Page 10 of The Dragonrider and the Void
Lark unwound the harness, slipped it on under her tunic, and locked the scale tight to her side. A surge of strength flowed through her; every inch of her body tingled with potential energy until she was filled with naturally recharging strength. She drew her sword from the scabbard. Nightfang’s impressive size was as light as a switch in her hand.
All three of them detected movement at the same time. At the far end of the icy trail extending the length of the square, a dark figure passed through a doorway. Tendrils of midnight trailed on the ground behind as he or she slid over the set of stone steps and into one of the community’s few preserved buildings.
Lark tightened her grip on her sword hilt as they traversed the frozen courtyard, approaching the open doorway. The blade’s familiar energy mixed with the two bonds at her disposal offered a welcome warmth against the unnatural chill. Ancient pillars flanked the doorway; their surfaces etched with dragonrider runes currently filled in with crystalized ice. She read the sign over the door before it frosted over completely.
“It’s gone into the archives,” Lark whispered. Her breath formed puffs of fog in the cold air. “Why would it go there?”
White Eye’s claws scraped against stone as he moved closer. He lowered his massive head to peer into the darkness beyond the doorway. He sniffed the stone, then sent Lark the sensation that the magic protecting this place had dissipated as well. This strange being, whatever this entity was, seemed to be passing through powerful wards as though they didn’t exist.
It’s like Hardin’s Ward Walking abilities, only the magic of the wards melts away or disappears altogether,she thought.
She stepped forward, Nightfang raised before her. As she gripped it, a question drifted through her mind.Is my newly healed arm strong enough to withstand a fight with this creature, even with the brismil armor?
Inside the archives, the line of frost spread across the stones for the length of the building. It wound its way up and down row after row of bookshelves. Every row Lark inspected as they passed by had been ransacked. Scrolls and texts were strewn on the ground everywhere. She had to suppress her desire to stop and read them. She would love to tap into the ancient dragonrider knowledge these texts held.
“What is it searching for?” she asked.
A crash echoed from deep within the building. Glass shattered on stone. Lark jerked toward the noise, her body tensing for battle. White Eye’s growl sent threatening vibrations through the ground. Nix trailed just behind them, her small ethereal form glowing with fire.
“The vault,” Lark said, the thought coming to her through White Eye’s realization.
“There’s a vault in the archives?” Nix asked.
“That’s where they would keep the most dangerous artifacts,” Lark replied. She didn’t know it until she’d opened her mind to the ancestral knowledge that White Eye shared through their bond.
As she started forward, White Eye curled his tail forward, momentarily blocking her path. He nudged her toward the floor, where Lark noticed the frost patterns changing. Where White Eye indicated, they were spreading outward like cracks forming on glass.
“It’s not just consuming magic. It’s starting to use it,” Lark said.
More shattering sounded deeper in the archives. The breaking glass sound mixed with something else… a rhythmic scraping, like claws against stone.
“We need to reach the vault before?—”
The patterns of frost around them began to move and come to life.
Raised spines of frost coalesced, growing as they converged ahead of the trio. Hundreds upon hundreds of spines built until it took on two humanoid shapes. Before these beings’ true forms were revealed, black smoke formed like cloaks over their bodies, but Lark saw their faces under their hoods. Nearly human, their skin had a silvery frost, and their eyes were white as snow. Blue patterns glowed as the glyphs tattooed all over their bodies became exposed to the air.
“Rimeshade,” Lark said through clenched teeth.
Icy white blades trailing black smoke formed in their hands much the same way brismil did for dragonriders. Then they attacked.
Lark met the first rimeshade, blocking his sword with Nightfang. She hoped the clash would shatter the icy blade, but instead, the clang of blades rang through the archives. The resulting vibration was so strong, it sent pain through Lark’s newly healed bones. The rimeshade moved with unnatural speed, his sword whistling through the air where Lark’s head had been just a moment earlier. She ducked, feeling the chill as it passed overhead.
White Eye’s tail swept through the narrow space, forcing the second rimeshade to leap back. Her dragon shared his strategy of attack with Lark. She keyed in on his instincts, realizing it would require all three of them to coordinate without giving one another away.
Nix erupted in a burst of orange flame, forcing the rimeshade to go on the defensive.Look at the script on their skin. It’s like the fae script from the cave,she projected into Lark’s mind.
Lark recognized it now as she parried another strike. The glowing blue tattoos weren’t just random patterns. They matched the symbols woven among the dragonrider runes in the cave. Lark stabbed at the rimeshade. She missed. Nix and White Eye moved in between in an attempt to keep the rimeshade from joining together and regrouping.
The brismil was giving her strength, but Lark knew she was going to fade quickly. She’d been stretched thin for too long. Her pendant grew warmer against her chest as she pressed forward, Nightfang narrowly missing each strike.
The first rimeshade hissed a sound like cracking ice. He brought his blade down in an overhead arc, but Lark was ready. She caught the strike with her sword, the brismil blade clanging against the corrupted creature’s as she batted it to the side. Behind her, she heard Nix’s magic snapping as she assailed the second rimeshade.
White Eye’s presence filled her mind with strategy. He needed Nix to work with him to beat the rimeshade.
Work together,Lark projected into Nix’s mind.
Understanding flowed between them. Lark disengaged from the rimeshade and dropped to one knee. White Eye’s fire roared overhead, not aimed at the rimeshade but at the ceiling above them. Thick stone cracked under the heat, and a cascade of debris forced both rimeshade to step back.
