Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [249]
"Moirin?" Bao asked. "Are we ready?"
I glanced at the princess. She gave a terse nod, then remembered he could hear her if she willed it. "Yes. Give the order, please."
Bao drew a deep breath and loosed it in a shout. "Ride! Ride!"
We clapped heels to our mounts' flanks and burst out of concealment, racing across the open meadow.
The Divine Thunder boomed in answer, its deep cough echoing off the peaks of White Jade Mountain.
The Imperial archers were meant to serve as a shield between us and the enemy; but no mortal flesh could stand against the missiles spat out by the Divine Thunder. I saw a man borne down only a few yards away, his horse rendered an obscene carcass of torn flesh. I veered in horror, losing my grasp on the twilight. The gleaming dark carnage before me turned the vivid red of blood.
Again and again, the Divine Thunder boomed.
Everywhere, screaming.
And the dragon was loose.
I felt its madness and fury rise, spiraling to heights that dwarfed aught that had gone before, so terrible it disoriented me. As though the gifts of my ancestors had been restored, I saw a glimpse of a dreadful future unspooling, a future written in metal and smoke and blood, a future in which all the sacred places of the earth had been violated, and there were no longer dragons or bear-witches in the world.
NO!
The dragon's roar made my head spin. I shook it, trying to clear it.
The princess had turned her mount, and ah, gods! She was riding toward the battle, toward the terrible weapons, ready to destroy them all, a naked sword in her hand and a captive dragon's blind fury in her eyes.
"You can't!" I heeled my mount and checked her progress. "My lady, you can't! There are too many! And I cannot hold the twilight! Close your eyes!"
She hesitated.
Ahead of me, I saw Bao turn back; but Tortoise was closer. He jounced in the saddle as he hurried to aid me, his homely face terrified but determined. A hero after all, no matter how unlikely. And then the Divine Thunder coughed, a hot, acrid wind passed overhead, and Tortoise was no longer there. His remains smoldered in a crater.
"Please, my lady," I said in a choked voice. "Please, please, please listen to me and close your eyes. My friend, please let her hear me!"
Something human surfaced in her gaze. "I cannot ride blind in this chaos."
I held out one arm. "Then I will be your eyes. Ride behind me."
Screwing her eyes shut tight, Snow Tiger grasped my arm. In a single, deft move, she sheathed her blade and swung herself out of the saddle, settling herself astride behind me. I sensed a measure of the dragon's fury abate as she raised her blindfold.
"Flee! " I flung the command like an arrow into my mount's thoughts and gave him his head.
How long did it take us to outrun the range of the Divine Thunder? Two minutes? Three? All I know is that it felt like an eternity. There was a taste like copper in my mouth. My heart was hammering in my chest and my breath came in wheezing gasps. All around us, deadly projectiles fell from the sky. There was nothing that could stand against them, no weapons that could fight them. Smoke drifted across the sky. The ground shook and trembled. Men and horses died. Craters dotted the earth, torn limbs were scattered across it, blood soaked it.
It was more horrifying than anything I could have imagined.
Anything.
At last there was a pause in the booming assault. Daring to peer over my shoulder past the princess, I caught a frenetic glimpse between racing archers. Jiang's army was mustering a squadron to give chase. They were repositioning the fearsome bronze weapons to hold the Imperial army at bay.
"Moirin!" Bao shouted at me, his dark eyes glittering with rage and grief. "We have to gain the river! Don't slow down!"
I nodded my understanding, and didn't look back again. I rode and rode, Snow Tiger's arms wrapped tight around my waist.