The side of Eshai’s fist slammed into a beast’s skull as it rushed at her, knocking it aside. Lavit stepped in, skewering it with his spear. She knocked a second beast out of the way with the butt of her spear, dropping her weight and thrusting her spearpoint straight through the open mouth of a third. Her world blurred as she sank down further, letting out a grunt of effort as she shoved the dying beast aside. Her muscles strained, her breath like fire in her lungs.
So close. They were so close.
She could hear the way the quality of sound changed ahead, could smell the warm, earthy scent of the outside air. Not much farther. A miniscule distance, for a valiant.
By now, she and Lavit had killed most of the white-furred ones. But more had come, sleek, black- furred felines she hadn’t seen before. Those were harder. They were smaller, but faster, more vicious. They attacked in packs, two trying to flank Eshai and keep her distracted while a third came in for the kill. It would have been exhausting to keep up with had she been fresh. And she was already so tired, so very tired.
Escape seemed like a dream.
Her shoulders sagged, and Lavit stepped back to her, his back touching hers. The feeling made her stand up a little straighter, grip her spear a little tighter. Her vision cleared, if only for a moment.
This was a cruel ending to their story.
“Eshai . . . ,” Lavit said.
Eshai heard the resignation in his voice. She looked out at the two beasts still pacing in front of her, waiting for a moment of weakness, at the shadows of other beasts gathering behind them. It was so tempting to give up, to lay down her spear.
She drew herself up straighter instead.
“Lavit,” she said. “The first charge of valor?”
Lavit paused, then let out a ragged laugh.
“Be dauntless,” he quoted, “for the hopes of the People rest in you.”
Eshai nodded, her expression grim. She and Lavit had memorized every line of the charges, over and over again, while they were children in their village. By the time they left for Vethaya, they could recite them by heart. Being valiants was all they had ever wanted, once.
Once, when times were simpler, being in the unknown world had been a dream.
She tightened her hold on her spear once more, leveling the point of it at the beasts.
Then she let out a war cry, charging forward.