I nodded, breathing deeply and holding on tighter to the guardrails. I’d left my furs and uniform on top of Calyx’s carriage, but my tunic was still soaked through.
“It’s this furnace,” I said, knowing full well we stood in a pristine valley, the soft wind breathing over us.
Zandyr raised his brows, but said nothing further. Only waited patiently by my side for me to catch my breath again.
“Zandyr?” I huffed another breath.
“Yes?”
“What happens if I die?” I found myself asking.
“Then–” Zandyr sighed again. “–we’re truly doomed.”
Chapter 44
Allie
“Who are they?” Dax rammed his back behind the tree next to mine, one of his daggers already dripping blood into the snow.
“I don’t know!” I yelled back just as I fired an arrow that ended its hiss with a loud metal clank and a groan.
Not ash.
None of them wore masks.
Not the attackers from the entrance.
It was mortal against mortal.
I broke cover and fired three more arrows in one breath. Only two hit their targets, the last one slamming into a bank of ice and fracturing it.
I bared my teeth and whirled back just as a jagged piece of metal hurled toward me.
It missed the tree bark by an inch, embedding itself deeper into the snow than a normal weapon should have. A thick, metal chain hung from its end, its rattle scratching against my ears.
“Whatisthat?” Dax asked, horrified.
A moment later, the chain tensed. From the snow, a huge, sharp hook appeared, pulling out clumps of frozen dirt as it reemerged.
Those clumps could have been our bowels.
Flashes of the hooks hanging in the fortress armory invaded my mind. The weapons Ryker’s ancestors had used when they’d first settled here, right after leaving their allies behind.
“One of the Northern Clans,” I hissed, watching its brutal retreat through the trees and the bodies slamming into each other. “Or all three of them.”
The warriors of Solkar’s Reach roared and swung maces, swords, and axes with a speed that would have made Ryker proud. They’d been trained well. They ducked and whirled around the trees for vicious attacks like they’d been born to do it. Kicked ice and snow into their attackers faces to deliver harsh blows.
True sons of the crater.
But for each one of us, three more Northern soldiers thundered against the ground.
I swallowed past my parched throat, legs trembling from the strain of standing. Only the stubbornness of survival kept me upright.
“Take the left!” I shouted at Dax, and didn’t wait for him to reply as I turned, another arrow kneeling one of the invaders.
I flitted from tree to tree, a cascade of arrows announcing my approach.
Two more hooks tried to dimembowel me.
