Solace Curse: Part I

10 - Blood Trail

The moment the blade left my hand, I knew it was all over.

It went straight through the Ska'al's eye.

I was doubled over before the spray of blood speckled the rocks, at once choked and electrified by the flow of Solace magic—as if my lungs were tattered and sucked in black smoke, but my spine was filled with lightning. The magic had sparked to my fingertips as I let the blade fly, and I could feel it drive the weapon into the Ska'al's skull. The rush in my ears didn't drown out the crunch of metal on bone, which sent me spiraling back to earth.

Andrin, Andrin's hurt. He needs me. He's hurt. He needs me.

The thoughts beat incessantly against my skull, bludgeoning the fading high of magic.

Through the haze, I fought to get my balance and stumbled over to Koren, who cradled a barely conscious Andrin in his arms. Koren looked up and our eyes met.

The lightning arced up my spine again and I bit back angry words. His eyes were full of a deep anger, something I could feel radiating out from him, even without the currents. It sparked my own temper, already drastically shortened by the magic. I stalked over to Lylisia's knife and snatched it up out of the dust.

Koren was carefully wrapping Andrin's wound, tight as he could to limit the bleeding. The Ska'al's knife lay at Koren's side covered in blood, dripping onto the rocks. There was so much of it, everywhere.

"Next time, just give me the knife." Koren didn't look up. He spat the words into the dirt.

My shocked retort was cut off by a long, low note resounding across the rocks—the Corvel horn.

Koren's head snapped up and swiveled, searching for the source of the sound, but it seemed to be everywhere at once. "Get under his other shoulder, now," he said tersely. "Get him up the incline and across this open space."

We heaved the wounded Animaré off the ground and up the shale wall. The gravel at the top made for uneven footing, and my missteps sent us both lurching sideways.

I couldn't bite my tongue. "I saved us both back there."

"I didn't ask you to," he shot back, stumbling as I pulled us sideways again.

I swallowed my retort as we heard shouts in the distance behind us. A pinprick of light appeared on the horizon beyond the site of the battle and we picked up our pace.

"The Ska'al's dead, Koren, and you have me to thank for it. What would you..." I paused to take some deep breaths. "What was your plan!"

Another horn sounded. This one was loud. Again it echoed across the empty terrain, a call to arms at our backs. We almost made it to cover, the lights barely visible on the horizon—but they were coming for us.

My leg gave out beneath me and I dropped down, panting. Koren stood with his head on a constant swivel, tapping his foot on the stones below. He didn't give me much time. "Let's move."

I groaned and took Andrin's shoulder again, heaving his frame up off the ground. I was still out of breath. "What would you... have done? ...huh? Given up... and let him kill us all?"

Koren clenched his jaw and stared straight forward, shaking his head. He picked up his pace.

"Koren you know Lyli—"

"Lylisia wouldn't have gotten us into this!" he finally snapped.

We dropped off the ledge on the plateau's far side into a cutout in the rock. I collapsed into a corner, then immediately hauled myself back up.

"That's not my fault, the magic—"

"Oh don't even try Sedris, you can't say you did what she would've done then blame it on the magic in the next breath."