Carnival Souls

Soulbound (part 2)

Though the horse was quick and sure-footed, it took all of Owen's concentration to stay in the saddle. The few riding lessons he had taken with Jacks hadn't exactly made him a star equestrian.

His legs burned trying to maintain his grip, slipping first one way then the other as he tried to keep the horse on track towards the carousel. A spirit slammed into the kelpie's side, pinning Owen's leg between two bodies. He roared in pain, slashing out at the spirit who had hit them, but his knife met empty air and the horse was already correcting course and charging off again.

Reins slick with sweat slipped through his fingers, the horses mane stung his eyes, and Owen crouched as low as he could in the saddle to make himself a smaller target.

An orange fireball went whizzing overhead, signing his hair and causing the grey gelding to rear and scream. Slipping backwards over the beast's hindquarters, Owen flung his arms around the thick neck, shoulders straining to keep his weight in the saddle. The kelpie came back towards the ground, Owen's teeth clacking together on impact. Blood filled his mouth where he had bitten his tongue, but a quick check revealed his teeth were intact. He spat to the side, freeing one hand to wipe his mouth.

Gathering the reins, he kicked the horse into motion again, gasping as it instinctively jumped to clear a fallen body. As they sailed over it, Owen found himself looking down into the sightless eyes of Fauna, the second of the twin forest spirits. Her mouth was pulled back into a snarl, her vines trampled around her, and then she was gone.

Owen swallowed hard, tasting more copper, and refocused on their gallop through the battle. They were halfway to the carousel, and the fighting was thinning out in front of it. Just a little farther and they would...

The kelpie slammed to a stop and Owen's nose connected with the back of the beast's head. A sharp crunch followed by a wave of pain and blood and Owen's world went momentarily dark. Blinking away the flashes of light, he looked over the horse's head to see what had caused its sudden stop.

Atlas stood there, seeming oblivious to the fray surrounding her.

She looked half mad with blood dripping from the corner of her mouth and her torn shirt hanging off one shoulder. Her dark, red-tinged hair was in disarray and her dark red-tinged eyes burned with all the intensity and danger of a molten core.

"I should've taken care of you a long time ago," she snarled. She advanced slowly toward Owen and his mount. "All of this is your fault."

Steel glinted in her hand, and Owen knew given the smallest chance it would end up buried in him. But the girl was unmounted and tiny; she stood no chance against a charging kelpie. And even after all she had done, the thought of Atlas trampled beneath the hooves made Owen's stomach turn.

"Get out of the way and I won't hurt you," he called. The kelpie danced sideways as Owen tried to keep him steady.

"Oh no," Atlas said, "This ends now."

She put two fingers in her bloody mouth and gave a sharp piercing whistle. It was met with the flapping of wings; she was calling the harpy. Owen dug his heels in with a cry. They charged at Atlas, bearing down on the tiny servant who gave them a red smile, arced her arm, and threw the knife.

It gleamed in the air, spinning, and plunged into the kelpie's shoulder, missing its throat by inches. The horse screamed and bucked. Owen hit the ground hard, the air crushed from his lungs, and the already chaotic world swung around him. He tried to sit up, failed, tried again, heaving and retching. His horse was to his left, snorting and eyes rolling wild, but mercifully not run off. Holding his side, Owen staggered to his feet and hauled himself back into the saddle.