“Yes, but that’s not our biggest problem,” he replied. “We’ve turned around somehow. Listen.”
They all froze, heads tilted, listening. And then she realized. The sounds of alarm from Andred’s camp were coming from away to their side—not behind them.
Now that they were silent, unmoving on the water, they could hear the crash of wavelets on the shingle. Damn. The beach was right in front of them.
A loud, answering whistle pierced the darkness ahead of them and they all flinched, the boat rocking unsteadily on the rising water.
And then, as if in competition with the Wraiths and their battle calls, another deep roll of thunder grumbled through the air. Followed a few seconds later by a sharp flash of lightning that split the sky and lit up their surroundings in a moment of stark white light.
An image of dark trees and steep mountainsides imprinted on her eyelids and with a sickening lurch, Keely realized exactly where they were.
“Gods and angels,” Daena whispered. “We’re at the gorge.”
“Fuck.” Tor’s voice grated harshly beside her ear. It was exactly where they didn’t want to be. “Unless…” Tor rumbled. “Maybe this works better for us. I don’t know what we would find on the other side—if we can even find our way across the lake—this way, at least, we have a chance of getting back to the Hawks.”
Keely turned her head to look at Tor, at the muscles bunching in his jaw. “Yes. They’ll expect us to go across the lake…. They’re distracted, and it’s dark. If we can get up the gorge, we can get back to the others.” She turned to Daena. “Are there any other paths? Maybe a way up the horses don’t use?”
Daena grunted in the darkness. “There’s no way up except through the gorge. The sides are very steep and covered in stones and rocks that easily give way into dangerous slides. We would have to follow the path. And the path is guarded.” Daena left the rest unsaid, but they all knew just how difficult the path would be for her on her weak ankle.
“How many sentries are there?” Keely asked softly.
“Usually, four. Two at the top, two at the bottom. At least one Mabin in each pair,” Daena replied.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Tor said quietly. “We have to get off the water. If that lightning strikes the lake—” He didn’t need to say anything more.
Damn. What was worse, facing the guards in the dark or death on the water?
They were silent for a long moment. Weighing their options.
“I think we have to try the shore,” Keely admitted slowly.
“Yes,” Tor agreed, while Daena merely nodded.
Tor picked up the oars and sculled them swiftly to the shore, beaching their small boat among the shingles, and then turned to help her and Daena.
Keely couldn’t see ahead of her, or even a few feet to either side, but Tor was still holding her hand, and she gripped it gratefully.
Beside her, she heard Daena muttering unhappily, and she reached out a hand to help support the other woman over the shingle. They all stumbled blindly up the narrow beach and under the trees to the small protection the branches offered, and huddled there, surrounded by darkness.
Keely shivered helplessly in the cold. It was too dark to see, but she knew from the rasp of fabric and the low groan that Daena had pushed herself back until she could lean against the tree, no doubt resting her ankle.
Tor closed in beside her, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting blanket of warmth and safety. Bard, it felt good. To have that quiet reassurance. To finally have him with her. This was what she’d wanted all along, just this. Damn. Her eyes prickled, and she turned into Tor’s wide chest, letting his scent, leather and salt and man, surround her.
She blinked away the stinging in her eyes. They had another chance. A chance she was going to take. But first, they had to get away from the Wraiths.
The temperature was falling rapidly, the storm was almost on them, and the guards might have already heard them—they had to get moving. But how was Daena ever going to make it up the gorge in the dark?
Another roll of thunder rumbled overhead. The sharp flash of lightning threw the forest into stark shades of black and white before fading.
“Can we distract the guards?” Keely asked.
Tor was very still beside her. It was as if she could feel his entire body focusing on working through the options. Sifting through strategies. “We could light a fire,” he suggested. “Their training is poor. With luck, they’ll choose to send one person to check it out while the other stays in position, and we can pick them off more easily. Then we can make our way up the path.”
Yes. That made sense. “I’ll do the shooting,” she said softly.
“Keely—” Tor’s deep voice rumbled from behind her.
“No.” She cut him off, knowing what he would say. He would want to protect her, keep her from having to take a life, keep her hidden away where she would be safe. But she knew she could do this. And she knew it was the best option for all of them. “I can shoot, nearly as well as you, but I can’t swing the sword. You have to be ready in case there are two of them.”
