Chapter 35
Kiera
We stared at the old man in shock.
“Korvin is here!” Caddik bellowed. “With his Wolves this time! Go!”
Everyone leaped away from the table, drawing weapons as they went.
“How many?” barked Jek, wielding his huge sword.
“A dozen, maybe more,” Caddik raced to the western window, Pax at his heels. “Gods damn it! They’ve set fire to the stables!”
Shouts and the thunder of hooves rose from outside.
“You three with me,” Jek ordered Maz, Sigrid, and Yarina. “We need to save the horses.”
Nikella stuffed her sketches into her pocket. I swore I saw her fingers trembling. I swept my own fingers over my knife brace, checking that they were still there. Ruru pulled out the short sword the Dags had given him.
“We’ll bar the front door, slow them down,” Aiden said.
Pax barked, reminding me of Isabel.
“I’ll get Helene and Isabel,” I said, already running out of the kitchen, “and put them in the cellar!”
I didn’t stay to watch the others leave. There were no goodbyes, no shouts of encouragement.
No time. No time.
I sprinted through the house. A window exploded to my left, and a torch fell inside. The curtains and carpet burst into flames. I shouted, “Fire!” and kept running. More windows exploded.
I bounded up the stairs. Crashes echoed, and I hoped to all the Four that Aiden was blockading the entrance.
Helene was already peeking out of her door when I skidded to a stop in front of it.
“Korvin,” I panted. “Cellar. Now.”
Her face blanched. She spun around and dragged Isabel out of bed. The girl woke instantly, brushing her red curls out of her wide eyes. “Where are we going? Are we hiding? Where’s Captain?”
I snatched the lizard’s box from a small table in their room just as their window shattered and another torch sailed through.
Helene and Isabel screamed.
Cursing Korvin and his Wolves to the depths of the wandering hell, I shoved Helene and Isabel out the door with Captain under my arm. We scurried down the stairs, smoke hanging like a gray cloud in the foyer.
Aiden, Nikella, Ruru, and Caddik piled chests and tables in front of the door while something slammed into it over and over.
The windows on the main floor were too narrow for a body, but that blockade wouldn’t impede them for long. Especially with the whole house aflame.
For a moment, I thought of Mother. How she’d died, trapped. Someone tearing their way inside.
Fear clutched my chest, and I nearly missed the last stair.
Aiden grabbed my arm, his sword in his other hand. “Get them out and hide in the woods. Grab what gear you can, but don’t let anything slow you down. We’ll hold them off until you’re clear.”
“But—”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “I’ll meet you in the woods. I swear it.”
Eyes burning, I crushed my lips against his, sealing that promise between us. Then I tore after Helene and Isabel without looking back.
Flames licked into the hallway, and we had to jump over burning bits of rug.
If Aiden and the others didn’t follow soon, they wouldn’t be able to.
We hurtled into the kitchen. The door burst open, and a Shadow-Wolf lunged inside with a sunstone sword. How had he made it past the Dags?
Helene shrieked and curled her body around Isabel’s.
The Wolf’s attention jerked from me to Helene. He darted toward her, sword raised.
“No!” I dropped Captain’s box and charged into the Wolf with all my strength, gripping a knife. As we crashed into the hearth, I stabbed his sword hand.
He grunted and threw me off, still holding his gods-damned sword. I crashed onto the stone floor, gasping for air.
“Pax, attack!” someone shouted.
A streak of gray fur and gleaming teeth barreled into the Wolf. Isabel screamed as the two tousled, growls filling the air.
Pax locked his jaws around the Wolf’s fist. The Wolf reached for a knife in his boot.
I flipped over and sank my blade into his neck. Just below his mask. He immediately went limp.
Pax backed away, still growling, and stood protectively in front of Helene and Isabel.
Aiden burst into the kitchen and heaved me to my feet, his expression furious. “There will be more. Go!”
Ruru helped me herd a sobbing Helene and Isabel, who snatched up her lizard’s box. Nikella paced in front of the back door with her spear.
“Go with them, Caddik,” Aiden ordered, guarding the burning hallway.
The old man shook his head stubbornly. “I’m dying where my wife died, whether that’s tonight or in twenty years.”
“Caddik! Please!” Helene called as I tried to shove her down the cellar stairs.
His face softened, but his eyes were resolute. He glanced at me lingering on the threshold. “Take Pax with you. Isabel knows his commands.” He murmured something to the dog, who trotted past me to Isabel.
The girl clutched his fur, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
Another Wolf crashed into the kitchen. Nikella raised her spear just as Caddik slammed the door shut between us.
Fear bled out of every pore, but I pushed Helene and Isabel toward the secret cellar. Ruru had already heaved the shelf aside and opened it.
We hurried inside. I skipped the bedrolls and mostly empty saddlebags. Instead, I gathered up the extra weapons, strapping my sword to my waist and slinging bows and arrow pouches across my back. Ruru did the same. I also tucked the two long sunstone knives Aiden and Maz had worn into my belt.
One never knew when those would come in handy.
I handed Helene an ordinary steel knife in a sheath. “Belt it around your waist.”
She did as I commanded, fumbling with the buckle. “Where are we supposed to go?” Her voice shook so badly I almost couldn’t understand. “We have no friends left. No allies who could help us.”
“The Dags will take you to Yargoth,” I said firmly, entirely uncertain if that was true.
We had no plan. We weren’t ready.
“To Dagriel? That will take days.” Helene swayed.
Ruru smiled brightly. “It’s an easy trip, and you’ll love the mountains. Lots of animals there,” he said with a wink at Isabel.
Helene stared at him as if he had two heads.
I slung Nikella’s medicine bag over my shoulder. “It’s death here or a short trip to Dagriel, Helene. Your choice.”
The woman stiffened, a defiant gleam emerging in her eyes. She clutched at her chest, which crinkled strangely like paper under the bodice of her dress. “Very well. Lead the way.”
I marched into the tunnel. Pax darted ahead of me, and the others followed close behind.
The sudden hush and darkness of the tunnel jarred me. But for the first time, I wished we could stay in it longer. Nothing good awaited us outside.
A wet nose nuzzled my palm. I clenched my teeth to keep from yelping. Pax must have decided the way ahead was clear.
Sweat tickled my skin as I trudged the last few steps, bumping into the ladder.
“Ruru,” I whispered. I was carrying too much extra weight.
He slid past me and climbed up to push the trapdoor open. “All clear,” he whispered back.
He heaved himself out. I handed him half of the weapons, then clambered into the dark forest.
No one jumped at me from the shadows, but that didn’t mean they weren’t watching.
Flames engulfed the manor and the surrounding buildings. Horses shrieked and galloped around fleeing and fighting figures.
Had Aiden and Nikella left through the back door?
I couldn’t see their faces, but if there was still a fight, our people must still be alive.
Ruru reached into the hole and pulled out Isabel, who was still carrying the death-defying lizard, then Helene.
“How do we get Pax out?” he muttered.
Isabel leaned into the hole. “Pax, climb!”
A skitter of paws, and Pax vaulted out of the hole as if he’d run up the ladder.
I clutched my bow, peering into the melee in the yard. I hadn’t practiced much with the bow, and I wanted to help, but I might hit the wrong person.
And where were Aiden and Nikella?
A shout rose, and my heart leaped in my chest. Maz. He lifted his bloody axe above his head and roared into the night.
They’d won. I counted three golden-haired Dags and the silver-haired Jek. They rounded up some of the panicked horses and urged them into the woods toward us.
“Help them with the horses,” I told Ruru. “And give them these.” I shucked off a few of the extra weapons I carried. They would have to sort them out later.
Ruru gripped my hand fiercely. “I’ll be right back.”
The yard was empty of everything but burning buildings and bodies. But the Wolves and their master were still on the hunt. Crashes and howls poured from the shattered windows of the glowing manor.
“We need to leave,” Helene whispered. “They’ll start searching the woods when they realize we’re not inside.”
“I know,” I growled.
I paced around the hole in the ground. Come on, Aiden, hurry.
The Dags and Ruru rode up on their horses without saddles or bridles. Those were likely ash in the stables.
Maz swung down next to me. “Aiden? Nikella? Caddik?”
“Still inside. Take these.” I handed him the last of the extra weapons for his sisters and approached Jek with his bow. “Will you take Helene and Isabel to Yargoth and pass our message along to Skelly? Tell him of the Wolf ship. To be at the mine in three weeks. We’ll take care of the rest.”
The warrior looked down at me with a solemn expression, studying me for a long moment we could barely afford. I knew he was weighing every cost and risk. But it was the only way.
“Very well,” he said, taking his bow and a pouch of arrows. “You’d best be there, or we’ll be slaughtered.”
I grimaced. “Same goes for you. May the Four go with you.”
He dipped his head. “Tell Nikella . . . Tell her I still feel how I felt on Arduen’s Night seven years ago. She’ll know what I mean.”
I nodded, then helped Isabel onto Yarina’s horse. Helene rode with Sigrid. No one seemed happy about the arrangement, but there weren’t enough horses to go around.
“We should be sticking together,” Yarina hissed.
“We don’t have time for any more arguments,” Maz growled. “I’ll see you in three weeks, little sister. Rally our people. Protect.”
Yarina and Sigrid muttered the word back to Maz before they turned and rode after Jek into the dark. Pax ran nimbly alongside the horses. The last I saw of them was the glint of Yarina’s scythes and the pink flap of Helene’s skirts.
A moment later, the manor’s back door flew open. I stepped forward hopefully. But then Shadow-Wolves poured out. My heart sank.
No . . . no . . .
Suddenly, Aiden rose from the ground, sweating and panting.
Maz yanked him upright. “Fucking Four, brother, I was about to come get you.”
Nikella heaved herself out of the tunnel. “Where are the others?”
“NIKELLA!” a roar came from the manor. “Where are you and that little bitch princess hiding?”
My heart throbbed and my ears rang as Korvin dragged a bloody body out of the manor. His Wolves stood guard around him, facing the woods.
Korvin’s face was twisted with fury. His black hair hung in wet strings, brushing the shoulders of his glittering sunstone armor.
Nikella drew in an uneven breath. “Caddik.”
I reeled backward. “Why didn’t you get him out?”
“He refused. Locked us inside the cellar.” Aiden came to stand beside me. “The Wolves followed. We had to collapse the tunnel.”
“Nikella!” Korvin shouted, holding Caddik up by his neck like a limp doll. “You know what happens when you fucking hide from me!”
Maz lifted his whistler, feeding a red-feathered dart into it. “I’m going to kill that sick bastard.”
Nikella put a hand on his bow, lowering it. “No. Caddik made his choice. Honor his sacrifice by not giving us away.”
Korvin threw Caddik’s body to the ground. “Search the forest! The little rats got out through a tunnel! Find them!”
As one, we turned and raced for our horses. Ozlow was still alive, thank the gods. As were the others’ horses.
I mounted awkwardly with no stirrups and slid sideways, but Ozlow shifted, catching me.
Thank you, Oz.
“The others?” Nikella demanded.
“Headed to Yargoth,” I replied. “We’re riding to Twaryn.”
Aiden gave me a sharp look, but said nothing.
We tore off west, leaving destruction in our wake. And death on our trail.