Read Heirs of the Fallen: Book 04 - Wrath of the Fallen for Free Online Page B

with another laying over the top of them.
    “Get that stick,” Damoc said, pointing at the broken end of a tree branch. “Use it to pry me free.”
    Belina didn’t waste a moment. After fetching the branch, she eased it up under the heavy block, then braced her shoulder against the wood. “This may hurt,” she warned.
    Damoc chuckled darkly. “It already hurts, girl. Now heave the damned thing off me!”
    Belina swallowed, her throat dry as dust. Once she started lifting, no matter which way the rock slid, she would not be able to reverse course. She imagined it grinding his foot to a pulp, swallowed again, and lifted.
    Stone grated loudly, and Damoc arched his back. “Push, girl! For your sister, push!”
    When he started screaming, his face going gray as ash, Belina stopped. Teeth gritted, Damoc wrapped his fingers around her ankle. “Just a bit more, girl. Just a bit—”
    Belina threw her weight against the creaking branch and straightened her legs. Damoc gave one more straining cry before the rock toppled free and rolled down the slope. Belina knelt, shaking fingers dancing in the air above his wounds.
    “Not as bad as it looks,” Damoc assured her. Belina had doubts. The flesh around his shin and ankle looked as if it had been mauled by an angry boar. “Get me up, so we can help your sister.”
    Belina put the tree branch into Damoc’s hand. “Lean your weight on it,” she advised.
    He stood upright and looked around. “If this is a picture of victory, I’d hate to see one of defeat.”
    Belina wrapped his other arm around her neck. “We can tally successes and failures later.”
    Damoc bobbed his head, sweat mingling with blood on his brow. “To your sister. Hurry .”
    As fast as their stumbling allowed, they made their way back to Nola, who had gone silent. When they reached the girl, her remaining eye was closed. Flies were gathering, as if catching the scent of death.
    Damoc moaned low in his throat, but a look of determination lit his gaze. “I’ll not lose another of my girls,” he said fiercely.
    Together they moved to the slab pinning Nola, and sought good places to catch hold. At Damoc’s nod, they lifted and pushed. The rock moved a fraction, a bit more, then fell back. Nola didn’t stir.
    Feeling sick, Belina held a hand near Nola’s parted lips. Faint, erratic breaths wafted over her fingers.
    “She’s alive,” Belina said in answer to Damoc’s stricken expression. “But if we don’t get more help, we’ll never get her loose.”
    “Seems you need a pair of heroes,” came a rasping voice.
    Belina and Damoc looked up with a startled gasps. Daris smiled down at them, one of his eyes shot through with red, his short hair damp with sweat and splotchy gray with dust. Sumahn looked no better, but his features lacked his companion’s weary amusement. Before Belina could ask, the pair joined her and Damoc.
    As they took their places, she noticed the way Sumahn was looking at Nola. Although the two had only met a few hours before, she saw more than idle concern painting his face.
    “Ready?” Daris asked, then coughed and spat a wad of mud.
    Now I know why my chest hurts , Belina thought, before turning her attention back to Nola.
    She still hadn’t moved, and her coloring seemed paler.
    “Now!” Damoc said, and the foursome shoved, feet scraping and sliding. The rock lifted with a grinding sound that set Belina’s teeth on edge. For a terrifying moment, its great weight resisted them. They shoved harder, and it tumbled free.
    When they turned back, they found Nola’s tunic had been torn off, leaving her torso bare. Belina wished it had not been so, but not because of any sense of decency. Flaps of skin hung from her chest in quivering strips. Other places had gone purple and black with terrible bruises. Damoc and Daris groaned in unison at the sight of such dreadful wounds, but Belina could not so much as breathe.
    Only Sumahn kept his wits about him, at least enough to strip