Page 97

I ran as fast as I could. I sprinted across the rope for seven strides before I jumped.

Too low, all I could grasp was smooth wall.

Riven reached down, his large, calloused hand folding around my wrist as the rope ladder swept against the dam. He had pulled the ladder high enough to use it as a swing. Riven pulled me onto his back and climbed over the edge.

I slid off him onto shaking feet. Riven turned and ran to the edge of the wall, leaping over it without a second look.

I only had seconds.

I saw the Shade leaning against the wall and knew I had to leave her if I was going to have any chance of surviving the blast.

But I couldn’t. She wasn’t just a Shade; she was a Halfling.

I couldn’t take another innocent life. I wouldn’t be blown to bits knowing I left her to die as well.

I bent down as I ran, pulling her onto my shoulders in stride.

The first blast exploded behind me as I ran along the top of the dam. Human-sized pieces of stone were launched into the air as the second set of blasts went off, and then the third.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I only had ten feet left. I ran with everything I could. I used my last stride to leap off edge of the dam onto the street below. My legs circled through the air, propelling us forward.

My cloak caught the wind beneath me. My grip on the Shade’s body loosened. I could see the gravel on the ground, bouncing and shaking with each successive blast.

The landing would be hard. I prepared myself for impact, for broken bones, but then the last blast sounded and all I could feel was heat as my body flipped through the air. I shielded my face from the fevered blast and felt my flesh burn.

Then everything went black.

MY ENTIRE BODY ACHED.I was bleeding everywhere. Tiny bits of shrapnel had ripped through my clothes and embedded themselves into my flesh. I tried to stand up, but my head split open in agony as the ground spun underneath my hands. I collapsed back on the ground. I rubbed my temple, as if that would quell the throbbing in my skull. I pulled my hand back, feeling something wet. My fingers slowly came into focus as I blinked. They were sticky with amber blood.

I need to leave, I thought to myself. Guards would be on us in moments.

Us. Where was Riven?

Did he get caught in the blast?I thought. I tried to scream for help, but I choked on the blood trickling down my throat.

I turned and saw a face.

It wasn’t Riven’s. Her hood had fallen off in the blast, but I recognized the long braid. Her eyes were open, amber blood dripping onto the dirt from one brow, the topaz hue of her irises just as piercing as they would’ve been in life.

The Shade.

She looked vaguely familiar. I may have trained her at the Order or crossed paths with her. But I didn’t know her name and now I never would. The only thing I knew was that she was young. I could see it in her skin, her hands. She’d been one of the Halflings chosen to take her Trials before her time.

And now she was dead.

My stomach lurched as I vomited blood across the dirt. My eyes stung. I’d come to save the Halflings, and now I was staring at one. Dead. Immeasurable pain coursed through my body, worse than any of the wounds I’d sustained.

I had failed her. I’d tried so hard to keep her alive and I still failed. I retched again, feeling hollow inside as my pain blanketed me in oblivion.

I had failed her, but I wouldn’t live with it much longer. I closed my eyes, ready to succumb to nothingness. Ready for the pain I’d carried for years to fade away with my last breath. My shoulders relaxed against the ground.

A shape appeared in the smoke.

Riven jumped off his horse and knelt beside me. His eyes raced over my body assessing the damage. I saw his lips move, but my ears were ringing too loudly to hear him.

I reached out for the Shade, grabbing her broken arm. Recognition fell over Riven’s face. He gently closed her eyes and looked down at me. “There’s nothing more we can do for her now,” I think his lips said.