Page 184 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
“I lie to everyone,” Aeron sneered. “Don’t take it too personally.”
Footsteps sounded along the corridor. Pollux grappled with Aislinn’s chains. More guards pooled into the room. Luna wriggled free, grabbing their weapons from the chest they’d been stashed in and tossing Aislinn’s daggers back towards her. Aeron slammed his elbow into Cerridwen’s middle and scurried up the steps. She screamed out, but he did not stop.
Dillon thundered towards the entrance, knocking over dwarves and mortals, tossing them over his shoulders like bags of flour and paving the way for the rest of them.
They reached the hallway. More guards were still coming. It was an endless tide.
Dillon took the lead, barreling towards them, knocking several off their feet. Aislinn and Cerridwen followed his lead, aiming for legs where they could—hurting, not killing. Tiberius’ words still thumped in Aislinn’s ears.
Someone finally tackled Dillon to the ground. The guards swarmed round him, hacking at him with their weapons.
“Let him go!” Luna roared.
She swooped in with her rolling pin, smacking against heads and kneecaps in a frenzied blur, eyes blazing. She was like a rabid animal, too fast, too quick for Aislinn to even see.
She didn’t stop until every guard had rolled away from Dillon.
For a split second, the corridor was silent.
Dillon stared at her, this moon-coloured dwarf, her rolling pin wet with blood. “I think I’m in love with you,” he rushed.
More cries came, a rallying for battle.
“Over here!” called a voice.
Tiberius, still in his nightclothes, opened up a door in the side of the wall. “Come—quickly!”
No one wasted time arguing with him. They bolted into the space, following him in the dark. “This passageway should take you outside the castle walls,” Tiberius explained.
“If your mother finds out you helped us—” Aislinn started.
“Ah, she’s my mother, what’s she going to do? It might open up a meaningful discussion about her current methods.”
“Good luck with that.”
“I will need it.”
They carried on in the dark, sounds of shouting still reverberating through the stone. The passageway seemed to shake with it.
Eventually, light opened up ahead, leading to a waterway and an iron grille locked by yet another code. Tiberius punched it in and they found themselves in a shallow river.
“I should get back,” he said.
“Thank you,” Aislinn said.
Tiberius clutched his chest. “Thanks from a Faerie. I am honoured. I look forward to claiming the favour. Your hand in marriage, perhaps.”
“Very funny.”
“I am, alas, only teasing. I know your heart is spoken for.”
Aislinn’s insides twisted.Caer.She still hadn’t managed to find out anything about what was ailing him.
“Go,” Tiberius said. “May the heroes watch over you… living and dead.”
He pulled the grille shut and disappeared back up the tunnel.
There were still guards in the streets, and the party stuck out like monsters with their tall forms and blood-streaked clothing. Dillon was a torn-up mess. They dared not dally long, moving swiftly through the streets until they could move no longer, and paused to catch their breath in an empty alley.
