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A wall pocketed with holes towers above me. At the top, rock arcs like a roof over us. It’d be impossible to climb—for me anyway. I race down the ledge, glancing into each opening, as Lysandir hauls himself up to my level. Some holes are no bigger than a cabinet, and none appear to go more than a few feet.
“Up?” I ask.
But the prince is busy trying to pull the monster’s attention from where it claws at a pile of rocks, swiping precariously close to Galen.
I’m sure as heck not going back down. With no time to waste, I find a promising section of the wall and begin the climb. My nails dig into the rock for dear life, but in moments my arms are on flat-ish ground and I’m hauling my body up the last few feet.
A cry from below strikes me like lightning. I twist around to see the prince gripping his arm and the monster entirely too close.
“Lysandir!” I scream, but over the roar of the crowd, he probably can’t even hear me. The monster sure acts like he doesn’t.
With a cry of frustration, Galen sends a tornado of leaves hurtling the monster’s way. Its claws dig into the ground as it braces against the offense but doesn’t budge.
Fire erupts from Lysandir in a burst. It blends with the tornado, sending the leaves aflame. The beast roars and springs from the onslaught. I scream as it hurtles through the air straight toward Galen. He barely jumps out of the way in time, rolling across the rocky ground.
The hole in the wall behind me shows a glimmer of light at the end. A way through. I could take it.
But I can’t leave them behind, not when they put themselves at risk for me.
Lysandir leaps in front of Galen, who is slow to rise. Fire races from him, singeing the animal’s fur as it darts back and forth, looking for an opening.
I edge around to the course wall, slinking along an outcropping of rock that curves around the side. My throat grows tight when stones tumble off as I scoot by, dropping three stories to the ground below. One wrong step, and I’m in a heap of horse dung. If the fall doesn’t kill me, it’ll certainly hurt enough to make me a sitting duck for the monster—whatever the abomination is.
Fire surrounds the beast, but it leaps toward the flames, testing them, despite the way it singes its fur and no doubt hurts like heck. Guilt roils in my stomach. Lysandir is holding back. Because I asked them not to kill it.
Galen tries to make his way up the wall, but one arm sits at an awkward angle and he doesn’t use it at all. Broken? My head spins. He’ll need the prince’s help, but with the beast as riled up as he is…
A diversion. I have to get its attention.
“Up here, you big dumb beast!” I yell at the top of my lungs.
But with the noise of the crowd, I might as well be a fly buzzing far overhead. Galen and Lysandir glance my way, but whether it’s because I yelled or my flailing arms, who knows.
Shoot, I need…
Of course! I pull out one of Moria’s hidden knives. The thin blade is light in my hand and gleams in the sunlight from above.
“Careful with those,” she’d said. “They’re razor sharp.”
Let’s hope so.
I rear my arm back and hurl the dagger at the beast with all my might. It hits its side, sinking deep.
Hurray!
The bellow it lets out is deafening, shaking the rocks around me and sending several tumbling to the floor below.
It rears back on its hind legs, looking between me and my allies.
“Over here, beastie!” I pick up a handful of rocks and hurl them toward it. My boots slide precariously close to the edge from the force of my throw.
The beast leaps through the flames, bounding toward me.
“Get up here!” I yell.
The monster leaps. Its great clawed paws crash against the wall, causing the whole thing to shake and crack.
Shit!
