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“The river gets too choppy to navigate the closer you get to the ocean,” Herrick explained, voice monotone. “But besides that, the rocks that jut out of the water would have shredded the boat— and us— to pieces.”

Maude stuck her tongue out at his back.

“We’re about to lose sunlight; we should get going,” he said, moving away from her.

Maude followed him, growing tired of his sullen silence.

While she would never vocalize it, she missed his jokes and lighthearted energy.

Herrick had said little to her, opting to brood in silence for most of the day.

Maude had tried to pick up the conversation a few times, but he was stuck in his thoughts.

Once they reached the houses that bordered the shore, Maude had had enough. She grabbed his arm to pull him to a stop.

“Listen, there is only enough room in this group for one moody bastard, and I have always had that role,” she started, frustration boiling over. “Tell me what has gotten into you.”

Herrick was silent for so long that Maude was sure he wasn’t going to speak. Finally, he let out a long breath, shoulders relaxing a bit.

“I don't know what you want from me, Maude,” Herrick said, his back still to her. “If I get too close, you push me away. If I stay away, you try to pull me close again.”

“You’re just sulking, and I don’t understand why,” Maude said through her teeth.

“Let it go,” he said, attempting to walk away again.

Maude wouldn’t budge, though; she reached for him again but stopped short as she heard a shuffle from somewhere close.

Herrick, having heard the sound as well, froze.

Slowly, Maude withdrew her sword and dagger while Herrick took out his battle axe.

No more sound came from the otherwise silent city, and Maude began to relax when they each heard the release of an arrow.

“Get down!” Herrick shouted, placing a hand on her shoulder and pushing her to the ground .

A chorus of battle cries came from their right. Looking up, Maude saw raiders streaming out of houses with rusty swords and axes high.

“Damn it,” Maude seethed as she counted how many raiders were running toward them. “These aren't great odds.”

The first wave of raiders made it to where they stood, backed against a house.

Maude swung her sword down, catching a raider in the chest and stopping him short so she could stab her knife through the thick cords of his neck.

Herrick had created a wall of vines between them and the rest of the wave, but it would not hold out for long.

“Ditch the flora and move the dirt around us into a wall instead,” Maude growled at Herrick as she ducked to avoid the blow from another raider’s short sword.

When she straightened, she brought her dagger up with her and into the ribs of the raider in front of her, causing him to drop like a stone.

Herrick, understanding what she was asking, swung his axe through the belly of the raider in front of him.

The crimson blood that flowed from the fatal wound mixed with the white and black paint they used on their arms and faces, causing the colors to run.

Gore splattered Herrick and Maude, as well as the wall behind them, as raider after raider swarmed them.

Finally, Herrick was able to build a solid wall of dirt around them using some of his water and earth galder .

He nodded to Maude as he elbowed the last raider to make it beyond the wall he built in the face, forcing him back a step before Herrick could sink his axe into the raider's neck.

Maude used the interruption in their fighting to raise her palms and blast her fire into the wall, setting it into a stone barrier between them and the rest of the raiders.

Flames poured out from her hands, her focus unwavering as she fortified the structure, keeping the raiders away from her and Herrick .

Emotion had always been her downfall when it came to her galder use.

The more emotion one pours into their galder , the faster and stronger the burnout.

With Herrick, she had finally managed to find some semblance of balance within herself.

When he was in danger, her emotions became malleable to her whim.

Herrick’s final blow landed on the raider as she released her flow of galder , the wall in front of them glowing and radiating with the heat that coursed through her veins.

She placed her hands on her knees, breathing heavily from the effort.

Herrick came up to her side and ran a soothing hand down her spine, the cool trickle of the water that was his presence smoothing out her rough edges.

A rhythmic boom sounded from the other side of the wall— the raiders were attempting to break down the barrier they had created.

“There will be more,” Herrick said, serious as he always was in a fight. “That wall won't keep them out, but it gets us a chance to get help or at least higher ground.”

Maude nodded, still beyond words. The wall in front of them started to shake from the pounding coming from the raiders on the other side. The sound of a battering ram was swallowing up the cacophony of guttural voices.

“We have to get to the roof.” Herrick pointed up to the house they had been cornered against.

They both entered through a window in the kitchen, weapons in hand, and steps silent.

The sun had already set behind the cliffs that guarded this city, and soon, only the moon would be able to provide light.

The kitchen of this old Elven house was decorated as the Light Elven had decorated everything else in this city .

Colorful mismatched tiles on the floors led into the rest of the house, the clay walls empty of any hanging art as they opted to paint onto the walls themselves, making each home unique.

“There,” Herrick pointed to the staircase, made of the same clay as the rest of the structure. “We can get to the roof and, hopefully, away from the raiders.”

Maude gave him a skeptical look. They were outnumbered by a long shot; jumping from roof to roof would only lead them back to their friends.

“We need to fight them. We can't bring them back to the temple,” Maude bit out.

“We won't win, minn eldr ,” Herrick argued, the gold in his eyes flaring slightly.

A part of the wall they had created crumbled and smashed into the ground. They were running out of time.

“We don’t have a choice,” Maude said, her words sharp. “They need to be stopped, and I can do it by myself if I must. I have enough fire to wipe them all out.”

“Maude, you can’t,” Herrick said, his voice almost pleading. “We can lose them in the city if we run now.”

“They won’t stop, Herrick!” Maude shouted, her patience running out.

“It’s not the right thing to do.”

“If it means we walk away from this fight, then it is the right thing,” Maude said, voice low. “I’m not arguing morality with you right now when our lives are on the line.”

She took off for the roof with Herrick following close behind her.

Before they reached the flat rooftop, heavy booted steps made it into the house.

The wall had come down, and the house was swarming with raiders.

Herrick, one step behind her, turned and kicked out his leg to catch a raider who had gotten to them first. With a powerful thrust, Herrick pushed the raider down the stairs, taking a few of his friends with them.

Maude raced for the roof, turning to pull Herrick through the window she had dove through to land on the red bricks. She slammed the window shut as soon as Herrick cleared the space. Raiders smashed into the window, shattering the glass and causing it to go flying toward Maude.

Unable to duck, sharp slices peppered her exposed arms and neck. She felt the trickle of her blood burning her skin as it poured out from her veins, the adrenaline in her body causing the blood to flow more freely than it normally would.

“Maude!” Herrick called from above her.

He reached down with one hand to pull her up. She grasped it, and he began to pull, but a raider caught her boot. Kicking out at the extra weight, Maude tried to dislodge the raider's grip, but they wouldn’t let go. She looked up at Herrick, straining at the weight.

This raider was going to drag him down with her, and then they would be in serious trouble. Maude knew they would lose that fight, that Herrick would go down trying to back her up.

So Maude let go.

She slipped from his grasp and fell onto the raider in front of the window where more raiders were trying to climb through.

Maude placed her dagger under the raider's throat, its dull gray metal swallowing the last of the light. With half a thought, she threw up a wall of fire in the broken window, keeping the other raiders from climbing through.

“How many of you are here?” Maude barked, the edge of her blade pressing into his thick skin .

“Don’t worry, Princess,” the harsh voice of the raider she had fallen on rattled through her, but the title he used made her freeze. “Daddy paid us to bring you in, not to kill you.”

Shock rolled through her. Ice-cold waves shot out of her nervous system with every beat of her wretched heart.

Bring you in.

The King of Flame was still hunting her, and if this incident proved anything, it was that he had never really lost sight of her.

Rage, unlike anything Maude had ever felt, boiled in her blood. Her skin began to heat, the flames under her skin thrashing with the need to be released. Herrick was calling to her from the rooftop, unable to hear the hateful words the raider spoke.

Out of some strange awareness, Maude knew he was climbing down the wall to get to her. As soon as he touched down on the roof and began to fight off the other raiders who, per their instructions, were to leave her unharmed, Maude knew what she had to do.