Page 19 (1/2)

Tavi ran

His muscles were sore and theribbons of pain through his skin, but he was able to run For a while, A at all-but after a quarter mile, herout whimpers of sound Tavi dropped his pace a bit to run beside her

"No," she gasped "You have to keep going Even if I don&039;t get to the Count, you have to"

"But your leg-"

"I&039;m not important, Tavi," Amara said "Run"

"We need to head east," Tavi said, staying beside her "We&039;ll have to find a place to cross the Rillwater, but there&039;s thick and twisty woods on the other side In the dark, we could lose them there"

"One of theone"

"Not there," Tavi said "The only one who has ever gotten along with those furies is et through them"

Amara slowed and nodded, as they neared the top of a hill "All right You, come here" She beckoned to Fade, who shuffled to her obediently She took the bundle from him and took out his uncle&039;s bow and the arroith it She braced the bow against her leg and leaned hard on it, bending it enough to string it, then took it in hand and picked up the arrows "I want you two to get into the woods Keep going through the to do?"

Ah herto try to slow the here as well as anywhere"

"But you&039;re standing out here in the open They&039;ll just shoot you"

She srimly "I think there will be a bad wind for it Leave me some of the salt Once that stor them a little more securely"

"We&039;ll stay here and help," Tavi said

The Cursor shook her head "No You two get o well I&039;ll find you by "

"But-"

"Tavi," Aently "I can&039;t protect you and still fight here Theseto help me"

The words hit hie of frustration, helpless anger, that raced through him and for a moment washed away the aches of his body "I can&039;t do anything"

"Wrong," A to track you-not ht stop the and keep their attention on you"

"Won&039;t their earthcrafter feel you?" Tavi asked "And if they&039;re using wood, too, you can&039;t clilanced to the north "When that storets here, the furies

in it" She shook her head "But I can take advantage of things now Cirrus"

She closed her eyes for a an to rise around her It h Tavi, standing only a few feet away, felt nothing Austed her coround for a moment-and then settled into a ind that threw up dust and debris and specks of ice in a cloud around her legs to the knee She hovered there, ht, experimentally

Tavi stared at her, stunned He had never seen such a display of wind-crafting "You can fly"

Amara sht "This? This is nothing Maybe after all this is over, I can show you what real flying is" She nodded "Those storm furies you have here are bad ones, and there&039;s not et here But this will keep Fidel-the eneht," Tavi said, uncertainly "You&039;ll be sure to find us?"

Amara&039;s smile faded "I&039;ll try But if I haven&039;t in a few hours, then keep going yourself Can you get to Garrison?"

"Sure," Tavi said "IHe can find us anywhere in the Valley"

"I hope you&039;re right," Aoodback the way that they had come She set an arrow to the bow "Get to Garrison Warn the Count"

Tavi nodded, then dug into his bag and got out one of the bags of salt He threw it down, not far fro her in the air, either She glanced back and down at the salt and then at Tavi "Thank you"

"Good luck"

Fade tugged at Tavi&039;s sleeve "Tavi," he said "Go"

"Yeah Co up to a jog again Fade kept pace with hi They left A evening sed her fros from the slope of the hill, a pair of boulders he and Frederic had once teased, and before another quarter hour had passed, they had found the edges of the wood and slipped into shadows of the pines and aspen and beneath the long fingers of the barren oak