Page 125 of Sacred Orders
It may have been the worst decision I’d ever made, but I couldn’t stop now. Penny would never leave Ashpoint behind. He wouldn’t abandon our resistance—our friends—without help.
Neither could I.
The balmy night air somehow felt suffocating as I urged the horse into motion again. I wondered if this was how Penny felt when the weather was foul. I hunched in my seat, gasping for breath while my head grew lighter and lighter.
It was my fault he was damaged. I’d give anything to make him well again but, barring that, I’d leave him here where he couldn’t be harmed any further.
The looped reins slipped in my sweat-damp hands, and I gripped them tighter until the leather pinched my fingers. That tiny spark of pain built a dam before the anxious thoughts rushing through my head. My ragged breathing deepened, my thundering heart slowed, and my vision slowly returned to normal.
As the horse plodded on, the first of many tears fell.
I had days to reacquaint myself with quiet, with solitude. I’d excelled at it once. Surely, I could do it again.
But that was before Penny. It felt like a lifetime ago. And I wasn’t the same man anymore.
