Almost at the same time, Yonlin said, “Mysst soto gotha.”
Bow, Eira’s mind filled in at the exact same time as the weapon condensed from strands of magic into Yonlin’s hands. He drew back, and fired down at the people who had been shooting up at them.
“Get her up,” Yonlin shouted between shots.
“Yonlin—”
“Go, Olivin!”
“I’ll return fire when I’m up,” Olivin called back, already working his magic to get them to a window at the top of the archway.
Eira’s stomach had dropped out from her body since the fall. She continued to cling to him with all her might. “I’m sorry, Olivin,” she whispered.
“Yonlin knows the risks, as do I.” He seemed to shift his grip to hold her even tighter. Eira could see him swallow hard. “We’re better off helping you, no matter the cost.”
“I wanted to keep you safe.” She’d wanted to keep all her friends safe, and only seemed successful at endangering them more.
“And I wanted to stay by you.”
Loyalty has a cost. Eira pressed her eyes closed and drew a shuddering breath. She would pay any cost…but she wasn’t ready for what it might cost to those around her. The people she cared about.
The people she loved.
As soon as Olivin landed by the window, Eira smashed it in with the butt of her dagger. He wasted no time and they tumbled in through the confetti of glass—enduring superficial cuts and scrapes along the way.
“Lumeria’s murderers!” a man shouted, lunging for them.
Eira recovered faster than Olivin. She tumbled and jumped up, ignoring the pain in her arms and legs from embedded glass as she dodged the man’s sword. Eira swung and dug her dagger into his chest.
Clumsy.
He half wheezed, half snarled, rearing back to attack her again with his sword.
“Mysst soto tonc.” Light flashed. A spear wielded by Olivin pierced the knight’s shoulder, cutting through the soft spot between plates of armor. He dropped his sword and it unraveled into strands of light that faded away.
Eira freed her blade and jabbed it into the man’s neck, ending it there. She panted, turning to Olivin. But he was back at the window already, returning fire so Yonlin could join them.
“I’m going ahead,” she announced.
“Eira, wait!”
She didn’t hesitate. Eira wouldn’t allow the fact that she had no magic to hold her back, or be a burden to the people counting on her. Another gate guard in leather armor engaged her. He clearly hadn’t had much practical application to his training as she managed to disarm and mortally wound him in a few blows.
But he didn’t have a signet of a Pillar, so Eira left him to bleed. Perhaps he would die…or maybe he could hang on for help to arrive. Eira knew that it didn’t make her any less guilty of attacking an innocent man. But hopefully he kept his life. Her qualm wasn’t with the people of Meru, just the Pillars.
Bursting through a door at the top of an ascending hallway, Eira was faced with a mechanical room—blessedly void of any other knights. Panting, she took quick stock of the elements of the portcullis. As Yonlin had said, there was a spindle connected to two chains on the right. On the left was a lever connected to weights by more chains that was already engaged.That must bethe quick release. Eira was still figuring out how it worked when Olivin and Yonlin arrived.
“You take that side.” Yonlin pointed to the side closest to the door they’d entered in on. “We pull in three…two…one.Kot sidee.”
The two men worked in unison, standing before the massive spoked wheels that were on the ends of the spindle above the portcullis. The chains and spindle were so large it would take two or three grown adults, per side, to move the gate. As Yonlin and Olivin spoke, glyphs appeared on the opposite side of the wheels. The magic crashed into the spokes as it was sucked in toward their palms, pulling the wheels in the process. As soon as the magic met their hands, it vanished completely.
They repeated again. “Kot sidee.”
As the gears turned, the gate slowly began to lift; hefty chain collected around the spindle. In tandem, the weighted mechanism connected to the lever she’d been inspecting began to move as well. With every turn of the gears behind her, there was a clicking of the winch behind the lever. As soon as the gate was up, she would find a way to disable it.
But in the meantime, Eira focused on the doors on the left and right sides of the room. There were heavy bars to the right of each of them that slotted into hooks on either side of the metal doors. The builders had planned for a potential attack and wanted this room to be easily guarded.
No sooner had she managed to get the bars in place than the doors began to rattle. A moment of silence. And then the whole door shuddered.
