Page 50 of Once Upon a Midnight Clear

His lips thinned as he clenched his jaw, his muscles flexing there. “I know but I’m not turning back now.”

Gustav grasped him by the upper arm and jerked him close. “You’re that determined?”

He cut a glance at Ella, then said, “I am.”

Gustav groaned. “Fine. Then follow this path. At the end, turn left. You’ll see a staircase carved into the side of the mountain. That will lead you to her fortress. But Nick—” He paused, gritting his teeth against the pain, “I think you should turn back.”

“I’m not turning back. We’ve come too far.” Nicholas glanced down at the arrow sticking out of his leg. “It doesn’t look too deep. I can break it off and wrap it up so you won’t bleed to death. The healer can remove the point when we get back to Rovenheim.”

“You’re going to leave him here?” Ella asked, unable to hide her astonishment.

“No,” Gustav said. “I’m going to drag myself back to the row boat.”

“And then what?” she demanded, her hands on her hips. She had forgotten all about the cold wind and her fear of the dark.

“I’ll row back to the ship and see if I can get reinforcements from Captain Bart,” he said.

“It’ll take you considerable time to get back there,” Nicholas said. “And there are likely still archers out there.” He nodded behind them at the crevice.

“That’s a chance I’ll have to take. If I go now, while it’s dark, I should be able to make it.”

Nicholas nodded. He reached into his cloak and ripped out the lining, handing her the shredded cloth. Then he reached for the arrow, wrapping his hand around the wooden shaft.

“Make it quick,” Gustav said.

As he nodded, he snapped it in two as close to his leg as possible. There was only a small piece sticking out. Ella handed Nicholas the cloth. He wrapped it around his friend’s leg and tied a secure knot.

“Go on,” Gustav said. “I’ll wait until you’re out of sight before I make a break for it.” He wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword.

“Good luck,” he said.

“And to you both,” Gustav replied with a nod.

Nicholas reached for her hand again. “Are you ready?”

She took a deep breath, expelled it. “As I’ll ever be.”

And though she sounded confident, her nerves jangled. They said farewell to Gustav and started down the path the direction he told them to go.

“Will he be all right?” she asked as they made their way through the frigid night.

“He’ll be fine. He can take care of himself.”

“But you’re not worried about him?” she asked.

“Gustav is tough and resilient. I have no doubt he’ll make it back to the ship,” he said, flashing her a reassuring grin.

They walked on in silence, but she couldn’t stop thinking about what he did with his sword. It was almost as though he had used magic to make it flash bright like that, but then, that seemed silly.

“Your sword lit up.” She hadn’t meant to blurt the words, but they came out.

His head snapped in her direction. “My sword?”

“Yes. Your sword. It blinded the archers, didn’t it?”

“It did,” he admitted.

“But how?” she asked.

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