“That’s a ridiculous claim,” she said. “Stop being noble. It wasn’t your fault we got separated or that a couple of lackwits with arrows put me in danger.”
Fallon looked between the two of them with a thoughtful expression on his face. “I agree with Trenton.”
Shea scoffed and turned to him with anger dawning on her face.
He held up a hand to forestall her coming words. “His punishment will be to train you to prepare for all sorts of situations that might come up so that next time you can react with more skill. I also think continuing as your personal guard will be punishment enough for his transgressions.”
Fallon gave her a pointed look. Her mouth snapped shut as she frowned at him. She resented the fact that he had made it seem as if guarding her was a punishment, but she couldn’t argue with him without putting Trenton’s neck back on the chopping block. Fallon had unreasonably high expectations for his guards. She didn’t want to be the one responsible if anything happened to Trenton.
Tricky, tricky Warlord.
She’d like to argue against the need for more training but the events of today had shown a huge gap in her skills. She’d survived because she was lucky. There was a good chance she wouldn’t be the next time an enemy came for her.
She turned to Trenton. “I guess we’ll be spending more time in the training arena once you’re healed.”
“There are people she can train with until you’re cleared for duty again,” Caden told Trenton. He turned his head towards her. “I will take over your training until Trenton can work with you.”
Great. The only person worse than Trenton was Caden. She’d seen him train with Fallon. The man was a dictator. One who was relentless and tireless. She nodded her agreement. Arguing was useless, and a little time spent with him could make a difference down the road.
“I’ve dispatched several teams to sweep this section of the forest. They’ll report back when they’ve finished,” Caden told Fallon.
Before Fallon could respond, a large shadow blotted out the sun streaming through the forest branches as screams rose from the encampment. Shea looked up to see golden feathered wings as large as a house.
“Golden eagle.”
Shea hit the ground, pulling Fallon down with her. Caden and Trenton followed, landing with a thump.
The eagle swooped down, overshooting Shea and the rest to pluck a horse from an enclosure. The horse screamed with fear, its legs kicking before it went still as the eagle’s claws broke its neck.
Another eagle dropped from the sky. This time rising with a person in its clutches.
Shea’s heart thundered in her ears. The leftover adrenaline that had been in her system earlier flooded through her, erasing any fatigue.
This wasn’t right. How were the golden eagles here? Their territory was the mountains and plains, where pickings were easy, and their movements unhampered by the giant vegetation of the forest.
Shea watched as one of the eagles tried to lift off and had to drop its prey when it couldn’t extend its wings because of trees hemming it in on either side. The person it dropped crawled toward an upraised tree root as the bird hopped awkwardly after him. Its talons carved deep grooves in the wood.
“Attack its wings,” Fallon ordered Caden. “Don’t let it back into the air.”
Caden let out a roar. The Anateri followed him. Some held spears and others bows and arrows. They circled the bird and worked on bringing it down while it mantled its wings at them and gave a screech of warning.
Shea grabbed Fallon’s arm before he could run to help. “Its eyesight is incredibly sharp. It can spot prey from a mile away. Don’t let it back in the air. It can be out of the range of your weapons in seconds and dive on you before you can blink. Stay close to the trees as much as possible. It’ll make it harder to maneuver there.”
Fallon nodded. He brushed her cheek with a gentle touch and then was gone.
A hand fell on Shea’s arm. Trenton’s expression was grave. “We need to go.”
Shea nodded. Yes, they did. The second one would come back for its mate.
As she stood, she glanced back at the forest and paused. A figure stood in its shadows. She could have sworn she recognized him. His shape was familiar, the way he carried himself. Though the distance made her second guess herself. There was no way it could be him. He was dead. Had been since their trip into the Badlands.
An eagle screamed, just as it dived into the camp. The Trateri split, some racing to meet the coming danger while the young and non-warriors raced to find shelter. Shea followed along, knowing that she’d just get in the way. She wasn’t trained for combat and had not trained to be part of a team.
She ran beside Trenton, trying not to get swept along with the press of humanity.
There was a war cry above her and a villager from Airabel flung a spear at one of the eagles. Another leapt through the air, freefalling until he landed on the back of an eagle, taking a knife to the beast’s neck until blood dotted its feathers.
The eagles were swarming. Shea had only seen the like one other time in her life. The Badlands. This scene was as bad as any she fought there. Terror was a wild beast in her chest.
Another eagle dived, while its companion fought off the man from Airabel. This time there was no scream as it rose, blond curls draped over its talons.
“Mist! Trenton, it has Mist.” Shea pointed at the eagle that struggled to flap its way to safety. It turned as villagers shot a hail of arrows at it.
Trenton looked up and cursed. “Shea, wait.”
Shea didn’t wait. She ran along the ground keeping the eagle in sight as it careened through the forest, its wings too big. They brushed the sides of the trees as it fought to rise.
Shea found a ladder leading into the trees and started to climb. One hand over the other as fast as she could. Reaching a rope bridge above, she pulled herself up and ran along it, shadowing the eagle below.
She leapt into empty space when she ran out of bridge and barely landed on another tree’s oversized branch. They were in the mid canopy. The branches weren’t as tightly woven as they were in the world above. She had to pay attention to where she placed her feet. It would be easy to fall here.
The eagle flapped as it fought through the dense forest and gave a battle cry as Trateri soldiers forced it back. Shea turned, following a branch.
There. That was her chance.
She leapt, grabbing a hanging vine and swinging out into air. She let go and fell, her heart in her throat and utterly focused as the eagle grew in size beneath her. She landed on its back, sliding down until her hands managed to grip tight onto its feathers.
The wings flapped, hitting her on the side of the face. She bit her tongue but held on.
Mist whimpered from where she was clutched in the beast’s claws.
Shea clung to the bird. She hadn’t thought this plan through before she implemented it. Impulsiveness was really going to get her killed one day.
She couldn’t kill the beast with Mist clutched in its claws. It would mostly likely result in Mist’s death as well as Shea’s when they all went crashing to the ground.
Shea waited, drawing the dagger she’d grabbed when the beasts first attacked. She’d need to time this very carefully.
An eagle could open and close its claws at will. Right now, it held Mist lightly enough that the girl hadn’t been killed. Probably because the eagle wanted its prey alive for whatever reason.