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J ai hopped another step. Another, and another. One leg hurt to move, the other to put weight on. He alternated between the two, leaning heavily on Winter in the meantime.

She was so big now, he had no need to stoop as they battled their way through the thick grass. Winter had unsheathed her claws, and slashed them a path, but the going was still slow. Jai was only glad that they had the mountains to head for – without Baal, he’d have only had the sun to guide him.

By now, the sun had begun its first rays on the horizon, and the mountains stretched higher above them. The light was heartening, but didn’t lend him any more strength. Even an ascended soulbound had their limits, and with two wounded legs, and agony ravaging him with every step, he was not sure how much longer he could continue like this.

And then... a rustle. A whispering of grass. Sounds Jai had learned to pick up on, in his months in the Great Steppe.

Winter too had heard it. She could smell something as well, so that Jai could almost taste it. Like the inside of a henhouse, but less potent, more... animal.

He spun, catching a glimpse of a half-dozen dark shapes, and then ducked down into the tall grass. Winter growled, and ducked down as well. Jai, already leaning and twisted away, sprawled across her back. He sensed her intent, and had but a second to throw his leg over her tail, his sternum complaining from the blunt horns studding her spine.

Then she was off. Jai seized two horns, clapping his legs tight against her sides. Grass ripped at his face, and he could hear the sounds of pursuit. Rustling, squawking, hissing beasts and the yip , yip , yip of human voices, trilling and whistling in excitement. He was being hunted. Jai tried to think, to plan, even lifting his head to breach the green forest. But his thoughts seemed snatched away, barely managing to wrap an arm about Winter’s neck, as she lunged and leaped through the grasses.

He could feel her wings, trying to open, but his legs trapped them to her sides, for he was too far back on her body. It was a foot race, now. Ahead, he could see the smoke of the cooking fires, stark against the white stone of the mountains.

They were close. So close.

He snatched a glance behind them. Now he saw them in earnest.

Hunters for sure. Beaked skulls adorned their helms – spear-wielding warriors, all. But it was their beasts that burned their sight into his memory as he turned and urged Winter on.

Tangerine beaks, cruelly hooked, with a feathered crest above. Their necks held perfectly still as they zigzagged through the grass behind him. Terror birds.

‘On!’ Jai yelled. ‘Come on, girl.’

Winter renewed her efforts, leaping ever higher, such that Jai’s ribs slammed into the horns upon her back, tears springing to his eyes. He could not help it. He was in agony, and he could do nothing but urge Winter to ignore his pain, his fear, to push harder, run faster, leap higher.

All while there were terror birds on either side. Spears levelled, voices shouting, counting down. A horn sounded. And then, just like that, they broke away. Turned back in a wide arc, their cries fading.

Jai raised his head, to see a Sithian boy riding towards them, a horn clutched to his lips. A young Kidaran groom on an old doe, but armed and armoured. One of his thirty scouts, dutifully on his watch.

Still more were coming, riding towards the alarm, but Jai urged Winter only to slow, breathing relief as he lifted his chest away from her back. She continued on, past the scout, even as Jai shouted a hoarse thanks. The grass began to recede, until they were riding into the camp itself, children chasing him, riders following in his wake.

‘Victory!’ Jai called, his voice hoarse. ‘Spread the news!’

The cries were echoed behind him as he rode, and grinned through the pain. To return alone, bloodied and without his Alkhara, would be deadly for his legitimacy. He had to play this off as best he could. It was fortunate the day was still young, and the morning reveille had not yet been blown.

He pushed himself to sit upright, glad that the grass had wiped away much of the grime and soil that had coated him in the pit. Wincing, he ran a hand along his torso, as Winter finally slowed to a walk, panting and coughing. He rubbed her head, sending thanks, even as he smiled and nodded as his people turned to stare.

Soon enough, Winter had found her way to his tent. He dismounted from her, patting her side. By now, he was a wreck of pain, and it took everything he had to wipe the tears from his eyes, and walk stiffly between the guards, nodding to them as he did so.

‘Send for Feng, please,’ Jai asked, wondering just how strange the fake smile he’d fixed upon his face was.

Still, one hurried away, leaving Jai to shuffle through the tent’s partition and collapse to the fur-lined floors. This, at last, allowed Winter to drag him to his bed, careless of the silk of his robes as it stretched and ripped between her teeth.

He lay there, on his back, staring at the ceiling. Water. He needed water, but the jug seemed so far away. Jai closed his eyes...

***

AND OPENED THEM AGAIN . He knew he had slept, but with Feng’s anxious face swimming into view, he knew it could have been no longer than a few minutes. Despite this, it seemed his aches had begun in earnest, and his legs were seized and stiff as he shuffled himself upright, resting his back against the headboard and a well-placed pillow.

‘What happened?’ Feng said, staring at him. ‘They... Is this your blood?’

Jai waved away his concerns, motioning for the water jug. Feng gave it to him, and Jai flooded his face as he gulped it down.

‘Jai,’ Feng said. ‘Talk to me.’

‘The Keldar prince was marrying with the Maues tribe. We ambushed them both, and they swore the blood oath to my banner.’

Feng pumped his fist, but Jai found little joy in it. His guilt still weighed heavy on his soul. He remembered the triumph he had felt, when he had made his first cut. And the shame, when he saw the dead man’s eyes.

‘So... what is this?’ Feng asked. ‘What happened?’

‘I rode out alone,’ Jai said. ‘Fell into a pit. Barely got away – Winter got me out of there.’

He let a hand flop onto Winter’s side. She was already sleeping, poor thing. Exhausted. If only he could do the same.

‘Are Harleen and the others back yet?’ Jai asked.

Feng nodded.

‘Our scouts are already leading them back here. I confess, they rode out upon your arrival. They feared the worst.’

Jai closed his eyes. He hoped rumours would not spread of this. His loss of an Alkhara to a simple trap like that one... it smacked of inexperience.

‘I did not know there are traps like that in the Great Steppe,’ Jai muttered. ‘Send word to Harleen; there must be more of them nearby. Pits and hunters and terror birds. Be discreet.’

Feng did as asked, running to instruct the guards before returning to Jai’s side.

‘These traps, they are only common near the mountains,’ Feng said. ‘It must have been the Caelite. They value the khiroi only for their meat.’

‘At least they had the decency to wait nearby, put whatever they caught out of its misery. Only they didn’t expect to find me there.’

Feng inclined his head. Jai sighed, and groaned.

‘When they arrive, I want Kiran and every other soulbound we have brought to me.’

‘As you wish,’ Feng said.

Jai thanked him, and closed his eyes, waiting for Feng’s footsteps to recede. He wrapped himself around Winter, letting the smooth warmth of her belly be his blanket.

He wasn’t alone. All he needed was Winter. He breathed her breath, and let sleep take his pain away.