Page 58 of Swords of Soul and Shadow (Gate Chronicles #3)

Screams erupted from outside the tent, and the ground shook. Kase caught Lady Davey before she fell. Samuel cried. Clara and Zelda held onto each other. Shouts echoed down the tunnel. More screams.

His mind raced. Were they after him? Had his father sent soldiers to look for him? Was this the end? Could he throw the blame on Eravin?

Kase felt dirty just thinking about that possibility. Eravin had helped him last night, and not even twelve hours later, Kase plotted to repay him with accusations meant to save his own skin.

After making sure they weren’t injured, Kase stepped up to the tent flap. Soldiers and civilians alike ran past. He caught a few words. Another collapse. The largest one yet. Cerl hovers were already in the area.

An attack. Had the Cerls caused the collapse? What reason could there be, except to look for survivors and finish them off?

Unless…unless they were looking for someone specific. Someone they needed. Like an Essence wielder. Like Loffler.

His chest squeezed.

If that was true, Kase had revealed that Loffler was the Essence wielder in the game last night. He hadn’t meant to. It’d just come out. Someone had told. Was it Eravin? Neville and Waylan could have, too, he guessed. It had to have been Eravin.

Blast it. Kase knew he was part of One World, and he just—ugh, why did Kase keep screwing things up?

Maybe he did indeed deserve the metaphorical chains his father had placed around his wrists. Panic bloomed in his chest as more soldiers thundered by, not paying him any mind. He gripped the tent flap in his hand. He could barely hear Clara asking him what was happening.

A roaring boom shook the tunnel next. This time Kase fell over, but he launched himself to his feet quickly.

The tunnels were too exposed. The recent gaping holes had caused too much disruption, and now the Cerls knew where they’d been hiding. Without the Crews and hovers, the Jaydians were more akin to sitting ducks.

He ignored Samuel’s cries and the women’s questions as he stuffed everything he saw into the packs.

Zelda seemed to understand without any words exchanged.

She handed him salves and bandages and vials with stoppers.

He tied up the pack and shoved it into her arms. “Take this and get to the lower tunnels. The Stradat Lord Kapitan’s tent. Now.”

Zelda pulled the pack on her back. Clara grabbed Kase’s arm. “What is going on?”

“Attack.”

Her eyes were wide, and her lip trembled. “Jove.”

It was the first time since arriving in Kyvena that he saw the fear in her eyes. He needed to do something.

“If he’s lasted this long, he can hold on for a few more hours.” He was getting good at projecting confidence he didn’t feel. He just hoped he wasn’t lying.

Zelda grabbed Stowe’s pack and gave it to Lady Davey. “Let’s go.”

Clara held Samuel tightly, her face tight with panic.

Kase led them into the chaos. Refugees ran, their salvaged belongings gathered in their arms. Screams and the shouts of barked military orders echoed off the walls.

Kase grabbed Clara’s free hand and pulled her along.

Zelda and Lady Davey followed close behind.

Zelda glared at anyone who jostled them too hard.

They were trapped like rats, and they had no way of fighting back. What were the soldiers going to do? The swords were useless, and the electropistols were still dead. Was there a reserve of flashpistols anywhere? Though they wouldn’t do much to the enemy hovers.

Helpless. It was a feeling Kase knew well, but as he dragged Clara, Samuel, Lady Davey, and Zelda through the crowds, he felt failure so hard it nearly made him collapse right then and there. There was no way out. There was no way to fight back.

If something happened to Clara or Samuel, Jove would never forgive him. He would never forgive himself.

Think. Think.

He had to do something. He could get them to safety, but how long would that last?

How long would it be before the upper tunnels collapsed into the lower ones?

How long would the bombardment go on? If he just had a hover, he could take out the enemy easily.

But without electricity, any hovers that had survived the initial assault would be nearly as useless.

He assumed they hadn’t been refueled either, and he wouldn’t have time to dig for more Yalvar fuel.

Then it clicked.

If he could just get to the surface, he could use the stolen hover. He whipped his head wildly around as he fought the river of refugees, searching for a ladder, another tunnel, anything that would lead him up.

People pressed against him. Screams and shouts rang through the air. His eyes scanned above their heads.

There. A ladder. Whatever guard who’d been manning it had disappeared into the fleeing populace.

He could make this right.

He pulled Clara close so she could hear what he said. “Find the Stradat Lord Kapitan. Stay safe. I’m going to help.”

Clara’s face was strained, and Samuel screamed, though his cries were lost to the cacophony around them. “Kase, no. Your mother would never forgive me.”

“I have to, Clara. Please.”

Zelda leaned close. “I’ll take them.”

Kase gave a nod of thanks as Zelda dragged the other two women back into the flow.

Kase watched them disappear, ignoring the voice in the back of his head that said he was abandoning them only to die in the city above.

Kase waited only one more second before fighting his way toward the nearest ladder.

Shouts and screams bombarded him. Someone tried to pull him off the ladder.

He kicked them, unsure if it was purposeful or accidental. He could apologize later.

He had to make this right. Especially if he was the reason it was all happening. He shouldn’t have gone with Eravin. He shouldn’t have drunk the whiskey. He was a stars-idiot.

His father was right. He was rubbish at decisions unless he was up in the sky.

The metal rungs chafed against his palms as he climbed.

His forearms and calves burned with each step up to the next rung.

The entire ladder shook. Whether that was from bombardment, cave-ins, or the general scrambling of refugees, Kase didn’t know.

He didn’t look down, only climbed faster and faster until he reached a landing and a door cloaked in darkness, sunlight pushing through the infinitesimal crack to the right.

Kase didn’t see a knob or anything to open the door with.

He wrenched himself up and pressed on the door.

It was locked. Or coded. Or maybe even halfway sealed shut.

He felt along the edges, looking for hinges.

He didn’t find any, so the door had to open outward.

A good sign. He didn’t have much room to work with on the landing, but he’d have to make it work.

He flung himself at the door; it gave only a little before bouncing him back.

He caught himself on the rough stone wall to keep himself from falling back down the shaft.

“You have a death wish, Shackley?”

Kase glanced down toward the bottom of the ladder shaft to find the outline of Eravin Gray, sporting a busted lip. Of course.

Kase only felt slightly guilty, as he had a sneaking suspicion he’d been the one to give it to him. Kase rolled his shoulder, ignoring the pain; it was fading fast anyway. Maybe he should try kicking the door instead.

“Get out of here,” Kase barked, turning back to the door.

He lifted his right foot and placed it on the spot that would give him the best shot at kicking it open.

He’d done it in the Narden Pass with a frozen lock and hadn’t broken anything.

Surely he could do it again here. If he didn’t get to the hover, he would have more than a broken ankle to deal with.

The rumbling overhead was deafening. Kase jumped, covering his ears. He needed to get out there. He placed his foot against the door again.

“Stop, you’re going to do something stupid,” Eravin growled, crawling the rest of the way up.

Kase pressed himself against the wall as Eravin joined him.

His old friend pulled something Kase couldn’t quite make out from his pocket and sliced it through the crack.

“Simple locking mechanism, but it’s not actually locked.

Door’s just jammed, I think. Easy fix if we do it together. ”

They lined their shoulders up against the door.

“On three?” Kase asked.

Eravin nodded.

Kase took a few steps back, and Eravin followed. “One…two…three!”

Both men surged forward, their shoulders leading the charge. They smacked against the door, pressing hard and fast. With a great groan, the door flew open, smacking the opposite wall.

Kase caught Eravin before he tumbled onto the stone walkway.

“Thanks,” Eravin muttered as sunlight poured into the tiny space.

Kase squinted painfully against the light and forced himself out into it, ducking instinctively when hovers roared over his head.

His heart thumped in his ears louder than the hovers as he stumbled out onto the city wall.

Eravin joined him moments later and cursed.

There were at least seven Cerl hovers flying in formation.

They whipped over their heads. The force of wind knocked Kase into one of the battlements.

Eravin hit the deck. Kase peeked around the stone monolith that had saved him from cascading off the wall.

His heart sank. He was on the opposite side of the city from where he’d left the hover.