Till Death Do Us Part

29. Eye of the Storm

Skylar felt her consciousness fleeting away. She could no longer focus on looking at one place. Her thoughts flew freely into thousands of directions at once. She could see and touch everything, and it was such an exhilarating feeling she could not resist. All her human worries and needs seemed so trivial and boring now when she could be anything she wanted.

But something nagged at her mind. It was a very weak tug at the back of her mind but relentless, nonetheless. She tried to focus on it, and she noticed the pool of darkness still marring the perfect mountain landscape. She took a closer look, and the flood of memories pushed their way into her consciousness.

The Queen. Fighting someone.

Gawyn.

A familiar face flashed before her eyes with a force that would take her breath away if she was still breathing. 

How could she forget about him even for a moment?

"The Queen," she said. "She's still wielding the dark magic. We have to stop her."

"She's too far away. We can't reach her."

"But I can see them!"

"Yes. But as long as your body lies down here, that's where my power is focused."

"I need to move then. Gawyn can't stand against Elinora if she wields magic!"

"I'm not sure you can make it."

"What do you mean?"

"Can you not feel it? Your soul has almost been spent. The connection you had with your body is fragile now. I'm not sure if you can get back to it now."

Skylar had a moment of panic. She knew the price of using this power. She was aware that there was no going back for her. But she was not done yet. She focused her consciousness on the clearing where she was before calling up to the Spirit. It took her a moment to locate her own body among the many unmoving forms covering the ground.

She was surprised at how small and frail her own body looked. But she still needed it to deal with Elinora. Skylar dived into her motionless form, and it felt like she fell from a great height and hit the solid ground. For a moment, she couldn't remember how to breathe. She had to concentrate hard on drawing that first breath.

Her body felt tiny and stiff now. She had trouble remembering how to move her limbs. Skylar clumsily lifted her shaking body and got to her knees. Everything hurt. Her muscles trembled from exhaustion, and the stunk of dried blood was almost unbearable. But she couldn't rest just yet. 

Not while Gawyn was facing the Queen alone.

Something poked gently at her shoulder, and she looked up at Zephyr. He was beaten up and tattered, just like her, but his golden eyes seemed to urge her to move. He must have sensed Gawyn was in trouble too. Gryphon kneeled in front of her.

Skylar managed to get on his back, leaning on him heavily. She brushed his soft feathers gently.

"I need you to run as fast as you can, Zephyr. Run fast as the wind."

***

There was nowhere to hide on the rocky outcrop where they prepared the trap. What was planned as an advantage quickly turned into a liability. But no one could have foreseen a bloody dragon, thought Gawyn jumping out of the way and slashing at a long neck. The scales were tough, and his blade just slid off them. Avoiding all three heads demanded a lot of attention.

"What's the matter?" Elinora mocked, looking amused, perched on the back of the slithering monster. "You've got all quiet suddenly. Did I manage to surprise the great strategist?"

Gawyn didn't let her words break his concentration. He swiftly dodged two other heads, but still, he hadn't seen the tail swiping at his legs. He hit the rocky ground hard, and only his reflex saved him from snapping jaws. He rolled away and got back to a crouch, ready to strike again.

The air hummed with arrows raining down at the beast, who roared in protest. The Winged Cavalry was done with the army and were back in action, relentlessly striking the wingless creature from above, with Aliyah and Gale in the lead. And even though the arrows didn't do much damage to the beast, they were distracting.

Gawyn didn't waste any time. He rushed at the monster, and while the heads were snapping at the horses flying just out of their reach, he slashed his sword across the creature's belly, where the scales were brighter and seemed softer. He was rewarded with a painful shriek and splash of dark, almost black blood. 

He didn't expect the retaliation would be so fast. One of the heads snapped at him so quickly that he only partly dodged it and was thrown a few feet back, with a searing pain in his thigh, where the sharp fangs grazed him.

"You are just annoying little flies!" Elinora yelled, and once again, a black dagger appeared in her hand. But this time, she slit it across her hand, spilling bright red blood.

The shadows in the canyon behind her moved, and a swarm of tiny, winged creatures shot into the air. They were moving very fast, so it was hard to take a closer look at them. The only distinctive features were wings, sharp claws, and teeth.

The winged horses neighed in panic just before the horde hit them.

Elinora turned back to Gawyn. "Now, where were we?"

***

Zephyr ran so fast that everything around them was just a blur. Skylar leaned low, pressing herself closer to his neck, clinging to him in a desperate attempt not to fall off his back. Her body was still stiff and felt oddly unfamiliar, like poorly fitted clothes, but she didn't have time to think about it.

They shot out of the trees, and the soft forest floor made way for the dry, rocky ground when they scaled up the steep mountain slope. Skylar risked the look to her right. Far below, she saw the canyon filled with bodies of the soldiers of the Queen's army. 

She turned to look ahead, and her eyes went wide when she saw the cavalry riding the winged horses locked in combat with some hideous winged monsters.

Zephyr roared with anger and moved even faster. But when they got closer to the edge of the canyon wall, Skylar realised they were too high. To reach the outcrop where Gawyn was, they should have just gone through the passage below. It would be slower, no doubt, but there was no way for them to get down from here safely.

"Zephyr! We have to turn back!" she screamed over the rushing wind.

The gryphon shrieked with defiance but didn't slow down.

"Zephyr!" Skylar cried, feeling the rising panic in her guts. "You have to stop! You can't fly!" 

But even when the words left her mouth, she knew it was already too late. The gryphon has already made up his mind, and her protest wouldn't make any difference to him.

Skylar dug her fingers deep into his feathers and clung for dear life a moment before Zephyr jumped off the cliff.