Page 29 of Swords of Soul and Shadow (Gate Chronicles #3)

NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE

Niels

IF YOU’D ASKED NIELS A day ago whether or not he was in good shape, he’d have answered yes.

He’d done five years in the mines, and besides the slow onset of the Fogs, he would’ve said he could hike a mountain without any trouble.

But with two injuries, one being a bullet still lodged in his leg… well, that would’ve made him a liar.

If he could’ve walked straight on while leaning on the branch he’d fashioned as a walking stick before they started hiking, he would have suffered only stiffness and a slight ache.

But a mountain wasn’t something to be conquered like a road in the plains.

Each step up the incline, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out.

The pain would calm after a minute, but shortly after, he’d repeat the process once more.

It was agony.

He was determined to keep the worst of it from Hallie. She had enough on her mind, and with the Cerl King waiting for them to return with some sword, he didn’t want to add yet another burden to her plate. If she did know, she would only blame herself for failing to heal him all the way.

What kind of world had Niels woken up in? He’d seen the Essence power used multiple times now, yet each time he was almost convinced he’d dreamt it.

His lungs burned a little from the changing altitude, but as a son of the mountains, he adjusted easily.

He briefly wondered if Hallie would come down with a bout of high-altitude sickness.

He hoped not; she’d seemed fine back in the caverns and in Achilles, but judging by the strain on his own lungs, this mountain path would take them much higher than the altitude even he was used to.

But they had more pressing problems.

Niels barely watched where he was walking. He only concentrated on not throwing up, keeping his leg as steady as possible, and not focusing on the girl walking in front of him, her red braid swaying as they climbed.

He lost track of just how long they climbed, but it was well past midday, bordering on golden hour, when they approached the immense gates made from what could only be Zuprium—a metal in which he was nearly an expert.

He took deep, controlled breaths, aware of the slick sweat coating every inch of him, and tried not to topple back down the mountain.

The crisp air did feel nice after the hike, but it did nothing for his leg.

On the outside, the gates, towers and wall looked as if they hadn’t been touched with anything but the rich, waning sunlight in quite a while.

“Should we call out? I don’t want to add crossbow bolt to the stomach to my list of injuries.” Niels limped forward, shielding Hallie from the nearest window. No one appeared in it or on the walkway, but he didn’t want to risk it.

He was naked without a weapon of his own. All he had was a girl with some sort of power he couldn’t explain and she couldn’t control. He was useless as anything but a shield.

Hallie strode forward. “There’s no one.”

He caught her jacket. “Hal.”

She turned and shook her head. “Just trust me.”

Her eyes were as heavy as the rain laden clouds at their back. He swallowed and cleared his throat. “I’ll follow.”

If she thought his behavior strange, she didn’t let on. Instead, she threw her shoulders back and marched toward the gates.

The towering gatehouse and doors that could swallow his childhood home held a history he didn’t understand.

They were made of Zuprium, but someone had taken a graver to it and created a scene that reminded him of the one displayed in the tunnels beneath the other city.

A bright and shining sun lay between two doors.

People danced around it, but as Niels got closer, he realized an archway was tucked away within the sun.

It was barely visible in the fading sunlight; he couldn’t tell if that had been done intentionally or caused by weathering and time.

Maybe the pain clouding his mind was also messing with his eyesight.

With their combined strength, they were able to push the left door open.

The metal scraped and screeched against the stone beneath their feet.

Niels tripped when they stopped, but he caught himself on the cold metal door.

White-hot fire zinged up his leg. He couldn’t stop himself from crying out.

Hallie twisted to look at him, alarm clearing the clouds from her eyes. “Niels?”

“It’s all right,” Niels said, pushing his hair back and tucking the stray strands behind his ear. He gritted his teeth and willed himself to hold on a little longer. He could do that. He’d been through worse.

Well, he hadn’t. But lying to himself made it easier to bear.

“You can stay here in the gate house if you’d like,” Hallie offered, pointing to the shadowed archway that was visible now that they had opened one of the doors. “I’ll go find what we need, and then we can go back.”

“No. I’m not leaving you to wander around by yourself.”

Her nostrils flared; her jaw stiffened. “I know what I’m doing.”

She was under a lot of stress. They both were. But how many times were they going to have this argument? He straightened and readjusted his grip on his makeshift staff. “I’d rather not split up.”

“And I’d rather you not ruin your leg any further.”

Ah. She felt guilty. But this wasn’t her fault, not really. “I’ll be fine. I have to get used to it anyway. Not like the bullet’s going anywhere.”

Her face darkened. That was the absolute wrong thing to say, but it was true. His leg ached, and his lungs still burned from the more difficult hike; if he wanted to keep up, he’d have to adapt.

Hallie looked away. Her hair was falling out of her braid. The sweat coating her face and the exertion it took to climb the mountain had given way to a pink flush across her cheeks and fine, fiery wisps curling at her temples.

Stars, she was beautiful.

As soon as he thought it, the image of her kissing Kase in the cavern came back to him and sobered him quickly.

Blast everything.

He looked past her and up at the city at last.

The buildings here were made from Zuprium, the roofs impossibly slim and pointed.

The structure jutting out above the rest nearest the mountainside must have been a palace by the smattering of towers and turrets.

In the golden light, the city glowed like radiant starlight.

But an emptiness and sense of loss hung heavy in the crisp evening air.

The wind sang a mournful song through the trees at his back and freed the hair he’d tucked behind his ear.

“Welcome to Myrrai,” Hallie whispered.

Niels stepped forward and slid an arm around her shoulders. It was a little difficult with her pack, but he pulled her close. “I’m sorry.”

He wasn’t entirely sure what he was sorry for, but this place meant something to her, and he ached to figure out what had happened. Now was not the time to ask.

She shrugged him off and started up the winding lane, avoiding a dark, yawning stain upon the stone.

How was he supposed to show her he cared if she wouldn’t even meet him halfway? He was doing all the right things, but she was stubborn as a stone lodged in a mountain stream.

He’d agreed to come along to keep her safe. He hadn’t realized he’d have to fight her every step of the way to do it.

Niels gripped his stick harder and followed after her. He’d get to the bottom of it, but he didn’t know how much longer he could be patient. An ache had begun behind his right eye. He’d only had a small respite between headaches this time.

Niels followed slowly, his head on a swivel.

What had happened? Why was it seemingly abandoned?

According to everyone else, this place held answers, but if there wasn’t anyone to answer them, what was the purpose?

He didn’t think that whatever sword the Cerl King wanted would just be lying out in the open.

That wasn’t the way the stories worked, and the line between real life and fantastical had blurred in recent days.

He hadn’t read much since Hallie had left.

The quicker they figured out how to get back home, the better. He didn’t have much hope for that either. That thought should have filled him with dread, but he was here with Hallie, and she was all he needed.

A rattling sound echoed through a nearby alley. Niels jerked and spun toward it. Immediately, he regretted that choice. His leg exploded with heat and pain. He couldn’t stifle the hissing gasp that escaped his lips. He fell against the cottage beside him. The wall groaned at the impact.

“Niels!”

If Niels hadn’t been in so much pain, he would’ve made a note of the fear in her voice. Instead, all he could hear was his pounding heart as his blood leaked out of the wound at a blistering pace.

Niels pressed a hand to his knee. Fresh blood oozed over his fingers.

How? How had that happened? Hadn’t Hallie fixed it? Had the bullet ruptured something?

“You’re bleeding again. Did you—” Hallie knelt next to his leg and looked toward the alleyway where he’d heard the noise. “Did something hit you?”

“No, nothing.”

She hesitated. “May I?”

He nodded, and she leaned forward, her fingers prodding a little.

He grunted at the fresh onslaught of pain. His head felt a little lighter. Not a good sign.

She pulled back, face falling. “It’s reopened.” She glanced around as if looking for the answer among the ghosts. “I must not have…whatever I did back in Ravenhelm didn’t work. Or it didn’t hold. Or…” She worried her lip with her teeth. “I’m not sure what to do.”

Nausea ate away at his stomach, and his headache only grew. “I need to rest. Then we can bandage it properly.”

“I’m not Jack.”

“Thank the stars for that,” Niels mumbled as Hallie slung his arm around her shoulder and helped him limp in the direction of what he’d assumed was a palace when he’d spotted it below. “You’re much prettier.”

It would’ve sounded more romantic if he hadn’t ground it out through the pain.