Page 126 of Sword & Shadow
Rushing up the path, they closed the distance between them and their team. Though they’d fought through so much already, Deckard knew they still had hundreds of feet between them and the Chamber’s entrance. They had to move faster. Hordes of Shades would keep coming, and they couldn’t waste their energy here.
Growing accustomed to the attacks, they began to work efficiently, ducking and huddling together whenever someone knocked a Shade from the air. Sweat dripped down Deckard’s forehead, sliding over his brow and into his eyes. The prickle of magic whispered across his skin, urging him to access it.
After too long, the face of a dark gray spire-like tower came into view, wrapped in the fog’s embrace. An iron door beckoned them with a promise of safety. They sprinted for it, dozens of Shades flying toward them. Thom and Ethenn caught two rightas Auden hit three others with a burst of Day. The onrush of wind hit both of the Ephrian soldiers full in the chest and over the side.
“Thom!” Deckard screamed, fear and panic lancing through him. He was useless to help, with Evylin and Rafferty standing between him and his brother.
With a deep, throaty bellow, Ilain raised her arms. Her face screwed up in concentration and effort. She caught both men with her magic, carrying them back to the platform. Her arms shook as Wind whirled around her, making her fiery hair dance like a flame. Auden defended his sister as she rescued the men, while Deckard, Evylin, and Rafferty took care of the final few Shades.
As soon as Thom and Ethenn’s feet hit the stone bridge, she whirled around to follow her brother into the stone tower. The Ephrians all hurried along behind them, piling into the obelisk’s staircase. Deckard shut the door behind him and took his first easy breath since they’d entered the Keep.
“Everyone’s safe?” Ilain asked.
“Yes,” Deckard confirmed.
“Good,” she said, then whirled to face Ethenn, stepping up onto the stair in front of her. She grabbed hold of his collar and jerked him until his nose was within inches of hers. “If you fall one more time,” she snapped, “I will let you go, do you understand?”
Ethenn’s swallow was audible as he nodded. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“You’re not forgiven,” she said, then released him roughly. Something in her expression made Deckard acutely aware of her fear. A fear he felt within himself. His heart felt perpetually lodged in his throat. His eyes caught on Evylin’s windswept hair, her braid nearly undone. Twice, he’d almost lost her out there.
And they’d have to traverse that perilous path again.
With Auden and Ilain in the lead, they descended the long, spiral stairs. At the base, it widened into a massive Chamber like the others. But this was worse—far, far worse than the rest. The space held the same design, stretching hundreds of feet between the entrance and the dais on the far side, yet there was no floor. The columns hung in midair, going on forever into the clouds above and below them. The dais hovered as a floating island. Nothing lay between it and the short, arching platform they stood on at the base of the stairs. There was no path, no bridge, only sky and fog for miles.
Rafferty gestured flippantly at the dais. “How are we supposed to get over there?” he asked, incredulous.
Ilain pursed her lips in agitation. She scanned the Chamber, then shrugged. “Maybe we’re not supposed to,” she said, then raised her hands. With a flick of her wrists, a swirl of Wind rushed toward them.
Nothing happened.
Thom frowned at her. “Was that supposed to accomplish something?”
Ilain gave him a bored glare. “I thought maybe I could summon the Wind to carry the Relic to me,” she said. “I suppose that would have been too easy.”
An earsplitting cry pierced the air, causing them all to jump in alarm. They raised their weapons. The sound was entirely foreign to Deckard, somewhere between the roar of a bear and the screech of a hawk. His heart thundered as a giant beast descended over the dais, swooping through the air toward them.
“Shoot it, Loxley!” Rafferty shrieked, though they all knew an arrow would do little good against this creature.
The Chamber Guardian flew in on feathered wings that spanned the room’s length. Deckard had never seen such a beast. It was a fearsome blend of bird, bull, and bear. Its four giant paws held claws the size of a man. Large horns rested atopits head like a half-moon. Its muscular limbs flexed as it neared, ready to pounce.
Ethenn let loose a torrent of arrows as Auden threw arcs of light at its razor-sharp beak.
“How are we going to get across?” Evylin asked, hands tight on the Night sword and eyes locked on the Guardian.
Thom turned to Ilain. “Can you make a path?”
“Out of what?” Ilain asked skeptically.
Thom floundered, looking around the room. “The columns,” he said at last. “You could tear out chunks of stone and make a path with them.”
Ilain frowned, her green eyes worried. “I’d have to use Terrae to do that.”
“Then do it,” he insisted.
“I told you,” she set her hands to her chest, “Terrae is my worst resource. It’ll use up too much energy—”
“Do you want us to get this Relic or not?” Thom demanded.
