“Aye,” she said breathlessly. “But how—”

He reached for the gate, paused a moment to let the hot fury that was the darsteed’s mind flood his, then opened the gate, stepped inside, and clamped down hard on the beast with all his willpower.

Stand/stand/stand/stand.

The darsteed snorted and retreated from him, lashing its barbed tail from side to side. Dain kept aiming the mental command at it. Never before had he felt anything fight him so hard. Never before had he had to be so harsh with a wild beast to make it do his bidding.

Sweating in the darkness, he advanced on the creature, aware that if his control slipped the darsteed would attack him instantly.

Stand/stand/stand/stand.

It stopped retreating and lowered its head. Flames rumbled in its nostrils.  Dain’s heart was thudding hard, but he knew he dared not hesitate now. Swiftly he strode forward and slipped the bridle onto that narrow skull. He fastened the throat latch with a hard tug, then turned around.

“Come.”

Alexeika entered the pen, lugging the heavy saddle. The darsteed reared and struck out with a deadly forefoot, missing Dain by inches.  He struck back with his mind, and the darsteed squealed in pain.

“Someone’s coming,” Alexeika said. “I heard them.”

Dain refused to listen. He could feel the animal’s savage desire to attack pushing against him. With all his might he struggled to hold it while she fumbled with the saddle and tugged at the girths. Dain helped her, fear giving him the strength to yank them tighter than the darsteed liked.  It pawed and shifted, and its tail nearly struck Alexeika. Her mind reached out, blundering and clumsy, entangling with Dain’s as she tried to help him control the darsteed.

Distracted, Dain lost control of it.

The darsteed opened its venomous jaws and charged. Shouting something, Alexeika tried to stop it, but its mind was a maelstrom of fury and attack. It bounded right at Dain, who retreated until his shoulders struck the brick wall behind him. Swiftly he drew Truthseeker, and as the darsteed reared above him, Dain slapped the creature’s chest with the flat of his blade.  Truthseeker burned the darsteed. Squalling in pain, it dropped to all four feet and retreated. The stench of burned hide filled the air.  In the distance, shouts rang out, and Dain heard the sound of running feet.  Pushing past Alexeika, he sprang into the saddle and beat the darsteed with his mind to regain control of it.

“Quick!” he said to Alexeika.

She climbed on behind him, and the darsteed exploded into a gallop, bursting through the half-open gate. They thundered through the stables, frightening the horses, which neighed and jerked at their ties. The other darsteeds bugled and kicked while grooms came running with torches and shouts of alarm.  The darsteed sprang outside, bounding faster than Dain was prepared for. By the time he stopped it and wrenched it around, precious minutes were lost. It fought him every step as he forced it back to the stables to get Thum.  His friend was standing there openmouthed in the brightening moonlight. He retreated as the darsteed sidled up to him.

“I cannot,” he said.

“Quick, Thum!” Dain shouted. “There’s no time for your scruples now.”

“Leave me. Its blasphemous to ride it.”

There was no time to argue with him. Dain urged the darsteed closer, and when Thum turned to run Dain reached down, gripped him by the back of his tunic, and hauled him up across the darsteed’s withers. Thum howled in fear and struggled, but Dain held him in place ruthlessly. Dain wheeled the darsteed around so sharply it reared, then let it run.

On the other side of the compound, more worshipers were entering. Now there was no question of trying to slip out unnoticed, but the gates were open, and if he could reach the streets beyond the palace, he vowed, he’d lead his pursuers on a merry chase.

“No! No!” Thum was still protesting.

“Sit up!” Dain shouted at him. “Damne, man, you’re alive and we’ve a chance to get out of here. Sit up and ride like the du Maltie you are, or by Thod I will leave you behind.”

His words were harsh, his temper ablaze, but Thum stopped whining and struggled erect astride the darsteed’s neck. It bounded along with a longer stride than a horse’s, awkward and hard to get used to. But Thod’s bones, Dain thought in sudden exhilaration as his hair blew back from his face, it was indeed fast.  Scattering worshipers on every side, he came galloping up to the gates. They were wrought of some kind of ornate metalwork, far from the solid and immensely thick portals he was used to in Mandria. Shouting and cursing, the guards were shoving the gates closed, but although Alexeika screamed something in Dain’s ear, he did not hesitate.

“For Nether!” he shouted, drawing Truthseeker.

He swung the sword with lethal force, and the guards reaching for him went sprawling. As Dain sent the darsteed leaping straight at the gates, he leaned forward to strike the metal with his sword.

Truthseeker shattered the ornamentation, sending bits of metal flying in all directions. He struck again and again, chopping his way through while the darsteed danced and wheeled.

An arrow flew through the air, missing them by inches. Crying out, Alexeika drew Severgard, which was glowing white, and fought off those who tried to attack them from the rear.

The darsteed kicked with lethal force, knocking a man flying as Dain finished destroying the gates. He gathered the reins and started to turn his mount just as more arrows flew by his ear.

None struck him, however, and by then Dain was sending the darsteed bounding through and out onto the broad avenue that stretched across the entire length of the city.

“Hang on!” he shouted, and let the darsteed gallop.

“Fire-knights pursue us!” Alexeika shouted in his ear.  Nodding, Dain settled deeper into the saddle and let the darsteed run as fast as it wanted. Thum was leaning back against him, hindering his control of their mount. After a moment, Dain gave him a slight push, then had to grab him quickly to keep him from toppling off.

Only then did the moonlight glimmer off the arrow protruding from Thum’s chest.

Horrified, Dain held him close.

“Thum!” he shouted over the thunder of the darsteed’s hooves. “Thum, can you hear me?”

His friend made no answer. Dain realized that had he not forced Thum to sit up, he himself would have been hit by the arrow. Aghast, he wanted to plead forgiveness, but knew it would do no good.

“Damne!”

“What’s wrong?” Alexeika asked.

“Thum’s hurt. Arrow! I can’t hold him up.”

“Break it off and let him lie across the darsteed’s neck,” she suggested. “Hang on. I’ll try to reach the arrow if I can.”

Her arm snaked past Dain’s side. He wanted to protest, for he feared she might kill Thum by yanking the arrow in the wrong direction. But there was nothing else they could do.

She grunted, pressing her cheek hard against Dain’s shoulder as she struggled to pull the arrow out from this difficult angle. Finally she gave a shout of triumph and held it up. Blood dripped across her hand, and she flung the arrow away.

“Lower him!” she said. “He’ll live or die, but there’s naught else we can do right now.”

Glancing back, Dain saw a shadowy group of riders in the distance behind them, closing too fast.

Something invisible touched him, and Dain shuddered. Quickly he tightened his grip on Truthseeker. “Alexeika!” he said. “Reach inside my surcoat and put your hand on the bowl. Whatever happens, don’t let go of it.” To her credit, she didn’t question his odd order but did as he said. The magemon’s touch on his mind fell away. Dain gasped in relief.  He felt suddenly tired and weakened from a day too long and too full of exertion. In his heart he was grieving for Thum, yet now was not the time to give way. Mustering his determination, Dain thrust off his fatigue and veered the darsteed abruptly off the wide avenue into one of the dark, twisting streets of the city.

Alexeika’s arms tightened around him, but she made no protest. Praying he would not become lost, Dain wound along the narrow streets. Here and there the darsteed’s hooves slipped on the filth, but he came to no dead ends, and gradually the sounds of pursuit diminished.

But they had another problem ahead of them, one that Dain had not yet solved.  As though she were thinking the same thing, Alexeika said, “The city gates. How do we get through them?”

“I don’t know.”

“You can’t batter them down. They’re too strong, and too heavily guarded.”

But Dain was thinking hard. He said, “Can you speak Gantese?”

“Almost none,” she said.

“Enough to get past the guards?”