Page 62 of The Laws of Nature (Heirs of the Empire #3)

Lymok pulls his sleeve from Tobi’s grip and grasps him by the chin. Lymok’s smile is sickening. “So you believe your Irgorye’s tale is lies and Diazuul lives?”

“I do not know. I know little of your ways. But I know you do not intend to kill Harok like this. What happens?” His voice is rising high with panic. “What happens to the beast, Lymok?”

Lymok’s eyes narrow, “I will not tell you again to call me Irgorye, kushir. And when I take you to bed, Ereyek . You will scream it.”

Baby reaches Harok and leaps at him. He throws his left arm across his body to protect himself and her jaws close around it, ripping his flesh.

Harok screams. The crowd cheer. Harok shakes his arm hard and looses it from Baby’s jaws.

It’s covered in blood. She tries to pounce again but Harok darts back fast enough that she crashes to the ground.

She’s always been suspicious of Harok. Always growled at him. She saw the demon in him, Tobi thinks. She saw it all along.

Harok’s back is to the wooden wall of the pit and Baby is snarling at his feet. “Please, what happens to the beast?” Tobi says again. “You cannot plan to let her kill Harok. How will you stop her?”

Lymok smiles, dark eyes glittering. “Ah, you are a clever kushir. I always knew so. No, he will not be killed. He will be blooded. And then his body will be ready for the demon’s feasting.”

Tobi looks at Baby, ready to pounce. And then he sees the archers. Two archers are poised, on opposite sides of the viewing platform, with strung bows pointed down into the pit. “You plan to shoot her?” he says, feeling sicker than ever. “Baby? Ashaki? My cat?”

“Yes,” Lymok says. “We will let her have her fun with him and then we will save him so we can take him to the next trial.”

“You can’t,” Tobi’s voice sounds weak. “You can’t kill her.”

“If you wish it, kushir,” Lymok says coolly, “I will ask the archers to stand down. I will present Diazuul with Harok’s mauled broken body. Would you prefer that?”

Tobi looks at Lymok.

What can he do? Harok will not die here, but he is sure that Baby will. He has to do something.

Tobi is unbound. Lymok and his supporters clearly think there is nothing he can do. And perhaps they are right. He is surrounded by Solwen on all sides. If he tried to run, he would be caught in moments.

But there is one place he could go.

All eyes are on Harok as Baby rears up on her hind legs. She knocks Harok down onto his back, down in the dirt that lines the pit. She surges forward onto him and her teeth sink into Harok’s flesh. He roars in pain.

Tobi sees the archers nock their bows. Ready.

And he knows he cannot wait and watch this a moment longer.

He cannot watch Harok or Baby die. He jumps to his feet and snatches Demonica from Lymok’s lap — once again the huge blade feels light and warm as his fingers close around it.

He can use this blade, he thinks, he knows, as he moves fast and vaults over the edge of the viewing platform into the pit.

He lands elegantly. No more tricky than leaping down into Baby’s cage.

He hears the gasps of the watching Solwen, but he doesn’t have time to put on a show.

Demonica feels good in his hands as he races across the pit floor.

He needs to get to the gate Baby entered through.

It’s the only exit from the pit and Tobi knows Baby will only calm when she knows she can get out .

Harok is on the ground, with Baby on top of him. But Tobi has Baby’s attention now. She turns from Harok to watch him.

Tobi reaches the gate and hacks at it with Demonica. One of the wooden bars splinters.

But not fast enough. Baby is on Tobi, a great paw lashes talons across his back, shredding the flimsy alit. He turns, shocked Baby would harm him even in this state.

But when he looks at her, she looks wild. He can tell she does not know him. He can smell a bitter scent of some unknown drug. Some foul herb from this forest. Something to make her a crazed beast.

Baby snarls at Tobi as he presses his back to the gate. The Solwen are watching, in uproar.

“No, no. Not him. Get him out. Stop this,” Lymok screams from up above. His voice piercing, above the din of shouts and jeers.

Tobi knows there are only moments before Lymok demands the archers shoot Baby.

Tobi lifts both his hands. He looks at Baby and calms his breathing. He makes the low sweet sound the Beast Tamer of the Rose Court once taught him. The calming call, before he says, “ Lalian. Lalian ary juzu .”

Baby stills for a moment. Up on the viewing platform the Solwen go quiet. Behind Baby, Tobi can see Harok lying on the ground, his body bloody.

It has worked, but Tobi knows this sound will likely only hold Baby for a moment of curiosity while she is in this state.

He makes the most of his moment, soothing Baby once more with his hands, before turning, lifting the sword again and hacking at the gate.

Tobi may have no skills with a blade, but this does not require skill.

Behind him he feels the air move as Baby rises up on her back legs behind him.

She growls. Fire ignites across his bare back as her claws slash him, but another bar on the gate breaks beneath Demonica’s blade. The hole is big enough now.

Tobi races through and Baby follows him.

He looks back and calls, “Irgorye,” over his shoulder. But he doesn’t have time to see if Harok takes his chance to escape too.

Tobi runs through a short tunnel to a second gate. He hacks through it using the sword, more confident with Demonica than ever, holding it in a steady two-handed grip. It splinters and he races through the hole. Jagged wood tears him and Baby is at his heels, roaring for blood.

He emerges into the courtyard. All around him Solwen scatter and scream at the sight of Baby at his back.

He dives aside and lets her hurtle into the crowds.

She rips and snarls her way through them, but Tobi feels sure she will not kill if she is not trapped.

She is heading for the forest and freedom.

She will be safe if she can get away. He knows escape will not be so easy for him and Harok.

Tobi doubles back into the tunnel and meets Harok stumbling after him. Tobi grabs him by the hand. His left arm is torn and bloody. But he grabs hold of Tobi’s hand with the other, slumping. Tobi takes Harok’s weight with a gasp.

They emerge from the pit into the dark courtyard.

There is no sign of Baby, which Tobi thinks can only be a good thing.

She is gone into the night. He prays she is in the forest, satisfying her hunger on rabbits and birds.

He staggers forward. They need to run too.

They need to try. But Harok can barely stand.

His left arm is ruined. His chest is torn by massive claw marks.

The blood on his body glitters in the moonlight.

“Come on, come on,” Tobi says, urgently. He looks towards the stables. If he can just get Harok to his horse. “We need to go. Let’s get Embox and go.”

But the stables seem so far away. And Harok is a dead weight. How can Tobi possibly get him onto a horse in this state?

Harok falls. Landing heavily on the ground. “Do it now, Suskara,” he says, words slurred. “You have the blade. Do it now.”

But Tobi can’t. If he couldn’t do it in Harok’s bedchamber he is sure he cannot plunge a sword into Harok’s chest while he lies in the dirt.

Guards are rushing in from the dark, all around them.

“Then go,” Harok snarls. “Run, Suskara. If you cannot do it, you need to run. Now. Leave me.”

And he could. If he was lucky now he could make it. He could speed across the courtyard and into the zhilvar. The watchtower is unmanned. The gates to the forest are still open. Urynwud no longer needs to defend itself from the Exceli. Tobi could run. He might make it.

But he does not run. He shakes his head. “I will not kill you and I will not leave you, Irgorye,” he says. “We will find another way. I saved Baby and I will save you.”

“You will run,” Harok growls. His voice deep, issuing an order.

But it’s too late. The guards are on them.

Hands are on Tobi, pulling him away from Harok.

Demonica is snatched from his hands. It feels strange to have it taken from him.

But he cannot fight. There are too many.

He is wrenched up, held by three guards.

They leave Harok where he is, lying bloody on the stones of the courtyard.

Tobi is dragged over to Lymok, swaggering forward, looking smugly pleased with himself, “Nice try,” he drawls. A guard hands Demonica back to him, He puts it awkwardly into the scabbard on his belt .

Tobi looks around. The Solwen are in a thick crowd, surrounding them. Tobi squirms in the grip of the guards who hold him, but it makes little difference.

Harok is marched over, slumping in the arms of his own guards like he’s drunk.

But Harok is still alive, Tobi tells himself. Harok lives and Baby has escaped. But they are still in the hands of Lymok. And Harok’s demon must be closer than ever.