The Crow King's Wife (43 page)

“Let me go first.” Dray began, but she
ignored him and crossed through the doorway as quickly as she
could. She paused once clear of the slide to wait for the others
and allow her eyes time to adjust to the shadowy interior.

“The vines are covering all of the bloody
windows. Have you got nightvision?” Havoc asked from somewhere in
the shadows to her left.

“Not really.” Zoelyn admitted bleakly. She
turned a slow circle gazing at the darkened room around her. There
were piles of rocks littering the floor near her, and the broken
remains of a long table; everything beyond those details however
was lost in darkness.

“I can guide her. I’d rather not light a
torch.” Dray suggested as he moved up beside her and took her
arm.

She shifted slightly moving his arm further
up her coat and away from the gap between her sleeve and glove. The
curse was gnawing at her so strongly that she didn’t even want to
take a chance of Dray touching her bare wrist. She needed all of
her concentration to focus on what they were doing, and if she were
distracted by keeping her curse in check she would be tripping her
way down the entire hall.

“What if we have to fight?” Zoelyn protested
before any of them had a chance to leave the room. The thought of
making her way through the entire fortress as blind as a mole was
not appealing in the least, and while she understood Dray’s
reasoning for not wanting a torch she sincerely doubted Havoc had
any sort of stealth in mind. Since the moment he had stripped from
his Rivasan disguise in the alley the Firym had been searching for
a fight, and so far he hadn’t managed to find anything to kill.

“Then Havoc and I will fight while Dray keeps
you out of the way.” Zachary replied as he moved gracefully past
them all. “It might be better if you take point Havoc. I’d hate for
you to get overly excited by something and cook our companions by
accident.”

“Probably the best option. If I’m in front
the only ones I can cook are enemies, though fire really isn’t the
best tool against Rivasans.” Havoc agreed with a shrug before
moving to join Zachary at the far side of the room. He paused in
the doorway for a breath then abruptly turned right and began
walking calmly down the hall.

“Does he know where he is going?” Dray asked
as he glanced to the left and then back to Zachary.

“I’d guess that he hasn’t got a clue, but one
way is as good as the other in a fortress this old. Most of the
halls will connect and we will get there no matter which direction
we choose. All we need to do is find the stairway down.” Zachary
explained as he motioned a hand toward Havoc’s departing form. “And
if we don’t keep up with him we will get separated and we don’t
want that. It’s an invitation to have our faces lit on fire if we
surprise him somewhere down the hall.”

“Right.” Dray agreed dubiously as he tugged
gently on her arm and set after Havoc at a quick jog. Zoelyn
frowned at the pace but didn’t bother to object. Given the options
stubbing her toe on a fallen stone did seem preferable to
surprising Havoc.

“Do you think the cowards evacuated the keep?
There should be guards and I haven’t seen a single thing to kill.”
Havoc called over his shoulder in a voice that echoed through the
corridors.

“If they didn’t evacuate they are idiots.
They have either run or set up an ambush for us in a more stable
section of the fortress. I wouldn’t be lingering in this part
either. It looks as though the ceiling beams are splitting above
us. I’d say we have an hour at most before twelve tons of stone is
falling on our heads.” Zachary replied casually.

“If they have possibly set up an ambush
shouldn’t we be a bit quieter?” Zoelyn grumbled softly. She had
never actually met Victory before, but she was quickly coming to
the conclusion that their absent friend was quiet correct in his
assessment of them and that they were in fact idiots.

“House guards in a minor city.” Zachary
replied in a bored tone. “Anyone worth his salt went with Derrick
to deal with Grim. The only ones left in the Keep will be the
scrubs. If they have in fact got an ambush set up Havoc will kill
them before we even catch up with him.”

Firelight lit the hall ahead of them before
Zoelyn could object further and the entire structure groaned once
more. Zoelyn shook her head and blinked her eyes rapidly to clear
the blindness as Dray tugged her along grumbling about insanity.
The air around her was filling with smoke and she had to fight back
the urge to cough as they drew closer to the Firym and his newest
destruction.

“Got tired of looking for the stairs
already?” Zachary observed dryly as he gazed down at the still
smoldering hole in the floor.

Havoc shrugged and smiled. “Seemed faster. I
hate Hide and go Seek, always have.” He replied and began
unbuckling his sword belt. With a flip of his wrist he wound the
belt around the two blades and tossed them to Zachary. “I’ll go
down first. Toss my blades down when I yell for them.” He said as
folded his arms around himself and stepped into the hole.

“He didn’t even check to see how far the drop
was.” Dray gasped in dismay.

“One…Two…” Zachary intoned before violent
cursing erupted from below them. Nodding Zachary dropped to a
crouch and pulled his backpack from his shoulder. “It’s a little
over twenty feet. The rest of us will want to climb down rather
than jump.” He informed them as he drew coils of silk rope from his
bag.

“Swords.” Havoc’s voice called faintly up to
them and Zachary pitched the Firym’s weapons through the hole
without bothering to look up from the rope he was busily
uncoiling.

“Damn it!” Havoc’s echoed response brought a
faint smile to Zachary’s face and he glanced up at the two of them
impishly.

“Got him.” Zachary observed with a wink then
stood and gazed around the hall for something to tie the rope off
on. With a faint frown he settled on a door and busied himself for
several minutes securing the rope to its handle.

“We would be better off with a rabid bear as
our guide.” Dray whispered in her ear and Zoelyn fought back a
smile as Zachary turned toward them.

“I’m not sure how the rope will hold up if it
spends too long in contact with the stone Havoc melted so climb
quickly.” Zachary tossed the rope through the hole as he spoke and
motioned them both forward.

“Bloody hell.” Dray grumbled as he scrambled
for the rope and held it away from the edges of the hole. “You
first Zoey I’ll hold it for you.”

“Think I found the prison entrance. Big bad
looking iron bound door at the end of this hall.” Havoc called up
to them as Zoelyn hesitantly took the rope and tried in vain to
spot the ground below the hole.

“Wait for us before going in. If they do have
an ambush set it will be behind that door.” Zachary called back to
him and motioned for her to move quickly. “He won’t really wait for
us so go as quickly as you can without falling.” He urged.

“I’m not fond of heights.” Zoelyn sighed as
she clutched the rope and braced herself against the sides of the
hole. Logic won out over caution as the still heated stone around
the edges of the hole began to warm her feet through her boots.
“I’m not sure I like you right now Havoc.” She mumbled as she
scurried down the rope and for one of the few times in her life she
was grateful that she always wore gloves. She knew Dray’s hands
wouldn’t fare so well on the climb down. The silk rope was lighter
to carry than any other kind, but it was also slick under her grip
and with nothing to brace her feet against it was difficult to
control her momentum.

“I know I don’t like you right now.” Dray
called in a louder voice as he followed quickly down the rope.
Cursing softly he landed gracefully beside her and shook his hands
in annoyance. “I think we are making this more complicated than it
ever should have been.” He added with a sigh.

“Grim is actually the one that made it
complicated. If not for the Stonevines we could have walked
straight in without wasting time circling the building first.”
Zachary corrected as he landed lightly beside them both and stalked
off down the hall in pursuit of Havoc.

“He has a point.” Zoelyn observed glumly.

“Grim did what he did for a reason.” Dray
objected stubbornly and Zoelyn smiled in response. She had seen the
way Dray watched Grim at Delvay and hadn’t missed the tinges of
hero worship that had filled the Blight’s eyes. Grim had served
Dray’s father loyally, and he was the last one living that had
truly known Micah well. She doubted there was anything Grim could
do to turn Dray against him because of that fact alone.

“You actually waited.” Zachary said sounding
astonished as they reached the end of the hall and found Havoc
leaning against the stone wall with his arms crossed.

“It’s immune to fire.” Havoc informed them
all as he pointed a thumb toward the wooden door. “Protective wards
or something.”

“So you waited unwillingly.” Zachary
corrected with a smirk and let out a quiet sigh before glancing at
the two of them. “Can either of you pick locks? I can’t use
Oblivion here or my brother will know what I’m about and I’d rather
avoid that.”

“Look at you sneaking out of the house and
past curfew too.” Havoc teased with a wide grin. His green eyes
danced with merriment and Zoelyn marveled at how much he resembled
Finn when he smiled.

“Sure to be grounded.” Zachary agreed dryly
but was smiling as well as he watched them both hopefully for any
sign that they had thieving talents.

Zoelyn exchanged glances with Dray before
shaking her head slowly and taking a hesitant step toward the door.
“Havoc.” She began in a wavering voice as she pulled one of her
gloves off. “If I destroy the wards protecting the door can you
bring it down without killing everything beyond it? I mean if the
children as just past this door and you cook them it kind of ruins
the rescue mission.”

Havoc’s brow creased as he seemed to consider
the question. Chewing on his lower lip he dropped to a knee and
slid one finger under the edge of the door. With a slow nod he
examined his bent finger and stood once more. “It’s about three
inches wide. If they don’t get hit by shards of wood they should be
fine. I can keep the fire under control and just take out the
section by the doorknob.” He explained then slammed a fist loudly
against the wooden doors. “Stand back from the door it is going to
kind of explode a bit!” he bellowed.

“Explode a bit.” Zachary repeated with
muffled laughter as he shook his head and stepped further back down
the hall. “You are such an idiot.” He added with a wide smile.

“Havoc, what if that was a guard’s room?”
Zoelyn asked quietly as she stared at the Firym in disbelief.

“Then I actually get to hit something with my
sword soon.” Havoc returned and waved a hand toward the door.
“Please get on with it. At this rate Grim is going to have all of
the real guards dead by the time we get out of here.”

“Do you realize how bloodthirsty you sound?”
Dray asked with a shake of his head before taking several steps
back down the hall to stand a bit behind Zachary.

“You do realize a Blight just called you
bloodthirsty right?” Zoelyn asked calmly as she flattened her bare
hand to the door. Her breath caught in her throat as the warm flood
of magic filled her veins and she had to resist closing her eyes in
ecstasy as the hunger of the curse was temporarily sated by the
draining wards.

“Micah’s son so not an average Blight.
Besides they are Rivasans and therefore they need to die. Have you
seen the corrupted fire they use? It’s blasphemy.” Havoc protested
in a disgusted voice.

“Right.” Zoelyn agreed numbly and stepped
back from the door. Her body hummed with contentment from the magic
and it was swiftly eliminating all desire to argue further with
Havoc on anything he chose to do.

“Right.” Havoc echoed firmly before pushing
her back behind him. She watched with mild interest as he squared
his shoulders and drew his arms back once more. The air around him
heated uncomfortably and she took another step back as he flung his
arms toward the door unleashing a blinding gout of flame.

The door exploded inward sending shards of
wood flying in all directions but rather than scatter as they
should have they seemed to hang in the air as they spun slowly into
the shadowed room beyond. Frowning Zoelyn blinked and stared
stupidly at the pieces of wood as a dark shape stepped forward into
the doorway with blinding speed. She saw Havoc’s hand reach for his
sword but the movement was far too slow to block the flashing blade
that tore across his throat. With a curse the Firym staggered back
into her and the world seemed to explode into motion once more as
the shards of wood spun off into the darkness. Blood gushed from
Havoc’s torn throat and Zoelyn frantically tried to stem the flow
with her gloved hand as she drug him further from the grey cloaked
figure filling the doorway.

“Hello sweets. So very nice to finally meet
you.” The man’s voice was low and filled with amusement as he
stepped from the room and into the hall. “Lord Dark I wouldn’t draw
that sword if I were you.” He warned as his head tilted to look
past her.

Swallowing heavily Zoelyn drew on the healing
magic stored within her and used the faintest touch to seal the
flesh at Havoc’s throat. She would need to examine the wound closer
to know how much healing he truly needed, but she couldn’t leave
him bleeding as she drug him along, and she had to get him out of
range of the approaching man.

Something brushed against her side and she
glanced up to see Dray stepping in front of her with a determined
look on his face. “You will not harm her.” Dray growled as his hand
dropped to his own dagger. He seemed a pitiful guardian considering
how quickly the man had dropped Havoc, but Zoelyn forced herself to
keep silent. There was a small chance that Dray would give the man
enough pause for her to get Havoc to safety just with his presence.
Nearly everyone in Sanctuary knew of the Blight’s now, and there
weren’t many that were willing to fight one of the creatures. Of
course most Blight’s had a bloodthirsty nature and the instinct to
kill, Dray had neither from what she had seen.