The Horde King of Shadow (Hordes of the Elthika #1)

Chapter 28

SARKIN

We reached the Tharken cliffs by the afternoon, just as the bright sunlight crested over the tall peaks, and we could see the stretch of ocean that extended out toward where Elysom lay.

“It’s beautiful,” Klara breathed when we hovered in midair on Zaridan’s back. I’d wanted her to see this. I found myself wanting to show her all the beautiful places of the Arsadia…even though this place also brought many memories with it, tethered tight to me like cuffs.

It was colder here, and even with the sun, there was still a gentle fog bank rolling in from the coast. Cloud cover weaved in and out of the peaks of the mountainous cliffs, reappearing and disappearing at regular intervals.

She might hate me by the end of this training session, I thought, gritting my teeth, my arms wrapping tighter around her.

I was hesitant to do this to her, but I knew it was necessary. Breaking one’s fear was pertinent to success as a rider. Panic got you killed. Fear paralyzed you. Some might not’ve agreed with these methods, but I needed her to understand that there was truly nothing to fear. Not when I was here. Not when I was around. She was my wife. I would always protect her.

Even if I had be cruel first.

I urged Zaridan forward, weaving into the pass of the Tharken cliffs so that the tall mountains jutted on both sides of us. Like they were closing in around us.

“These cliffs will be covered with Elthika in a few weeks’ time,” I murmured into her ear.

“Is this where you saw Zaridan for the first time?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said, sweeping my hand in front of her vision. “Just beyond this cliff here.”

And where my friend fell to his death, I thought.

In the rush of adrenaline after claiming Zaridan, I’d flown too high with her during our first flight. When Lygath had thrown Haden off his back, I would’ve never been able to reach him in time, even with a death dive. If I’d stayed closer to the base of the cliffs, if I hadn’t been so elated with my claim, Haden would still be alive.

During Klara’s choosing ceremony, I would be at the very bottom, tracking her movements closely. Nothing would distract me. She had nothing to fear because…I’d learned from that tragic mistake. I would never make it again.

When I tugged on Zaridan’s tethers, she stilled in midair again, her wings flapping rhythmically, keeping us hovering high above the pass below. Wisps of gray clouds floated around us, and Klara shuddered. Our clothes had dried from the waterfall on our journey here, but it was colder closer to the coast.

“No one is watching here,” I told her. It was quiet, save for Zaridan’s wings. The Elthika wouldn’t start migrating to this territory for another two weeks. We were alone here. “All right?”

“Except you,” she answered, shifting to regard me. I supported her back as she did. Her feet dangled over the harness with her turned to the side. “I don’t want you to see me fail either. Most of all, you.”

“That’s inevitable,” I informed her, trying to keep my voice gentle. “It won’t make me think less of you, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“Those are pretty words,” she said, a sad smile on her lips. “But I’m not sure I believe them. You would care what your horde thinks of me. I’m aware of that more than you are.”

I blew out a rough breath through my nostrils, steeling my spine. We swayed with Zaridan’s movements. And we were here for a purpose, even if Klara might not understand it yet.

“When you fall, you want to give your Elthika time to catch you,” I told her. “It’s important to keep a steady mind and to think through it logically. Position yourself parallel with the earth, spread your arms and legs out wide to reduce your acceleration. Anything to give you drag. To give your Elthika time.”

“Have you ever fallen?” she asked, trepidation rising in her voice.

“Many times,” I said. “You can be unseated in countless situations. Last time I fell, we were flying home from the Arsadia two seasons ago. We encountered a storm just before we reached the mainland. Zaridan dodged a bolt of lightning, just like what happened to us returning from Dakkar, but I wasn’t prepared. It was a sharp turn, I’d loosened my grip on the tethers…”

Her breathing went shallow.

“Falling is a normal part of being a rider. That’s why you need to get used to it, Klara. Because the fear of it will get you killed if you panic,” I said.

She looked focused at those words, like she was committing them to memory. It was how I’d picture her in her precious archives in Dothik, her expression determined.

I dragged in a deep breath.

“Remember what I told you before…I’m not your husband right now. I’m not your king. I’m not your friend. I’m your instructor. Whatever I do to you, I would do to any acolyte under my training. Do you understand?”

Her brows furrowed, a frown turning down her mouth. “Sarkin?—”

“And falling can happen so quickly that you never see it coming,” I said, gritting my teeth.

I grabbed Klara’s waist?—

And I flung her off Zaridan’s back.

Her resounding scream of surprise and fear made everything in me rebel. I growled, restless. My first impulse was to immediately dive for her, just as I’d done in Sarroth that night. I felt wild panic burning in my chest. Not because I thought she was in danger. But because the last thing I wanted to do was make her feel so much terror.

Yet it was inevitable.

“Come on, aralye ,” I pleaded softly, watching her grow smaller and smaller below us. “Do what I told you to do. Focus!”

Zaridan’s wings were flapping quicker, and she maneuvered her body so that the angle would be easier for a death dive. I’d done this exercise myself in the year after I’d become a Karath , in the year after Haden’s death. I’d jumped off the back of Zaridan more times than I could count. She’d caught me every single time. I trusted her with my life. I trusted her with Klara’s life. I would never have put her in danger if I had any doubt.

The Tharken cliffs were steep. We were high up in the clouds, but nonetheless, Zaridan began to circle downward, tracking Klara’s fall.

And when I finally saw her limbs spread wide, when I finally saw her stop tumbling and somersaulting wildly in the air and she moved her body into a parallel position, I commanded to Zaridan, “ Sethra! ”

I pressed my body low against her back, locking my boots into place in the footholds, wrapping my fists twice around the tethers. The descent as Zaridan accelerated created that familiar fluttering sensation in my belly. I grunted against the force, tightening my leg muscles, shoving my inner thighs to the harness. The strength of the force was nearly enough to unseat me.

Closer and closer we got to Klara. Her speed had slowed now that she had control over her body, making it easier for Zaridan to come underneath her at a slight angle, matching her pace so the landing wouldn’t be so rough.

When I caught Klara, all the air whooshed out from her lungs and she dragged in deep breaths, gasping. Zaridan immediately slowed, leveling out. By the time Klara was no longer struggling to breathe, Zaridan was hovering again, the wind quieting all around us. I could even hear the crash of waves along the cliffs of the coast, though they were miles and miles away.

“Klara—”

She was huddled against me in my lap, her legs dangling over Zaridan’s side, but at the sound of her name, her head snapped up. Hot anger was written over her face, an expression I’d never seen before, even though tears were glassy in her eyes.

“ Are you fucking crazy? ” she yelled, pushing at my shoulder. “You could have killed me, you bastard!”

My shoulders lowered, a small breath escaping me in relief. I would take her passionate anger over cold and careful rage.

“And yet you’re still alive,” I answered, keeping my voice calm as my hand trailed to the small of her back.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” she seethed, trying to shake me off even though we were on the back of Zaridan and she truly had nowhere else to go. “How could you do that to me? It was cruel!”

“Cruel, perhaps,” I said, setting my jaw. “But necessary. You think I enjoyed doing that?”

She shook her head, words escaping her. Her hands came up to her hair, smoothing it down as her shoulders heaved and trembled. Her gray eyes darted around the Tharken cliffs. Her scar appeared even darker because her face was so pale.

“Klara,” I growled. “Look at me.”

Even though she was furious with me, she turned her head to meet my eyes.

“I will not have mercy on you because an unbonded Elthika will not during the choosing,” I said, a fire sparking between us. “You need to be prepared for anything . You might think this was cruel. But believe it or not, I did this because I care about you.”

Her chest was heaving as she glared, but I thought I spied a thread of understanding weave through her expression.

“And you can hate for me this,” I added. “It was always a possibility that you might. But I will take that if it means that you know how to navigate a fall, that you have faith that you can be in control in a situation like that, should it arise. And it will . Yes?”

I tapped on Zaridan’s wing twice, and she began to rise in the air. Bringing us back up to the top of the cliffs.

“What is there to fear, Klara?” I asked her, cupping her face in my palms. She breathed in deeply. “I will always catch you. So there is nothing to fear. I’m trying to make you understand that.”

“And what happens if you’re not there?” she asked through gritted teeth, blinking back her tears with a small glare. That expression made me want to kiss it off her.

“That is what we’re doing here. To prepare you in case I’m not. But I can promise you, on Zaridan, on Muron, that until you have claimed an Elthika of your own, you will never be in danger if you fall. I did this exercise more times than I can count. Zaridan knows these cliffs like they are a part of her. She will never let you fall because I would never allow it. Do you understand?”

A rattled breath escaped her. She was still shaken.

“Because after this, aralye , that exercise that Kyavor had you do this morning, that seems like nothing, doesn’t it?”

A sobbing laugh of disbelief escaped her. She turned her face out of my hands. We’d reached the tops of the cliffs again.

“Just because I laughed does not mean I’ve forgiven you,” she felt the need to inform me.

I straightened. “I understand.”

My hands lowered away from her. And I settled back into the role of her instructor, knowing that it would serve her best if I kept my emotions out of this. If I kept myself as cold and detached as I possibly could, even though she was my wife.

“Again,” I ordered quietly.

She jerked, staring at me.

“What?” she breathed, already shaking her head.

“Again, Klara.”

She stared at me, her shoulders lowering and rising more quickly, familiar fear entering her gaze. I wouldn’t be satisfied until she no longer hesitated. She could be afraid—all riders held fear close—but I wouldn’t be satisfied until she had control over that fear. I knew it would be an impossibility for today, but it was a start.

“Fall. Trust in Zaridan. Trust in me .”