Page 123 of Keldori By Daybreak

“You do whatever you have to do to make sure my daughter gets out of here alive. If they’re real people, they know what they signed up for. Make them regret it.”

Orla nodded, but her cheeks had taken on a green hue.

The thundering of footsteps crescendoed, then stopped.

The door dropped, and Second Sentinel soldiers swarmed inside. One of them started to recite commands, but he must’ve been a Nightmare because Iseult dissolved him with a press of her palm against his face.

Soldiers surged through the cloud of dust he left in his wake, and Iseult tried to stem their flow. Most of them were Nightmares, easily identified by their lack of both protective goggles and expression. Iseult made easy work of them, but she could only block so much of the wide doorway.

Orla and I cut down those that got through, keeping them back from where Mom continued to translate and transcribe the journal. I’d forgotten how horribly silent Nightmares were when they attacked. No panting for air, grunts or gasps, or warnings called out to their comrades.

Just the never-ending, silent onslaught of body after body.

A Nightmare made it past my swinging flail and managed to nick my arm with the end of her emerald sword, but Orla ran her through and reduced her to dust.

In turn, I brought my flail arcing down onto the skull of a Nightmare trying to blindside Orla.

“Nice save,” she panted.

“Same to you.”

The Nightmares thinned, giving way to a second wave of assailants.

“Wren!” Iseult warned from the doorway. Goggled guards in the Baron’s red uniforms swarmed, sturdier, smarter, and louder than the Nightmares.

Iseult swung her leg of Skal at the first one, and it hissed at the fabric of the man’s coat, but his comrades drove her back so she stood between Orla and me.

They formed a half-circle around us, red weapons drawn and pointed. We pointed our purple, silver, and blue right back at them. We were outnumbered, but I was certain we could fight them.

There were less of them than there had been Nightmares, anyway.

“I’m almost done, girls. Just a bit longer,” Mom said behind us, pen still scratching. “God, I hope you can read my handwriting.”

A whirring sound buzzed from the corridor outside, and the guards at the door parted to make way for a woman.

Caitria stepped forward, a golden rope-dart of Skal spinning on its tether in her hand. The yellow light caught the curls of her dark hair and the amber of her eyes, and she reminded me of fire.

Her resemblance to Tiernan was uncanny, despite the more feminine angles of her heart-shaped face and being at least a few years older.

“That was a cute trick,” Caitria crooned. The wide legs of her pants swished against each other as she prowled closer. “Luring Ferrin to the canyon just to drown him. Very clever.”

“We didn’t lure Ferrin anywhere,” Orla spat. “We don’t pull dirty tricks like you.”

“No?” Caitria grinned. “Did the Saergrim not tell you? She let Ferrin into her mind, gave him a glimpse of where you were hiding. I warned him it was probably a trap, and I was right.”

“Wren?” Orla whispered. I refused to look at her, which was probably all the confirmation she needed. “Iseult, did you know?”

Iseult didn’t respond, keeping her eyes and sword trained on Caitria.

Caitria cocked her head and grinned. “Ferrin loved you, Orla. If you are having second thoughts about who to align with—”

Purple fire burst forth from Orla in response, and the guards and soldiers scattered, then converged.

I staggered back, temporarily fending off the onslaught with my own Skal flames of blue, and a body bumped into my back.

“Wren!” Mom pushed her spiral notebook into my hand. “That’ll get you to your doorway but—”

She broke off to bat a guard back with an orange shield.