Zeph nodded and made a sharp gesture to the blond giant lurking behind him. Bax was Zeph’s second in command and a good man to have in a fight. He loped off without another question, leaving Zeph to follow Fallon as they ran to catch up with Patrick.
“You’re going to need me,” Zeph said, his face serious as Fallon slid him a glance. “I trust Bax with my life. He’ll bring Chirron.”
Fallon didn’t argue, racing around one corner after another as Patrick picked up speed until he was moving at a flat-out sprint.
Patrick ignored Fallon’s order to wait, seeming more like his daughter with every moment.
Patrick burst through the doors to the tower. Fallon was relieved the man showed a bit of sense by not shouting his wife’s name as soon as he was inside.
Fallon and his men paused at the door, knowing they could be walking in on anything. They drew their swords. Fallon flicked his hand in a short gesture, directing them to spread out once inside, Caden to the right and Zeph to the left.
They stepped through, braced for attack, moving cautiously when none came. Patrick had already climbed the stairs to the tower room at the top.
Fallon indicated for his men to follow and together they mounted the steps. Given the lack of shouting or sounds of violence, he judged it reasonably safe to proceed.
Once in the tower room, Fallon took in the disaster that awaited them there. Furniture had been overturned and there were significant signs of a struggle.
“Looks like she put up a fight,” Caden said softly, analyzing the room at a glance.
Yes, it did, Fallon noted grimly.
Patrick had stopped in the middle of the room, looking down at a trail of blood that lead to the balcony outside.
“You should let one of us go first,” Fallon cautioned.
Patrick didn’t even hesitate as he continued. Fallon supposed he couldn’t blame him. It was the man’s wife after all. He knew if it had been Shea, nothing and no one could stop him from seeing what awaited. Anyone who tried would have met with a quick death.
Zeph looked around at the scene before them. “What do you think happened here?”
Caden’s face was grim. “Nothing good.”
“Learn what you can,” Fallon ordered as he headed for the balcony.
Zeph nodded, turning to the room as Caden followed him as far as the doorway where he positioned himself, well used to the task of protection.
Fallon stepped outside, his emotions locked down tight. They had no place in a situation like this.
A body greeted him first. Someone had pinned it into the stone by plunging an oddly shaped spear through its torso. Fallon bent closer to examine the implement better, interested to see what sort of weapon might embed itself so deeply in stone.
It wasn’t like anything his people possessed. The shaft protruding out of the man’s chest was the length of Fallon’s forearm, thin and narrow. Not wood, but not metal either, or at least no metal he knew. He pulled the man away from the wall a little, noting the strange looking teeth of the spear.
He rocked back on his heels with a thoughtful look. The boomer wasn’t the only weapon these pathfinders possessed.
He looked up at the man’s face, noting the astonished expression, his eyes wide and surprised. Like death had crept up while he wasn’t looking.
She’d managed to take at least one of her attackers down. Good for her.
He stood and looked over the edge of the stone balcony, a brief flutter of cloth drawing his attention to a spot far below where another body lay. He couldn’t tell if it was a woman or man, the face obscured.
“Warlord, there’s something you should see in here,” Caden said, poking his head through the door.
Fallon turned away from the scene and stepped inside.
Caden led him over to a corner where Zeph crouched. He held an object in his hand that he presented to Fallon.
“It’s of Earth clan construction,” he said, handing a single-edged sword that contained the slightest of curves to Fallon.
Fallon turned it in his hand. Zeph was correct. It was Earth clan’s. There was a distinctive sheen to it that was created from the material’s heating and cooling method—one that was a hallmark of the Earth clan. No other clan employed those methods since they were so tricky to perfect.
