(COMPLETE)
Lady Mhysra Kilpapan was blessed from birth with a distinguished family, a glorious home and a giant eagle miryhl of her own. Fully aware of her luck, she wants for nothing in life - except a chance to become a Rift Rider. The elite force...
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"BOWS!" LIEUTENANT HLEN'S shout made Derrain and the watchers jump. "Fetch your bows. Be of use!"
"Aye, sir!" Greig darted down the stairs, plenty of others following. The rest of the crowd remained at the windows, watching with awe as Riders battled kaz-naghkt overhead. There were bodies in the river, on the Lawn, on top of the eyries and in the courtyards. Feathers drifted down like brown snow and black blood hissed wherever it landed.
The sky was clouding over, but there was already a storm in the valley – a seething mass of leathery bodies, feathers and action. Miryhls screamed, kaz-naghkt screeched, metal rang and voices shouted. No single sound was clear in the noisy whole and all of it was just background noise to the thundering pulse in Derrain's ears. He'd been out there, had nearly been one of the victims lying broken and bloodied on the ground. The kaz-naghkt had almost caught them.
Now Zephyr fought on alone, having left while he was raising the alarm in the bell tower. Like most of the young miryhls whose students weren't yet trained, Zephyr had joined a flock to hunt down kaz-naghkt. Teaming up with the nakhound packs, they wove in and out of the Rider pairs, helping wherever they could. It was breathtaking to watch the lethal birds in action, but heart-stopping too. Whenever Derrain lost sight of Zephyr he feared the worst.
What would he do if she was killed? They'd only been together for a few months, but she was already such an important part of his life.
"Here." Something pressed against his hand and he stared mindlessly at the bow.
"Pick your shots and be careful," Lieutenant Hlen ordered, pacing back and forth behind the row of students, full of unexpected authority. "Don't loose if you fear to hit one of ours. We're here to help. Spread out around the tower. When you're ready!"
Derrain shook himself and strung the longbow he'd been given. It would have been useless on a miryhl, but for shooting through windows over distance it was perfect. He looked for arrows and found Corin beside him.
She had her own short bow, at which she'd grown even more skilled over the long winter. Smiling, she gestured to the quiver on her back and handed him an arrow. "Let's take 'em down."
He smiled back and shoulder-to-shoulder they faced the window. A kaz-naghkt dropped on a Rider pair right in front of them, its hind claws lashing the miryhl's back, while its hands and teeth gripped the human.
Derrain and Corin drew, loosed and grabbed fresh arrows in one smooth move.
Corin's arrow punched through the kaz-naghkt's temple, Derrain's through its ribcage, forcing it sideways. The Rider it had been mauling had enough strength to stab it through the chest, before he collapsed across his saddle. His miryhl twisted frantically, keening in distress, trying to see what state its bonded was in. The Rider flopped weakly about, in danger of falling, one side of his saddle straps frayed almost to breaking.
