Page 45 of Destroyer

She stumbled. The other guard caught her arm before she fell and pulled her roughly to her feet, drawing her toward him. She balked at the touch, his arm around her, pulling her close until the steel of his chest plate pressed against her back.

Then, smooth and sudden as a viper, the guard holding her struck out with his weapon. In one deft motion, it cut through the other man’s neck. Cleanly as a wire through clay.

Ru watched in silence as blood pumped wetly from the guard’s severed neck. His head, still in its helmet, rolled on the road. His body slumped, then fell with a sickening thump.

Ru’s vision wavered, her knees hitting the road with force. She tried to vomit, to extricate what she'd just seen and endured. But her stomach refused to empty, and only a spatter of blood hit the gravel as she doubled over, spitting and sobbing.

The remaining guard’s grip on her loosened. He would kill her now as well, she thought. No matter that he'd just turned on one of his own. He must be a madman. A monster.

A metallic crunch sounded as a helmet landed on the ground beside her. Dust billowed where it fell, as it rolled to a stop in the sun. Ru stared, watching with detached confusion. Why had the guard dropped his helmet? Did he want to free his face before killing her, to look her in the eyes?

She squeezed her eyes shut as he moved around to face her. She couldn't bear to watch more blood stain the road.

“Ru.” The voice was familiar, deeply accented.

Gasping, stars of panic still bursting at the edges of her vision, she tilted her face up to see. There stood Fen, his face streaked with dirt and sweat, his chest heaving. His black hair, finally freed from his helmet, was plastered messily to his forehead. His fingers loosened on the grip of his sword, and it fell with a clang at his feet.

He knelt before Ru, taking her face gently in his hands as she wept.

“You’re safe,” he said in an unsteady whisper. “You’re safe. Breathe, Ru. I have you.”

She fell into him then, the relief overwhelming her until she could hardly breathe from crying. She didn’t care how he was there, or why. All she knew was that everything was back in place now, where it belonged.

And there, warming her from within, the artifact’s touch flickered against her mind. Comforting.

“I’ve got you,” he kept saying, trying to get her to return to her senses. “You’re safe.”

She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Fen, here, the whole time. Ru had been sure she was about to die. She had beencertain. And now that she was safe, her body couldn't cope; there was too much fear stored up. She couldn't stop crying, shaking and—

“The riders,” she said between breathless sobs, a new terror nearly blinding her. There had been cries of battle on the other side of the carriage.

“They’re fine,” said Fen.

Ru sat back to look at him, his dirt-smudged face, those familiar gray eyes under dark brows. His full lips curved in the beginnings of a reassuring smile. Tears still streamed down her face, blurring her vision. “Don’t lie.”

“I’m not. Can you stand?”

He helped her to her feet slowly. She stumbled at first, still dizzy from the blow dealt by the other guard. Still shaking from panic and fear.

When she was fully upright and able to stand on her own, Fen went to retrieve the artifact. He wrapped it carefully in its blanket, handing it to her wordlessly. She took it in her arms with a relief she didn't want to show. And then, wrapping his arm around her waist for support, Fen guided her around to the other side of the carriage.

What Ru saw made her knees so weak with relief she thought she might collapse again.

Sybeth, Lyr, and Rosylla were there, all visibly the worse for wear, but alive. Lyr and Rosylla sat in the grass, wrapping up wounds and passing a flask back and forth. Sybeth paced behind them, an angry gash across one of her eyebrows. Even the driver had survived, standing near the carriage and taking deep swigs from a hip flask.

Scanning the scene, Ru caught sight of a flash of armor in the grass near the trees — the body of the third guard. She looked away quickly, swallowing bile.

When the riders saw Ru and Fen, they exclaimed with collective relief. Sybeth shot Fen a look of appreciation, nodding firmly once.

“Thank fuck,” said Lyr, spitting blood and saliva into the grass.

Rosylla stood, brushing off her trousers. It did nothing to dislodge the blood stains. “Ru,” she said, voice shaking, “we thought…”

“Fen,” Sybeth said, her dark eyes hard. “Is there a reason you lied to me?”

“He saved our lives,” said Rosylla.

Sybeth remained unmoved. “Well, Verrill?”

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