Allor plunges into the mist at our left, completely obscured in an instant.
“We’re under attack!” Davien gets Shaye’s attention. No sooner does he say it than Allor plunges from the mist once more.
I thrust my palm into him, pushing him from his saddle. It’s sheer luck that the blade of shadow Allor is wielding only nicks my side. The sharp pain startles me; I lose my balance and come tumbling down between the horses. Allor vaults over me.
The stomping feet of the startled mounts rumbles the earth. I roll, covering my head with both my hands, trying to make myself as small of a target as possible. One of the horses lets out a scream as Allor plunges her blade into its haunch. I scramble away before the mount comes crashing down. As I find my feet, I grab the other horse’s reins. She’s not going to take our escape if I have anything to say about it.
“No you don’t,” Allor snarls. I hold out my hand, willing magic to come to my aid. But nothing happens as the woman lunges. Davien tries to move in my periphery, but Shaye is faster. She leaps off of her saddle, twists in the air, and tackles Allor to the ground. The women roll as the remaining two horses stomp around them.
“You traitor,” Shaye snarls. Allor is already trying to fight against the pin Shaye has her in.
“Shaye—” Davien sprints over to Shaye, but the woman stops him in his tracks with a sharp glance.
“You two go! Leave her to me.”
Allor breaks free and thrusts upward with a dagger made of shadow. Shaye ducks and knocks Allor’s arm away, forearm to forearm. Allor reaches across to grab Shaye’s shoulder, and her leg frees and wraps around Shaye’s body. They grapple.
“Go!” Shaye locks eyes with me. The command isn’t to Davien. It’s instantly clear she’s charging me with the care of her king while she stays behind. I’m stuck in place, too stunned to move. “Go!”
I move, swinging up onto the stallion that was Davien’s. The man is already moving for Shaye as she grapples with Allor. I pull my foot from the stirrup closest to him and hold out my hand.
“Davien!”
“You’re not escaping!” Allor shouts, launching Shaye from her. The Butcher regains her footing in a blur, using the momentum to hurl a projectile toward us. I kick the horse, maneuvering it deftly out of the way as Davien dodges.
Shaye lunges from the fog, clawed gloves made of shadow covering her hands. She goes for Allor’s throat, misses, and connects with her shoulder. My stomach churns at the gore.
“Davien,” I repeat, loudly, getting his attention. His gaze darts between Shaye and me.
“Damn. You. Go!” Shaye snarls, barely managing words between Allor’s relentless attacks while still partly focusing on us.
Davien finally is moved to action. But he doesn’t move for Shaye. He sprints to me as I round the horse to meet him, the fog continuing to part as I turn.
“Move,” he says.
“I’m the better rider, get behind me,” I snap back. I can’t believe he’d even think otherwise. Luckily, Davien is only startled for a moment, and then he obliges. He throws his foot in the stirrup and swings into the saddle behind me. “Hold on tight.”
With a shout and a kick, I push the horse into the fog. The skirmish turned me around, but my compass is in my pocket. We’ll figure it out later. All that matters right now is that we get away.
Get away, and leave Shaye behind. My stomach churns. She can take care of herself, part of me wants to say. Yet I’m already sick with worry. She’s just a fae. But she’s not. In the time we’ve spent together, she’s become more than that to me. She’s Shaye, the woman with a darker past than my own. The woman whom I wanted to see aid in the killing of Boltov and liberation of the fae wilds.
She’s… Giles was right; she’s a friend.
Davien shifts behind me. He’s looking back. But all I’m focused on is forward—dodging the skeletal trees that emerge like new enemies from the mist.
“Shaye,” he murmurs.
I slow the horse at the sound of conflict and longing that’s so present in her name. “We could go back.”
“No… You did the right thing. We have to keep on. She’s fulfilling her duty and her oaths to me by giving us a chance to escape.” He speaks like a king, but the words are clearly forced, each more difficult than the last. “Moreover, there’s no way we’ll find them again. And hopefully no way Allor can find us.”
I twist the reins in my fingers, and we continue on at a trot. It’s quieter than a gallop. Hopefully we’ve lost Allor for good. She must have tracked us all the way into the fog. I curse inwardly; I hope she’s dead.
“You did the right thing,” he says softly, his breath moving the small hairs on the back of my neck. There’s no space in the saddle for two. It’s uncomfortable and leaves nothing to the imagination as his body is pressed against mine. His hands are on my hips, lacking anywhere else to be.
“Leaving Shaye and Giles behind doesn’t feel like it.”
“We have to keep going. Everything is riding on you and me. The sacrifices of Shaye and Giles, Vena, of all of Dreamsong are riding on this one shot. As long as we get to the lake and transfer the magic from you to me, all of the sacrifices are worth it. No matter what the cost was.”
