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“The entrance to the cavern is just beyond that ridge,” Lacrae explains. “There, we can enter, and Carleah can use her blade to dispatch the beasts before they ever have the chance to awaken.”
“Then let’s get this done. Once we reach the top, have the soldiers set up a perimeter around the entrance. No one gets in after we do. And nothing gets out,” Carleah says.
“Understood.” Lacrae dips his head in a nod then turns and marches back toward Griffyn. The once-captain for Soreno’s guard has proven to be quite an ally, making me damned grateful I didn’t kill him when I’d considered it.
“It’s hard to believe that my entire life has been leading up to this moment,” Carleah all but whispers.
“You’re more than your destiny,” Bowman tells her.
She smiles at him. “I know that now, but it still feels strange.”
“As it should,” he says as he wraps an arm around her shoulders. “But once this is done, we march to Navalis and take our home back. Then, we can rebuild a kingdom that never should have fallen.”
“Do you think Father will be proud?” she asks. “Mother? Do you believe they can see us?”
“I do,” he replies. “And I think they are kicking themselves for not treating you as they should have.”
She leans into him a moment longer; then he releases her.
“Shall we?” Carleah asks, looking up at me.
“I told you, I will follow you anywhere.”
“Even into the mouth of a cave filled with giants?”
“Especially into the mouth of a cave filled with giants,” I reply. “I can’t very well let you have all the fun, can I?”
“You both have very strange definitions of entertainment,” Harmonica quips, teeth chattering.
Carleah smiles softly then takes a deep breath and begins walking. The ice crunches beneath our boots, so deep that it comes up to our knees. Shadow left us a week before we reached the boundary between the Marshy Meadows and the Land of the Giants, taking off in the direction of the Elven City before Carleah could call him back.
Not that he would have listened. We’ve grown to trust in the Pegasus, but that doesn’t mean he lacks his own agenda.
So, we walk, feet buried in the snow, noses cold, eyes focused straight ahead.
The faintest sound of a bow being drawn draws my attention. “Get down!” I bellow as I cover Carleah’s body with mine.
Bowman does the same to the siren, pinning her beneath him.
An arrow buries in the snow, right where I’d been standing.
“We’re under attack! Seek shelter!” I call out.
Harmonica shoves Bowman to the side, her violet eyes lit with power. She holds up her hands, and ice turns to water, soaring up to the sky and creating a barrier between us and the swarm of arrows.
The Soreno soldiers raise their shields, the dwarves following suit. I pull Carleah toward an icy drift, and we hide behind it while we both draw our swords.
“We need to get to that ridge,” she tells me, eyes wide, jaw set in determination.
“Then let’s go.” I take her hand and pull her right into the fray. Tenebris soldiers sprint toward us like ants coming over a mound. They pour down the snow, dark shadows that slam into our soldiers.
“We’ll hold the line!” Bowman calls. “Get going!”
Carleah and I move as fast as we can, climbing over the ridge, our breath coming out in ragged, misty gusts. Behind us, I hear ice cracking and a gush of water slamming to the snow. I only hope it doesn’t mean Harmonica has fallen.
The top is steep as we crest it then slide down the other side. Just ahead sits a gaping hole in the ground, ice frozen like daggers falling into the opening.
Carleah and I rush forward but jump back as a blade whirrs past us.
