Kael Shadowthorn's Arc

Chapter 5 of 8

Kael kept his hand off the iron now. The keyhole stared back at him, black and empty. No key lay on the floor, no hook held one on the wall. Behind the door waited the black arrow. He had crossed four days of wild land and a maze of bone to reach it. A locked door would not stop him. "There's no key," Lyra said. She crouched by the torn pack in the dust. Her white wolf circled the swept floor, hackles up, watching the dark. "The man who cut those scratches died before he opened it. Whatever he carried is gone or rotted." Kael studied the door. The rivets were old. The band along the top edge had pulled loose from the frame, leaving a thin gap. He drew his sword and worked the point into it. "Then we don't need a key." He leaned his weight on the hilt. The blade bit stone. The band groaned but held. "That noise will bring it," Lyra warned. "Then be ready." Kael set his boot against the wall and pulled again. The steel bent. Sweat ran under his hood. The iron band screamed and tore free. The whole door sagged inward on broken hinges and crashed flat. Dust rolled up in a gray cloud. Kael stepped over the fallen door. Beyond it lay a small stone room. On a low slab rested a single arrow, its shaft black as a burned branch, its head darker still. The black arrow that pierced any heart. He reached out and closed his fist around it. It was cold and lighter than it looked. "I have it," he said. His voice shook. Six days Lyra had watched this place. Two men had died here. Now the arrow sat in his hand. The wolf snarled and spun toward the broken doorway. Kael turned. The dust in the outer hall stirred without wind. The swept floor made sense now. Something moved down here, and the crash had woken it. The guardian above healed and waited for their exit. Its twin below no longer waited. A shape rose in the dark beyond the torchlight, tall and slow, dragging cold air with it. Kael pushed the arrow into his quiver and drew his sword again. Lyra strung her bow beside him. Her wolf placed itself in the doorway, low and growling. "We can't go back the way we came," Lyra said. Her fresh trail ran straight through that shape. "It's between us and the stairs." Kael looked at the small room. One door, now broken. One way out, now blocked. He had the arrow. He had beaten the lock. But the thing in the hall had heard every blow, and it stood on the only path home. "Then we go through it," Kael said.