Chapter 74: Cut in half

If not for the love of my wives, I would have ceased living many years ago. They have saved me from despair and death on numerous occasions.

-Athanaric

Leenda was ready for it—even if Wrend wasn’t. In preparation, she'd bound Thew and Flux to her body, and was ready when Athanaric leapt for Wrend, drawing his sword with one hand and swinging it down in an arc in a single motion. He moved so fast he nearly blurred, but she had practiced and was small, and had anticipated something like this.

The poor horse, on the other hand, never had a chance.

Her feet had no purchase, nothing to push off with, so she jumped with her body: she bent her back a little and straightened it. It was enough. It created enough motion that the Flux could do the rest.

She lifted off of the horse, pulling her mate with her.

The sword came down across the saddle at an angle; it would have cloven Wrend from head to crotch, and sliced the horse in half. By the time she landed in the dirt—and stumbled backward, falling to the ground with Wrend on top of her—the horse's cries had faded and Athanaric straightened.

“You can't have him,” she said. She pushed Wrend off of her and jumped to her feet. “He's mine.”

Athanaric considered her. The remains of the horse twitched where they lay, and guts spilled out over Athanaric’s boots. Wrend scrambled afoot and took a place next to her.

Nobody moved. The draegon stood in the same place where Athanaric had left it, watching with an obvious eagerness to join: its body shook and its mouth gaped; its tail swished back-and-forth through the dirt, stuck between two crumbling walls. What an abomination. A dog in a draegon's body.

“You're a fool, Wrend,” the Master said. “I'm god. You've defied me for the last time. You've traded immortality and glory for nothing. You believe I rule by evil compulsion, but I'm no more evil than these men here. Than Naresh. They allied with demigods who killed your mothers and siblings without remorse. They’re no better than me. They make a haughty case, but they killed innocents to provoke me, hoping I would come to them so they would have an excuse to do what they already planned.”

He had a point. Leenda looked over at Wrend, to see how he took it. A bevy of emotions crossed his face. He stood at an angle, with his legs tensed, as if ready to start running. Good thing. Hopefully he had his Ichor bound as well.

Otherwise he would stand no chance of escaping.