"We have company."
Leo's words hadn't even finished vibrating in the air before the world erupted.
BOOM!
The carriage shuddered violently, wood splintering, iron fittings shrieking. Then the entire world spun.
Avin's body flung sideways. His shoulder slammed into the wall, then his skull into the roof, then his ribs into the floor — though in the spin it was impossible to tell which was which. The sound of cracking wood, the terrified screams of horses, and the guttural roar of earth tearing apart swallowed all thought.
Leo was a blur, tossed like a ragdoll across from him. Both of them slammed against the walls in time with the carriage's death roll.
Then Avin's body smashed into the door.
CRACK.
It splintered, and he was gone.
The air punched out of his lungs as he was hurled into open sky, the world tilting around him. Below, the ground stretched out like a pit waiting to crush him. His scream caught in his throat. Unable to escape from his lips.
