him mustering his final ounces of strength. It is written in the book….
What is written? I asked.
He took a wheezy breath. My destiny. Yours.
What is my destiny?
To be true…
He was slipping away. His wide nostrils were barely fluttering.
To be true to what? I leaned closer.
To… who… you… truly… are…
And with that, there was nothing in my mind but my own mournful thoughts.
My spiritual advisor was dead.
I cradled his majestic head in my lap and rocked it back and forth. Tears stung my eyes and streamed down my cheeks.
Xanthos, an extremely gentle creature who’d never uttered a harsh word—not even for those who came here to kill him—had, in just a few short days, really worked his way deep into my soul. Now his death was rocking my world.
I don’t think I’ve cried that hard in years.
And I didn’t want to do it again for a long, long time. I didn’t want Agent Judge doing it, either.
Another reason why I had to go rescue Mel—immediately!