Page 42 of Between Despair and Hope

I watched Hyše as Lasu set her in a dive, clearly no longer concerned about my injury. Irses joined me once again, and I wiped the sweat off my brow. I glanced down, satisfied with the red shiny skin I could see through the hole in my breeches before setting myself back on the task at hand. Turning Lux toward the center of the palace, we approached the tower said to hold Declan’s suite. Perhaps I could cut off the head of the beast now. Irses stayed just behind while Lux and I circled the tower, attempting to find the Folterran king’s balcony.

I found it on my second loop around the tower as the man came crashing out, naked. His hair was a disheveled mess, and the woman, who ran behind him, had a blanket wrapped around her. I dug my knee into Lux, trying to get her to bank tightly and turn toward him as Declan let out a bellow, and I felt a disturbance in the air which called to part of me. I threw out an arm just in time, my shadows reaching out to intercept his. My mount faced Declan head-on as she gave a vicious roar, and her divine fire enveloped the side of the tower. Lux stalled, back-flapping her wings and pulling up vertically, so we stayed in one place as we waited for the fire to subside. When I could finally see, I noticed the body of his companion on the balcony, but Declan had somehow made it back inside. And I watched as a man created a rift for him. He looked at me and smirked as they both stepped through.

Shit.

There were only two places he could have been heading. We were out of time. I squeezed Lux with my thighs as I pushed her forward, choosing at the last moment to divert from my path when I saw the glimmer of something pulling me toward it.

Chapter 18

Dewalt

ShitRiverwasanunderstatement. Shade and I were in a small boat, and I was rowing us up the last stretch before we reached the grate leading into the sewer system. In our original plan, Emma was supposed to be with us, using her shadows to help protect us from sight, but there was no need. No one in their right mind got close to the river in this part of the city. Besides, the dragons would draw attention, leaving us unseen. My eyes had finally stopped watering, though the smell still burned my nose. I knew once we were underground, it would only get worse.

We finally reached the giant grate, and the rush of water and sludge was too great for us to row past. I hopped out of the small boat as near to the shore as I could bring us, cringing as I felt the water climb up my boots, and pulled it to the bank while Shade watched for any late-night walkers who preferred the smell of sewage. She clambered out, and we started walking. We’d have to climb into the river and slip through the bars and hope to the gods there was a walkway within, or we’d be trudging through shit the entire way. A flicker caught my eye, and I glanced up.

Emma had begun her assault.

I suppressed a shiver as I watched divine fire spray forth from Lux. I couldn’t see the dragon from this distance, but I stopped to watch all the same, before Shade tugged on my shirt. She nodded toward the grate, and I jolted into action. If Emma had begun, we needed to hurry. I noticed a small walkway hovering right above the water level and sighed in relief. Shade picked her way across and slid between the bars easily. Worried I wouldn’t fit, I held my breath as I wiggled through. I was grateful we wouldn’t be leaving this way, unsure if Rainier would be able to squeeze through as he was much broader than I was. I couldn’t see a thing, and Shade used a match to light the torch she carried.

“Praise the gods.” I couldn’t help the sigh I released when I saw how far the walkway extended up the tunnel. I recited the directions Nigel had given us as I began jogging up the walkway. The man was more integral in the rebel system than I originally thought, and I was eager to maintain contact with him once we escaped.

I dragged Shade by the hand behind me as I flew through the tunnel. We needed to hurry, and I was worried we wouldn’t get there in time since the assault on the palace had already begun. Thankfully, it was a straight line until we got closer, and Shade kept pace easily, her torch bouncing as she ran. When we finally approached the bend Nigel had mentioned, I was distracted, worrying about how much time we had left. Still running as I turned the corner, I fell straight into the sewage.

“Fuck!” I shouted, as Shade watched me from above. She didn’t laugh, and my appreciation for the tiny woman doubled.

“Alright, Captain?”

I looked at her in shock; I’d never heard her speak the common tongue. Though her accent was thick, I understood her, and the look of pride on her face made me smile despite the fact I stood in slow-moving sewage up to my chest. My mood soured when I realized the walkway didn’t continue down this branch.

“Could be better, Shade. Thanks for asking.” She tilted her head, confused. She clearly only knew a few words in the common tongue, and I was a bit flattered she used them on me. I looked between her and my chest, knowing she would be fully submerged if she got in here with me. I sighed when I realized the alternative. Turning, I offered my back to her, and she climbed onto my shoulders. She was light and still able to hold the torch this way. I grabbed her legs and trudged through the shit.

At the end of the tunnel was another grate with bars much more narrow than the last, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it through. Nigel thought this might happen and had supplied us with something to help. I knew it would take longer than we wanted, but we didn’t have a choice.

“We need the—” Shade was already pushing the glass jar into my hand as she held onto the fuse attached to it, keeping it out of the sewage below. I fastened the bottle to one bar, and once convinced it would stay, I backed up as far as we could. The fuse was too damn short. I turned us to the side to protect us as Shade used her torch to light it. I moved to run, difficult in the water, attempting to give us more distance.

It still wasn’t enough.

The grate blasted open on one side, and Shade and I fell forward into the water. I surfaced, looking for any signs of her, but didn’t see the woman. I reached beneath the water, trying to find her, and finally loosened a breath as I felt her hand grasp mine. But when I pulled, she wasn’t coming up.

Fuck.

She had to have been stuck. Pulling my dagger out, I held my breath as I went under. She dragged my hand up to her hair, and it felt taut, so I began slicing through it with haste. The moment it was free, she pushed off the bottom, and I held her up so she could get air. Heaving for breath, I watched in horror as brown liquid trickled into her mouth. Not sure why that was where I drew the line, I started gagging as I reached out to wipe her face off, but it didn’t help at all. We were covered in it. Finally, as she stopped coughing, I turned around to see our newest problem.

The grate was open, the metal bars gone on one side, but there were tiny pockets of flames burning on the surface of the water. I didn’t want to think about all the different flammable things we were wading through. It was helpful to an extent, considering the torch Shade had held was long gone, but I was not looking forward to getting past it. I hoisted the woman back onto my shoulders, and she let out a tiny squeak from the surprise as I situated her. After I wiped my face once more from the shit-water that dripped down off of her onto me, she adjusted so it wouldn’t continue happening.

“Tak du, Shade.”

Thank you.

She patted my head in response, and I chuckled as I set off through the grate, weaving between patches of flames. It wasn’t long before we took the last turn, the correct path marked by the extremely narrow entrance. I almost missed it, considering the flow of water coming out of it was fast enough it didn’t seem like a corridor at all. I started mumbling under my breath as I realized the only way we’d be able to continue. Shade reached down and grabbed my head, pointing it towards the narrow tunnel and urging me on. She was right; we didn’t have time. I held my breath as I pushed forward while I used my arms to pull us through the opening. Bracketing a hand on either side of the wall, it took all my strength to get us through. When I grunted, Shade slapped her hand over my mouth, quieting me, and I nearly puked into it. Finally through the narrow entrance, I could move to the side, not having to fight the current as much.

The end of the tunnel was dimly lit from a torch somewhere above. When Shade pointed ahead, as if there were another option, I rolled my eyes as I continued. Stumbling, I barely caught myself as I stepped over something which felt suspiciously like a body. Noticing a line which came halfway up the bricks at the end of the tunnel, I realized we were lucky. If the tunnel was at its full capacity, I wouldn’t have been able to touch the bottom. As it was, the putrid water came up to my chin. I swore under my breath when I realized the ledge was much higher than I had expected. After Shade climbed up to stand on my shoulders and she still couldn’t reach, I pantomimed lifting her until she caught on, and I held her at the ankles, pushing up as she gripped onto the brick the best she could.

“Close?” I wasn’t sure if she’d understand me at all, but I tried anyway, whispering in case someone was at the top. I could hear shouting in the distance but couldn’t make out the words. She started bouncing on my hands, and it only took me a moment to realize what she wanted from me. I was going to have to launch her and hope for the best. I bent my arms, thanking the gods for my daily training, and on my third bounce, I pushed her up as she jumped, her fingertips barely catching the edge of the drop off. She scrambled over the ledge, and I was impressed when it only took her a moment before she was ready.

The rope she tossed down was wet and slimy, and I struggled to keep my grip as I climbed. I heard a grunt from Shade and a loud thump, quickly propelling me despite the difficulty. When I reached the top, she was already there, offering me a hand despite her busted eyebrow. I looked behind her, finding a dead guard, and she met my eyes with a devilish grin.

Gods, she was terrifying.

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