But I know I saw guilt on his face!
She reached into the bag. Her brother looked even more affronted, but made no move to stop her. She swished her hand inside of the bag, feeling only the silky material that made it up. She reached down until her arm up to the elbow was lost in the bag, but she found nothing. Relief and grief filled her at the same time.
She pulled her arm out and breathed in quick little gasps. Her chest felt so tight. She looked up at her twin’s face with an apologetic look. He, however, wasn’t looking at her. He tightly tied the drawstring shut. His lips were pressed into a thin line as he did so. He brushed past her coldly without a backwards glance. Her shoulders slumped.
She’d just accused her brother of stealing and she’d been wrong. She’d done it in front of Helgrom, which would have humiliated him more. He was clearly furious with her and rightly so. She’d allowed Rhalyf’s suspicions of him to taint her view of her own twin!
But it wasn’t just Rhalyf’s suspicions. I had them, too. I have to be honest about that. This isn’t Rhalyf’s fault.
She felt sick to her stomach and wanted to vomit. She had no idea if this breach of trust between them could be fixed. The fact that she had only done this, because the stakes were so high and her brother had been so intent on taking something from Illithor…
I don’t even know if we are in Illithor!
But it didn’t matter. There was a chance and that chance had been more than zero. She’d had to do what she did. Cara would tell her that.
“And if Darcassan can’t see that you were looking out for him and the whole Empire then he’s the foolish one!” She imagined Cara saying as the human woman slid a hand across the table and laid it over hers in the cafe. Their favorite mugs would be filled with steaming tea or coffee. But the warmth would be simply from being near Cara.
Suddenly, Helgrom’s hand was on her arm. Her head jerked up and she met his eyes. She was crying. She hadn’t realized it. She quickly tried to wipe the tears away, but Helgrom stopped her by squeezing her arm. She saw in his amber eyes kindness and understanding. Though she could not hear him, she knew what he was trying to tell her, “You did the right thing. All will be well.”
She wasn’t so sure that would be true. But she mustered up a shaky smile. She preceded him through the magical doors. The moment she was sent through to the other side, she was surrounded by the smells and sounds of battle. Snaglak was roaring–she could hear him!–and Glom was hissing. Her brother was cursing under his breath as he flung fireballs towards the Australs. There weren’t just two like there had been when they’d left. Oh, no, there were dozens.
The magic her brother had been using on them had broken likely when he’d started flinging fireballs, but it seemed that the Australs had known they were coming back. She remembered Helgrom’s words about the Australs having a hive-like mind, which meant if one of them knew a thing then all of them did. Clearly, one of them guarding the Armory had noticed them somehow.
But some part of her worried that she was being punished for her lack of faith in Darcassan.
She took out those magnificent daggers. They glowed white in her hands as if she were indeed holding stars. She spun into battle, cloaking herself in a shield to protect her from the disease that the Australs spread with a simple touch.
There were so many of them that it didn’t matter where the dagger sliced. The air was full of Austral flesh. Shrieks, hisses, and groans filled the air around her as the daggers growed a hotter and hotter white with each death. It seemed as if they were killing the Australs before the blades actually touched them. A wave of white light exploded out all around her and, for a moment, the hallway was clear of living Australs. The dead carpeted the ground. Breathing heavily, she glanced up at her companions.
Snaglak’s lower jaw jutted out. His two long curved tusks glistened with saliva as if he wanted to bite the Australs. Helgrom’s hammer was stained purple with Austral blood. Her brother leaned against the wall, white faced and perspiring. The spells to hide them had taken everything out of him. She should have noticed that and offered to give him some of her own strength. But he was always so proud.
But being proud here is a death sentence! Her more rational side shouted inside of her head. But, like always, she pushed that down. When it came to her brother and her father, if she was honest, she gave them more latitude than she would anyone else. Them doing something foolish was not foolish even if it was objectively so. She loved them. So much. That love is going to lead you somewhere terrible if you don’t watch it.
She blinked at that last thought. It had sounded like her own mind voice, but it had been so different from anything she normally allowed herself to think. Nothing like that had ever slipped out before. But it had now.
“We need to get out of here,” Helgrom said as he helped Darcassan stand up.
“But go where? To Illithor? That’s five days away!” she protested even as she stared at the doors to the Armory that were now closed. Had they really been in Illithor? Why couldn’t they have just left the Armory a different way then?
Because it is closed to Helgrom. He can only go from Xrdatha to there and back again. No where else.
“Should we go back into the Armory?” she asked even as she thought the earlier bit.
“No, there is only one way in or out for us,” Helgrom all but confirmed. “We go back in there and we’ll be entombed in there.”
“But can we really make it out of Xrdatha?” she asked helplessly.
“Vex did not bring us here to die,” Helgrom said, but it was more to himself than to them. Maybe he was trying to convince himself of it now.
The end of the hallway was suddenly filled with shrieking, flying Australs. They spat strange fluids through the air. In a desperate move, Elasha threw up a shield at the last moment. The fluids impacted it and left them alone. But her shield looked like abstract art, but she kept it up. She looked over her shoulder to the others, her brother especially. He was swaying on his feet. His right hand was gripping the top of his bag. He had nothing left to give. She was the only magic user here with any magic left.
“We have to…” he got out then swallowed, “we have to get out of here.”
“Must kill or die,” Snaglak growled, looking ready to fight the whole Austral army himself and Elasha imagined that he would do it. He might go down under hundreds of the creatures, but he would fight to the bitter end.
It’s not right that he should die like that. We have to get out of here. We have to!
“Can you keep that shield up until we get to the end of the hallway?” Helgrom asked.
