Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Ellery
Shadows glided up the side of the castle’s wall. It was the only sign I’d seen of the gargoyles since they left, and if I hadn’t been looking, I wouldn’t have noticed it.
A startled shout from the parapets cut off abruptly before a body plummeted over the side. The gargoyles had vanished again after reaching the top of the castle, but it was easy to tell where they were.
A body hit the rocks with a sickening thud that caused me to wince. No guards stood below, but I glanced around as I waited for a rush of men and women to charge out of the castle to aid their fellow soldiers.
The night remained eerily hushed as more bodies plunged over the side. They must already be dead, as none of them screamed.
I gripped my cloak tighter when a breeze blew across the land. A funnel started to form before abruptly dying away. Whoever began creating the tornado never got the chance to finish.
I glanced nervously at the windows with the lanterns illuminating the glass, but no one looked out.
From our distance, muffled shouts floated across the land between us and the castle, and swords clanged, but I strained to hear it.
The amsirah in the castle should have heard more of it, yet no one emerged to help.
“Where are they all?” I murmured.
“Maybe the duke took far more guards than we realized,” Scarlet suggested.
“They might not be able to hear them,” Luna said. “It’s really not that loud, and the castle walls and windows are extremely thick. No one inside wants to hear the screams of others.”
Her unsettling words drew my gaze and Scarlet’s. This time, I didn’t hesitate to grasp her arm and squeeze it. The action might irritate her, but she had to know we were here for her.
Luna’s eyes fell to my arm before returning to the castle. I held her for a second longer before releasing her. It was enough.