Run. Faster. Don't stop.
The words pounded in my skull with every slam of my feet across stone. My lungs burned, legs screaming as I pushed along the knife-edge ridge. The beasts snarled behind me, claws ripping gouges into stone, their weight making the ground tremble under my boots. Every sound made the air vibrate through my bones.
Think, think, think! I shouted at myself, but thinking was near impossible with death breathing down my neck.
The ridge dipped then narrowed, forcing me to the right. I scrambled up a jagged slab, boots slipping on loose gravel. One beast lunged too wide, momentum carrying it into a wedge of boulders. It roared, thrashing, stuck between the rocks. My chest heaved, hope flashing bright. One down.
But the other was faster. Smarter.
Its shadow lunged across mine. The rush of its breath scalded the back of my neck. I spun, knife raised, but I wasn't fast enough.
Shit.
It hit me full-force. The air exploded out of my lungs as my back cracked against the ground. Pain burst across my spine. Dust choked me. The world spun until all I saw were jagged teeth descending toward my face.
The beast's jaw opened too wide, saliva dripping hot on my cheek. The stink of rot and blood filled my nose, making me gag. Its roar rattled my skull.
"No—" My voice cracked. I shoved both hands against its snout, arms trembling as I forced its jaws back an inch. The muscles in my shoulders screamed. My breath came in broken gasps. Not strong enough. I'm not strong enough. It's going to crush me.
You will not die today child… that voice again.
The beast snapped again, closer. My arms shook so hard I thought the bones would splinter. Tears stung my eyes. My heart thundered against my ribs.
I survived the slums. I survived a bolt to the shoulder . I have survived worse than this! I will not die here. Not now! NOT TODAY!
My knife—where—
I slid my right hand just enough to feel the hilt. The shift nearly cost me my life. Its jaws drove lower, teeth scraping my sleeve, tearing fabric. I screamed and clutched the hilt, pulling it free. My other arm buckled.
"Not today, asshole!" I roared, and drove the blade up with every shred of strength I had.
Steel sank into its eye. Hot, wet fluid burst across my face, burning and acrid. The beast shrieked, body convulsing above me. I stabbed again, teeth gritted, wrist jarring with every strike. The world narrowed to blood, screams, and my own ragged voice.
Again. Again.
Until the weight above me finally slackened.
The beast collapsed sideways, its body slamming the ground with a shudder that rattled through my chest. I lay there a moment, crushed under its scaled flank, too dazed to move. My knife slipped from my hand.
Then survival screamed again. With shaking arms, I clawed my way free from beneath its corpse. My hair clung wet to my face, sticky with blood. My throat burned with every breath. My chest rose and fell so violently I thought my ribs might crack.
I was alive.
Somehow, I was alive.
Below, Raiden and Revik were still locked in the tide of mercenaries. Sparks of lightning flared through the dark as Raiden cut down man after man. Revik fought like a storm himself, ruthless and quick. But the mercenaries pressed tighter, the line squeezing them toward the cliff's edge.
Think. Don't freeze. Think.
Then I saw it—further up the ridge, a cluster of rocks piled precariously, one shift away from collapse.
Hope lit like fire in my chest.
I bolted, lungs burning, legs leaden. "Raiden! Revik! This way!"
Their heads snapped up. Even through the chaos, they heard me. They fought hard, breaking free of the choke point. The stallion thundered up the path with Raiden driving it, Revik close behind. The mercenaries surged after them, shouts rising.
I skidded to the unstable ridge and planted myself. My chest heaved. My arms shook from strain. But I held. I waited until Raiden and Revik thundered past, the stallion's hooves sparking stone, Revik's grin wild despite the blood on his face.
Now. Wait—no—just a heartbeat more.
The mercenaries stormed beneath me. The beasts' handlers tugged chains, dragging the hulking hybrids closer. Dust clouded the air, making my lungs burn.
Perfect.
I kicked.
The first rock shifted. Then rolled.
A grinding crack tore through the mountain as the ridge gave way.
And then the avalanche came.
Stone thundered down in a wall, sweeping beasts and men alike into the abyss. Screams tore the night and were cut short as the roar of falling rock drowned everything. Dust exploded upward, choking, stinging my eyes.
When the air cleared, silence stretched where chaos had been.
Raiden looked up at me from the saddle, face streaked with dirt and blood. He- he was smiling—broad, fierce, proud. His silver-blue eyes burned like fire through the dark.
"Clever girl." he called. His voice rang sharp, triumphant. "Now come down before you get yourself killed."
My chest swelled. Pride. Relief. Something hotter I didn't want to name. He was proud of me.
My knees nearly buckled, but I forced myself steady. One breath. Then another. I started down carefully, boots scraping, hands gripping stone.
Relief sinking in, adrenaline slowing. I almost smiled—almost—
Then a shadow moved.
An arm shot out and yanked me hard. A blade pressed against my throat, cold and sharp.
I froze. The merc's mask pressed into my hair, his breath rancid in my ear. My heart slammed so hard it hurt.
"RAIDEN!" The word tore out of me before I even thought it.
He was there in an instant, moving with the speed that lived in his veins. His eyes, burning hotter than the lightning crawling along his sword.
"Stay back or she dies!" the merc snarled, pressing the knife harder until pain stung sharp at my neck. My breath seized. I didn't dare move.
For a single terrifying heartbeat, the world held still. I waited—waited for Raiden's next move, for the merc's hand to slip, for blood to spill.
Raiden didn't flinch. His voice was low, deadly calm. "You're a funny guy."
Lightning leapt. Precise. Merciless.
It shot through the man's body, burning him from the inside out. His scream was cut short. He crumpled, the knife clattering from his hand. The stink of scorched flesh hit my nose, thick and sickening. I gagged, bile burning the back of my throat.
And then Raiden was there, hand outstretched. His hand steady, his eyes locked on mine. Fierce. Protective. Unyielding.
"Come."
For half a breath, I couldn't move. My legs shook. My hands trembled. But then I reached. His palm closed over mine, warm and solid, and pulled me up from the dust and blood.
Alive. Shaken. Terrified. But alive.
For the briefest moment, staring into those storm-lit eyes, one truth seared through me—
The most dangerous thing on this mountain wasn't the mercenaries or the beasts. It was him.
It should have scared me, made me back away from his touch, but Instead I didn't want to let go.