Page 82 of This Dark Descent
Mikira directed Atara beneath one of the pulley flags, and the horse set her stance. Balancing atop the saddle, she reached overhead just as the flag came down and snatched it free. They switched roles, Mikira protecting Talyana as she secured her own flag, and then they were off back down the hill.
“We’re near the middle of the pack,” Talyana called as they hit flat ground. “You should go ahead.”
Mikira hesitated, but Talyana was right. There was no guarantee they’d win where they were now, and Talyana knew what this race meant to her.
“Stay safe!” she called, and Talyana nodded. Then she let Atara go.
They easily caught up to the bulk of the other horses, led by Arabella. A space opened, and Mikira loosened her hold on the reins, preparing to give Atara her head—just as someone nearly collided with them.
Atara dodged the other horse, then snapped at it. Gren cursed, drawing his mount away.
Shit shit shit.
Mikira urged Atara on, but the horse refused to turn her back on Gren. She swung back in, biting for the stallion’s shoulder.
Gren slashed at Mikira’s throat.
She leaned back, the blade drawing a shallow line across the bridge of her nose, and almost lost her balance. But she clung hard with her knees and pushed a hand against Atara’s hindquarters, thrusting herself back into her seat.
Gren struck out again but missed. She tugged on Atara’s reins, digging her knees in, but the horse wouldn’t respond. Her teeth had already bloodied the stallion’s neck, and she kept throwing her weight against the other beast, knocking Mikira against Gren.
The road curved, the rush of the Grey swelling up around them. The trees thinned to Gren’s right, revealing a deep river ravine. It thundered like the stampeding horses, ready to tear apart anything it touched.
Gren was going to keep hounding her until he killed her. Atara could cover any distance they were losing, but Mikira couldn’t win if she was dead.
Gren swung his horse in again, but this time, he didn’t go for Mikira.
He slashed into Atara’s right shoulder.
The horse screamed as her leg gave out and they hit the groundhard.
The air rushed from Mikira’s lungs as she rolled like a skittering stone, the rocky earth tearing at her skin. She slid to a stop in the wet mud of the ravine edge. Her entire body ached, pain flaring from a thousand tiny cuts.
Distantly, she was aware of hoofbeats pounding past, of her own ragged breathing, of leaves crunching beneath a softer, more human step—she sucked in a gasp and flung herself back a second before Gren’s blade drove into the earth where she’d been lying. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring her body’s protests, and drew a knife.
Gren snarled, his face splattered with someone else’s blood. She whirled, searching for Atara. She couldn’t lose another horse, she couldn’t—Atara lay in the mud a few paces away, struggling to get her legs back under her. Her shoulder was a mess of dark blood, the red growing until it was all Mikira could see, until the fury of the second race’s enchantments paled in comparison to the rage pounding through her now.
“I’m going to kill you!” Mikira shrieked, but Gren only laughed and hefted his blade.
“Come on, then, little girl.”
She dodged his first strike and his second. Then the blade caught her along the arm. She stepped inside his outstretched guard, slashing his forearm. He dropped his knife with a hiss.
“You’re not even racing,” she panted. “You’re just trying to stop me.”
“Lord Kelbra has made it very clear that you are not to win.”
Because Rezek’s rider didn’t need to win for Mikira and Damien to lose—she just had to fail.
Gren’s lips twisted into a grin, and he slammed into her. She staggered back, dropping her knife. Mud turned to loose earth, the ground crumbling beneath her feet. Then it shifted as if releasing a sigh and gave out beneath her, sending her plummeting toward the river.
CHAPTER 29
MIKIRA
MIKIRA CLUNG TOan exposed tree root. The water pulled at her heels, trying to drag her under as she dug her boots into the riverbank, scraping and clawing for purchase she couldn’t find. She tried to pull herself up, but the added force only tore the root looser, dropping her closer to the water.
She cursed, fear flaring wild inside her.
