Page 76 of Starside

The fools are going to try to trap me. They’re going to try to burn their way to me.

If I can just survive until nightfall, they’ll have to take off into the sky, right? But then I’ll still be here, in this burning forest. Without a plan.

Another roar. Flames getting closer, lighting up everything. I run through the burning trees, racing, panting as I look behind me.

And nearly crash into the side of a rocky cliff. I look up—and there’s an opening. A cave? All I see is a place to hide. A vantage point. Can the night demons climb? Will I be safe here?

Behind me, the trees rustle as if something is tearing through them. Getting closer.

It seems my choice has been made for me.

Dirt lodges beneath my nails as I scale up the rock face, fear melting down my spine as I hope the trees don’t part and they don’t see me here, vulnerable, on the side of this cliff.

The sword is heavy on my back, weighing me down, but soon enough I’m reaching into air—the opening.

I haul myself inside and scramble to my feet. I turn to look out into the forest below, and swing my scabbard to the front, my hand curled around the hilt, ready to unsheathe my weapon.

I swallow.

They’ve made a maze of the woods. Long lines of crackling fire burn everything in their path. Smoke curls into the crimson-brushed sky. My heart hammers, remembering. Everything is burning. Just like it did that night. That night.

Leaves fall in balls of flame. Branches crash down and ignite the forest floor.

Everything alive and beautiful is gone. Gone.

A brutal command echoes through the forest. “Find her.” Cadoc.

I take a step back, moving farther into the cave, and tense. Somehow, I feel it, prickling the back of my neck—an awareness.

I’m not alone.

With trembling hands, I slowly unsheathe my sword, inch by inch, and hold it in front of my face. In its reflection is a towering shadow right behind me. A monster in human form.

Harlan Raker.

14

His armor gleams silver. His own sword is not drawn, though I know it could be in just seconds.

An instinctual fear grips my bones, everything in me telling me to run. Run where? I’m surrounded by enemies.

I wonder which is worse. A burning forest full of challengers and dragons hunting me down … or Harlan Raker?

Definitely Harlan Raker.

Still, I don’t move an inch. I just stare at his reflection in my blade, metal trembling.

“Leave” is all he says, in a deep, gravelly voice forged from the strongest steel.

He says it like it’s an order.

But I’m dead down there. And I guess I really am actively trying to find my death, or whatever he said in the inn, because I summon every shred of courage I have left and whirl around to face him, blade still drawn. “I’m not going anywhere.”

There is a moment of silence. I can hear my own breathing. This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but I stand firm, spine straight, even though my heart is beating so wildly, I can feel the strain in my chest.

He takes a step forward. There’s another type of gravity around him, a force that thickens the air and quiets the incoming night. I lift my chin, refusing to show an ounce of fear, but still, I swallow. This close … I’m reminded of how much bigger he is. How much stronger.

Harlan Raker. The destroyer. The battle ender. The ancient sword wielder.