Forty – 01

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]

My vision dimmed for the barest second before it normalized again.

The drums stopped, then sped up again, and with them, my heart.

I swore softly under my breath and stood up.

“Something’s wrong,” I said, my voice little more than a whisper. “Something’s very wrong.”

Leinth’s shout reached my ears a moment later and I took off at a dead run toward the sound of her voice. I caught sight of Thordin out of the corner of my eye as I ran—his axe was slung across his back and his expression was grim even before he saw me running.

Sif shouted my name and something after that, but whatever her words might have been were lost as I rushed onward.

Leinth was hauling Phelan toward me, her eyes wide, a chill permeating the air around her, power crackling around them both. Green fire raced along Phelan’s limbs, suffusing his whole being—but form the way he hung limp in Leinth’s grasp, I knew that he was out cold.

“What the hell happened?” I blurted, my eyes probably as wide as Leinth’s.

“Something attacked him,” she said as I got close enough for her to pass Phelan over to me—and to Thordin, who’d come up behind me to help. “He locked up, could barely breathe. Something about old enemies and new enemies and gods and monsters know what else. I have to get to the wall.” Her gaze flicked toward Thordin. “So do you.”

“After I get these two somewhere safe.”

I glared at Thordin and he glared right back at me.

“I’m not going to argue with you, Marin,” he said even as he hefted Phelan over his shoulder and Leinth thrust Phelan’s staff into my hands. “You’re going down to the tunnels and you’re staying there until we give the all clear signal—whether you like it or not.”

I snarled, fingers tightening around the staff in my hands. The wood was chilled from Leinth’s touch, but I could feel the steady thrum of Phelan’s magic channeling through it. My gaze drifted toward the Taliesin and a shiver crept down my spine.

Whatever he’d done wasn’t finished—he was still doing it.

There was something about that I found terrifying and reassuring at the same time.

Liked it? Take a second to support Erin on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!
This entry was posted in Book 5, Chapter 40, Story and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Got thoughts?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.