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And then, before I could even blink, he had thrown out both his hands, dark blades extending in each direction.

One swept towards Draven, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Nightclaw veer and heard Draven shout.

The other sped towards me. I lifted my hands to ward off the expected blow that never came, and as I did, I heard Sunstrike cry out in pain and fear.

I caught sight of a wing, ripped to shreds.

And then my exmoor began to topple.

For a moment, I dangled in the saddle, struggling against the pull of gravity.

But as Sunstrike spun and spun in midair, plummeting faster and faster, my feet slipped from the stirrups.

And I fell.

CHAPTER 11 - MORGAN

I plunged downwards, feeling the raw rush of wind around me. For a few moments, it whipped past me like a tumultuous symphony that I could do nothing but listen to. My mind was blank, devoid of fear or panic.

Then I felt the sword strapped to my back begin to slip from its sheath. I reached my hand back, struggling to grasp the hilt, but it was too late.

Excalibur was gone.

Reality sank in. I turned my body and glimpsed brown earth rising up below me in a dizzying blur.

Panic filled me like a flood. This was it. This was how it ended. Killed by my own brother.

The sickening sensation of free fall engulfed me. The air roared past, screaming over my ears as it tore at my clothes and streamed through my hair like a wild beast.

I tried to think of Draven. Of all of those I loved. I closed my eyes and I tried to prepare for my end.

There was nothing else I could do. Nothing.

Something slammed into me, knocking the breath from my lungs. For a moment, I actually struggled against it, but the force was too strong.

Firm arms wrapped around me, enveloping me like a shield.

My eyes popped open. Draven.

The wind was too loud for us to speak, but I saw his eyes. Green and... terrified. He feared we truly might die. Yet he had caught me.

He had slowed my fall, I realized. We were still hurtling downwards but at a slower speed than before.

The ground was very close now.

It rose up towards us.

Soon. Very soon.

I shut my eyes, gritted my teeth, and wrapped my arms around my mate.

We hit the earth.

It was not a pleasant feeling. If the breath had been knocked out of me when Draven had collided with me in midair, this was a thousand times worse. I could only lie there, gasping airlessly, and wait for my diaphragm to eventually return to normal. As the air began to fill my lungs again, I looked upwards and saw a sight I had not dared to hope to see.

Nightclaw would never have discarded his rider or allowed Draven to do what he did unless the cat himself had good reason. In any other situation, the exmoor could have easily caught me himself and carried Draven and me both to safety.

But his mate had been in danger. Her wing ripped to shreds.