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A Nero-shaped shadow flitted by her, and then she heard Theron grunt in pain. She paused to turn and see Nero striking at Theron again. The sword bounced off Theron’s armor, but the blow was hard enough to stagger him.

“Run,” the Nero-shadow said to her. She did.

A blast of energy arced across the cavern. Naika was shooting beams of magic toward the Paladins, hitting two and missing a third. The stray bolt of energy hit the wall of the cavern, shaking loose a shower of rock. All around, Paladins fought with shadows. The Paladins’ numbers were greater than Zara had expected.

Somehow, the Varai were still losing this battle, even in the darkness, even in their own territory.

Another shadow caught her arm.“Zara! Come this way.”She recognized Devana’s voice, and she let him pull her toward another tunnel. The Varai were retreating through it. Naika was already inside, pressed to the side to let the others by as she watched the main cavern. She was breathing hard and sagging against the wall.

“Wait,”Zara said, stopping at the tunnel entrance.“Nero is still back there.”

When she turned to try to locate him, a Paladin had appeared behind her. She stumbled backward into the tunnel as he swung at her with his sword. Naika shot a blast of energy over her shoulder toward him.

There was an explosion of rock as the bolt hit the wall, but the damage didn’t stop there. Zara and Naika watched in horror as a crack appeared on the wall and more of the tunnel began to crumble. Both of them turned and ran farther into the tunnel.

There was an ear-shattering crash as the tunnel collapsed behind them. Zara coughed, waving a hand to disperse the rising cloud of dust. Behind them, the tunnel was completely blocked off from floor to ceiling.

“Nero?” she called through the mountain of stone. There was no answer. She could faintly hear the sounds of fighting still going on behind the collapse. Naika was bent over at the knees, wheezing from the dust.

“Come,”Devana said. He’d dropped his fade as he grabbed Naika’s arm, and now Zara could see a streak of blood on his face. She couldn’t tell if it was his or someone else’s.“Let’s go.”

“Nero is still over there. We can’t just leave him.”

“There’s no way past,”Devana said, motioning to the rock. Even Naika’s magic wouldn’t be able to shift that much weight.

Zara looked around the tunnel. Crow, Basira, the children, and a handful of other Varai were with them. Some of the others, including Nero and Vaara, had been on the other side of the collapse.

Naika was staring at the pile of rubble. When she noticed Zara looking at her, she signed slowly,I’m sorry.

Zara’s jaw tightened with anger, though she knew Naika had been trying to help. They might not even have made it this far without her magic holding off the Paladins. But she’d sealed Nero away from them. He could be surrounded and outnumbered. He could be dead already.

Zara turned to the others.“Is there another way out?”

They all looked at each other uncertainly, which Zara didn’t take as a good sign.

“The vent above the back rooms,”Crow said eventually. Zara was impressed that she spoke Varai, though her accent was clumsy and her words came a bit slow.“There’s a shaft we could climb.”

“Then let’s not waste any more time,”Zara said.

Chapter 29

As they crossed the mountain through the tunnels, Zara’s only thoughts were of Nero. Fear laced through her and stayed there, as if bonded to her veins. She kept imagining what had happened to him. Her mind supplied images of Kashava bleeding out and placed Nero’s face over Kashava’s.

Nero and the others couldn’t have won that fight. The Paladins were too well-equipped. Varai fought best when they took their enemies by surprise, not the other way around. Their best defense was running and hiding, but they’d had nowhere to run.

When Zara and the others stepped out into the gray daylight, the mountains were covered with low clouds, and snow coated the ground.

They were on the opposite side of the mountain from where they’d started. As they worked their way back around, Zara spotted a trail of figures moving down the mountain below them. She ducked behind cover, holding out a hand to stop the others.

The Paladins were leaving the mountain. With them were two dark figures. Even from this distance, Zara recognized Nero.

“Nero is with them,” she said.

“Vaara, too,” Crow said.

“They have taken hostages. I thought they would simply kill them,” Zara said, looking up at Naika. The mage shrugged uncertainly.

“Maybe they want the village to witness their execution,” Basira said.