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By the time the sun was setting, Jaranin had covered a great deal of ground. The forest and most of the valley was long behind him. Rocks began jutting out of the earth at haphazard angles. The ground was quickly sloping up. Jaranin stared up the incline. Cliff faces glared down at him.

Brand snorted nervously and sidestepped. Jaranin stroked his neck and patted him gently. “There, there, boy. Easy does it.” Though as they approached the feet of the mountains, Jaranin swallowed.

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This was it—the mountains Sinoans called “the Jaws of the World.” It was a sharp, jagged range. The mountains towered above the clouds and formed a ring around the lands of Sinoa, Wilyan, and Embraeth—broken only in the south where it collided with the Xagimn Ocean. And even that place was well-known as a graveyard for ships. The mountains were the only thing keeping people in… and the outside world out. It was little wonder, then, that so many myths floated among the villages about the accursed mountains and those unfortunates who trespassed upon them.

Jaranin scanned the edge of the cliff, searching for any sign of Kerlonkus and Isalaina.

There! Out the corner of his eye, Jaranin saw movement high above. A unicorn with two riders staggered from behind a rock. They were heading for another boulder. Kerlonkus had had a strong lead, but now that his unicorn was slowed by picking out a safe (and hidden) path, Jaranin had a chance. The perils of the mountains were forgotten. All that mattered was getting Isalaina back.

“Emanir, Brand!” Jaranin hissed as he urged the beast onward.

Isalaina swung her arms blindly as she felt herself floating back into consciousness. “Teach you to…” she slurred, “…ruin my birthday…”

Kerlonkus’s hoarse laughter greeted her. Isalaina closed her eyes, wincing. Something hurt—and when her hand brushed against a lump on her head, she knew what.

She lay on her stomach across a unicorn’s back. She tried to squirm off, but a powerful arm clamped around her middle, pinning her down. She wasn’t going anywhere.

“Now, now, you just stay right there.” Kerlonkus growled, giving her back a none-too-gentle push.

She swung her elbow back in reply, but Kerlonkus just batted her elbow away like it was light as a feather.

They weren’t in the forest any more. All she could see was a rocky slope to their side. She couldn’t wriggle around to see what was on the other side. None of this looked familiar, but she knew where they were: they were riding up into the treacherous mountains, miles away from Sinoa or any civilization.

Isalaina couldn’t fight a shiver of fear. “W-what are you going to do?”

“Why, Snow fairy, I should think that’d be obvious,” Kerlonkus crooned. “You’re always so cold…”

She swung her elbow again, this time rewarded by contact with bone. Her elbow tingled and Kerlonkus grunted with pain.

Not enough pain, though. He only sounded more giddy when he replied, “Except when you’re angry.” His mouth loomed so close she could feel his breath puffing on the nape of her neck. “Ohhh, that flush in your face is so… tantalizing…”

“Let me go!” she shrieked.

A shrill whinny in the distance made Kerlonkus sit up straight.

Her heart thrummed in her chest. “JARANIN!” Isalaina hollered. “I’M H—!”

Kerlonkus clapped a hand over her mouth. “What, you want your precious Jaranin interrupting our moment, eh?” He cursed under his breath. “Should’ve hit him harder…”

Isalaina craned her neck to look up at him. But he’d turned his head away from her, gazing over his shoulder. She could just make out the edge of a wolfish smile. “Maybe that’s not such a bad idea…” He turned back to her, eyes glittering. “I could give him a nice little greeting. Then tie him to a rock. After all, you and I will have so much fun. Why shouldn’t Jaranin get to watch?”

Isalaina blanched. “Y-you can’t be serious!”

He spurred the unicorn on, still smiling.

Anger and fear mingled within her, vying to be first to get out. She writhed beneath his vise of an arm. “Kerlonkus!” she roared. Apparently anger had won. “You are an absolute monster!”

He freed one hand to rub his ear, wincing in pain. “Now, now, birthday maiden. What’s the matter?” Kerlonkus donned a mock pout. “You don’t like my plans for a birthday surprise?” He opened his lips, showed off his sharp, white teeth. “It’ll be far more of an experience than a little pony ride. You’ll enjoy it… Trust me.” Kerlonkus kicked the sides of his unicorn again, and they made their way higher up the rocky slope.

Isalaina was getting paler, and it wasn’t due to the altitude. “Kerlonkus, you can’t do this! Turn back!”

He simply shook his head, the smirk of victory spreading wider and wider across his face.

“You can’t climb to the summit!”

“I’m not aiming for the summit, Love,” he snapped. Then his face smoothed back into a smile. He draped the reins over his arm a moment to tickle her chin with a free hand. “There’s been paths cut through these mountains before. I came here all the time as a child.”

Isalaina scoffed. “You’d be the first in years to cross the mountains. As if I’d believe that. I’ll bet there is no plan; it’s all you can do to keep ahead of Jaranin.” She tilted her chin away. She may not have been able to fight back any more, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her tongue. “You’re getting desperate.” She glanced behind Kerlonkus as she talked. Hope welled in her heart as she saw a cloud of dust rise in the horizon. And there, in the center of the dustcloud, riding far faster and harder than they—

Jaranin! “And he’s catching up now—Ah!” Isalaina winced in pain as Kerlonkus’s iron grip went from around her waist to crushing her chin. She struggled to pull her head away, but he pinned her to his knee.

“You let me worry about him,” Kerlonkus whispered. His voice was low and so calm it made her shiver. It was like a thin layer of ice over a deep, dark lake. “Concern yourself with what you’re going to do once I’ve cleared the mountains and I have you all to myself, leagues away from anyone who can hear you scream…”

Isalaina swallowed the lump of fear that had lodged in her throat. Kerlonkus simply chuckled and spurred his unicorn higher and faster.

They were right ahead of Jaranin now, and he’d driven them between a steep cliff and a giant boulder. The path wound too high and steep to go fast up ahead.

Jaranin had Kerlonkus cornered. “Kerlonkus, stop!” he ordered.

He wasn’t actually expecting Kerlonkus to listen, but to his surprise, Kerlonkus complied, pulling his mount to a halt and turning in the saddle.

Kerlonkus shot Jaranin a crooked smile.

They both knew what was coming now.

Jaranin and Kerlonkus dismounted as one, their feet crunching on rock and gravel. Kerlonkus tied the reins around Isalaina’s wrists before she could slide off.

Jaranin held his hands palm-out toward Kerlonkus. Better to look as non-threatening as possible. Because if he goes over that mountain, it’s done. They’d never make it over the mountains; it was too dangerous.

Kerlonkus sneered. “You know, this whole chase could have been avoided if you’d just left us alone.”

Jaranin felt his face flush. “I couldn’t let that happen.”

Kerlonkus snorted. “I should have just hamstrung your unicorn when I had the chance…” He balled his hands into fists.

Jaranin did the same.

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[Cut content from The Victor’s Blade; all content subject to change.]

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