Page 85 of Heart Cradle (The Melrathen Saga #1)

The sky stretched mercilessly around them, Soren gripped Calen’s limp body tight, arms locked around his chest as Brontis flew with brutal speed.

The saddle beneath them was covered in blood, and each gust of wind dragged them closer to the edge of disaster.

He could feel Calen slipping, too pale, too still.

“Stay with me,” Soren muttered, trying to keep his voice steady. “You don’t get to fucking die on me. Not like this.”

He worked the leather straps across Calen’s waist, his fingers slick with blood. The first harness was secure, but the second was tangled under Calen’s bulk. Soren gritted his teeth and wrestled it into place, strapping his brother down against the curve of the saddle with a jerk.

“Secure him tighter, ” Brontis ordered through the link, low and clipped. “ Winds are shifting. I’ll hold the pitch, but only for ten seconds.”

“I know, I know ,” Soren’s thoughts hissed, wild with fear. “ He’s dead weight and there’s too much fucking blood.”

“ Then move faster,” Brontis snapped. “ I can’t keep him in the sky if you don’t strap him down.”

Soren yanked the final strap into place, hands shaking. Magic shimmered faintly over the wound, battlefield intention, nothing more. Enough to slow the bleeding, not enough to fix it, perhaps not enough to save him.

“Fucking hells,” Soren whispered, pressing a palm hard against Calen’s ribs. “Don’t do this. Don’t you dare fucking leave me, Cal!”

“ We have to decide,” Venleo cut in, voice tight and strained. “ If we stop to find a working transport stone, we lose time, altitude, and probably Calen.”

“ We can’t risk it,” Brontis growled. “The transport and relay stones are down. You know that.”

“ Fuck ,” Soren bit out.

“ It will save lives ,” Venleo added. “ Just not his. I can’t pick up anyone from the thunder, we’re too far out of range.”

Soren’s knuckles went white . “Fuck. ”

“You can’t break down now, Soren.” Brontis said, firm and unrelenting. “You get him home. That’s the only thing that matters.”

Soren bent his head against Calen’s, forehead to sweat-damp hair. “You stubborn bastard,” he whispered. “You better be fighting, you better not leave me holding your bones.”

“ We stay airborne,” Brontis decided “Stones are a gamble. I can fly faster than the stones can coordinate a healer. We must burn the sky.”

“ And if you’re wrong?” Soren asked, his thought sounded like ground glass.

“ Then we fall together, but I’m not wrong.” Brontis chided.

Venleo snorted faintly. “ Make the call, Soren. We’re losing altitude and options.”

Soren exhaled through his teeth. “Fine. We fly. You push harder and I’ll keep him alive. ”

“ Good, we’ll head to Elanthir, I don’t know the whereabouts of the healers for definite.” Brontis angled his wings into a sharper climb. “I’ll tear the wind apart if I have to.”

Ten minutes passed excruciatingly slowly, Soren pressed his hands on Calen, willing the bleeding to slow, to stop.

Cutting across the sky, a new voice entered the thread. “You’re flying like a drunk wyvern in heat, Brontis. You know what that does to me.”

Soren flinched at the sudden interruption, but Brontis rumbled with something dangerously close to satisfaction. “ My dear Stormheart. Missing me already?” Brontis growled.

“Hmm, not even slightly,” Xelaini purred. “But if you were trying to get my attention, Brontis, you only had to groan a little louder. That turbulence nearly made me lose focus.”

“Maybe I just missed your voice. You always like it when I get… intense,” Brontis growled.

“If I wanted you breathless and spiralling, I’d twist your wings myself. I know you like that,” Xelaini chuckled.

“Are you threatening me or offering foreplay?” He said.

“Both,” she whispered, voice like silk. “And when I catch you, Brontis, I’ll drag you to the ground and make you beg like the beast you are.”

“ Gods below,” Venleo snapped. “ Could you not flirt while Calen is fucking dying?”

The thread snapped taut. “ What?” Xelaini asked, her tone immediately razor-sharp.

“ Calen,” Brontis answered. “ He’s strapped to the saddle. Spear wound, bad angle. Soren’s buying time, but it’s running out fast. Stones are down and we’re too far out.”

“How far from Maelinar Ridge?”

“Five, maybe ten minutes,” Brontis replied. “I didn’t think there would be healers there yet.”

“Do it in five .” Her voice went cold with command. “ I’ll have a healer waiting on the east platform. You land directly, no flare. Just get him there.”

“Understood, Xel.” Brontis replied sharply.

“Venleo, stay on their flank and scream if he slips. I’ll light the barracks myself.”

Almost instantly Venleo replied “ Already watching and listening.”

There was a pause, brief, but weighty and Xelaini added, softer but still steeled, “Eiran is on his way. He’ll meet you on the platform .”

Soren didn’t answer, just pressed both hands over Calen again and focused on not falling apart.

“ Hold him together, Soren,” Xelaini said. “ You’re not alone in this.”

“We’re coming in fast,” Brontis said. “ I’m burning everything between us and that landing pad. Meet me there, dear Stormheart.”

“Of course.” Xelaini then purred. “Threats and foreplay are waiting.”