Page 62 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
No, not a wasteland.
A valley.
Past the buildings, which stretched farther than I had imagined, a great big forest rose and fell in menacing waves, stretching for too many miles to count.
That didn’t make any sense.
Why would someone build a great big wall beyond–
I narrowed my eyes against the storm.
That was no wall.
It loomed, taller than any structure I’d ever seen, darkening the horizon.
A five hundred foot tall rim–maybe even higher–rose toward the heavens with razor-sharp peaks as if someone had ripped the ground.
I rose to my feet, the storm now seeming such a small obstacle against the towering threat in the distance. I turned around slowly, as if afraid of what I’d see, my dread stealing my breath faster than the wind.
The massive rim surrounded me on all sides, like the earth had cupped us in its hand.
Sharp and unscalable, no sign of an exit or an entrance.
Myths and forgotten legends spoke of ancient places like this, where even magic didn’t obey the laws of nature.
This shouldn’t exist.
But it did.
This fortress stood in an impenetrable crater.
It not only loomed, its unscalable edges casting long shadows.
It waited, a silent guardian. Or jailkeeper.
I truly was trapped, swallowed whole by the ground.
Chapter
Twelve
THE COMMANDER
“This is insane,” Nadya’s voice reverberated through the training room as she threw her bearded ax halfway across the room, only to have it deflected by Geryll’s shield with a metallic bang that threw him off balance.
The Huntress arrival in our fortress seemed to have rattled everyone, including my two wards.
“So you’ve said.” I jutted my chin at the red mark in the center of the wooden training room. “Again. Aim the ax higher or lower next time. If your opponent has to reach up or crouch to defend themselves, they might lose their balance and you can strike.”
Nadya nodded, but the pinched expression on her face only tightened.
She strutted forward and picked up her ax, which she’d nicknamed Francisca the day I’d gifted it to her; since then, she’d adorned the dark wooden handle with strange animals that haunted her dreams.
Strikingly romantic for a girl whose sneers could make some of my biggest and toughest warriors hesitate.
Geryll had named his shield Warcleaver.
I suspected as a way to draw more confidence on the battlefield neither of them had seen yet. While Nadya was sharpening her blades waiting for the day to come, Geryll was starting to display a quiet resignation at being a warrior. Yet he refused any and all other paths for his future.
