Sky Woman: Book One of The Empress Saga

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Her lungs burned. They felt like they were tearing apart, each breath an agony, but Enfri couldn't stop running.

Deebee was nestled in the crook of her arm. Whenever the dragon tried to speak, her eyes would flutter and any words came out slurred and incoherent. She was drained beyond exhaustion. Locking the spell that changed Bellamy into a wolf left her completely spent. Enfri knew little of the workings of magic, but she feared that what Deebee did had been a dangerous— even deadly— thing for her to attempt.

Heart hammering and sweat drenching her clothes, Enfri drove herself on. Her brace felt like knives slicing into her skin. She couldn't remember the last time she had feeling in her legs. The walking stick in her hand was the only thing that had kept her on her feet through countless stumbles. Enfri had no notion of how long she had been running. It felt like hours, but she feared it had been only moments. She wasn't far enough away, and the assassins were coming. Head east. Stay away from the road. One foot in front of the other. Listen for pursuit.

"Enfri," Deebee murmured.

Too tired. Enfri's mouth hung open as she panted, desperately pulling in air like a man lost in the desert would drink water. Don't stop. Keep running.

"Girl, please," Deebee said, her voice clearer than the last few times she tried to speak.

Enfri slowed enough to look down at Deebee. Amber eyes stared back at her. Deebee was alert. Rejuvenated.

"How?" Enfri asked. A part of her realized that now she was the one being incoherent.

"You'll hurt yourself," Deebee pleaded. "Stop and rest. Catch your breath."

"No," Enfri said. "Can't stop."

If she did, Enfri thought she would curl into a ball on the ground and do nothing but weep until Jin caught her. Running kept her from bursting into tears, and terror kept her running.

"What's your first and greatest foe, girl?" Deebee demanded.

Enfri slowed her pace. As soon as she did, her legs gave way beneath her. She fell to her knees and leaned against the walking stick. As she thought she would, her body began to shake as she cried.

She felt helpless. Useless. She couldn't think of anything she could do except run, and now even that seemed beyond her.

Deebee clung to Enfri's walking stick, level with her head. "I've heard you say the words often enough that they're burned into my own heart," she said. "You've always said that fear is your true enemy. I want you to tell me why."

"Fear," Enfri wheezed, "makes you stop when you need to act." She sniffed and raised her eyes. "Fear makes you forget what needs to be done."

"It's half of the truth," Deebee said. "We've both carried half, I've come to realize. The mighty use fear to protect ourselves. The sky women spurn it to act. I think we've both been fools."

"What are you saying, Deebee?"

"I'm not sure," she replied. "What I do know is that you can't give in to it. Not yet. Hold on to fear's opposite for now."

Courage. It felt less like a simple word and more like a mountain barring the path ahead. One that once climbed could be used as a talisman against the fear that was assaulting her.

"Are you well?" Enfri asked. "I was worried about you."

"I feel like a wineskin that's just been guzzled," Deebee said. "I... misjudged my own strength. So many spells in so short a time chipped away at my stores of ether. It's starting to fill me again, but it'll be some time before I'm in top form."