“Help me!” Osmund shouted, his voice breaking. Elric felt as if a fire had been lit directly beneath his feet.
He reached the pit, and his knees collapsed from under him. Gathering himself, he looked over the edge. Osmund hung by one hand from a piece of broken lattice over the deadly pikes.
“Hurry!” he shouted. “I can’t hold on much longer!”
“I’ll get you out.” Elric grabbed the edge of the lattice and pulled. His arms felt weak. His whole body was shaking, but his efforts paid off as he dragged Osmund out of the trap. The edge of the lattice came out of the trap and Elric laid it down, then ran to Osmund. He grabbed Osmund’s hand and hoisted him up out of the pit.
Osmund let out a pained cry. He grimaced as dark red stains soaked into his shirt from where the reaper bit him. “The reaper, what happened?” he asked, his forehead wrinkling in pain.
“Dead.” Elric took off his own tunic and cut it into strips on the sharp edge of his blade. “I lured it into the other trap.”
Osmund smiled, then winced. “Clever.”
Elric used one of the strips of his tunic to tie off a wound at Osmund’s shoulder and one to bandage his own wounded thigh. While his wounds seemed superficial, he couldn’t say the same for Osmund’s shoulder. The puncture wounds from the beast’s long teeth seeped through his bandage. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine now.”
Osmund shook his head. “The reaper’s fangs are poisonous. I can feel it like fire in my veins.”
“What?” Elric felt the world spinning. No. This couldn’t be. He couldn’t lose Osmund. “No, you’ll be fine. I’ll get you back to the fairies. They can heal you.”
Osmund placed his hand over Elric’s. “Find your sister. Return to the queen. Keep the shield strong. It is the only hope.”
“You can’t die!” Elric shouted. Osmund was valiant and generous. He had saved both Wynn’s and Elric’s lives.
“I’m mortal,” he said. “I assure you, I can die. The fairies aren’t good at healing mortal wounds. They never have been. That’s why they protect us so fiercely. It’s why they would never risk us.” He laughed, then coughed, and held his chest tighter. “Too bad I was never very good at living in a cage.”
“You will not die,” Elric swore. He’d find a way to get Osmund to safety. The queen would be able to do something.
“Don’t make a promise that could crush you when you can’t keep it.” Osmund let his head fall back and closed his eyes. “Find your sister. She’s a sweet girl. I like her, and I hardly like anyone. She needs you now.”
Elric held Osmund, unsure of what to do. Wynn needed him. So did Zephyr, Elk, and all the others who were in danger should he fail. The queen needed him. Most of all, Osmund needed him now. The queen needed Osmund. Who knew how long the shield could stay standing? The queen was weakening every moment the crystal bled. It was only a matter of time before the Grendel took advantage of her state and the shield failed.
Elric didn’t believe what the reaper had said. Wynn was still alive. She had to be. He wanted to save her, but he had to trust in her to save herself now. If she were here, she’d tell him to save Osmund.
The weight of his decision felt like a boulder on his chest. Everything within him told him to find and protect his little sister. But Osmund was right here, and he deserved a chance. He had to get Osmund to help and safety.
If he were still a shepherd looking after his flock, and he came across a wounded lamb in his quest to find a lost one, he would tend to the wounded one first. Then again, Wynn was not a lost lamb. She was his only family.
He looked at Osmund. The other prince’s normally dark bronzed skin paled before his eyes. He had to deal with the problem at hand. Even if it broke his heart to abandon his sister to the woods.
“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine,” Elric whispered. He went back to the pit and pulled over the piece of the lattice that he had hauled up onto the edge. With his sword, he hacked away the knots until he created a section that was just big enough for him to pull Osmund on a sort of sled. He tucked Osmund onto the sled, and secured him with the strips of his tunic, before lifting the sled and pulling it down the path. He turned them toward the great shield. His only hope was to get Osmund back to Zephyr, and quickly.
He prayed his navigational instincts didn’t fail him as he set off through the dark woods.
Elric pulled the sled, but the going was slow with his injured leg. The paths were steep and rocky. His whole body hurt from the battle with the reaper. Twice he had to stop and climb a tree just to make sure he was going in the right direction. The stormy shield seemed so far away, and he wasn’t sure how far they had wandered from the point where he should meet Zephyr. No matter how difficult things got, he couldn’t give up.
Osmund’s life hung in the balance.
“Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” Elric said, hoping it was true. He could see the shield through the canopy of leaves above him. He just needed to figure out which way to go to find Zephyr. Left or right? Never had a such a simple decision been life or death.
He dragged Osmund forward.
“Elric,” he said, his voice sounding weak. “You shouldn’t.”
“Be quiet.” Elric pulled him up the path. “This
