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Ingram let out a little growl as he backed up over a roof section of the fortress, his sight obviously fixed on the large expanse of space between it and the stone gate. More bow wielders were at the top and already shooting at them.

She didn’t know why her gaze darted down towards the ground. Wren was gone, and her panicked gaze flickered everywhere to find her.

Fuck! Where did she go?!

Ingram bolted, and the closer he got to the ledge, the more her heart tried to detach so it could crawl out her mouth to safety.We won’t make it.It was too far. Nothing could make that distance.

Instead of expressing her fear and sheer panic, she just held onto the rope around his neck and prepared herself for anything.

With dust and loose rocks being kicked off the edge, Ingram leapt. They sailed through the air.

They started to fall.

They crashed against the side of the walls, just short of the top, and his claws ate away at stone like they were made of diamond – strong and unbreakable.

Emerie gasped when she started to slip away and held onto the rope in one hand with all her might. Her inner turmoil urged her to let go of her bow and use both hands, but she stubbornly didn’t want to. What if she needed it? It was the only long-range weapon she had.

She sighed in relief when he didn’t even need to climb. He just launched himself forward with all his strength and they were ascending metres higher than the gate’s wall.

It was in this moment that she fully understood how Duskwalkers destroyed towns. A wall of wooden spikes? What a useless attempt of a barricade.

For a few short seconds, she was floating, then her heart dipped to her stomach. They fell on top of the wall, and a rasp tore through her when she landed hard on him.

Something broke when her entire torso landed against the spikes on his back. Only her pubic bone, saved by her bag that had come between them, was spared. Instead of a scream tearing its way through her at the pain, a pitiful sob did.

Ingram fought against someone who had threaded a whip around his head, tangling it in his horns to stay secure.

Through her watering eyes, she noted people were coming.

Emerie didn’t even think about it. She nocked her arrow and blindly shot while he freed himself.

He took those few steps needed to get to the edge of the wall’s pathway so he could... she didn’t know, maybe leap to freedom?

She blinked the worst of her tears away, and it took her a moment to see Wren there. Even longer to notice the arrow sticking out from her forehead. Her Head Elder sagged to her knees and toppled to the ground on her side.

Shock slapped her into alertness and rendered her immobile. She didn’t even hold onto Ingram for a few brief seconds.

I killed her,Emerie thought, utterly flummoxed, eyes wide and disbelieving.I killed Wren.

She truly hadn’t meant to.

Emerie didn’t take her eyes away from Wren’s corpse, yet her arms moved instinctively, her hands grabbing the rope around Ingram’s neck.

“Emerie!” someone shouted to her left, and her head spun that way.

With her mouth agape in shock at herself, she found the guildmember who’d spoken to her. It was a woman’s voice, likely one of her friends, but she couldn’t make out who. Now she understoodwhyIngram thought they all looked like a bunch of faceless Demons.

Whether her friend spoke again or not, she was no longer listening. Ingram finally jumped, and she barely realised she was falling.

All she knew was... she’d just given up her life as a Demonslayer for this Duskwalker.

Wheezing, Emerie twisted her torso so she could cup her lower ribs.Okay, I’ve definitely broken something.Or at least fractured something, considering she was breathing fine except for the sharp pain every time she inhaled.

It also didn’t help that Ingram was still sprinting. Each time she bounced, it was like she was being punched. He was putting as much distance between them and the fortress as he possibly could.

The woman who had helped them was nowhere to be seen, and Emerie hoped she was okay.

Her adrenaline was still high, aided by the fact she was going so fucking fast she thought they were two seconds away from flying. The air was cold as it hit her nose, then split around her head and through her hair, causing it to whip wildly behind her. Thankfully he was warm, but she barely registered it through her pain and distress.