Page 570 - Fourth Wing

I leave the evasive maneuvers up to Tairn and concentrate on bringing

down as many strikes as possible as the wyvern gain speed on us. My arms
tremble, growing weaker and weaker with each bolt I try to control to keep

from hitting our own riders.

Sgaeyl is on the west side of the outpost, and my heart crawls into my
throat when she flies low and Xaden does an impressive running jump off

her back, landing with a roll onto the street below. Almost immediately,

shadows pull in every direction and cover the people screaming as they try
to run for cover from the snarling jaws of a hungry wyvern.

One of the wyvern on my tail must notice Xaden out of the saddle,

because it tucks its wings for a moment, diving for the ground, only to
widen them and pull out at the last minute, gliding mere feet above the silky

shadows. Shit. It’s heading straight for Xaden, its jaws opening wide as
though it plans to just snatch Xaden up like a quick bite to eat.

“Xaden!” I scream out loud, but he’s already noticed the wyvern,

throwing a rope of shadows high above the buildings in a perfect lasso
around Sgaeyl’s head, and she yanks him up off the ground and out of the

path of the oncoming wyvern. One minute Xaden is dangling from the
shadow rope and the next he’s back in his saddle as Sgaeyl banks for

another low pass through town.

But I was so focused on Xaden, I completely forgot about the wyvern on
my own tail. Tairn hasn’t, though, and starts to climb higher and higher,

leading the wyvern from the post as he gains altitude nauseatingly fast.

“Violence!” Xaden screams. “Beneath you!”
I look down and gasp. A stream of blue fire billows up toward us.

“Bank!”

Tairn rolls left, and my ass leaves the saddle, held in only by the straps as
he rolls us upside down to narrowly avoid the blast. But when he

straightens, the wyvern is still on us. My heart lurches into my throat as its
mouth gapes open, its sharp, bloodied teeth snapping as it lunges for Tairn’s