Page 235 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
Right before my watering, terrified eyes, the second torch flickered out of existence.
Only one left, too small and far away from the fight to count.
The spark of steel clashing against steel was my only guide–and the sparks in Ryker’s eyes.
In this dimness, the glimmer in his gaze was like a beacon.
A dangerous one.
Shadows closed in on him, wave after wave.
I cocked my arrows at the ceiling, now swallowed by darkness. I relied on sound and hope to hit my targets.
“Left!” someone barked in the darkness.
But the voice wasn’t enough.
A slash, followed by a scream, and a thud in the soot.
“Use the walls!” Ryker bellowed.
Then a thud resounded in the chaos.
Followed by three sharp knocks against the wall.
The warriors were doing it again–talking through the stone.
Between these vibrations, the cloaked figures’ noises scratched my eardrums more menacingly. But if I could hear them better, I could hit them faster.
My quiver was almost empty. Still, I didn’t stop, arrow after arrow splitting the ash.
Another thud vibrated through the wall.
Quick.
Urgent.
A blur which could have only been Ryker brushed past me. I swear he whispered something in my ear as he passed, but I couldn’t make it out past the roar of the adrenaline.
I turned, gaze aching to track him. The last torch shone long enough to make out Geryll’s shape.
He was pressed against the wall, two figures slashing at his shield.
Before I managed to cock my arrow, Ryker had already turned them to dust, taking on five more.
But just as Geryll pushed himself away from the wall, another figure fell down upon him.
Neither I, nor Ryker were fast enough.
Geryll’s cry sliced through the darkness and my chest as the figure impaled a blade into his leg.
It was the last thing the cloaked being did in his miserable life.
My arrow raced at his back right as Ryker’s dagger sliced through his throat.
I didn’t know which one of us turned him to dust, but he would never hurt anyone again. Ryker picked Geryll from the ground and steadied him as he coughed his lungs out, face covered in ash.
The last thing I saw was Ryker’s face snapping toward me, eyes widening in fear.
