The screech of the diving Harriers was a deafening sound, a chorus of death from the sky. Rhys pushed his body to its absolute limit, his legs a blur of motion as he sprinted across the hot, white sand.
The dark opening at the base of the giant bones, the entrance to the Ribcage Caverns, was just ten yards away.
The first Skeletal Harrier, its bony maw open in a silent scream, was almost upon them. Its sharp, black claws, like obsidian daggers, were just inches from his back.
There was no time to dodge. There was no time to think.
In a single, fluid motion, Rhys did not throw Emma to the side. He threw her forward. He used all his strength to launch her through the air, sending her tumbling towards the dark, gaping entrance of the cavern.
She let out a cry of surprise as she flew through the air, landing in a heap on the cool, dusty ground just inside the entrance, safe from the initial attack.
The move had cost him precious momentum, but it had freed his hands.
