The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 24

Alek placed a hand on my shoulder, making me jump.

"It's just me," he consoled, running his hand lightly down my arm until he found my hand. He pushed something sturdy into it.

Alek removed his hand and I curled my first around something long and lightweight.

"It's a silver knife," Alek whispered into my ear. "If you think you see a wraith, slash at it with this–" he hesitated, "–just don't cut me. Okay?"

I nodded and then realised that was stupid, because he probably couldn't see me. "I'll try."

"It sounds like the guards have spread out around us," he continued, whispering so close to me I felt goose bumps break out across my neck.

As if on cue, a dozen fire torches lit up around us at random intervals. My entire body seized up, and I felt Alek still behind me, bringing Calista to a standstill. Many of the torches looked to be far off in the distance, but some of them were ominously close. I held my breath as I focused on one torch in particular, which looked to be only a few metres to our right.

Its light lit up the face of a woman who appeared to be in her late forties. Her expression was cold; stern. It was the face of someone who would be prepared to risk anything to succeed. Her hard face turned to face us, and Alek wrapped his hand over my mouth to try to stop me from making any noise. My back rested against his chest and I could feel his move up and down with every breath. The woman squinted as she tried to see through the darkness and for a second, I could have sworn we made eye contact. Then, her gaze darted to my left and my body slackened with relief. She hadn't seen us. Yet.

Then, I felt Calista reposition and the sound of a rock skittering across the ground sounded at our feet. It may have been small, but with the quiet atmosphere it might as well have been an avalanche. The lady's eyes flashed back in our direction.

Her lips curled into a snarl. "Over here!" she shouted.

"What now?" I asked Alek, my voice trembling.

A piercing scream cut through the wastelands, bringing both Alek, the woman and myself to attention. Off in the distance, one of the fire torches was weaved through the air in all directions. There was the sound of a horse neighing and then the torch cut through the air in a wide arc and fell to the ground, the sound of a body hitting floor also joining it.

"Wraiths!" a deep voice screamed.

All around us, the torch lights started to move.

"Hold on," a voice whispered in my ear and I held the front of Calista's saddle tightly, the silver knife still clutched in my left hand like a lifeline. I was grateful for Alek's quick thinking, since my mind was too paralysed to process anything.

Calista darted forwards in a run towards the woman.

Wait, what?

The guard could hear us running towards her and pulled out a sword, poised and readying herself for our attack.

"What are you doing?" I hissed to Alek. "I'm in front, I'll be the first to die!"

"Not going to happen," he retorted, drawing out his own sword.

Finally, we reached the light emanating from the woman's torch, and her gaze latched onto us. She pulled her sword backwards. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion – Alek swung his left leg over Calista, placed his left foot in the right stirrup and held onto the front of the saddle for a grip. I moved my own hands so that he had room and instead opted for holding onto the back of the saddle.

Bad mistake.

Most of my weight was already leaning backwards, so switching handholds meant that every time Calista took a step forward, I found it more difficult to balance myself. Calista and the approaching horse finally crossed paths, and so did Alek's and the woman's swords. A loud clang ran through the air as their blades met.