Free First Hero by Adam Blade Page B

roots from the ground. He dropped the branch and swiped his arm, catching Gwen on the side of her head. She sprawled across the ground and stopped moving. Varlot raised a deadly hoof above her body.
    “No!” Tanner shouted.
    Just then, the canopy of leaves above them seemed to press down, and a dark shape fell through, splintering branches. Gulkien, wings folded, landed on Varlot’s back and fastened his pointed fangs over the Horse Beast’s shoulder. The Beast’s cry echoed through the forest.
    Tanner sheathed his sword and scooped up Gwen. She was unconscious. He ran, not caring where he went, as long as it was away from the camp. He heard the howls and snarls of the battling Beasts, and Gor’s voice shouting: “Find them!”
    Gwen stirred in his arms, rolling her head weakly. Tanner risked a look back and saw points of light in the darkness. Torches. Adrenaline drove his legs, his arms were starting to ache, and there was a pain in his left side. Had he broken a rib?
    A light appeared ahead, through the leaves in the sky. It was brighter than any torch and seemed to hover.
    Firepos!
    She was trying to guide him out. Tanner stumbled between the trees, tripping over roots, watching the beacon above. The noise of his pursuers faded away. Finally, he burst through the trees and out onto a track. Firepos, her wings burning against the black sky, dropped down beside him.
    Tanner laid Gwen carefully on the ground. She managed to pull herself upright, and looked around, dazed.
    “Where’s Gulkien?”
    Tanner pointed back into the forest. “He hasn’t come out yet. He was fighting Gor’s Beast.”
    Gwen looked wretched. “First my brother, now Gulkien.”
    Tanner picked up the sounds of soldiers shouting to one another. One called out, “This way!” They were getting closer.
    Gwen stood up shakily. “I’m going to find him.”
    “You can’t!” said Tanner. “Gor will capture you, too.”
    “But Geffen …” Her face was creased with despair.
    “If Gor was going to kill him, he’d have done it by now,” said Tanner. “Our best chance is to surprise them when they’re out of the forest.”
    Gwen stared into the trees, her eyes shining fiercely. A shadow moved. Tanner drew his sword.
    “It’s Gulkien!” said Gwen, as her Beast limped toward them. His fangs were dripping with blood, and he seemed to be keeping the weight off one of his rear legs. His leathery wings were covered in lacerations. Gwen threw her arms around his shaggy neck and buried her face in his fur.
    “It’s time to go,” Tanner said, hardening his heart. They had to keep moving.
    They climbed onto their Beasts and took off above the forest. Tanner saw the flare of torches fanning among the trees. He shuddered as he remembered Varlot hovering over his friend. If it hadn’t been for Gulkien, she’d be dead.
    “General Gor said they’d be marching to the Broken Gorge,” he said. “Maybe we can lay an ambush there, and rescue Geffen.”
    “It’s the only thing we can do. We’d better get some rest,” Gwen said. Her voice was thick with fatigue. “The army isn’t going anywhere until morning.”
    She directed Gulkien in a long, shallow dive toward the silver ribbon of a river. Exhaustion crashed over Tanner in waves, and it was hard to keep a grip on Firepos’s feathers. His head felt almost too heavy to hold up.
    They landed beside the water in thick grass, and Tanner slid from his Beast’s back. Gwen clambered off beside him, wrapping her cloak tightly around herself. Firepos nestled onto the ground and Tanner lay against her warm flank.
    Gwen was tying a piece of cloth around Gulkien’s bleeding leg. The wolf gave a low growl as she tightened it, but she soothed him by whispering into his ear. Tanner remembered her last shout to her brother as he was being dragged away.
    “Do you think Geffen will tell Gor how to use the map?” he asked.
    Gwen shook her head sadly. “He doesn’t know how,” she said. Tanner frowned.