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They would die, came the stray thought, that realization stealing all the breath from my lungs.
If I didn’t get to him first, they would die. I knew, deep in my bones, that I was meant to claim Lygath. It had to mean something. My visions, my dreams. I’d felt the bonding pull, hadn’t I?
And so if I was meant to be Lygath’s rider, he would throw off all others who tried to claim him. Just like he’d done to Haden. Would Sarkin catch riders who fell?
I wasn’t certain. His priority was me.
My husband wouldn’t be distracted—his focus would be unshakeable, tracking my movements, especially with Lygath so near after what I’d told him. I couldn’t promise him that I wouldn’t try to claim Lygath if the situation presented itself. Here it was…and Sarkin likely felt the frustration of my stubbor
As if on cue, I heard Zaridan’s roar from the dark depths of the foggy pass. Lygath responded, his tail flicking, his movements becoming agitated, swinging his head to search for his sister. His distraction brought him within mounting distance to where another acolyte was waiting, not far down the pass from where I was situated.
“No!” I called out when I saw the sudden movement. The leaping figure, shadowed in the darkness until a piercing shaft of moonlight hit him, just as he was airborne. Lygath’s head whipped to regard me, the piercing gold eyes cutting straight through me. Zaridan’s eyes.
An acolyte—a male Karag, no one I recognized but either from the North or the East—latched onto Lygath’s back.
The Vyrin roared, the sound jolting my heart in my chest. I watched in horror as Lygath swung his head, trying to dislodge the rider, diving low as he spun…
Which brought him directly into the path of another rider.
In disbelief, with my heart in my throat, I watched another rider launch himself onto Lygath, landing on his other side. Were they going to challenge each other for the Elthika?
They will be ruthless, Sarkin had said.
The sound that Lygath made caused the hairs on my neck to stand on end, anguish building in my belly. It seemed to quiet the entire night, making movement slow all around us. They swept right in front of me, so close that I could actually smell the Elthika. Earthy musk, like damp dirt on the wildlands after a summer storm.
A flash of knowing went through me, so certain, so right.
“Lygath!”
The Elthika’s head swiveled at his name, and he veered, ascending into the sky while the riders on his back grappled toward a better mounting position, their tethers hanging off the side. I tracked them overhead, and then Lygath turned, descending quickly, spi
I felt the boom of the cliff, the ground shaking beneath my feet as the entire mountain seemed to tremble with the force of his deliberate impact. Lygath latched himself into the side of the mountain. When I craned my neck around, I only caught a glimpse of him before I heard the guttural cries.
Something flashed in the moonlight. Then another.
Two Karag males, plummeting toward their deaths, dislodged off Lygath’s back when he’d rammed into the cliffside. The Elthika roared, and I could hear his talons scrape against stone. He catapulted away, flying down the pass before he started to turn, heading back toward me.
All I could do was watch the darkness swallow the two riders. A death fall. Two. The echoes of their cries went quiet, and I heard Zaridan’s roar.
If I don’t claim him, more will die, I thought.
Determination rose in me. My heart was rapid, beating so hard that it hurt, that it was difficult to breathe after what I’d just witnessed. The air was crisp, and it burned when I sucked in a sharp breath. I had to time it perfectly when there was no time at all.
Closer and closer, Lygath came. I backed up, imagining where I would meet him.
“Klara, no!” I heard dimly. Sarkin’s voice, echoing up the pass. He knew what I was about to do.
Now! I thought.
I sprinted as fast as I could off the short ledge, launching myself into the air, the tethers grasped tight in my grip.
Wind rushed in my ears when I went airborne. For a moment, the Tharken cliffs went quiet. I felt the force of Lygath’s approach more than I heard him.
Then I was there. His wings flashed before me, and I cried out when I landed on his back, the impact nearly stealing my breath entirely. Tight core, brace low, I thought, my teeth gritting as I drew in gasping lungfuls of air.
It was a clean landing, much to my surprise. But Lygath roared, and I actually saw a stream of ethrall escape him, bright red in the darkness of the night. Seeing it momentarily lost me my focus. My hands slipped, and I narrowly slid off his back. In a last desperate attempt, I tossed the tethers toward his neck, the sliding metal clasp just catching, allowing me to straighten as Lygath picked up speed, thrashing.
His movements dislodged the clasp, and I gasped when the tethers slipped through my grip.
“No, no, no!”
The tethers fell into the darkness below, a winding snake that vanished. The Tharken Pass swallowed it. I went low, acting on instinct, bending flat over his back, and I tried to reach up to grip the sharp, taloned bones that jutted up near his wing joints.
Lygath thrashed.
“Lygath, ha
He bucked again, whirling so fast, the force making me slide. I had nothing to hold on to, and he seemed determined to get me off him.
Confusion and despair outweighed my shock as I slid to the side…
The whole world tilted.
Then I was falling.
Lygath grew smaller and smaller above me, pumping his wings as he fled the pass, ascending higher and higher. He was silhouetted by the moon. That was the last I saw of him.
I was in a death fall. One I’d been well prepared for.
But I hadn’t expected this.
Rejected by the Elthika I’d been certain was meant to be mine.