Chapter 45
Silhouettes
ANNA
Istaggered back at the shock.
“Saryna!” Blake shouted. “Get Riya and Eli out of here! Caelan, get Anna, I will hold them off!”
“Little busy, Blake,” Caelan gasped, his sword in hand over his head, the blade in the other as he held back his opponent in a dangerous clash. Blake was surrounded but holding his ground. I caught a glimpse of Saryna helping Riya and Eli out. She was watching me, looking for a way to get over here. My body tightened as I slipped into my stance. Knees bent, blade forward, palm out.
“Just go, Saryna,” I shouted.
I caught her eye, urging her to go, before I focused back on Everson. I couldn’t risk them staying to help me. Or Blake being unfocused.
“There’s no way,” Saryna shouted, watching me. “I will not leave you here.”
“Yes, you will.”
Adept Corinya stepped from the shadows, her sword in hand. “I’ve got this, Saryna. Take the Initiates.”
Riya looked at me shaking her head. “You can’t be serious. Come with us, Anna.”
“No way I’m leaving Blake and Caelan in here with these monsters,” I said. “Get out of here. I’ll see you on the other side.”
Saryna grabbed her, and Eli and I watched Everson. He was glaring at Corinya.
“You weren’t supposed to be here,” he said, his voice low.
“I forgot to give some paperwork to Lady Cressida,” she said. “When I found her dead, I realized something was wrong.”
I gasped.Lady Cressida was dead?
Her haunting words stirred in my mind.
The flame you seek is not the flame of creation you desire.
I still had no idea what it meant.
“I had no choice,” Everson said. “Only she knew the way to turn off the barrier gate around Nightfall.”
“So you tortured her to death to get it?” Corinya asked, her voice shaking with anger.
She launched an icy blast of everi from her palm, skimming Everson’s cheek as he dodged it.
“I didn’t have a choice!” he shouted, recovering his defensive stance. “Corinya, please, get out of here. I sent you out of Nightfall for a reason.”
Corinya nodded, tears on her cheek. “I see that. That is what makes this even harder. I have lost you twice tonight. The first time was when I realized what you had done, and the second time was when I realized that you tried to spare me. I loved you, Jaden.”
I stood motionless, shocked by her revelation. This was coordinated and well-planned.
Corinya thrust forward, her blade clashing with Everson’s. I moved to assist when the wind of a blade forced me to dodgeroll. I tumbled across the debris, finding my assailant moving to strike again. Swiftly, I parried and launched my own attack.
I growled as I fended off the masked blood mage, seeing Corinya fight with all of her might. She was skilled but where she excelled intellectually, she lacked strength and endurance. I plunged my foot into the blood mage's chest, knocking him onto his back, where I plunged my sword into his heart.
The strange feeling of my sword piercing flesh stayed with me long after I pulled out the blade. So many times I’d imagined killing someone with my sword, but until tonight, I’d never truly aimed to kill. While battle was like a drug, death was the end of that high.
I found Corinya and Everson locked in a tense struggle. He had her pulled to his chest, his sword at her throat as she struggled to free herself.
