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The soldier didn’t even move.
Stepping in front of another, Ryker did the same thing and received the exact same response. He did it to two more. Again, nothing.
After he was done, he returned to the hallway.
“They didn’t even respond to you!” I exclaimed as he walked up to me.
“No, they didn’t,” he confirmed. Those deep, brown eyes, nestled between lowered dark brows, shifted to mine. “I don’t know what it is, but I have a really bad feeling about them, Sage.”
I did too.
The sudden increase in women’s deaths, the lack of military at the castle, and now this strange, unresponsive army? What exactly was going on? Was it all connected somehow? My gut told me it was.
I jerked my chin to the far end of the room, where the exit was. “Do you know how many guards will be posted out there, on the other side?”
“I can’t see there being any more than ten out there. The castle is still lacking guards. In fact, their numbers are even more depleted right now as quite a few of them went with the Golden Prince.” Ryker rolled his eyes at the term before he continued, “The ones on the ground won’t be an issue. It’s the archers in the towers that will be the problem, but I’ll handle those.”
“Okay, and what about the doors? They aren’t exactly small. If we open them, that will alert the guards and we’ll lose the element of surprise,” I said, eyes flicking down the length of the hall, making sure no one was coming. When I confirmed that no one was, I looked back to Ryker.
“There’s a smaller door that leads outside. It’s what the guards use for shift change so they don’t have to open those each time when they go in or out. We’ll use those,” Ryker supplied.
“That sounds like a good plan. I’ll go gather some of the prisoners who can fight. They’ll help us clear the grounds.” I started to walk away, but Ryker gently caught my arm.
“Sage.” He looked pointedly at my side, where the arrow wound was. “You are injured. Let me take it from here.”
“Yes, I’m injured but I’ve been fighting ever since I was thrown in that awful place. And I’m not about to stop now, so don’t ask me to.” My tone was as solid as the stone floor beneath my feet, as unyielding as the goddess within me.
His eyes bounced between mine before he sighed, his broad shoulders lowering on the exhale. Letting my arm go, he said, “Alright then, let’s get those prisoners out of here.”
I gave him a firm nod. “Let’s get them out.”
Sage
Collars left behind and Curses at the ready, five of us filtered swiftly through the side door and into the outer court. The castle grounds were snow-packed and rimmed with mighty, tall walls. To my left was a long stretch of stables, the stalls vacant—I imagined the horses must also be with Aurelius in the countryside. A large pile of hay, pierced by a pitchfork, sat beside the stalls, as well as some water troughs. Straight ahead, a couple hundred feet away, stood an arched exit, the doors swung wide open—freedom. Twin towers flanked the exit, the stone and mortar behemoths shooting up into the azure sky, those damn crimson banners flicking like a serpent’s tongue.
“What the—” a guard decreed, but his words were severed as Ryker’s flame arrow buried itself in his chest with a sickeningthunk. It reminded me of the sound I heard when Kaleb died. My blood froze in my veins.
Focus, Sage, focus, I told myself.
My fingers stretched, conjuring the water molecules in the air, forging them with one another until my water blade emerged, edges as sharp as broken glass.
In the short span of time it took me to conjure my blade, Ryker took another guard down.
“Show off,” I teased.
He chuckled. “That was nothing.” His lips flattened as he looked to the towers.
“Go,” I said, tracking his gaze, swinging my blade. “We’ll handle the rest.”
Ryker nodded as he turned to another prisoner. “You’re with me.”
“Right,” the man replied, nocking an arrow in his magically crafted bow. The two of them took off towards the towers, leaving me and the pugilist brothers.
A guard leapt in front of me, his clean, polished sword itching for blood. He swung his blade and mine answered, sliding down the length of his. He retracted a step before he swung again. I ducked underneath his sword as it sailed over my head. His follow-through left him exposed. I took advantage of that and jabbed my sword forward, straight into his lower torso, where the armor didn’t quite cover him.
Wide-eyed with horror, he sputtered, blood bubbling up on his lips. With a mighty heave and a bit of a grunt, I pulled my sword from him.
“Alert the other guar—”
