Page 123 of Prince of Shadow and Ash

The trees creaked and rustled and sounds of animals whispered from the forbidding darkness between trees. A few times he caught sight of a pair of reflective yellow eyes, but nothing attacked them. He kept alert, even as his attention split between the surrounding forest and listening to Adelaide’s footsteps and breathing behind him. A small part of him took comfort in the mark on her arm. If something attacked—wolves, chimera, goblins, dragon for all he knew—at least she would live.

Regulus walked out of the trees onto a ledge overlooking a steep precipice. A narrow ledge curved around a sheer rock face. Had they taken a wrong turn in the dark? He scanned the ground in the illumination from Adelaide’s orbs. There. A cairn sat by the rock face at the beginning of the ledge, a rock on the top shaped like a rough arrow pointing along the exposed rock. He stepped to the side. “You go first.”

She peered at the ledge and her jaw slackened. “Why?”

“So I can catch you if you fall.”

Adelaide swallowed, then headed out onto the ledge. The rock face seemed to stretch on forever. To their left were the shadowy tops of pines. Freezing wind blew into their faces, making his cheeks burn and his nose sting. Rock crumbled beneath Adelaide’s foot and she stumbled. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pinned her to the rock face.

Her chest heaved as she caught her breath. “Thank you.”

He nodded, and they continued.

Finally, the ledge widened, and the rock face curved away. They walked into an open meadow. Patches of half-melted snow littered the grass. A cairn pointed across the meadow. Tall grasses rustled around them, accompanied by the crunch of icy snow beneath their feet.

He heard a snap of branches. Heavy foot falls. He drew his sword. Adelaide froze, watching him. He scanned the trees, desperate to see whatever stalked them. A crack of snapping wood echoed as thudding moved closer. Whatever it was, it was big. Pines to their right parted and something emerged from the shadows. Cold moonlight illuminated leathery skin and reflected in huge white eyes.

Adelaide gasped. “Is that a...”

“Mountain troll.”

The troll looked at them, foggy breaths puffing from its flat, wide nostrils. Regulus heard Adelaide mutter a prayer under her breath. The troll’s legs were short under its colossal torso and massive shoulders. It leaned forward, black-clawed hands dragging on the ground at the end of long, hulking arms. It grunted and ran toward them, using its fisted hands to make up for its short legs. Regulus raised his sword and moved into a defensive stance, his feet planted under his shoulders as his pulse quickened in anticipation of the fight.

Adelaide gave a defiant yell and threw her hands forward. A dozen blue shards of light flew from her hands. A few whipped past the lumbering troll, but most hit. They lodged in the monster’s thick hide. Regulus readied himself, waiting for the perfect moment to charge. Next to him, Adelaide punched her right hand forward. An arc of aqua light exploded from her fist and slammed into the troll. It roared and stumbled. Regulus ran forward and sliced at the troll’s short, fat neck. It lurched back and blocked with its arm. His sword bit through thick hide into flesh and cracked against bone. He yanked back, slicing through more flesh as he freed his blade.

The troll screeched and lurched. Its hand hung from a strip of throbbing, blood-covered muscle and leathery skin. A spear of blue light slammed into its left shoulder and it reeled to the side. Regulus darted forward and slid under the troll, dragging his sword deep across its torso. He stood, but the troll didn’t fall. It stumbled toward him, roaring. He stabbed his sword into its chest, and it leaned into the sword, clawing at him with its good hand. Its weight pressed him back, and he fell to his knees as the troll reached for him. The blade sunk deeper into the troll’s chest. Its claws raked over his breastplate with a jarring screech of rending metal.

Then Adelaide was there, a sword of light wreathed in flames in her hands. Her teeth showed as her lips curled back in a yell. The flames reflected in her ferocious eyes. She swung at the troll’s throat. The smell of burning leather and flesh joined the stench of blood and troll as the blade of light sliced through the trolls’ neck. The head rolled over its shoulder and fell. Blood splattered over Regulus. Its body fell to the side, wrenching his sword out of his grasp.

For a second, Adelaide stood over him, his cloak and her skirt swaying around her. Shoulders squared, spine straight and tall, outlined from behind by the moon and bathed in the flickering light of orange flames and the soft blue-white glow of the sword in her hands. Her eyes shone with golden light. Fierce. Powerful. Intimidating. Beautiful.

The sword vanished from her hands and the meadow fell into darkness. She created a new orb of light and knelt next to him. “Are you all right?”

“Yes... How did you do that?”

She blushed. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just...did. I saw you fall and I... I stopped thinking so hard about it and did it.”

“You’re amazing.” Regulus leaned toward Adelaide, reaching for her waist. She grimaced and leaned away from him.

“You’re covered in troll blood.” Her mouth curved down. “And the troll smells. I’ll throw up if I kiss you right now.”

He grinned. “You’ve got troll blood on you too, you know.”

She looked at her blood-splattered dress. “Still not kissing you.”

“Later, then.” He winked and stood, then retrieved his sword. “We’d best keep going.”

On the other side of the meadow, the path turned into winding stone steps that climbed almost straight up into the darkness. They climbed for an hour before reaching the top. Adelaide kept pace behind him the whole way, and when they stepped into the wide clearing at the top of the steps, they were scarcely winded. At least their bond to the sorcerer gave them extra strength and stamina, not just pain and servitude. If only it would protect them against the cold. Regulus’ ears felt numb and his joints ached under the freezing armor.

The moonlight illuminated the rock wall some twenty feet ahead of them. Smooth, undisturbed snow glistened and crunched beneath their feet. Wind whistled in his ears and rustled in the pines. No other sounds filled the night. They stopped in the shadow at the base of the wall and stared up as it stretched toward the stars.

“I guess this is it.” Regulus looked at Adelaide. Her nose was red, and she clutched his cloak tighter about her. “This part is all you.”

“So I...” She looked at him and back at the wall. “What?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know how you do what you do.”

“Hm.” She placed her hand on the icy rock. Pale blue light shone under her palm. Nothing happened. He tucked his hands under his arms and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, trying to keep warm. She added her other hand. Still nothing. “All right.” She stepped back, and he moved back farther. She shone a bright beam of light from her hands to the wall. Still nothing. “Are wesurethis is the right wall?”

---