“All troops retreat into the city.” Rollan’s voice rang over the troops. “Close the gates.”
Tristam looked to Rollan in disbelief. Were they simply going to leave Pashla to her fate? The soldiers around him started marching again, but Tristam didn’t move. When the soldier behind Tristam stepped around him, Tristam broke out of the stream, elbowing his way to Rollan’s horse.
“Rollan,” he said. “There must be at least ten horsemen out there. Pashla can’t face them all.”
“We’re tasked with securing the city.” Rollan barely gave Tristam a sideways glance as he observed the retreat.
Tristam looked back out toward the Edlan soldiers. One horseman lowered a spear and charged Pashla. She jumped aside just in time, then twisted around to rake her claws across the horse’s flank. The torchlight played off her fur as the other horsemen formed a loose circle around her, cutting off any escape.
“She just saved our city,” said Tristam. “And we leave her now to the enemy?”
A spasm of irritation crossed Rollan’s face. “You forget your place, soldier.”
Tristam suppressed the urge to pull Rollan off his horse. Not three months ago, he’d have been commanding troops alongside him. But it was clear that Rollan would not have his authority challenged. In the distance, Pashla roared, and the Edlan horses danced apart. Was she limping?
That was when Tristam noticed that the knight next to Rollan was not on his horse. Tristam wasn’t sure why the man had dismounted, but an idea came to him. Well, I suppose there are more important things than regaining my knighthood.
Tristam pushed his way toward the steed before he could change his mind. The horse’s rider stood nearby, still holding his lance. Tristam grabbed the weapon and knocked the man aside. Before anyone realized what was happening, Tristam had pulled himself into the horse’s saddle and urged the creature forward with a kick. Over the pounding of his horse’s hooves, he heard Rollan yelling after him. He looked over his shoulder to see several Forge cavalrymen giving chase. Were they coming to help him or knock him off his horse? He wasn’t about to wait and find out.
The Edlan troops had seen the Forge soldiers coming by now, and five of them turned their horses to face them. Tristam could see Pashla beyond them, definitely limping as she charged her enemies. She roared once, and the sound quickened his blood.
Tristam leveled his spear, shouted a war cry, and braced for impact.
The felbeast Kyra rode had a smoother stride than a horse, but every leap it took still sent agony shooting through her limbs. She gritted her teeth and tried to convince herself it didn’t hurt. As they ran farther away from the troops, she started to feel light-headed, as if she had lost a lot of blood. But she wasn’t bleeding, was she? Not on the outside at least. Her awareness started to leave her. She began listing to the side, but Flick tightened his arms around her and kept her from falling. She was aware of other demon cats around her, also fleeing, but as time passed, she no longer had the energy to think about them or anything else.
She wasn’t sure how long they rode. By the time they slowed, she was drifting in and out of consciousness. She felt a breeze at her back and realized that Flick was no longer behind her. Strong arms lifted her off her steed. Flick? No. It was Leyus who looked down at her, his expression grave. And then she drifted again.
The next thing she knew, she lay on a fur spread over the ground. New hands and voices tended to her. Someone was cutting the clothes from her body. A man spoke. Not Leyus this time, but she couldn’t place the voice. “Kyra, change into your fur.”
She tried to ignore him at first. Change now? She could hardly lift her head. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but someone shook her. She realized she was shivering without her clothes.