“Klyde?” Lucenna looked behind them, seeing the trail of blood left behind each of his steps. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
She shifted her hold on his shoulders and felt something poke her arm. There was a piece of wood pierced into his shoulder.
“Oh, Gods.”
“It looks worse than it is,” Klyde grunted. “I’ll pull it out later. For now, we need to get out of here.”
That thing would have gone straight through her back if he hadn’t jumped in the way.
“Put me down,” she said angrily, her eyes welling again. “You can’t carry me like this.”
“You can’t walk on that foot either. It’s all right. I got you. Relax, Lucenna.”
As though she was merely waiting for that command, her body slumped against his, her cheek resting on his other shoulder. She allowed herself to be carried off, because he felt safe. It was a foreign feeling.
And it clashed with her worry for Dyna.
Thunder cracked overhead, making her flinch. The sky opened as rain poured down.
“She’s alive, right?” Lucenna’s voice was steady, even as tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked back at the ship and felt her heart break all over again as she watched the flames rise. Zev was going to be devastated.
Please, Lucenna prayed to any God listening.Please don’t tell me she’s dead.
“Many people jumped ship,” Klyde said. “The lass must have made it. She has survived worse.”
He was right. Dyna was more resilient than anyone she had ever met.
“Then we should go back.”
“We can’t. The Shieldmen are coming, and likely Enforcers will arrive next. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. Rawn told us what to do if something happened. It’s best we take the next road out of Dwarf Shoe and wait for the others in the White Woods.”
He was in his mercenary role, thinking logically instead of emotionally. Lucenna was glad of it, because she was a mess.She looked back at the burning ship, wanting to search for Dyna. But a large crowd had gathered on the pier, and some used magic to put out the flames.
“Aye, you can’t be here anymore, lass. This will surely draw the mages. Do you feel any in Argent?”
Lucenna closed her eyes, searching for any telltale signs of magic beyond the harbor. They nearly fell over when the town shook with aboom. Cursing, Klyde gripped her legs tightly as he braced.
But it wasn’t fire that tore through the buildings. It was blue electricity. The charge of Essence crackled in the air.
“What was that? Enforcers?”
“No…” Lucenna’s eyes widened as a flash of blue lightning crashed down from the sky. “Elves.”
CHAPTER 35
Rawn
They were everywhere. Rawn dashed into a dark alleyway, with Zev and Elon following on his heels. Red Highland soldiers marched past them, their dark red cloaks fluttering in their wake. He hid behind a set of broken barrels and crates as he listened to the voices on the wind past the prattle of rain.
“First unit, take the east. Second unit, cover the west. The hounds tracked him here. Find him!”
Rawn closed his eyes while the thud of boots splashed into rain puddles and beat against the roads, along with the snarls of the Bloodhounds. Ugly, massive dogs from the Erdas Mountains in Red Highland, and the best hunters to track down prey, even through the rain. They would eventually be found, no matter the cloaking spell.
The voices of the soldiers faded. Rawn remained still, attempting to listen past the patter of rain. He looked to Elon, who had his back to him as he kept eyes on the alley’s other end, his hands alight with magic.
They never did make it to the pier.
