Chapter 93: Free

Mahzan sat up gasping for breath while also trying to scream. He remembered flying. Fire. Tearing. Biting. Falling as his bad wing snapped and finally gave up. Plummeting through the trees.

He looked up, saw the gap in the forest canopy, several broken branches dangling by the merest bit, and the cold starlight beyond.

Another gasp made him start, and Mahzan turned his aching head to see Cemal jerk upright, then bend over, head braced in one hand. Mahzan tried to reach out to him mentally, but he was simply too exhausted. Every bit of him hurt.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, finally pulled completely awake by the warmth of sunlight and someone calling his name. Then Binhadi was peering down at him, frowning in that way of his, and Mahzan could just feel the fluttering of his concern at the back of his mind. "I'm fine. Just tired and sore."