Nightblood

by Elly Blake

  But if I gave the signal, the ships would attack the harbor as a distraction.

  After a few minutes, our rowboat scraped bottom. I slipped into the freezing shallows and grabbed the bow to help pull the vessel from the water. One of the masters inhaled as his feet sank into the frigid water, the sound blending with the lapping waves. We spent a few minutes gathering leafy branches from under the trees and dragging them back to partially cover the boat in case the night watch came this way.

  We didn’t speak as we each tied a section of a long length of rope around our waists and put on leather gloves with sharp pieces of metal sewn into the palms to help us grasp the ice that Arcus would create to make handholds.

  “Careful,” Arcus whispered.

  “You too,” I replied.

  Seva, one of the Fireblood masters, went first, as she had the most climbing experience. Finding handholds in the rock, she hauled herself up. Arcus followed.

  I used the same holds to pull myself up, inch by inch. Some sections offered multiple indentations to grab on to, and sometimes it took Seva a minute or two to find the next handhold.

  My fingers ached, my toes bent painfully to dig into the small ledges. A breeze stirred tendrils of hair from my tight braid.

  About halfway up, Seva stopped.

  “No handholds,” she said in Sudesian.

  I translated to Arcus, then held my breath, my eyes fixed on his dark outline above.

  The hiss of frost turned into the crackle of ice as it met rock. It clung to the cliff face, forming into a nicely shaped ledge.

  We had discussed the idea of the masters and I creating our own handholds by heating and molding the rock, but even among the masters, it was rare to have a gift that strong, and the effort would probably leave us too weak to climb.

  “It holds,” Seva confirmed, “but I need another.”

  Our progress slowed as we had to repeat the process. After a while, my arms and legs shook. Despite the cold, I was drenched in sweat.

  “Ruby,” Arcus whispered urgently. “Keep moving.”

  “Where’s the next handhold?”

  “Left hand. Six inches up, two inches left.”

  My fingers stretched, grabbed… then slipped. I panted, eyes wide. Ice appeared a few inches above me. A series of handholds. I hauled myself up until cold fingers closed over my wrist and dragged me to the top in a single heave.

  “I’ve got you,” Arcus said, pulling me into an embrace. His heart raced against my cheek. Unable to speak, I leaned against him for a few seconds.

  Dima, the other Fireblood master, reached the top. Meanwhile, Arcus secured a grappling hook, making sure it was in place for our escape. We untied the rope from around our waists and crept toward the keep.

  A torch came into view near the tower and moved in our direction.

  We crouched behind fallen stones from the crumbling towers. When the guard was a few feet away, Arcus sent a gust of frost at the torch, dousing it with a hiss.

  The guard swore as he was plunged into darkness.

  Swift and silent, I crept up behind, rock in hand, and bashed him over the head. He crumpled. Kill! urged the Minax. Finish him!

  Arcus’s smile caught the moonlight as he joined me. “Well done.”

  Relieved that Arcus had brought me back to myself, I took a second to check the guard’s pulse. Faint, but steady. Good. I didn’t want to kill anyone unless I had no other choice.

  As we moved forward, the base of the closest tower rose out of the dark, the opening we needed covered by a hidden door—the entrance Liddy had assured us wouldn’t be guarded.

  “Borna!” a guard shouted from somewhere overhead. “Where are you? Check in!”

  “Hurry,” I whispered, moving my hands over the stones in a frantic search.

  “Got it.” There was a click and Arcus heaved open the hidden door.

  We flowed like whispers into the passage under the keep. Thanks to Liddy’s map, it wasn’t long before the twisting paths brought us to another hidden door leading to the cells. I recognized the fetid stench before Arcus even had the door open. It smelled like my worst memories of Blackcreek Prison.

  Recognition hit me so hard, I had to put a hand to the wall to stay upright. Sensing waves of despair, the Minax stirred.

  I forced myself to keep going.

  The dungeon was empty. No guards in sight.

  Motioning Arcus and the two masters to follow, I led them to the cell I remembered from my vision.

  Dim light from a barred window fell on what appeared to be a pile of rags.

  “Marella?” I whispered, searching for movement, hoping she was still alive.

  “Who is it?” she snapped, her voice hoarse.

  Arcus said softly, “Marella? It’s me.”

  The way he said it reminded me that they’d essentially grown up together. At one time, she’d been his betrothed. She would know his voice anywhere.

  A sob came from the shadows, then shuffling sounds. A face appeared in the dark. If I hadn’t known who she was, I wouldn’t have recognized her. Her eyes appeared huge in her gaunt face. Her hair was too dirt-streaked to see the sunny, wheat-gold color.

  Her fingers wrapped around the bars. “It’s really you.”

  “We’ll get you out,” I promised, lighting a flame in my palm.

  Arcus touched the lock. Frost formed in the keyhole, just as it had in Blackcreek Prison when Brother Thistle unlocked my cell. The ice grated against metal. There was a clicking sound, but the lock didn’t yield. Arcus made a frustrated sound in his throat and tried again.

  “Well, if it were easy,” I pointed out, “Marella could have unlocked it already.” Although I knew from my own experience in prison that her gift would be weakened by hunger.

  “I practiced this, dammit,” Arcus muttered when the lock didn’t open for the third time. Brother Thistle had made lock-picking look so easy, but he’d warned us that every lock was different, some easier than others.

  Time for our contingency plan. I nudged him out of the way.

  “Stand back and cover your face,” I told Marella, then grasped the bars. Focusing with complete concentration, I poured heat into the metal. The bars grew warm, then hot. They glowed orange. One of the Fireblood masters murmured words of admiration, reminding me that not everyone could do this.

  Drained, I leaned against the wall, my energy spent. The masters and I turned away as Arcus grabbed the bars with ice-covered hands and yanked.

  The bars groaned, then broke with an explosion of sound.

  “Is everyone all right?” he asked, already reaching in for Marella. She squeezed between the broken bars and fell into his arms. He lifted her, cradling her against his chest, then looked at me.

  We all nodded that we were fine.

  “My cellmate,” Marella said, turning her head. “You have to bring her with us.”

  “We came for you,” Arcus said sternly. “We can’t rescue everyone.”

  “She’s an old woman. She kept me alive. Please.”

  As a figure came into view in the cell, the floor shifted under my feet.

  Shadows cloaked her, but I squinted as if I were staring at a bright light.

  The Minax slammed into awareness. Danger!

  My head spun. It felt as if I were slipping and falling, losing my grip the way I had on the cliff. I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my lip to keep from crying out.

  “Leave her!” I tried to shout, but it emerged as a whisper. The Minax writhed, twisting in my chest to the point of pain.

  Everyone’s attention was on the prisoner as she stepped from the cell, her face hidden by the fall of her matted white hair.

  The Minax quivered. Dangerous!

  I opened my mouth to warn Arcus, but he was already speaking. “Marella says you saved her life.” I knew by his tone that he’d decided to bring her along even before he added, “We won’t leave you behind.”

  “Thank you,” she said with more than a hint of relief. As
she wobbled unsteadily, the Fireblood master Dima swung her into his arms.

  I wanted to rage and scream that we were making a mistake, but Arcus was already striding ahead, retracing our steps to the passage. I followed swiftly, trying to bring myself under control. We could deal with this once we were safely out.

  But as we reached the entrance to the twisting tunnels, a massive man stepped out of the shadows, his pale eyes glittering.

  He spoke in a deep baritone as he raised a spiked club. “Eurus will reward me for my service.”

  TWENTY-THREE

  “TO ME!” THE GUARD THUNDERED. “I have them!”

  Answering shouts and a veritable stampede of booted feet filled the passage behind him. Mentally, I cursed in two languages. So much for getting in and out without being noticed.

  The giant surged toward us, swinging the club in a whistling arc.

  Seva and I threw up a wall of flame to block his advance. Unfortunately, that also cut off our escape.

  A series of shouts came from behind the fire. “Don’t let them escape!” and “Eurus will reward us!”

  “They must have found the unconscious guard,” I muttered, angry at myself for not bothering to hide him.

  “We have to find another way out,” the old woman said at my side.

  I whipped around, my lips drawing back from my teeth. I had to resist the urge to hiss at her like a feral cat. Something about her made me feel deeply unsettled. I turned away, searching the dim corridor. We’d planned for this possibility, studied all the routes on the map, but my thoughts were scrambled by the shouts, the chaos, and my own reaction to the unexpected prisoner.

  Marella pointed toward a hall with more cells. “That’s the direction the guards come from.”

  Since Arcus and Dima both had their arms full, I took the lead. Seva brought up the rear.

  Two guards burst into the dungeon before we reached the stairs, followed by two more. Fire erupted from my hands, forcing them into one of the cells. Their screams pierced my ears as they batted at their clothing, trying to put out the flames. Arcus slammed the cell door with frost and locked it with a coating of ice.

  We rushed up the stairs. Two archers stood at the top, pulling back the strings of their bows, releasing arrows. Fire devoured the shafts before they could reach us, the metal arrowheads hitting the stone ceiling.

  I poured out flame, forcing the archers back. Hearing their screams. Advancing step by step. I kept up the fire, driving back guards, not letting myself care who might be hurt. I couldn’t afford the luxury of checking pulses now. It was us or them.

  “Turn right!” Arcus shouted, remembering the map. I did, using fire to clear the path, letting Seva keep the guards from following. Arcus shouted directions and I followed, panting, stumbling, weakening as we finally found a door leading outside.

  We burst from the opening. At least two dozen archers had their arrows trained on us.

  “Ruby, get down!” Arcus shouted.

  No time. With a final, desperate surge of power, I lifted my arms, encasing us in a bubble of flame. Seva raised her hands and added her gift to mine. A few arrows made it through, but their trajectory was ruined. They fell harmlessly.

  The sky was on fire. I kept my arms up, dizziness softening my knees. Arcus’s back against mine kept me upright.

  “To the cliff!” he ordered, nudging me in the right direction.

  Seva covered our backs as we ran. I was out of fire.

  The seconds passed in a haze. Somehow, we made it to the cliff. Arcus put Marella down for a moment and created a wall of ice to block the guards from the cliff edge.

  The plan had been that if we ran into trouble, we’d signal Kai with fire. Apparently our fight with the guards had sent him the message that we needed help. Blinding flashes lit the harbor as a firefight raged below. Our ships were spread out, trying to draw the enemy vessels out of the harbor. The Servants used bows and small catapults to launch burning arrows and missiles—probably oil-soaked rags—toward our ships. Our forces returned fire.

  We had the advantage of Frostblood sailors on each ship. Some of the Servants’ ships clearly didn’t. One was fully engulfed from sails to decks, the air rippling with heat. Hit broadside by waves, it swayed side to side as sailors jumped overboard, like a mongrel shaking off fleas.

  But new ships were arriving, closing in on ours from the open sea.

  I took this in at a glance, then remembered to check the beach where our small boat waited.

  Vaguely, I heard Arcus ask the old woman her name.

  “Lucina,” she answered.

  The sound of her voice made the hair rise on the back of my neck.

  Torches emerged from the trees onto the beach. As they moved toward the water, their light illuminated the branches we’d used to cover our boat, shouts echoed, and more torches appeared.

  “New plan,” I said, moving away from the edge. “As in, we need one. We can’t go that way.”

  Lucina said, “There are steps that lead from the keep to the island road. That’s how I was brought here.”

  “We’ll never make it there!” I snapped.

  “If only I had some daylight to work with,” she said, almost to herself.

  “What good would that do?” She’s holding us back. Leave her here.

  Arcus strode back to the cliff, then grabbed the rope and started to draw it up. I rushed to help him as Dima and Seva continued covering our backs.

  When we’d pulled the last of it up, he pointed a few feet away to where the farthest edge of the cliff jutted out over the sea. “We’ll throw it down over there.”

  Peering over the edge, I watched as waves crashed into the point of the arrowhead-shaped slab of rock, the spray flying so high, I imagined I could feel it. Anyone who dropped into that spot would be snatched by the waves and dashed against the cliff. There were probably also rocks beneath the water that could break our bones into kindling.

  I looked back at him in horror. “Have you lost your mind?”

  He didn’t reply, and hauled the rope to where he’d pointed. After casting it over the cliff, he stepped close. “I would go first, but I have to carry Marella, so it’s going to be more awkward for me. I’ll go last.”

  “Maybe someone else should carry her,” I said, not liking the idea of him going last.

  “She’s a Frostblood, but she’s weak. I don’t know if it’ll hurt her to be carried by a Fireblood right now. You go first. Then Lucina with Dima, then Seva, then Marella and me. Be safe.”

  “Safe?” I threw a hand out to indicate the white spray below. “You mean safely drowned?”

  His lips curved up at the edges, but his eyes were serious. “Don’t you trust me by now?”

  Testing my faith in him now of all times! But it was impossible to argue with his calm tone. Shouts and screams filled the air and searing flashes lit the night as the sea battle continued below. We didn’t know how long our ships could hold the Servants off.

  There was no time for doubt.

  With a last glance at Arcus, I grabbed the rope and started to rappel down.

  The wind had picked up, and there was no protection in this exposed spot. I focused on gripping the rope, pushing off with my feet, descending in measured lengths. Above me, Dima and Lucina followed.

  Salt spray soaked my legs first, and then the rest of me. It made the rope as slick as if it were greased. I slid faster toward the waves. In a few seconds, the sea would open its hungry mouth and devour me.

  As I struggled not to panic, a crackling noise came from below. The cold spray no longer soaked me. I looked down. The area below was turning to icy slush, then freezing solid, the curving shape of a frozen wave leaning against the cliff.

  So this was his plan.

  I squeezed the rope in my fists, slowing my descent. My palms burned. If the rope weren’t so wet, I would worry about setting it on fire.

  I had a moment to brace myself and then my feet met the beginning of the icy cu
rve. As I reached the end of the rope, I let go.

  My back met the frozen wave. I curled up to protect my face and head. As the curve bottomed out, I was tossed skyward, then landed with a teeth-rattling jolt, my breath knocked out of me. I slid along the smooth surface at a breakneck pace. A moment of terror made my chest seize as I anticipated flying off into the dark, churning waves.

  Instead, I slid up onto a curve and back down. The sides were raised and rounded, almost like a tunnel. If I’d had any breath in my lungs, I would have laughed at Arcus’s cleverness. I was already slowing when I spotted the hull of our ship ahead. The ice continued for about five more yards, ending where a ladder hung down.

  My old friend Jaro, the sailor who helped teach me Sudesian when I was first on Kai’s ship, leaned over the edge. “Grab the ladder!”

  Scrambling with hands and legs, I managed to stop a few feet away. A second later, Lucina slid to a stop on her knees. It would have been kind to offer to help her up, but I didn’t want to. I was afraid to touch her, though I didn’t know why.

  It was a relief when Dima slid into view next, quickly finding his feet and helping Lucina up. Seva followed, and I waited for another face to appear.

  No sign of Arcus.

  I glanced up. A figure stood at the edge of the cliff, illuminated by flashes of fire in the harbor below.

  My hands balled into fists. Hurry! I screamed in my mind.

  He disappeared over the edge, his dark clothing blending with the cliff.

  I climbed the ship’s ladder.

  As soon as my feet touched the deck, I ran to the stern for a clear view, willing him to appear.

  A stream of fire came from water near the island’s stretch of beach. Our small boat was now filled with four or five silhouettes coming after us. They directed another streak of flame at the ice Arcus had created for our escape. The smooth blue-white surface started to break into chunks. Waves took and scattered them.

  Had the waves taken him, too? The Minax fed on my surge of agonized fear.

  The streams of fire coming from the small boat grew weaker and then stopped. Still, the sea kept eating away at the ice.