Kye stood up to his hips in glass shards now. With his fingers spread, his arms raised, he dared anyone or anything to attack him.
Leaning heavily on his sword, Enric stood nearby. The monstrous green blood had left long smoldering streaks in his chest armor and dark, gaping wounds in his arms.
Kye looked unharmed and determined. But Enric was clearly tired and hurt.
“They need help,” I said, taking a step down. “We have to call more guards.”
“No,” Seraphine stopped me with her hand on my shoulder. “You can’t go down.”
“But they...” I started but let my voice trail off.
The Abyss creatures had stopped their attack. Their long, glowing tentacles slithered between the broken glass, retreating into the water below.
“What’s happening?” I muttered, flattening my nose against the glass wall to see better.
“I don’t know.” Seraphine frowned. “But they’re no longer fighting.”
“Are they leaving for good?” I asked hopefully.
Kye escorted Enric to the exit where the guards from the outside grabbed him and helped him out. Kye then waded through the broken glass along the great hall and the corridors toward the tower where Seraphine and I stood.
“Maren?” he called for me before he even reached the bottom of the stairs.
And I ran.
Without thinking, I ran down the stairs to him.
“There you are,” he exhaled with relief at the sight of me.
He stepped back quickly, raising his hands between us in warning because I must’ve looked ready to jump into his arms again. And maybe I would’ve. I’d give anything to be able to hug him right now, even if just to reassure myself that all was fine, he was okay, and I was safe.
But I stopped, making an effort to calm my eagerness.
He stared at me, his body visibly relaxing. His outstretched hands softened, his spread fingers curled, no longer stopping me but reaching for me. Realizing he was holding his arms open for me, he dropped his hands to his sides again.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “Seraphine here did a great job at protecting me.”
I tipped my chin at the guard. She blinked at me, her frown firmly in place, as if I mocked her instead of complimenting her skills.
“Thank you.” Kye nodded to the guard, running a quick, assessing glance over her injuries. “You need a healer hag.”
“I’ll be fine.” She shrugged without a single wince, despite the gruesome acid burns on her arms.
“No, go get the care you need,” he insisted. “And get someone to bring Maren’s mattress up to the tower. She’ll stay high above the ocean for the rest of the night.”
“How about you?” I asked quickly, noticing what must be at least a thousand cuts all over his body.
His legs and forearms looked simply shredded. Blood oozed from the cuts, then rained down to the floor in morbidly red glass drops. His blood retained its color even when turned to glass outside of his body.
“You need a healer too,” I said firmly.
He chuckled with a shake of his head. “I’m not getting a hag out of bed over a few scratches.”
“A few? Look at that. You’re bleeding,” I argued.
Seraphine passed me on the staircase on her way down.
