The Iron Hallway

Chapter 15

"Feels surreal, doesn't it?" Wendy commented as she tugged her boots and socks off. 

I nodded. "It does. I was so sure I was ready for this when I went to bed last night, but now that the moment's come, I'm not feeling the same." 

Wendy nodded and padded over to a secret compartment in the wall. "Anxiety's an irrational little bastard." she said as she opened it. 

I smirked. "I couldn't have said it better myself." 

Piece by piece, my blonde companion clipped, snapped and buckled her armor together onto her body. With the maroon suit of protection fastened around her, she slipped two knives in a double-sheath on one leg, a shiny rapier on the other, and strapped a quiver of arrows onto her back. On her armor, near the small of her back, a small hook projected out to hold her metal bow. Finally, she grabbed a grappling hook and opened it in her hands. 

She took a breath and opened the window. Then she smashed the claws of the hook into the wall just below the windowsill. With a mighty kick, she drove it farther into the wood, before she gathered the other end of the rope into her hands. With a sigh, she clambered onto the windowsill and stood up. 

Wendy slid the rope through her hands slowly and allowed most of it to dangle below her grasp, until no slack remained between her hands and the hook. She leaned back to test the strength of the claw's grab and nodded as she determined it was good. 

"Alright, hold onto my back." my blonde rescuer instructed, and I moved to do as she said. 

The moment I'd tightened my grip around Wendy's body, she jumped backward, sliding down the rope and swinging when she reached the end. We crashed into a third-story window, and glass fragments flew everywhere. I leapt off her back as soon as I could and cowered behind her. This is really tense. 

The hallway we'd broken into was empty, thankfully. But as soon as I'd realized that fact, an old man casually peeked out of a doorway several yards away. Upon seeing him, Wendy snatched up a piece of shattered glass from the ground and hurled it at him like a shuriken. He gasped just before the sharp edge sliced his throat, but it was too late. He collapsed into a puddle of his own blood. 

I gagged at the sight. "What was that for?" I questioned Wendy in distress, "He was just an innocent old man!" 

Wendy shook her head. "Simon was the last thing from innocent, trust me. Now c'mon!" 

I shrugged and took off running to keep up with my armored rescuer. "Why didn't we just grapple to the ground anyway?" 

Wendy rolled her eyes and halted. "The bloody rope was too short, duh! Now be quiet. We don't need anybody overhearing us. Stairs are this way." 

With that, she bolted in the direction she'd pointed, and I had no choice but to follow. We skidded around a corner, only to realize that the adjoining hallway was filled with guards running our way. I cowered behind Wendy and watched as she unclipped her bow and fitted an arrow to the string. 

Wendy pulled back and shot an arrow over the row of shieldmen who blocked the walkway. It penetrated the skin of a scrawny swordsman upon impact. Then I frowned as the blonde archer clicked a red button on the bow, and a strange green gas floated up from the corpse. Before long, the shieldmen choked on the fumes and dropped dead. 

I took a quick step forward. "This is our chance!" I exclaimed, "Let's go for it!" 

Wendy stopped me with her hand and shook her head. "No, woman! The gas will kill us just as well! Besides, there're still some dangerous men on the other side of that cloud who know the same bloody thing."