And with that vow thrumming in her veins, the mountain opened to take her in.
Chapter fifteen
Rynnalandedhardonthe rocky outcrop skirting the crevasse. Below, the village stretched like a fractured hive, layered with wooden bridges, ladders, and sandstone dwellings carved directly into the cliff walls. The ledge flaked under her heel, dust spiraling down as she took in the chaos sprawling beneath her.
“Shit.”
Black-clad Hollow-born swarmed the village like locusts, spilling across every level. One tore a shutter loose with a gust of wind; another drove a hooked blade into a doorframe, breaking it wide, and stormed inside. Empty. He reappeared seconds later, snarling, then punched the wall hard enough to fracture the seams.
“Find them!” one of the intruders barked from the third level—the very space where she and Kaelith lived. His voice echoed off the rocks, amplified by the natural acoustics around them.
Rynna stared, thinking, even as a change in the air drew her attention. She didn’t need to look to know Kaelith had appeared at her side.
He said nothing at first, just studied the scene, his serpent-like eyes focused. “They haven’t found the storerooms yet.”
That was where the villagers had fled when the alarm was raised. It was hidden, but not safe. Not for long.
“We’re in time.” She nodded once.
From the lowest levels came a blast of fire, lighting the stone walls in flickering red. A roar followed, deep and defiant. “You shall not pass!”
She bit at her lip. That was Boku. He had retired from the Watch with a shattered leg that never fully healed. But he was stubborn, and death would claim him long before he let anyone reach the children.
Rynna stepped back and drew the twin golden blades from across her back. For the first time since arriving at the Hearth, her hands closed around the hilts. The metal was cool and familiar, pulsing against her palms like a heartbeat.
Kaelith glanced sideways. She saw the change in his eyes—worry. He tried to mask it, but she knew him too well.
“I’ll draw their attention from the top,” she said.
He dipped his chin. “And I’ll slip down to the storerooms.”
They would divide the enemy, striking high and low. But it was still just the two of them against a tide of black.
Rynna watched him crouch, muscles coiled as every inch of him prepared for the coming fight.
Without thinking, her arm reached, and her blade kissed his throat.
He froze as a single bead of blood rose where steel met skin.
“The world isn’t burning yet, snake.” Her voice was low. A warning. A plea.Don’t die.
His body eased, then he rolled his eyes hard enough to make her want to punch him—and vanished into thin air.
She exhaled.
“All right then.”
Rynna pivoted, sprinting for the nearest bridge. She would draw them away to give Kaelith time. And if she was lucky, maybe carve a bloody enough path to turn the tide.
She hit the first one at a dead sprint, steel clashing against steel as her right blade caught his short sword and slid along its edge. Her left hand found his neck. The impact jarred her elbow, but the head jerked back with a wet crunch. No time to watch him fall. She pivoted into the next, slashing across the knees, then spinning low as a swung staff caught her in the ribs. She grunted through it, dropped, and swept the attacker’s legs clean from under him, driving a blade into his gut before he hit the ground.
Another came from the left—barely a warning before a gust of wind knocked the air from her lungs. She staggered, and steel rang as her swords met his, teeth grinding withthe effort to hold. He overextended. And she ducked, spun, then came up inside his reach, and opened him from pelvis to collarbone.
Heat splattered across her cheek, and her tongue darted out. Metallic tang flooded her mouth as her vision swam, and for a split second, the world tilted, smeared in red and shadow.
Her eyes squeezed shut. And focus snapped back into place.
The next attacker lunged, reckless, swinging high. She stepped inside the arc, blades crossing, and drove both forward.
