Page 130 of Sword & Shadow
“Guess you’ve got a new toy, eh, Loxley?” Rafferty said.
“This—” Auden scoffed as he stared in awe. “This is impossible. Three Warriors and a Mage in a group of six. The odds....”
Deckard met Evylin’s skeptical stare. The oddswereimpossible. With the supposed rarity of magical beings, thereshouldn’t have been more than one with magic in their ranks. Perhaps, there shouldn’t have even been that.
But the truth was clear: Hewitt, Evylin, and Ethenn were Warriors. Deckard was a Mage. How had such an impossibility become a reality?
“This is a topic to discuss once we’re safely out of the Keep and back on the road,” Deckard said to the whole troop, putting a pause on their wondering. “Ethenn, I want you to stay with Ilain—”
The pair, separated by several feet, straightened and glanced at one another dubiously.
Deckard ignored their discomfort. “As a Warrior, you can protect her best. Don’t let those Shades get near her.”
Ethenn nodded, then looked to Evylin. “You should try using a bow out there,” he suggested. “It’ll keep them back so the wind won’t knock us off.”
“I’m not trained with a bow,” Evylin said. “And with all that wind, how are we supposed to aim?”
The hunter hesitated, then shrugged. “I think the magic takes care of that.”
Suddenly, Deckard realized that during their run across the bridge, Ethenn’s arrows had all hit true. A miraculous feat that was, in all actuality, a Warrior’s magic.
Evylin took the Night Relic from her neck. It beamed deep purple in her hand, shifting into a recurve bow. Its shiny metal frame was rich amethyst, reflecting light violet in the gray atmosphere. She drew back the string, and a shadow formed into an arrow of the same purple metal.
With these revelations on their minds, the troop headed for the staircase, out of the Chamber. They worked up the stairs slowly, conserving their energy and preparing for another exhausting sprint across the narrow stone path. Deckard took the lead, with Evylin and Thom right behind him. They choseto put Ilain and Ethenn in the middle to ensure the defenseless Mage had the most protection. Auden and Rafferty took the back.
At the top of the staircase, Deckard looked back at them. Their faces were haggard, their bodies tense as they prepared for the treacherous journey. “We run,” he told them, hand on the door. “We’re too tired to fight these Shades the whole way back. We run, and we get out of this Keep as fast as possible. Got it?”
A wave of grateful nods passed over the group.
With a final deep breath, Deckard drew his sword, opened the door, and tore across the narrow bridge and into the fog.
The hum of the Wind Shades was no longer the gentlewhooshfrom before. It screamed in a torrent around them, bursting forth as Shades assailed the team. They ducked their heads, dodging carefully as they rushed over the path. Deckard’s orders were impossible to follow. Even he had to stop and slice down a cluster of Shades as they ripped at his arms, legs, hair, and face. When the cluster disintegrated in a blast of wind, Evylin and Thom held Deckard steady.
They resumed their run, boots pounding on the stone. Evylin and Ethenn picked off dozens of Shades with their bows. While the wind still rolled and blustered around them, the Warriors managed to keep enough Shades back to ease their path.
The fog grew denser, shortening their range of vision. Deckard kept his eyes locked on the path ahead, alert for the appearance of the stone entrance. A Shade swooped over his head, and he ducked, the Wind creature’s fingers tugging at his grown-out hair. He grimaced as it ripped at him but jerked away despite the pain. He determined then and there to find a way to cut his hair before the next Keep.
Wind erupted all around them, giant blasts of air slamming into their sides. They struggled to maintain their footing. Ilainlet out a cry behind him, but Deckard trusted Ethenn to keep her safe. He kept his eyes ahead, desperate to find the door.
Lungs burning and side aching, Deckard forced his feet faster. Shades screamed in his ear, their hum a deafening howl. Arrows streamed through the clouds, cutting through the creatures. A heavy shadow formed in the fog; the door loomed in the distance.
Deckard called for the others to slow as they barreled closer. The shadow grew darker and more solid. The edges sharpened into the rectangular frame and iron face. Skidding to a stop, Deckard slammed his hand against it. A vibration tingled through his palm and up his arm. The lock disengaged with aclunk.
The second the door opened wide enough, Deckard slipped through, turning to pull Evylin with him. A final howl from the Shades ricocheted through the Keep, following them through the door. Thom, Ilain, Ethenn, Auden, and Rafferty piled in. Then the iron door shut, sealing them into the shocking contrast of the hall’s silence.
They stood there, catching their breaths and collapsing against the wall.
Deckard dropped his head back against one of the stone arches. They’d made it out of the Keep. They had a fourth Relic. Now, they had to return to camp and ride hard until they left the Reach. A task that would require him to work with Auden to shroud the entire team, horses included.
Despite how well he’d managed his use of magic within the Keep, his body ached. He was tired. Even if he used the Night Relic, he feared he’d fail to hold on long enough to get them out safely.
“Take a few minutes,” Deckard told the troop. “Rest. We have a long night ahead of us.”
14TH OF CHRONOS, 1574
They emerged from the Wind Keep’s antechamber a mere quarter of an hour later, sprinting back to the horses. They needed the cover of night to aid their passage through the checkpoint on the border of Sutterlund Reach and Wauld. The twin moons shone overhead, the ivory one glittering half full and the shadow one a beaming gibbous.
In the depths of the night, they had another five hours at most. It would take them at least half that time to reach the gate at a full gallop. Crossing through under a shroud would require more stealth, which meant more time.
