FireSweet

A Dagger's Destiny

            It was quiet when we reached the top of the second wall.  My heart pounded, goose bumps spreading across skin as I attempted to see through the fog.  We should have been stopped by now, even with Storm’s crew. 

            Maybe they’re busy, Briamy thought in an attempt to soothe me. 

            Tempest Storm’s a joke, I thought back.  This is wrong.

            The wall rumbled beneath our feet, and as we struggled to keep our balance, wheeling our arms and trying not to go near the edge, I saw the arrow pass me.  My shirt fluttered from its closeness, but it missed me.

            It hit Briamy instead.

            High in the right shoulder, the force of the arrow sent her stepping backward on the still trembling wall.  As her foot slipped over the edge she reached for me, her fingers outstretched in an effort to catch my hand.  I moved too slow, lunging forward in time for my fingertips to brush hers.

            Briamy fell.

            Out of my sight within a second, I wasn’t aware of the strangled cry that left my throat as I kneeled at the edge of the wall.  My muscles seized up, and I stayed there, frozen, my eyes wide as I stared at the place in the fog where she had disappeared.  I was acutely aware as my heart slowed in shock and sped up as panic began to set in.  I called to her frantically in my mind, desperate to hear even the faintest thought.  I turned to climb down after her, believing that maybe she had survived, that maybe if I got her to Narasia she could be saved.  A second arrow whistled past me. 

            Flint yanked me back up onto the wall, draping his body over mine protectively as he tried to get me to look at him.  I struggled, eyes fixed on the point where my handholds led to Briamy’s resting place.  Flint gave up, pressing my face between his hands and forcing me to look in his eyes.

            “You can’t save her,” he said gently.

            I continued to struggle, fighting to shake my head from his grasp.  Flint growled and changed tactics, leaning in close and glaring at me before speaking again. 

            “Mourn her later Flame,” he hissed.  “If you don’t move we will both be dead.  She wouldn’t want that for you.  We are here for a reason.  Remember that reason; remember why we are here Flame.”

            Reality snapped back into place, I quit moving, feeling the blaze of unbridled anger wash the pain to the back of my mind.  My arms trembled, despite the peace that the anger brought with it. 

            “Where’d the arrow come from?” I asked, my voice dangerously calm.

            Flint smiled slightly, but didn’t need to answer.  Yet another arrow was shot, its tip ricocheting off the stone wall inches from my face.  The metal tip’s impact sent up sparks from its impact.  Flint flinched, scooting back off of me, but I grinned, turning in the direction that the arrow had come from as I climbed to my feet.

            “There’s only one archer on Mají-jalio’s crew,” I said smugly.  “You’re dead Rhapson.”

            I heard the archer snicker through the fog.  “Last time was a fluke Queen of Thieves, by the time you manage to climb halfway down your wall your body will look like one of my archery targets, and that’s before you turn to dust.  You won’t make it to the ground alive.”