Page 31 of Silver & Smoke
No one argued. Instead, they unsheathed their weapons and rode for the entrance, while the Pendelton archers readied their bows and guarded their backs.
The foyer had been taken. Ribbons of smoke and chemical vapour drifted up through the branches of the great tree that graced the centre of the academy, and screams echoed through the galleries. That tree had stood there for hundreds of years, its roots delving deep into the academy’s foundations. Its leaves curled inwards like burning parchment, blackening from the edges, while the bark blistered and wept amber sap that hissed when it hit the floor. Centuries of growth undone in moments.
Inside, the masters of Drevenor fought back to back with Audra and her remaining Thezmarrians. Audra’s face was a map of determination carved in blood – a gash above her eye sent crimson rivulets down her temple and cheek. She moved like water, her blade singing through the air before connecting with her opponent’s throat. The steel bit deep, opening a second mouth that gushed dark red, the man’s scream becoming nothing but a wet wheeze as he clawed futilely at the wound before he stilled.
Farissa and the other masters were fighting with a combination of weapons and alchemy. Strange mists and vapours drifted from shattered glass vials, and several discarded bodies showed signs of violent poisoning.
‘Farissa!’ Wren shouted, charging forwards, her lightning kissing her fingertips before striking a man down. ‘Have you seen Dessa?’
‘Residences! She was in your quarters last!’ Farissa called back,not even glancing her way as she blew a handful of powder across a trio of men.
‘Warswords!’ Audra’s voice bellowed. ‘If we’re separated, you know where we meet.’
‘Go get Dessa.’ Wilder motioned to the bloodstained staircase. ‘I’ll help Audra here and will be right behind you.’
From the corner of her eye, Wren saw Thea press a hard kiss to the Warsword’s lips, but that was where she left them. She didn’t wait a moment longer; she rushed towards the stairs with Torj and the others on her heels – smoke escaped from beneath the doors there too. The acrid scent made her eyes water. This wasn’t regular smoke. It clung to the skin like oil, leaving a film that itched. The fumes caught in the back of her throat – metallic and sweet at first, then transforming into something that reeked of burnt hair. Each breath felt like swallowing needles, her lungs protesting as the traces of corrupted alchemy infiltrated her body. Her eyes watered so severely that the world blurred into streaks of flame and shadow, tears cutting clean tracks down her soot-stained cheeks.
No, she thought, her heart rate spiking. She couldn’t be dragged back there, couldn’t—
‘It’s not wraiths,’ Torj murmured in her ear, seeming to sense her freezing up beside him.
‘But it is some form of that magic. I can taste it...’
A crash from below made them all jump. Before Wren could even process the danger, Torj had pulled her against the solid wall of his chest. His heartbeat thundered against her cheek, steady despite the chaos, a rhythm her own heart had come to recognize as safety. His arms formed a fortress around her, and for one suspended moment amid the madness, she allowed herself to sink into that protection, to draw strength from the way their bodies remembered each other even when their minds were consumed by thoughts of survival. This – what existed between them – was worth fighting for with everything she had.
The sounds of conflict were getting closer – boots on stone, the clash of steel, screams cut terrifyingly short. Wren’s mind raced as she took the stairs two at a time towards Dessa. The enemy wasn’t just attacking – they were methodically taking control of Drevenor’s assets. The coveted ingredients in the storage vaults. The records of rare alchemy in the workshops. The experimental weapons in the foundry. And soon, the forbidden texts in the archives and the remnants from the shadow war. Everything they had would now be used against them.
‘Dessa!’ Wren began shouting her friend’s name long before her door was in sight, but as they rounded the corner, her heart seized.
Three masked men were trying to break the door down.
‘Allow me,’ Torj said, swinging his war hammer in anticipation. The enemy didn’t even see him coming. Any hint of weakness in the Bear Slayer was gone and he brought the trio down within seconds of one another. They fell like sacks of grain, their blood spilling across the stone floor.
‘Dessa!’ Wren screamed. ‘It’s Wren, are you in there?’
‘I’m here,’ came her voice from within. ‘But I welded the door shut...’
‘Stand back,’ Torj called. The sound of splintering timber followed as the Bear Slayer broke down the door with a single kick.
Wren rushed past him, spying Dessa immediately. Her friend’s eyes were wide with fear, but otherwise she seemed unharmed. She shoved a satchel into Wren’s chest.
‘Here,’ she said hoarsely. ‘It’s your notes on the cure. I took everything I could—’
A whimper sounded and Wren’s gaze snapped to her sister, whose eyes were fixed on a figure filling the door frame.
‘Wilder,’ Thea croaked, surging for him.
The Hand of Death staggered towards them, covered in blood, more crimson dripping from his silver blades—
‘It’s not mine, Princess,’ he insisted to Thea, who was runningher hands over him in search of an injury. He cupped her face and pressed a kiss to her mouth before breaking away. ‘I swear.’
‘He’ll be alright,’ Torj said gently. ‘Furies know if the Scarlet Tower didn’t kill him, nothing can.’
After pressing his forehead to Thea’s and murmuring something in her ear that made her grip his arms tighter, Wilder turned to Wren and the others. ‘We’re trapped,’ he told them grimly. ‘Fucked if I know how Silas managed to rally this many to his cause, but he’s got the academy thoroughly infiltrated, and many in his ranks seem to possess extra strength. They’re not ordinary men.’
‘Neither are we,’ Cal said, nocking an arrow to his bow.
‘Now’s not the time for heroics, Whitlock,’ Torj said, peering out the window, where flames licked across the grounds. ‘We all need to get the fuck out of this building.’
