Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden (read my book .TXT) 📕

CHAPTER 25

Sunil?” Hina gasped, looking around in confusion for the source of the voice.

Out of nowhere, a shadowy monster fell from the skies atop the Mahisagari soldiers. It crushed two men beneath its claws and bit another man clean in half, throwing the still-screaming torso into a fourth man, crushing him beneath the weight of his dying comrade. Atop the river zahhak’s back, a man was shooting arrows one after the other, as fast as you could blink.

Some of the Mahisagaris screamed in terror, others turned to fight, but within a split second, five more zahhaks had plunged down into their midst, and then ten, and then I lost count. It was pandemonium as the animals bit and clawed their way through the ranks of the enemy soldiers, their riders shooting arrows or hurling javelins with startling rapidity. I immediately accounted every man a fool who had dismissed the idea of river zahhaks as useful in warfare.

But there was no sense standing around. I pointed forward and shouted, “Let’s help them if we can, and secure the zahhak stables!”

A cheer went up from the Zindhis all around me, and we sprinted across the courtyard, vaulting hedges as we went. I ran for the zahhak stables, praying that Sultana was still there, still safe. I would never have forgiven myself if any harm had come to her. I was just on the point of reaching the entrance when a man stepped out of it and lowered his musket to kill me.

A bang went off near my ear that half deafened me, and the Mahisagari guardsman in front of me flinched back from the impact of the bullet and staggered, but was not killed. A bright red lehenga flashed past on my left, and a woman swung her empty rifle by the barrel, cratering the guardsman’s skull with a vicious blow from its stock.

I hurried to catch up to her and was shocked to see that it was Sakshi. She’d shot the man and stove his head in with her musket? “Where did you learn to do that?”

“While you were dealing with Karim and his family, Hina and her celas were teaching me a few things,” she replied. “Now come on, little sister, let’s get our zahhaks just in case they’re needed.”

We ran into the stables together, and it was easy to see which zahhaks were left and which weren’t. All the acid zahhaks were gone, the fire zahhaks too. There were still sixteen river zahhaks, though, and four thunder zahhaks, all made frantic by the shooting. Sultana was slamming herself up against the iron-reinforced wooden gate, trying to beat her way out to get to me.

“I’m here, girl!” I exclaimed, and I rushed forward and unfastened the stout lock, freeing her at last. She practically trampled me in her eagerness, pressing her whole head up against me, driving me back against the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of me.

“I’m okay,” I told her, stroking her scales. “We’re okay.”

“We are,” Sakshi agreed as she led a somewhat less worried Ragini out of her pen by the reins. She grabbed her saddle from the wall and got to work securing it. That was a smart move. When had Sakshi become the levelheaded one in a crisis? I grabbed my own saddle and tossed it over Sultana’s back, securing it quickly and scrambling aboard. With my thunder zahhak beneath me, I could handle anything.

I urged her forward, and she raced out of the stables into a courtyard that was suddenly silent. White smoke hung low in the air, drifting on the wind. Bodies were everywhere, some torn apart by cannons, others by zahhaks, others full of arrows. Hina and her celas were gathered together with Sanghar Soomro and his men, facing a dozen river zahhaks. I recognized Sunil Kalani sitting on the animal in the center, the one closest to Hina. He was bowing in the saddle, saying something, but he broke off as I approached on Sultana’s back.

He looked me up and down, and while he didn’t exactly seem pleased to see me, he did seem impressed by what I’d achieved. “I was just telling her majesty that Kadiro is once again in the hands of the Zindhi people. Our army commands the town, and our allies from Registan seem to have taken the fortresses.”

I didn’t miss his phrasing, claiming that Kadiro belonged to Zindh and not to Nizam, but I wasn’t going to debate it tonight. There was still too much left to do. Lakshmi still had to be rescued, and if we waited too long, it would be daylight before we could get to Ahura. But I couldn’t just go rushing off blindly either, not when so much still needed doing here. And anyway, Sunil had given me an idea for how I might save my little sister.

“Is the palace secure?” I asked.

“My men are making it so,” Sunil replied.

“As are mine, your highness,” Sanghar added, favoring me with my title where Sunil hadn’t.

“She’s not our princess,” Sunil grumbled.

Sanghar shrugged. “Maybe she is and maybe she isn’t, my friend, but after everything I’ve seen tonight, one thing I do know is that she’s not someone we want to anger.”

Hina grinned. “I’ll say.” She shook her head at me. “You’re a madwoman, you know that?”

“Lakshmi is still in danger,” I reminded her.

That wiped the smile from her face. She’d spent weeks with Lakshmi, and so had Nuri, the young cela who was standing with the others, holding a musket that was too big for her, but which she’d plainly spent the whole night shooting nonetheless. I was glad to see she wasn’t hurt.

“We’ll get her back, Razia,” Hina said. “I swear it.”

“I think I know how we might do it, but I’ll need your girls, and I’ll need as many zahhaks as I can muster. Arjun should be here as soon as the fortresses are secure. Then I’ll know how many