I leaned against him more than I should have, knees soft and shaky.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
I didn’t reply, my entire attention and the dregs of my energy focused on the next arrow.
Instead of the ropes, I aimed it at the fracture I’d already marred in the ice.
It hissed through the air, embedding itself into the wall.
No shard fell.
Another arrow, right next to it.
Dax and I weaved through the chaos.
The soldiers on the ground still hadn’t noticed our warriors’ retreat.
The descending ones felt the vibrations in the ice. They stopped, clinging to the ropes.
Another arrow joined its brethren in a jagged line.
Three more arrows.
Three more chances.
No more.
Dax braced his back against mine, holding me up.
Another arrow hissed through the air.
The wall began to vibrate.
The Northern soldiers began to climb back up.
They didn’t bother warning the ones on the ground.
Another arrow.
“Run!” I roared with everything I had in me.
The warriors kicked the soldiers, threw snow and ice in their face, even tossed their sharp weapons down as obstacles.
The soldiers’ shock at the sudden shift was enough to grant us a headstart.
I turned around, half-running, half-dragged by Dax, and thundered back along with our warriors.
The Northerners laughed.
They should have run.
But no earth-shattering crash came.
I twisted around.
The fracture in the ice widened, but it remained stuck to the wall.
The soldiers finally rushed after us.
