The Sphere Chronicles: A Holding Kate Series Book by LaDonna Cole Page A

Drayse screamed and flung every spear, pike, and burning brand he could get his hands on into the face of the beast to distract him. He, too, suffered a massive blow as the Dracosphynx swatted him, and he toppled over the edge of a cliff.
    Starlythe was done. This massacre was going to end now. “Staid, pull back! Get them out of here!”
    The Dracosphynx paused to watch with twisted pleasure as Brashtor and Stealthlin dove over the edge of the cliff to rescue Drayse. Staid nodded, and he and Candol carried Krenne toward the path that led down to the horses.
    The Dracosphynx inched his way toward the cliff where Brashtor and Stealthlin were attempting to reach Drayse who hung by his fingertips on a ledge.
    “Oh. No. You. Don’t,” Starlythe whispered, using the distraction to her advantage. She ran up the tail of the Dracosphynx, planted her feet between his shoulder blades, and executed a spiraling maneuver that placed her on top of his head. She had drawn her sword mid-flip and slashed down toward the brain of the beast.
    He swiveled. She lost her footing and the sword missed his brain, but lodged in the side of his head and ripped open a gash as her weight carried the blade down the length of his face.
    She hit the ground hard but managed to keep her grip on her sword. The Dracosphynx screamed in agony and batted at the gushing wound. Starlythe stared up at him from the ground and took full advantage of his weakness. She sat up and drove her blade deep into the muscle of his left shoulder joint, severing tendons.
    The arm hung listlessly at his side, and he stilled and quieted, and then slowly turned his seething eyes onto her. Quick as a flash, he pinned her to the ground with his rear-clawed foot and slowly drew a talon across her right shoulder, tearing her flesh with exacting precision. Starlythe bit down and squeezed air and spittle through her teeth, refusing to give him the pleasure of her cry. He paused, his razor-sharp talon at the base of her neck, and sensuously drew the aroma of her blood into his nostrils, savoring the scent of defeat.
    “Now I will drink your blood, warrior brat. It will puddle at my feet just as your father’s before you.” His deep voice rumbled the ground beneath her.
    He pressed his talon deeper and flicked his tongue around her neck to catch the spurts of blood.
    “ Nooooo !”
    The Dracosphynx whipped his head around, searching for the sound of the voice, before he realized he had been doused with oil and lit on fire again. The flames engulfed what was left of his wings, and he roared and stumbled over the edge of the cliff in his frantic attempt to extinguish himself.
    Staid rushed to Starlythe and lifted her into his arms. The faces of her brave companions closed in on her as her vision dimmed and faded to black.
     
    “I’ve got her!”
    “She’s so pale...”
    “For the love of a thousand years, she looks like death!”
    “She will be fine. Let’s move.”
    Starlythe jostled in the saddle, aware of Staid’s large arm clamping her to his chest. Her head lolled back on his chest and pain seared her shoulder.
    “Drayse?” she whispered.
    “He is well. We got to him.”
    She searched the horses ahead of them and saw Krenne’s blonde braids flapping against her neck. Good, she is safe, too. Blackness claimed her again.

    She blinked open her eyes. The torches lit her room back at Cheulseti Castle. Her mother, Chief Murkhul, sat on her bedside, stern face peering down. “What have you done, my brave daughter?”
    “Saved Cheulseti,” Starlythe bristled in reply.
    Chief Murkhul’s stoic expression cracked into a half smile. “So I hear.”
    “Do not punish my strike force, Mother. I take full responsibility.”
    “How noble of you. Does this mean you want full credit, too?”
    Starlythe snapped her eyes to gauge the Chief’s expression.
    “Credit?”
    “Of course, all of Cheulseti is celebrating the defeat of the Dracosphynx. The people have taken to the