Chapter 1 #2
The man didn’t turn as Fox lunged forward, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and throwing him off the girl.
He hit the cold stone floor with a crack, and then Fox was on him.
He was weaponless, but he’d learned how to fight with his fists.
Red painted his vision even as blood splattered his face, his fists crashing down over and over again.
He felt the soft give of tissue beneath his knuckles and then the crunching of gristle and bone.
His broken finger throbbed with pain that he ignored.
The rage that had been simmering beneath his skin for weeks was released as he let his fists rain down.
Pale One.
Pale One.
Eha’s voice broke through his thoughts, and he paused his attack, his entire body trembling.
“Pale One, you need to breathe. You need to stop.”
His hands shook, and he looked down at the man beneath him.
His face was nearly unrecognizable, and Fox couldn’t see if he was breathing.
Blood trickled from the back of his head from where Fox had tackled him.
Fox fell back, his back hitting the ground as he took in deep breaths. The darkness above him was smothering.
“Breathe,” Eha said again, coolness washing over him. “You are okay.”
“I killed him. I killed him.” The words chanted through his mind. How would he explain to Harlow why he’d killed the man? He’d made it a single week as a spy, and he’d fucked it up thoroughly in a single moment.
“You saved me,” the girl’s voice was thin. She was sitting up again, the cut along her cheek still bleeding from where Rogo had punched her.
Fox had saved her.
That didn’t solve his problems though. His breaths turned shallow, his chest ached with the lack of air. He wasn’t getting enough air.
“Pale One,” Eha said, voice cool. “Breathe. I need you.”
Those words had Fox’s spine going stiff. He swallowed back his panic. He was needed, and he knew how to suppress his emotions when he needed to.
“Tell me what to do,” Fox said, face wiped of emotion.
“Get Dia out of here.”
“Dia?” Fox asked, looking over at the Dragonborn girl. Eha had clearly been communicating with the girl this entire time, too.
“Wipe away any evidence she was out here. And give me the body.”
Fox looked between Eha and the man—the body.
“You and Dia were not here. He slipped up and got too close to me. And I made him pay.”
Fox wasn’t sure dragons could smile, but she sure was close to it. Her mouth was open wide, teeth gleaming in the torchlight. Blue eyes sparkled with a cold joy.
He hesitated for only a breath, having no choice but to follow her instructions.
He hooked his hands under Rogo’s arms, stumbling as he dragged him across the ground.
His hands throbbed with pain, and he realized his knuckles would be swollen and bruised tomorrow morning.
There was nothing he could do about that now, though.
Only when he could feel the cold radiating from Eha did he drop Rogo, his body hitting the ground with a thud.
“Pale One,” Eha said, as Fox went to step back. “Hold out your hands.”
He looked at her, blinking. Her gaze was steady, and it calmed something in him.
He held out his hands, and she moved her head until it was level with his.
She opened her mouth, and for an instant, he wondered if she’d eat him, fed up with waiting for him to save her.
But she only blew out a cold, wet breath.
Ice tingled along his skin, and he watched as the cuts along his knuckles closed and the swelling nearly disappeared.
Eha shuddered and swayed, and Fox moved forward, his hand landing on her nose, as if he had any chance of catching her.
“Are you okay?”
“The iron makes me weak. That is all I can do.”
Fox looked down at his hands, too exhausted to comprehend the lack of pain. Even the broken finger barely twinged as he clenched his fists.
“Now go,” she said. Without preamble, she reached out a claw and pulled Rogo’s body closer. Talons tore through flesh, and she snapped her jaw down across his body, any evidence of Fox’s fists vanishing in an instant.
He turned to see the Dragonborn girl staring with wide eyes, her mouth open.
Fox swallowed, moving before his brain could catch up to what he was about to do. He cleaned up any trace of Rogo’s attempts at interrogation and grabbed the set of keys along the wall. The iron was cold as he unlocked her ankles with shaking hands.
“Keep your head down. Do you know where the nearest resistance base is?”
“I’m not telling you anything,” the girl snapped.
“I don’t want to know where it is,” Fox said, already regretting his decision. “I need to know you have somewhere to run and hide. If you’re caught, my ass is on the line.”
She didn’t speak immediately, blinking at him.
“I know you’re not stupid,” he snapped. He didn’t wait for her to answer, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the stairs. She resisted for only a moment before she seemed to catch up with what was happening.
“You’re letting me go.”
“You’re escaping,” he said flatly. “I wasn’t here. I had nothing to do with any of this.”
She stopped in her tracks, and he gave a growl.
“I’m not leaving without the others.”
“Then you’re not leaving.”
Her face went red, and her mouth opened to argue.
He swallowed his own anger and turned, crouching down to look her in the eyes. She was shorter than him by at least six inches.
“Listen,” he said, softening his voice. “If you escape, the chief commander likely won’t even go after you.
You’re replaceable. If I let everyone out of those cells, he’ll know this was more than a stupid fluke on Rogo’s part.
He’ll put together a search party, and everyone back there will be replaced by another innocent Dragonborn by tomorrow morning.
I know that’s not the answer you want, but this is all I have for you. ”
She looked at the tunnel back to the cells, truly debating her own freedom.
“If you escape now, you can return for the others. With help and backup. You’re no use to anyone locked up in here.”
“Easy for you to say,” she said, eyes narrowing. “Eha told me to trust you. I think she’s an idiot.”
Fox heard the dragon snort between the crunching of bones.
“You’re right. You shouldn’t trust me. You shouldn’t trust anyone. But you need to make a decision.”
She didn’t respond, but she nodded and started toward the stairs.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked Eha, even as he followed behind the Dragonborn girl.
“There is nothing he can do to me he has not already done,” she said, in an answer that only made Fox’s jaw tense.
“Take care of yourself. I’ll be back tomorrow for my shift.”
“You worry about yourself, Pale One.”
Fox didn’t respond. He didn’t argue. But he wanted to. He’d spent too many sun cycles worrying only about himself, and look where it had gotten him.
The night was still dark and the streets empty when they made it out of the building.
“Don’t get caught. They’re requiring tokens to cross the gates, so you’ll have to figure out an option or sneak through.”
“I’ll figure it out. I don’t need your help.”
Not for the first time, the girl with her perpetual scowl and snappy words reminded him of Sofia. He turned before she could see his expression.
“Fine. Good luck.”
She said nothing, but as he strode down the street toward home, he almost thought he heard the softest thank you.