75. Erika
75
ERIKA
E rika turned. Her mouth fell open with dismay at the sight of the goblins pouring through the breach and up the staircase after them. She would not make it out. The realisation sent cold steel into her bones. She looked up at Brand and Aedon far above her. Brand’s once beautiful wings were blackened and bloodied. Her heart ached fiercely that this would be the last time she saw him alive.
She let out a ragged sob of anger that it would end like this, in the dark halls, that her death would be at the hands of those who did not deserve it, but she refused to die a coward’s death, straining to escape a fate that destiny crushed upon her. She turned and threw aside her blade, grabbing a dwarven double-headed axe that lay on the stairs. Other than a covering of gore and dirt, it seemed in perfect working order.
“I will kill you all in the next life!” she screamed and raised the axe before her as she met the bloodlust in their eyes with her own rage. The impact of her axe upon the first helm within reach fuelled her fire, and she screeched a battle cry that had them all clamouring to sing of death and blood. It deafened her, and her senses narrowed to only her sight and the feel of the wooden handle, smooth in her grip, as she swung the axe in a deadly dance.
But she was one against many, and they surrounded her in quick order. Those below her pulled and scrabbled at her ankles, until she could no longer kick them away. Their blades slashed at her limbs until with every spin of her axe, she trailed ribbons of blood, then that, too, was snatched from her grasp.
A great bellow sounded behind her, and the goblins were blasted back in a great ball of fire. To her left, Aedon, his face contorted in pain and anger, shot fireballs with every thrust of his clawed fist, and Brand cut down any before him with a long-bladed spear.
“You fools!” she shouted, though the clamour was too loud to hear her own voice.
Brand’s feral grin and the spark in his eyes was enough answer. “We will not leave you to stand alone. We die together.”
“I will see you in the next life.” With that, she re-joined the fray.
The goblins suddenly shrieked and retreated down the stairs, just as a great shadow from above fell upon Erika and her companions. Dimitri’s dark form appeared from the ether as they turned to face him.
Enemy or friend? Erika did not know, so she kept her guard raised, snatching up a new weapon in a moment of reprieve. It was a thick, short, dwarven sword, the type she hated to fight with, but it would take a life if she needed, even though the world spun, and she knew the last of her strength was fading. She would die with a weapon in hand—and no shame.
“You need to get out,” Dimitri snarled. “I cannot keep them at bay forever.” With every word, he sent blasts of power at the goblins behind them, sending them tumbling down the stairs in a heap. She did not understand. He was helping them? He raised his arms high and wide, bringing them down to the floor in his biggest blast yet. Dimitri wavered on his feet for a moment as his power reeled through her, stealing her breath.
The world shook as the staircase sheared off a dozen steps below them and crumbled into rubble, sending goblins tumbling into the depths of the great abyss. The door they had barred sheared in half and followed them into the darkness, as well as the bridge beyond it—showering those below with giant chunks of masonry that killed all they fell upon, as if the heavens smote them.
Aedon needed no more urging. He grabbed Erika’s arm, tugging her after him. Her legs would not move. Instead, she tumbled forward, toward the abyss. Brand’s giant arm caught her and their blood mingled, wet and sticky, as he pulled her close, sweeping her into his burly grasp and barrelling up the stairs. Each jolting step sent her further over the edge into darkness. Brand’s jutting chin and curve of his wings loomed over her like a protective cave. Her fingers loosened. The sword fell from her grasp as she sighed and slipped away.