22. Nineteen

Nineteen

A sher grunted and Lily looked back at him to see him fighting three men as two were getting back to their feet.

She licked her lips and put her hand on Sand's knee. "Sand, you need to run. Get back to Vasha and get him help. Asher and I can manage." She didn't wait for the terrified boy to respond before she slapped the back end of the horse, knowing it was already frightened and that it would spring away from danger.

She spun around to see that Asher had drawn the men away from her.

"What do you want?" Asher demanded, holding the wrist of one of the men.

"What do you think?" a man with dark-brown scales on his hands snapped back. "We want the throne and can't have you come home and ruin our plans!"

Lily recalled her lessons with Wester, how there would come a time when she needed to focus in stressful situations. He'd put her through some of his own, though none were even close to a fight. A room full of cat-sized spiders was the most terrifying lesson she'd been through.

She assessed what was around her. Trees. Lots of bushes. Flowers. She was surrounded by green energy and needed to help save Asher. Trees have roots. Use the roots, Lily .

She lifted one hand toward the vipers and focused on the roots under the ground. She knew what she needed them to do: spring up from the ground and trap the viper men. She envisioned that, using the magic from the trees, and instantly roots broke from the ground and wrapped around the legs of the viper men.

They gave confused shouts and tried to avoid them, but the roots moved far too quickly. They wrapped up the men's legs and pinned their arms down.

Asher darted between two of them and backed up to Lily's side. He stared at the men and then turned to Lily, stunned. But that look quickly changed into a grin. "I'll confess, that was brilliant. Get to the horse." He placed one hand on the small of her back and pushed her toward their horse.

Lily didn't complain about him helping her back on.

"Hey, did you get off without falling?" he asked.

She blinked. She had, without even realizing it. "Y-Yes. I guess I did. Do you think we'll catch up to your father? I may be able to use a healing spell. I just tried it on a horse a couple of days ago and it worked. But I need some time to focus."

"I do believe we can," he replied and nudged the horse forward.

The horse screamed and reared.

Lily cried out, grappling in the empty air for something to catch her. She felt Asher wrap his arm around her chest before she landed on top of him, both of them hitting the ground. He then rolled them away to avoid the horse's stomping hooves.

The horse sprinted down the trail, tail raised in terror.

"I'm sorry," Lily said as she rolled off of Asher and looked down at him.

He scrambled into a crouched position in front of her, eyes darting until they landed on the viper snake that transformed into a man.

The one Asher had tossed away. Sand's father.

Asher growled. "Yoresh, your men are captured and my father is on his way to get help. You've failed."

Yoresh? Lily had heard that name several times in the castle.

The man's scarred face twisted into a smirk and he chuckled. "Have I failed? He has venom in his veins, and the wounds I gave him will cause him to bleed out before he even makes it to Demon's Pass. Aid will never arrive in time. If you make it back to Vasha, you'll be burying both parents."

"I'll heal him before that happens," Lily threw in.

Yoresh's strange eyes darted to her, the pupils narrowing into vertical slits. "Keep your human pet quiet."

Lily snorted. "Pet?" She spat the word out like she'd tasted something awful. Her eyes narrowed and she held her hand out toward him. Using the same spell she had used on the men, Lily called upon the plants at his feet to wrap around Yoresh's legs.

"What is this?" he hissed and tugged his legs in an attempt to get them free.

"We need to run while we have the chance." Asher took Lily's hand and dragged her along behind him until she picked up her pace. They ran down the trail they had come from.

"Asher, it's the other way."

"Trust me," he said without looking at her.

She stole a glance over her shoulder in time to see Yoresh transform into a viper, which easily escaped the coiled plants. His men followed his lead, realizing they should have figured out that escape. She refocused forward and ran harder, which pushed Asher faster too. "Yoresh got out by transforming."

"We need to get off the main trail. Come with me." He jolted her to the right, toward the river. "If we can get to the other side of the river, they won't be able to follow our scent. They may suspect we'll still head east, but all we need to do is give my father a head start to get to safety."

Lily bit her bottom lip when Asher stopped at the river's edge. "Is this the only way to escape?"

"This, or hoping to reach the plateau before they catch up." He pointed his thumb north, toward the flat, short mountain she'd seen as they traveled. Asher stepped into the river.

Lily broke her hand free of his grip.

He gave her a confused look as the water tugged on his legs, trying to drag him downstream. He stuck his arms out to balance himself and pinched his brows in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"I . . . I can't swim," she confessed.

Asher's lips twisted in a silent curse and he nodded. "Of course not. Come on. I'll help you." He held both arms out toward her, but when he took a step, he slipped and lost his footing, which caused the river to grab on to him and start pulling him downstream, in spite of him fighting against it. "Now, Lily!"

She looked over her shoulder and saw the first of the vipers just beyond a cluster of bushes. Asher was far more experienced in life than she was. If he felt jumping into the river was their only hope of safety, she needed to follow. Even though Lily had always wanted an adventure, she hadn't expected it to be quite like this. She'd run from soldiers, escaped vipers, and was now leaping into a river for a prince to save her.

She rushed into the water and felt the rocks slip under her feet. She hadn't anticipated the strength of the water, and it grabbed her legs with freezing fingers and pulled her feet out from under her. She fell into the water, completely going under. The roar of the river was muffled.

And then she felt something grab her and drag her to the surface to catch her breath.

"I've got you," Asher reassured, one arm around her chest, pulling her upward and into his chest.

Lily clung to his shoulders and gasped for another breath.

"It's okay." He met her gaze. "I'm going to have you get on my back so I can get us to the other side."

"How can you be so calm?" she shouted, aware of how terrified she sounded.

The river carried them swiftly downstream.

"Get on my back," he ordered again.

Lily shifted her grip, letting Asher turn. His strong arms worked with the flow of the river, guiding them to the other side. Moss-covered trees reached down toward them.

Asher suddenly reached up and grabbed one of them, then hissed as the river ripped it out of his grip. On the second branch, he stopped. His muscles strained, the veins in his arm and bicep bulging. "Behind us is a clear spot. When we get to it, you have to dig your feet into the ground and try to get to the shore. Your body will want to float and the river will drag you."

She looked over her shoulder and saw the clear spot of land Asher referred to. "I see it."

"I'm letting go. I'm going to try and stop us, but you'll have to drag yourself out of the water too. Got it?"

"Yes."

Asher let go and swam closer to the trees. "Now, Lily," he said.

She dug her feet into the rocks and felt her feet slide across them.

Asher held on to her arm as he did the same, and he stood before she did. Still, on her second attempt, she was able to stand in his wake.

They walked out of the water and Asher leaned against a tree, breathing hard.

"You saved us," Lily said, looking across the river for any sign of the vipers.

Asher shook his head and then body like a cat would to dry off, then turned to her. "You got my father to safety. And you cast a spell to catch the men." He chuckled. "Did you see their faces when they realized you could use magic?"

Lily smiled. Asher was laughing. Even if it was small, he was laughing. "It didn't keep them there, but I guess I did help." She twisted her hair to ring it out.

Asher's smile softened. "You stopped them long enough that we could get away. That's all that matters. Magic doesn't need to end anything. Just help, right?"

"I suppose you're right."

"Of course I'm right." He ran his fingers through his hair. "That's the best bath I've had in days."

"You did sort of stink," Lily teased.

Asher's grin returned. "I can't believe you didn't say anything."

She laughed this time. "Are you now forever indebted to me for saving your life?"

He grinned. "Something like that." He peered across the river. "If Yoresh truly wants the throne, he has to destroy the entire royal line. I cannot predict if they are going to try to follow us or my father. Hopefully, Sand will continue onward without stopping. We're going to have to be far more careful on the trail from now on. I'll do my best to catch their scent."

Lily spotted the concern written on his face and could only imagine the agony in Asher's heart having his father taken from him again. "I don't mean to be the bearer of additional bad news, but we have no provisions."

"Perfect." He ran his fingers through his brown hair again.

"We're going to need to fish, then." She started walking between the bushes. "Which means I'll need to cook it over a fire tonight."

"We can't do that. It's too dangerous." Asher started walking behind her.

She scowled at him.

"Do you not like fish?" he asked.

"I enjoy it a lot. With the right seasonings. Now we just have to eat the fish straight from the river, no seasonings, and not even cooked." She shuddered at the thought.

Asher chuckled again.

Lily faced him. "You cannot tell me you don't salt and pepper your fish, at least."

"It does make it more delicious." He shrugged. "But we'll still have to eat it tonight without all of that. Besides, nothing is more delicious than a fish fresh from the river." He winked and stepped around her to take the lead.

"How do you plan on catching it anyway?"

Asher held up one hand and it transformed into a paw with extended claws. "Tiger, remember?"

"Oh."

He put his claws and paw away. "We lost a lot of ground floating down the river. That's going to add several hours to our walking. But it could be worse, right?" Asher looked back at Lily.

Without a horse, walking in wet boots, and with no food or fresh water, Lily failed to see how their situation could be worse.