Three-tiered roofs cast shadows over the dark wooden building. A tight path wrapped around its perimeter, and waterborne plants grew in abundance from the surrounding lake, granting it privacy from the rest of the world.
Iron gates wrapped the platform the manor sat on, and I saw a guard walk past the entrance, patrolling.
“Ready?” Alistair breathed.
“If you promise not to be subtle.”
“That, I can do,” Alistair rose and stalked toward the gates.
He raised a hand, and the radiant sword flew over his shoulder, slamming into the gates. The padlock cracked under its force. With a kick, Alistair shattered what remained, and the gate swung open.
Rising from my hiding place, I dashed through after the Solheart. The guard I’d seen patrolling rounded the bend as I flew through the gate. Seeing intruders, he reached for his spear and shouted.
Lunging toward him, I slammed my boot into his shin. He lost balance, exposing his weak point. Hooking one dagger beneath his arm, I raked the other across his neck.
Blood soaked the icy blades. The guard slumped to the ground.
A strangled gasp drew my attention back to Alistair. His steel blade had punctured a second guard’s gut. Yanking his blade out, Alistair kicked the man to the ground.
Turning toward the manor’s grand entrance, he flicked a hand. Powerful winds gathered on the porch, churning into a tornado.
The windows shattered with a high-pitched shriek. The door was torn from its hinges and broken into pieces.
With another flick of his wrist, Alistair dismissed the wind, and the tornado burst apart. Mind blank, breath steady, I ascended the steps and strode through the broken door.
I felt like I’d stepped into my old home. The layout was even the same—a sweeping staircase ascended to the second floor; a balcony overlooked the foyer where a simple iron chandelier glowed with quiet candles.
A man tore down the upstairs hall and braced his hands on the banister, looking down into the destroyed foyer.
Sejiro. The fine orange robes he’d worn earlier hung loosely around his shoulders. He’d been sleeping.
Ferris might be dying—and his killer had been sleeping.
“I’ll handle the rabble,” Alistair hissed. “Get him.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I flew up the stairs—and heard my target scramble to escape.
The orange robes disappeared through a door at the end of the hall as I reached the top step. Twirling Siotha, I let it reforge into a bow. Pulling an arrow loose from its spectral quiver, I knocked it to the string and drew it back.
The arrow flew off course, striking the wall beside the door. It ruptured into a thousand ice shards, tearing chunks from the wood.
I still had no patience for the bow.
Snapping it in half, I threw one dagger forward. A deluge erupted from the tip of the blade, surging down the hall. It grewinto a powerful wave, crashing into the door and knocking it off its hinges.
Sloshing through the water, I shoved through the door into a lavish bedroom. A woman in a nightgown hid behind the canopied bed. She screamed.
I ignored her. Women in this country had been taught to be useless, so they would never realize just what they could do.
The commander pulled a blade from a sheath on the wall and charged me. Dropping my daggers, I drew my blade and met him.
Our swords clashed, and I could see from his stance, from the force of his strike, that he was good.
But I wasn’t playing fair.
A radiant blade whipped over my head and slashed at the general. He backed up, blocking the flurry of strikes the magicked blade threw at him. Alistair ducked through the door behind me, circling to the commander’s back.
It was over quickly. With three blades flying at him, Sejiro couldn’t block them all. I slashed at his legs, drawing blood. He fell, and I slammed my knee into his chest, knocking him to the ground.
