At the moment when Thiara and the boy fell over me, I was dragged violently by my foot from under them. My chin hit something, making me bite my tongue. Thiara and the boy were simply spun in the air as I was dragged out from under them.

It was as if a bad boy would pull a cat by a leg, wanting to smash her down. At least that was my feeling. I was the cat. Beware, kitty has claws!

I turned as much as my body allowed it and scrambled to grab him as he pulled me. I could reach and hold him only with my left hand, but that was enough to change my direction.

By the simple virtue of my weight and the speed he pulled me up, he was forced to take a step backwards, half spinning on his axis.

I had a near vision of his hideous head as he screamed and tried to push me away.

I tried to hold myself with the left hand and stab with the right hand. I was practically in his arms. Suddenly he grabbed me in a more vigorous hug, and I felt a pull on me.

Before I realized what was happening, another vicious sting hit my back. Not one sting but several, and I saw the tip of a claw coming out above my right breast with horror. I stabbed, but I lacked power; the hooks protruding me almost neutralized me.

The pull became unbearable whilst the opposite drag of the clawed hand was cracking my bones. Blood seeped from my breast in smaller and wider gushes in rhythm with my crazy heart beatings.

I thought I was watching my own dismembering in slow motion for a long moment. The pain surpassed everything I had felt before. This should not exist; this should not be allowed; this is too much.

Only instinct, the pure instinct, guided my movements further. Instinct and a tremendous will to survive, I felt in my chest.

I pushed as hard as I could against the coachman, and suddenly his hands slipped, and he disappeared from my vision. The clawed hand pulled me back, and I fell on my ass.

Even this bumping on the hard stones pained; my whole bloodied body shattered and shaken to the bones. A pained scream escaped my lips as the claws retired.

I probably feel only a percentage, maybe five or ten per cent of the pain I should feel and yet what it was, it was too much, much too much.

Nevertheless, I was surprised by how cold-blooded my brain was still thinking and analyzing everything.

Speaking of analyzing... something was missing. For a moment, I thought he had taken my head with him. No, that is not possible! My scalp?

As the claws had retired, a complete healing was mending my broken bones. Air came back into my lungs, accompanied by a croaked noise.

The mended bones, the healed skin, and flesh suddenly no longer pained, yet the memory of the pain remained.

It was a strange feeling; all these sensations were new. It was not like this before, not so intense. Simply not comparable.

I took another deep breath.

The fucking coachman had called a kind of a portal or a recall spell and tried to pull me through it. Cala makes a full landing in Styxa's castle to be chased by the owner and her minions. I was saved by the Lynx, who found no better way to grab me than to stab my back.

My helm. He took my helm; that's what was missing!

I sighed, relieved.

I was still under the speed spell, but I was mentally blocked for another couple of seconds, still trying to process what happened.

And then the speed spell ended, sweat ran over me, and I started to puke. Repeatedly. Sweat ran down my nose and arms whilst I was throwing out my lunch. Fuck. I was sitting there in my own bile acid and sweat.

When I finally stood up, all riders were lying dead around me. I looked at the Lynx.

“Thanks!”

“No problem, honey. Always happy to give you a hand, err, paw. Grab the lady, and let's go.”

Honey! This Lynx is making fun of me! I found a bottle of water in my inventory and drank it out. Meanwhile, my tattoo interjected:

“We cannot run yet; we have a bigger problem than we thought!”

A bigger problem than we thought, this seems like a refrain these days. I sighed. For me, the fact that the Lynx was making fun of me was the bigger problem.

“What do you mean?”

“This is no ordinary boy and ...”

“And?”

What can be special about this boy? He did not show any special aptitudes so far. OK, maybe because I could not cut his left hand?

I stood up, ready to... What should I do? Cut her hand?

As if guessing my thought, she continued:

“Cutting his hand or her hand will not work. Nor can we break the binding!”

“We take the two with us? Can we cut this thing later?”

“Keep quiet for a moment and listen! We are getting into a very dangerous situation, making potent enemies. What we did is enough to anger them, but it will be much worse! Styxa does not pardon. She will want our skin if we take the girl. She might accept a monetary redemption payment or another form of service payment if we go away now. I fear that you don't understand the gravity of the act. It is not only angering Styxa and the emperor, but we are breaking an important deal they made; plus, I do not know what Styxa really intended to do. I am not sure the emperor would have gotten exactly what he ordered.”

I was a little bit annoyed at being told so brutally to shut up. She seemed to be agitated and scared. What was new in what she told me? Do we have time now to talk about what we did and will do? As she talked, I kept an eye on the boy and Thiara. Both were sitting with their back against the broken coach. I checked my equipment. My helm was gone with the coachman, and my jacket was completely ripped in two, both parts hanging on the respective arms.

“This is not new. I understand that. I still want to do it. So what happened...”

I wanted to ask what happened inside the coach, but she cut me off.

“Don't talk loud when the boy listens. Let me make the talking. Just answer yes, no, or very simple words. We do not have much time. Look, you have a weakness against ghosts, true?”

I nodded. How should I talk with her? I tried to whisper.

“Yes.”

“A ghost was in the process of possessing you. You simply caved. I just had the time to come out and burn it before you were completely taken over, that's what happened, but that is not the real problem. This boy is the heir of the Golden Empire. I'll explain more later, but the point is: we are in big trouble. I'll help you further, but you must know that this will put us all on Styxa's and the emperor's kill list. Do you understand? Maybe we even get the dubious honour of being the highest on their kill list. Is this worth it? You will need to help protect me until we find a place far enough and secure from these two. Maybe on another continent.

The emperor is now married to this girl. Do you understand? Already married. She has not been destined for whatever prince but for the emperor himself. This boy came here, and he married her in the emperor's name. He is only an avatar of the emperor for this marriage. The bond between them cannot be broken. It is an imperial spell, and it is powerful in his domain. It would break only with the death of one of them. That bond will tie later this girl to the imperial residence when the boy delivers her.”

“Kill?”

Both the boy and Thiara flinched, looking at me.

“Shut up!! Bind them both fast. Maybe I have an idea that works! But before I make anything, promise me, you'll help me get somewhere safe!”

How should I promise if I have to shut up?

“How should I... I promise. I promise! What idea?”

“Bind him! Fast. I'll tell you later. I hope it works.”

I hurried up. He tried to protest, but I did it as fast as possible, ignoring his protests.

“Eyes too”

“Thiara too?”

“Yes”

She left me. I felt that prickle and burning over my skin again as she appeared in the air. She flew up in the air and started to burn with incandescent light. Thiara started to scream, shaking wildly in her bindings. She was trying desperately to escape. What was happening? Why now suddenly?

The Lynx was looking towards the mountains, seemingly ignoring our machinations. He just murmured with a low voice:

“Harpies. A whole flock is on the way.”

I turned to look but could not see them in the darkness. Oh, maybe I saw some stars flickering.

“They'll be here in less than a minute.”

It was not an alarmed tone, just a stated fact.

At this moment, Thiara simply exploded. No, but I had the impression that she exploded. Something burned, something from inside her. It was like a small firework without a bang. Could White Flower somehow remove the binding? Thiara remained there, bound like a sausage, still screaming, but somehow with a different voice, scraps hanging from her body. She was no longer shaking.

White Flower flew against me, again almost toppling me.

“Cut her hand... cut her hand. Run!”

Cut her hand? Prickles and burnings invaded my skin.

“Cut her hand, take her and run! She can be freed now, but we will all die if you stay.”

Meanwhile, the Lynx was cutting her bindings with his claws. I did not hesitate anymore; I jumped at Thiara and cut her hand before she could even scream. The katar went soft through her hand, like a hot knife cutting butter.

In the next moment, I took a screaming Thiara in my arms and jumped with my package on the Lynx's back.

I heard my tattoo speaking to the Lynx as he jumped.

“Run for our lives, my friend!”

Blood surged from Thiara's arm for a moment, obscuring my vision, but the next moment the flow was stopped as healing came through.