Aris pointed to an alleyway. They skidded and walked sideways through quite a few until Aris put a hand out and crouched as the sound of horses came from around the corner.
Faust ducked and slid in close to the wall beside Mika.
The horses passed without incident, but bells tolled. More guards joined the search and the lookouts lit the signal fires along the massive stone walls along the edge of the city.
Faust cursed under his breath. “Now what?”
Aris pointed to the stable a few alleys away. “We need to get there. Quick,” Aris said and rushed across the street.
Faust moved to follow but stumbled under a rush of vertigo. Mika caught his arm and hauled him along. They ran together with Faust’s feet leaving the ground more often than not.
Aris moved a sky stone and it flickered, sending a rush of wind ahead of them with a small pulse of sky blue.
Faust’s eyes narrowed. Small orbs of sky blue surrounded Aris, and his aura grew brighter anytime he used his magic.
The bells grew louder, and the city awakened to inspect the noise.
Faust bit his lip, raising one hand.
“No magic,” Mika reminded. “If they see us, we run. Save your energy for riding a horse.”
Faust dropped his hand. Mika was right. It was going to be difficult enough with his injuries riding a horse in his current state.
Aris ran across the street first and gave Mika a thumbs-up to bring Faust just as the door behind Aris opened.
Faust panicked, but Aris turned around with a smile. He exhaled a heavy breath, forming a small cloud. Faust knew this man, too. Faust gave the old man an apologetic smile.
“I am happy to finally assist you, Your Majesty.” The old man bowed. “Two horses are ready. A third is being set as we speak. Please hurry.”
Aris mounted a horse, and Mika assisted Faust onto his before getting onto his own. Aris gave the stable owner a grateful expression. “I will remember you.”
The old man nodded. “Keep our light safe. King Konrad will be most upset if any more harm comes to him.”
Aris tipped his head in respect.
Clanking armor echoed and hooves bashed against cobblestone with shouts accompanying the sound of guards opening doors.
Faust extended his hand to the old man. “Do not hesitate to tell them I stole your horses. It should keep you and your family safe from harm.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty.” The old man squeezed Faust’s hand. “We will be awaiting your return.”
Faust nodded.
Aris took off in a gallop.
Faust kicked his steed into a trot and then a gallop once Mika was behind him. He kept his body low and relied on Aris’s lead.
Knights crossed their path, but a sharp wind sent them spiraling to the ground. Sky-blue light streaked the air again and again, sending knights hurling into themselves and walls. Wind even burst behind Mika, smashing the pursuing knights.
Faust was more than impressed. Aris had complete control of the situation. The wind caressed his face, and Faust smiled, letting his magic coil with Aris’s in a playful dance.
Arrows whistled through the air, but they snapped in half with a blade of wind. Aris’s wind never missing its mark.
Faust’s breath billowed out in clouds. His back throbbed and his side was no better, but he had to keep it together. The gates were just up ahead.
Knights took aim and let loose arrow upon arrow, each never hitting their target. Aris was quick to knock the men from their posts, their screams echoing as they plunged to the cobblestone.
Faust startled when fire magic erupted behind them as they approached the gate. He whipped his head around. Horses banked from different parts of the city and merged in behind them. Windilum mercenaries! He searched the sky for Relan, but he didn’t appear. “Aris, we have company,” Faust called.
Aris pointed to the sky, and the wind howled, the snow flurrying. “Let’s see them get through that!”
Faust kicked his steed to follow Aris through the gates, Mika close behind. He was right to trust Aris.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Faust shuddered, his vision blurry. Nothing but white surrounded them, and the harsh wind whipped at his face. He kicked his steed to move along the half-buried path despite the thick and frigid snow that now flurried around them. Aris was doing an excellent job of carving a path for them, but Faust could barely see past the immediate tree line.
“I hope you know where we’re headed, Aris,” Mika called, pulling up alongside Faust. “We can’t stay out here much longer.”
“The town is in the middle of the Crest Forest,” Aris said.
That was still a ways off. Faust’s back ached and material still clung to it. Faust turned to his right when wind brushed against his brow. Fire magic shocked across Faust’s senses, barreling their way far too fast for them to hide. “Aris! Ahead.”
Mika readied a sword, but gunshots rang out, and the horses spooked.
Faust was unprepared and rocked backward. He landed in the snow with a grunt, the snow melting into his clothes. Faust stumbled to his feet and shuffled through the snow to his horse.
Fire magic spiked behind him, and Faust whirled.
Riders came from behind, net ready, and swept Faust right into it. They twisted the net and threw Faust to another horseman, who socked him hard in the gut.
Faust gritted his teeth, refusing to lose consciousness. A rag covered his face and mouth, and he struggled to remove it, inhaling on reflex. The scent on the cloth made him sick, and he slumped, deciding to conserve his energy when one mercenary draped him across the back of a horse and tightened a belt to hold him in place. He hissed when the thick leather belt dug into his back.
“Your Majesty!” Mika shouted.
Aris cursed and raised a hand, the wind howling in response.
Powder bombs were thrown in the air and pierced with bullets. Smoke exploded and thickened with the surrounding snow in a giant cloud.
Faust struggled to stay conscious, peering through the smoke.
Aris snarled and the smoke dispersed with a rush of wind. Aris looked left and right, eyes searching.
Faust reached for Aris’s magic and yanked hard as the mercenaries broke off into two groups.
Aris turned his horse sharply toward Faust with a shout Faust couldn’t make out, but Mika kicked his horse into a gallop and followed Aris.
All four of Aris’s sky stones rose above Aris’s head, and the snow tumbled into the wind, cracking into icicles. The blades of ice sailed over Faust’s head and fell in a sharp line ahead of the mercenaries, forcing their horses to rear up, but one mercenary avoided the icicles.
Faust caught Aris’s wild gaze, and his breath caught in his throat. It was as if he were staring at a storm without end, the fury so powerful, Faust didn’t know how Aris contained himself.
Aris flicked a blade off his thigh holster and raised the blade up and out in a single, smooth movement, throwing it. The knife struck the mercenary on the horse next to Faust in the side. Aris wasted little time throwing another the closer he galloped, fueled by the wind. The mercenary dropped off the horse, and the steed ran away.
The mercenaries gathered closer, trying to protect the mercenary Faust rode with, but with the way Mika’s aura flared high to the sky, they weren’t long for this world.
Mika drew his own blade, galloping behind one mercenary and rid him of his head without hesitation. Another rider sparked a fire at Mika, but Mika’s earth stone sparked a brilliant jade. The ground churned, and a hole buckled the snowy path. The mercenary’s horse bucked the mercenary off and into the hole. Earth magic swelled into a nearby tree, and a vine pierced through the man’s jugular. Mika exhaled, eyes still ablaze, and the ground rose, releasing the horse into the wild. “Aris!”