Ako still couldn’t believe what she had seen. Marek, one of the most unassuming men she had ever met, her brother in all but blood, had won the battle on his own. My only brother, now.

Pushing that out of her mind, she glanced back at Marek. She had slung him over the side of her mount. They had waited until he was done fighting, both herself and Anton. They had lingered about a kilometre away, close enough that they could see and intervene in a short time if needed. Anton had been using Marek’s spyglass to get a better eye on what was happening, but after the first bolt of lightning, he had lowered his head. Ako quickly copied him. They covered their eyes with their hands while Marek had continued his assault.

“He’s like a god,” Anton had whispered during a lull. Ako raised her head and stared at Anton. The blonde had looked and sounded reverent, like the first follower of a new religion. Ako had been surprised she could hear anything, let alone something as quiet as a murmur. She felt uneasy at what Anton was saying, what he was implying. She needed to nip this in the bud as quickly as possible.

“He’s fighting to protect us,” Ako said sternly. “He will need our help, Anton. We will need to be ready.”

Anton shook himself and nodded. “Yes,” he agreed, seemingly ashamed of himself. “I’ll be ready, Ako.”

Ako didn’t reply. She waited, wondering how long Marek could keep up his assault. He had already killed at least half of the forty or so riders there, probably more. He—

The world went white. Their camels behind them roared in fury and pain, and Ako stood up blindly.

“Get the camels!” she shouted, but she didn’t hear the words coming out of her mouth. She couldn’t see or hear anything. She scrubbed at her face and blinked hard, but nothing happened. What have you done, Marek? Ako thought, fearful despite herself. She had always known that Marek had been powerful, but this…

Ako was surprised when she managed to grab the reins of one of the camels, snatching and holding on it like a drowning woman. “Got one!”

Her mount reared and yanked its head, crying out, presumably in fear. Ako gritted her teeth, her arm nearly yanked out of her socket as she stumbled and was almost thrown to the ground. “Easy!” Ako snapped, and then she grimaced. This is an animal that doesn’t know what’s happening and is now in pain. Ako took a deep breath and felt her way up to the camel. Eventually, she made her way up to the camel’s ear.

“It’s OK,” Ako crooned softly. She stroked its head, hiding her impatience as best she could. How was Marek? Was he still alive? Were they trying to kill him right now?

There was nothing that Ako could do but calm down her camel and try to ignore the answers racing through her head. She somewhat succeeded. Eventually she finally managed to calm her mount, which was good if they were ever going to rescue Marek. Thank Noam.

She heard something mumble to her side, and Ako breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever Marek had done, it seemed like the effects weren’t permanent. She blinked again, and this time she could make out a shape struggling to hold onto a much bigger shape.

Ako’s heart sank. Two mounts. We had three. Where’s the third?

She blinked again, and this time she could finally make out Anton. Tears ran down his face as he blindly groped for the reins to his mount.

“ANTON!” Ako shouted at the top of her lungs. “CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

“YES?” Anton shouted back. Ako winced at how loud he was. How loud they both were being. “I CAN’T SEE, AKO!”

“I can see that,” Ako muttered. She led her camel over to Anton, who was still struggling with his camel. She grabbed the reins and thrust them into his hands. “How is your hearing?”

“IT’S—” Anton started, and then he cocked his head. “My hearing’s fine,” he said, still loud but much closer to normal. “I was looking through Marek’s spyglass when he sent that final bolt of lightning. My eyes really hurt, my right one especially.”

“We’ll deal with it later,” Ako said. She led her camel over to where they had been lying and snatched up the spyglass. Sand poured out of it as she did so. Ako winced. I hope it’s not scratched.

“I still can’t see,” Anton said quietly, sounding much younger than he usually did. “I can’t see, Ako. I can’t see.”

“I’ll guide you,” Ako said. She went back to Anton and put a hand on his shoulder. Anton flinched but didn’t move. “I’ll push you around until you go to mount the camel as usual.”

“When are you not pushing me around?” Anton asked with a strained smile. “Marek and Wyatt may be officially in charge, but we all know who’s really the one issuing orders.”

“Do not forget it,” Ako said, shaking her head as she gave Anton a little shove. He stumbled forward and nearly fell but managed to catch himself. “Marek needs us. Hurry.”

It took a few moments, but after some arranging, Anton managed to mount his camel. Ako mounted hers in one smooth movement, nudging her camel toward Anton’s before she grabbed his reins. “Do not fall off,” Ako warned before she straightened and urged her camel forward.

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It took them close to a quarter of an hour before they made it to Marek. He was lying on the ground and unmoving. Ako barely spared a glance to check if Yarran and his men were also indisposed before she dismounted and ran over to Marek.

“He’s breathing,” Ako said, almost crying from relief as she felt a pulse. “He’s just unconscious.”

“Good?” Anton asked uncertainly. He turned his head toward Yarran and his men, who were all also unconscious. He pointed in their general direction. “Are they dead?”

“I don’t know,” Ako said. With a grunt, she flipped Marek over onto his back, cradling his head as she did so. “I am not going to check.”

“We could kill them,” Anton said. His voice was tentative, but there was a current of steel in it. “Take my sword and slit their throats, Ako. Then, they won’t follow us.”

“We are here for Marek,” Ako reminded him. She was tempted, but another look at the downed men had her shaking her head. “I could kill a few, certainly, but if more than a few wake up and are in any condition to fight, they could overwhelm me, leaving both of you stranded.”

There wasn’t a response from Anton, so Ako continued checking Marek over since there was no complaints. When she flipped over his hands, she gasped.

“What?” Anton asked, leaning so far forward on his mount that he nearly slipped off. “What is it?”

“He used his wand,” Ako said, blanching at the deep wounds and burns in his hands. His hands were boiling, and he managed to keep fighting. “His hands are burned and there are fragments of it embedded in his hands.”

“Incredible,” Anton said, sounding awed. Ako frowned at the tone in Anton’s voice, but did nothing as she plucked out the biggest pieces of wood from his hands.

“Anton, can you see yet?” Ako asked. “We need to put him on my camel and leave.”

“A little,” Anton said. He carefully dismounted from his camel, and he blinked owlishly at her. “I can see a few feet in front of me if I really strain my eyes.”

Both Ako and Anton whirled at a loud groan and swearing in Kulok. Ako felt herself pale. Yarran was somehow alive, sitting up and rubbing his face. His face was burnt, but he looked none the worse for wear.

“We must leave,” Ako said urgently. She grabbed Marek’s shoulders. “Help me with his legs.”

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Ako was shaken out of her thoughts as shouts arose from behind her. Ako groaned, wishing that Marek would wake up. It had been over an hour now, and she had been forced to a steady trot instead of the gallop that she wanted. Even that was dangerous. If Marek were to fall…

No, Ako thought. She raised a hand over her shoulder and touched her bow, finding reassurance in the smooth wood. He’s tied to the camel. He won’t fall.

“They’re gaining on us,” Anton said. He passed through a beam of moonlight, and Ako saw the worry on his face. He could see much better now, but that still didn’t mean too much when the shapes past twenty yards were still indecipherable to him. “We won’t have long. Less than an hour at most.”

“Azmar damn them,” Ako spat, surprising herself as she invoked the God of Death’s name, something she had never done before. Still, these were perilous times. She had nine arrows in her quiver, an unconscious Marek at the back of a camel, and a still-compromised Anton. Not the most ferocious group, Ako thought.

She looked up and stared enviously at the woods on the horizon. Behind her, she could hear the pounding of hooves, far too many for them to deal with in the open desert. They were about a half-hour away from leaving the Huzha, maybe an hour at most.

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It wouldn’t be enough.

“We must get to the woods,” Ako said. “Once we are in there, we can lose them and find Wyatt.”

“We need to go faster,” Anton said worriedly. Ako looked back and saw that he had drawn his sword. “They’re coming, Ako. I heard them.”

“I can hear them too,” Ako snapped. She looked back and didn’t see anything. However, with the darkness, it was hard to see much of anything that wasn’t huge, like the treeline in the far distance. “Anton, can you handle your own camel?”

“Yes,” Anton said. He wasn’t looking at her, looking over his shoulder. His voice trembled. “I can see enough to fight.”

“I cannot go as fast as we need to for fear of Marek sliding off,” Ako said. She nodded to Anton’s bloodied sword. “When they come, you need to charge and scatter as many as you can and then come back. Can you do that? I will support you.”

“I can,” Anton said, nodding solemnly. “I will.”

“Good,” Ako said. She bowed her head and pulled the bow lightly off her shoulders. She held the bow in one hand off to the side, shifting so that she was now holding the reins with one hand and her bow in the other. “Be ready.”

They increased their speed from a slow trot to something quicker. It was about two-thirds of what a camel could do at a maintainable gallop, and it still wasn’t enough. The pounding of Kulok hooves behind them was becoming louder and louder as both Ako and Anton traveled in silence. Nothing needed to be said, and Ako found herself looking back a few times a minute, waiting for the inevitable. It was so dark that she could barely see Anton next to her, but they would still be found. There was enough moonlight to illuminate them, and their own camels made enough noise to draw attention.

They finally came into view later than expected, when they were so near to the forest that Ako could almost reach out and touch the trees. There were close to thirty at least, and they screamed and shouted when they spotted Ako and Anton. “What do we do?!” Anton shouted. “We can make it, Ako!”

“Ride!” Ako called, kicking her camel into a full gallop. Let Marek stay tied onto the camel, Ako prayed.

Anton followed, and they rode past the last vestiges of the Huzha and into the forest proper. There wasn’t much yet—mostly a few shrubs—but it was encouraging.

“We made it out of the desert,” Anton panted. “Huzzah!”

Ako laughed, and it came out as something strangled. “How long have you been waiting to use that joke?”

“Almost a year,” Anton said, still laughing. Though she couldn’t see him, Ako knew the idiot was grinning. “I came up with it myself.”

“I am so very proud,” Ako drawled, looking over her shoulder. Many dark shapes were riding toward them, and they were within half a kilometre or so. The ground was relatively flat, so she could easily see them all. “You can tell everyone your joke later, Anton. Prepare yourself.”

“Let me know if I need to charge,” Anton said, his mirth vanishing as if it had never been there. “If we can make it into the trees, we can keep going.”

Ako let go of her reins and reached for three arrows. Marek was still on the camel, thank the gods, but he was still unconscious.

Anton saw her movement. “We could use some magic right now,” he said. He moved to ride beside her. “A couple of lightning bolts, and we’d be free.”

“If he uses magic without his wand, it may kill him,” Ako said. “He explained it to me once: a mage without his wand is a dead man walking; he just does not know it yet.”

“I know,” Anton said. “I—Look out!”

Ako threw herself flat on the camel. Arrows rained down, some missing her by a few paces. “Azmar’s Ruin!” Ako cursed. She drew herself up and turned, stringing an arrow to her bow. She let go of the reins and held the arrows in her other hand.

“Don’t cross my path, Anton,” Ako warned. The riders were close to a hundred paces behind them and were grouped up. Shooting while riding was never ideal, but she had to do something.

She didn’t wait for Anton’s response. Instead, she fired her three arrows in rapid succession, one after another. Two didn’t hit, flying off into the darkness, but one did. There was a cry, and the rider toppled off his mount, landing on another rider and throwing him off his mount.

Some slowed, but others rode past them, uncaring for their fallen brethren’s plight. They also began to separate, slowing them down even further as the forest’s edge slowly began to narrow.

“Do it again!” Anton shouted. His sword was held out at his side uselessly. Ako hoped that he wouldn’t have to use it. “We’re not going to make it, Ako!”

Ako grabbed three more arrows and fired those. Two went down, taking down another with them. She grabbed her last three arrows and hesitated, looking into her empty quiver. Once these are gone, that is it.

She growled and grabbed the arrows, loosening them as quick as she could. They were close now, close enough that all three of her arrows hit with little effort, even in the darkness.

“I am out of arrows!” Ako yelled. She shoved her bow back over her shoulder and drew her dagger, wishing that she had thought to have taken a sword off the battlefield.

Anton didn’t reply. Moments later, she discovered why.

At the last moment, Ako turned and ducked a thrusted spear from a sneering man, whose face was severely and recently burnt. She grabbed the spear as he went to stab again and pulled. The Kulok wasn’t expecting such a move, teetering precariously until he started to fall. He fell with a cry as his own camel ran him over. Ako paid him little concern as she stabbed at another man coming up from her side.

“Anton!” Ako screamed in pain as the enemy spear sliced her leg. She twisted out of a second attack and shoved the spear through the man’s leg and into his camel. Her spear was wrenched out of her hands as the camel reared, man and mount both crying out in agony. She looked back for a moment but didn’t see the blonde. “Anton!”

“Here!” Anton shouted back, and Ako flinched at the sound of sword colliding against a shield. She didn’t have time to worry as she saw another rider coming in her direction. This time, however, he was looking at Marek.

“No!” Ako said. She raised her dagger and flipped it, feeling its balance. The ground they were on was mostly flat, but a single jolt could send the dagger flying out of hand, leaving Marek and herself defenceless. She waited until the rider was about to stab Marek before she threw, putting everything she had behind the throw.

For a moment, Ako thought she had missed. The rider leaned back, preparing himself to stab Marek. Ako wanted to kick her mount to go faster, but the camel was already labouring. She watched, horrified as he went to stab Marek. Then, he froze. The rider leaned forward and kept going. Ako saw that her dagger was embedded in the rider’s chest before he hit the ground and vanished from view.

Ako looked up to see that the forest was now truly upon them. They had finally made it past the treeline, where the path narrowed dramatically. If they managed to get into the forest properly, they would have a much better chance at survival.

“Ako!”

The cry wasn’t from behind her but in front of her. Ako turned to see Wyatt on his camel, with six riders behind him in full armor. They came charging out of the woods at full gallop. Ako gasped at the sight.

“Keep going, we’ll be right behind you!” Wyatt shouted. She could see the relief on his face as he passed her, his eyes going straight to Marek. Wyatt held his sword above his head and pointed it to the enemy riders, who had slowed at the sight of Wyatt and his men.

“FOR MAREK!”

The cry was echoed amongst the other riders as they galloped past Ako and Anton. They were seven against nearly thirty, and they were magnificent. They slammed into the opposing forces, cutting through the Kulok like butter. They didn’t slow—they kept going. Wyatt cut and slashed through Yarran’s men furiously.

Anton made to join them but stopped when Ako snapped at him. “Move in front of me!” Ako shouted over the fighting. She reached down into her boot and yanked out her pocket-knife. “I only have my jack-knife!”

Anton nodded, pulling out in front of her. Both of their mounts were panting, labouring, and frothing at the mouth. They slowed their mounts as they entered the forest properly, unable to ride abreast any longer.

Diev protect you, Wyatt, Ako thought. She glanced at Marek for what felt like the hundredth time. Just like the other ninety-nine times she’d checked if he was still unmoving.

“Go,” Ako said. They had both slowed to a near stop instinctively. They couldn’t see Wyatt, but they could still hear him, fighting and shouting orders. “We need to find Talon and the others. Wyatt will follow.”

Even in the darkness, Ako could make out Anton’s hunched shoulders and then his slow and reluctant nod. Anton spurred his mount, every movement screaming his reluctance to abandon his friend and mentor. Ako followed behind him, hating herself for what she was doing.

“If anyone can make it out, Wyatt could,” Ako said.

“I know,” Anton said tonelessly. He didn’t look back when he spoke; his back was still to her. “Let’s go, Ako.”