“Get out,” Corinne said steadily. “Leave and do not return or I will slay you.”
Corinne stopped advancing and began to move her sword into a variety of defensive positions. The lurker would twitch and she would adjust. Jason found himself flinching with each tiny movement. She swiped at it, missed, and stepped back into a defensive stance. Her blade kept moving as if dueling an imagined foe, blocking invisible blows, occasionally poking forward in halfhearted thrusts. The lurker crowded toward her, knees bent, arms extended, feinting with its head and hands. She seemed to anticipate every feint, moving with the featureless creature instead of reacting to it.
Corinne shuffled back and lowered her sword to her side. The torivor flashed toward her at the same moment as she lunged, thrusting her blade forward. The lurker stopped just shy of the sharp tip. The torivor slapped at the flat of her blade, but she twisted it so the black palm tore open against the edge, bleeding light.
Corinne shifted the tip of her blade left, then right, keeping it pointed directly at the lurker as it sidestepped. The dark figure jumped up and back, sailing almost high enough to reach the rafters. Then it fell flat to the floor and blurred toward her legs. Corinne stabbed downward, the blade piercing the floorboards as well as the torivor. It disappeared with a blinding burst of light.
There was silence in the stable for a moment. Corinne looked over her shoulder at her friends, her expression tired and relieved.
Jason did not realize he had been frozen in horrified shock until it began to melt away. He blinked. She had survived. No, not just survived. She had killed it.
“Well done,” Farfalee said, making no effort to hide her disbelief.
“How many horses?” Aram repeated menacingly, leaning his weight onto the fallen soldier.
The man beneath his boot looked flabbergasted. “She just . . . How did she . . . ?”
“We kill lurkers all the time,” Aram replied casually. He leaned more heavily on the man, his boot pressing down with rib-creaking force. “Last chance.”
Jason stood beside Aram, glaring down at the trapped soldier. The man glanced his way. He kept his expression hard.
“We scattered twenty or so,” the man huffed with difficulty. “Emptied the corral.”
Aram reduced the pressure. “Which way did they run?”
“Inland,” the man said. “You won’t catch them. It’s a wide wilderness. The darkling spooked them.”
“What other horses remain in town?”
“None,” the soldier replied. “They were all kept here. They made us get rid of our own horses as well. We just got the order. We were supposed to eliminate any means for you to escape by land.”
“There have to be outlying farms with livestock,” Aram said.
“Sure, here and there. Nothing close.”
Jasher, Farfalee, and Nia had already led the three remaining horses from their stalls. Thag had run past Corinne to watch the far door. Fet guarded the near door. Del knelt beside Zoo, leaning in close and feeling her neck. “She’s gone,” the drinling said, rising to help saddle the horses.
Jason looked at Zoo lying motionless. She had been so alive just moments ago. Another casualty from a lurker. Another fallen friend. When would it end?
“There has to be some mount you spared,” Aram insisted. “Do you have a commander?”
“Captain Finley and Morgan the mercenary are currently astride their mounts,” the man said. “That’s all. You’re lucky to have three. We knew you were coming. We were making quick work of it.”
“Jason, Corinne, and Farfalee will ride,” Jasher said. “They have to get away. The rest of us can fan out, head into the wilderness on foot, try to find our own mounts and catch up.”
“I don’t like it,” Farfalee said. “We’ll be too vulnerable.”
“We’ll be at your heels,” Nia said. “Drinlings can keep up with horses over long distances. We can’t outpace a gallop, but we can run day and night without tiring, eating as we go.”
Jason moved toward one of the horses. Corinne stood beside another, looking a little shell-shocked.
“Where is your commander?” Aram asked the soldier under his boot.
“What am I?” the man complained. “An oracle? I suppose he’s managing the defense of the waterfront.”
“The horses may not have strayed far,” Farfalee said. “Once away from the lurker, they could have slowed. We should go after them together.”
“Some of us could ride double,” Jason suggested. “Especially if it’s just until we find more horses.”
Farfalee nodded eagerly. “What if Jason and Corinne shared a mount? Jasher could join me, and Aram could take the third, just until we see if we can catch up to some of the scattered horses. We could bring extra bridles.”
“Those ships are bringing more troops than we can handle,” Jasher said. “You should get away while you can.”
“Those ships could also be used to—”
Jasher interrupted Farfalee by placing a finger on her lips. He nodded at the soldier on the floor. “We should wait before getting too specific.”
Jason looked at the man on the ground. His wide eyes lacked focus. His face gleamed with sweat.
“Are we finished with him?” Farfalee asked.
“Anything else to tell us?” Aram questioned.
The man licked his lips, eyes anxious. “Can’t believe that girl killed a darkling. That’s a sight I never expected to see. Quick as a rock viper, that one.”
Crouching, Aram clenched both arms in a snug hold around the soldier’s head and neck. The soldier soon went boneless. “He’ll stay that way for some time,” Aram promised.
“The ships in pursuit could shuttle soldiers ahead of us,” Farfalee continued. “Anyone watching the Valiant could tell we wanted to go north. If we escape from here, they might head us off. We need warriors who can help us fight our way through ambushes, and we need woodsmen who can help us avoid them.”
“Fine,” Jasher said, lighting a strand of luminescent seaweed. “It will be hard to track the horses in the dark, but not impossible. If it comes to it, you three ride ahead.”
“We need to move,” Aram said.
“Are you all right?” Jason asked as Corinne mounted up behind him.
“Better than the lurker,” she replied.
“That was amazing.”
“I could feel its mind,” she said. “Just like Father taught me. The concentration was tiring, but it could hide nothing. Even at the start I knew it would raise its arms and scare the horses right before it did. With it tracking us, I knew we’d never get away. Since it had no weapons, I decided to take a chance.”