Praetorian Rising, стр. 92
Theo glanced over his shoulder and saw them: five Night Raves closing in, each riding a pure black stallion.
They were clothed in deep red leather, some with more skin showing than covered. There were three women and two men, all sporting a tight gold and silver choker around their necks. They were packed down with swords, axes, bows, and rifles.
"Give her to us," a Night Rave called out, her voice a menacing hiss.
Jolie pressed forward as fast as her muscular body could manage, her hooves thundering through the meadow hills and kicking up dirt and grass in her wake.
"Are they close enough to shoot down?" he yelled back to Camille, who was fumbling with his bow.
"Almost," she replied, twisting to get a better look. Theo heard the creaking pull of an arrow against his bowstring, and then the reverberating shock as one of his arrows took flight. There was no chance of him looking back, but the sharp exhalation of breath from Camille let him know she'd missed.
Theo pulled Jolie's reins to the right, toward the Syene River. If he got to it in time, he could cut the tethers of the bridge once they'd crossed and the Night Raves would be forced to find another way.
Another snap and a stumbling crash from behind—Camille had downed a Night Rave. He knew she was struggling; he could feel the blaze of her body against him like a blanket of coals pressed to his back, yet she continued to fire.
"I only have three arrows left," she screamed into Theo's ear, her legs losing grip when Jolie leaped over a mound of sharp boulders.
"Stay with me, Cam!" Theo said, reaching back to steady her.
They catapulted through a sea of thick bushes and over a tumbled tree, barely able to make out their surroundings in the dark night.
One Night Rave pulled in close, his arm outstretched. Without a word, Camille snatched a dagger from Theo's belt loop and chucked it at the Night Rave, sending him tumbling off his horse into a thicket of weeds.
Camille leaned against Theo, keeping her hands linked in front of his abdomen. "Theo," she murmured, barely loud enough for him to hear, "thank you for everything."
"Don't you do that! You hold on, damn it!" He felt her nod against his back, but she was fading fast. A racking shiver tumbled through her system as the fever set into her bones: the final calling card of the Chimera virus before it took over completely. Praetorian or not, she would eventually succumb.
Jolie bolted up the final yards of the hillside, immediately sliding to a stop at the edge of a cliff. Several hundred feet below them was the rushing Syene River, cascading with vicious force through the jagged valley walls. The treacherous crossing was as Theo feared—an old wooden bridge that looked ready to crumble at the slightest weight.
"Really?!" Theo barked out, urging the mare forward.
Jolie balked at the rotted wood but acquiesced as the remaining three Night Raves gained on them.
"Halt, Praetorian! Don't move another step!" one of the Night Raves bellowed as they vaulted closer.
Camille notched another arrow and let it fly, with a resulting crash telling Theo she'd hit her mark.
"You've been warned!" another Night Rave seethed, notching her own wooden bow with a steel-plated arrow and following them across the bridge on foot.
"Go, go!" Theo said, kicking Jolie in the sides and praying the planks beneath them held. The grey mare cleared the bridge and Theo leaped off the horse tugging Camille down with him. Yanking two daggers from his saddle, he tossed one at Camille and charged toward the bridge. "We need to cut the ropes!"
"No!" screeched the Night Rave who was already on the bridge charging toward them, but it was too late—with a few more zealous cuts, the rope handles were severed, and the rickety bridge gave way.
Theo watched as the Night Rave tumbled into the rapids below and dodged an arrow that zoomed past his cheek from the remaining Night Rave still crouched on the opposite side.
"Camille, come on," Theo said, grabbing her hand and half dragging her into the woods behind Jolie.
"I can't go any further," she said once they were hidden by the underbrush. Her legs gave out, and she tumbled to the ground in a mess of blood and sweat.
"Cam! Wait—please! Hold on!" Theo cried, crouching to gather her into his arms. "We're almost there, we're almost to the doctor—" His eyes searched her face, but she didn't move or speak. With shaking hands, he caressed the soft sides of her cheeks, feeling the burning fire raging beneath the surface. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he brushed them away in fierce, sharp swipes.
"I love you, Cam. Dear Ma’Nada, I love you," he sobbed, pulling her limp form against his chest. "I won't let you die, not now! You don't get to leave me this time—do you hear me!"
He gripped her face and kissed her burning lips before a firm determination flooded his system. After lifting her onto Jolie, he climbed up behind her and nudged the mare toward White Wall. "Fly my sweet girl," he cooed in Jolie's ear. "Take us home!"
***
An amber sun rose majestically over the horizon, its gentle glow highlighting the sheen of sweat on Camille's chalk-white face.
Amazingly, the fever seemed to be breaking, but Camille's breathing remained shallow and intermittent. Usually, an Asperian would be howling bloody murder as their body underwent the steps to become a Chimera, but Camille hadn't made a sound.
Just as the sun began its climb across the sky, Theo and Camille crested over the hills of White Wall territory. The vaulted walls of the city cast dark and looming shadows over the ground, the main village zigzagging up the mountainside.
The