By the time we breach the Eastern border, the sky has brightened to a light blue. My legs, thighs, and back burn from the hours of overuse and I look behind me to see Arlo not far behind.
A sudden blur to his right has Arlo flying off the horse and with a cry, I lose my balance. A loud shriek fills the air and soon I realize it's mine. The horse I'm seated on falls to the ground, bringing me and Winn down with her. With my mouth open mid scream, I get a mouthful of mud and grass. I cough and shove myself away from the kicking horse. I stand, my whole body shaking, and whirl around widely. I can't see a thing, fog clouds my vision.
"Winn! Arlo!" I shout the names, but get no response. I hear shuffling though, and horses, and cries of pain. So many cries of pain. Fear cakes onto my body like mud and I tremble like a lost child.
Then a hand snakes it's way around my arms and clutches me in a tight hold. Too tight. I struggle against my attackers' grip and kick out wildly. My feet meet flesh and the arms around me loosen. I use this to turn and quickly swipe out my sword. I plant my feet and swing as hard as I can, but my sword swipes through the air without meeting its target.
A gust of wind, too strong to be natural, topples me over and my sword flies from my hands. I scrabble up, but another huge gust of wind keeps me down. And then the fog clears.
Surrounding me are gifted men and women, but only one gifted stands out. Kai.
"How did you get out?" I ask him. A gifted with control over the wind keeps a hand outstretched towards me. With the gifted controlling the wind, I can't even lift my head.
Kai smiles a greedy grin and gestures to something behind me. "You can thank that man for letting me out, I already have." My eyes are locked on Kai's when the pressure suddenly lifts form my body, I scramble to my feet and turn to see who let Kai out.
I laugh, because honestly I shouldn't be surprised. It's Desmond. Of course it was him.
"How did you know?" I ask. I lower my hand to my waist as I ask this, hopefully I can distract them long enough to grab my dagger. Desmond peers down at me and smiles just like Kai-greedy men and their greedy smiles.
"You're very predictable Salvare."
"It's actually Orianna now," I add with flare.
Desmond lowers his eyes down my body and I resist every urge that's telling me to squirm. "You can stop going for your knife, there's no way out of this."
That's when I run, screw my dagger. But, I'm running to an impossible destination. The gifted forms a wall of wind, that I smack right into, my head bouncing off, almost comically.
I go for my dagger, but Kai's hand slaps mine away, and then goes to my neck. Immediately I tuck my chin in and scratch his forearm. His hand tightens around my neck and he extends his arm, lifting me into the air, my feet leaving the ground. I kick out fearfully as my hands find his on my neck. I dig my fingers under his in an attempt to find air, but am unsuccessful. My lungs burn and I try in vain to keep fighting, but my air supply is cut off and my head is starting to feel very, very light. I blink slowly, seeing a show of fireworks across my vision. Spots of blue and green and red and orange blot out my vision before everything fades to black.