Page 84 of Sun Elves of Ardani

Kadaki looked over her shoulder toward the fires. She could no longer distinguish Neiryn from all the other Ysurans in the dark.

“Hurry up, girl,” Gwynna said, frowning.

“Don’t test them,” Roshan murmured to Kadaki. He nudged her forward. “You heard Rhian. Keep your head down.”

“While we’re keeping our heads down, Neiryn and Eliyr are out there risking their lives,” Kadaki whispered, giving him a significant glance. “We can’t help them from here.”

Roshan’s brows had pinched with worry. “I know.”

The building where the civilians were being kept turned out to be The Smiling Dragon. Gwynna ushered them inside and handed them off to a guard. Only two Ysurans stood among the crowd of Ardanians. It was probably all that could be spared from the fighting.

The door shut behind them. They were trapped inside.

The room, usually filled with talking and laughter and the clanking of dishes and bottles, was eerily quiet despite the several dozen people inside. The Ardanians were gathered in tight, protective groups as the Ysurans kept a watchful eye on them.

Muffled shouts and screams came through the door from outside. The guards exchanged nervous glances. Who knew how long it would be before the fighting spilled over into the rest of the town?

“We need to get out of here,” Kadaki whispered. “We can’t do anything from inside here.”

“What are you going to do?” Gregoris asked.

“Fight,” she said. It was what she’d done her whole life. Sometimes, it was simply something that needed to be done, no matter how tired you were, no matter if you were weaponless, no matter how bad the odds looked. She couldn’t use magic as long as she was wearing the collar, but that didn’t mean she was helpless. “We need to put out the fires, try to break up the fighting, and get help to people who are injured.”

“But how are you planning to do that?” Safana whispered, eyeing the guards nervously.

Kadaki turned to Safana. “I need you to distract the guards.”

Safana paled. “Why me?”

“You can start a fire at the back of the building. The guards will be forced to go put it out, and we’ll slip out while they’re not looking.”

“I can’t,” Safana whispered, shaking her head.

“You can. Please, Safana.” Kadaki felt for her. Safana and Gregoris had meant well. They’d been trying to do what they’d thought was right. But they weren’t fighters. They weren’t prepared for this kind of danger.

“It’ll work,” Gregoris said. “If you start it in the right spot, they’ll think the fire came from the outside.”

Safana looked pained. Her jaw clenched as she gave a reluctant nod. “All right.”

“Be careful,” Roshan whispered. Safana slipped into the crowd and disappeared.

A voice cut through the silence. “You! Mage!”

Kadaki straightened. She realized she had been mistaken—there were three Ysuran guards present, not two. A third had emerged from the back of the room and was stalking toward her. Her breath caught as she recognized him. It was one of the ones who had been with Caradoc the night he’d tried to attack her.

She looked to the other Ysurans for help, and both of them looked away. Kadaki didn’t recognize either of them. They were Caradoc’s soldiers, not Rhian’s. The other Ardanians watched, but made no move to defend her, and Kadaki couldn’t blame them. Gregoris nervously backed away.

“Commander Caradoc was looking for you,” said the Ysuran. Judging by his tone, Kadaki was certain nothing good could come of Caradoc getting hold of her.

“I’m serving Commander Rhian,” Kadaki said.

“Not anymore.” His hand closed around her collar and he pulled her roughly toward the door. She stumbled, grasping at his hands, and tried to pull away as he dragged her.

“Let go,” she gasped, her voice strained as the collar choked her. The metal was like ice prickling on her skin, sapping her strength. Magic was so close and yet so far out of reach. She kicked out at his legs and he cursed, drawing the knife at his belt.

And then Roshan picked up a glass mug from a nearby table and broke it over the man’s head.

The Ysuran’s eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to the floor. Everyone else in the room stared at them in shock for a split second before everything started happening at once.

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