Zach Brenner's Arc

Chapter 15 of 86

Steel rang off bone. Zach shoved the lead warrior back and caught his breath. A dozen dead men blocked the chamber. Behind them, somewhere, lay the way up into Darkthorne's tower. But he saw no stair, no door, no gap in the stone. Just pillars and the dead. He set his boots and lifted the enchanted blade. "Only one way through this, ladies," he said. Raven pulled her crossbow off her back. "Right," she said, already moving. Lyra opened her hand. Flame bloomed across her palm, orange light on her pale elf face. "Let's do this," she said. Zach lunged. He drove the blade through the lead warrior's ribs and twisted. Bone cracked and the thing fell apart, cloak and all. Two more came at him. He swung low and took the legs from one, then split the skull of the next. His arms burned. The sword felt lighter now, part of his hand. Raven ran up a pillar, kicked off, and spun in the air. A dead sword whistled under her. She landed behind the warriors and fired. Bolts punched through skulls. She was the King's daughter, born to a throne, yet she fought like she'd trained in these tunnels her whole life. "Zach, on your left!" she called. He turned. A tall warrior in a torn red cloak charged him. Its flesh hung in strips off gray bone. One eye burned red. This one carried a heavy blade dark with old blood, and it swung harder than the rest. The blow drove Zach to one knee. He rolled and came up swinging. Lyra threw fire. The flames caught the red-cloaked warrior and washed over three more behind it. Bone blackened. The tall one staggered, still burning, still coming. "Now!" Lyra shouted. Zach charged in through the smoke. He brought the enchanted sword down on the warrior's neck. The skull rolled free and the body dropped. The last of the dead crumbled around them, scorched and broken. The chamber went quiet but for the drip of water. Zach stood in the ash and breathed. His hands shook. "Everyone alive?" he asked. Raven dropped from a pillar and landed light on her feet. Lyra let her fire die. Both nodded. Then Zach saw it. Behind the fallen red cloak, where the tall warrior had stood guard, a narrow gap opened in the wall. A path. Worn stone steps climbed up into the dark. "There," he said. He walked to the foot of the stair and looked up. Cold air moved down against his face. This led into the tower. Into Darkthorne. "The dead were guarding it," Raven said, quiet now. "Whatever's up there, he didn't want us reaching it." Zach gripped the sword. His way home waited at the top of those steps. "Then that's exactly where we go," he said, and set his boot on the first stair.