The night air held me in soft hands, the icy wind harsh on my skin. For a few brief moments I fell, the air torn from my lungs as I screamed – and then a hot hand was wrapped around my wrist, pulling me to an abrupt halt. I slammed into the side of the tower, feeling a crunch against my ribs. My eyes roved from the fingers around my wrist to the face poking out the window.
"Don't you dare let me fall." I growled at Claude as he began heaving me in. He winked, throwing his other hand down to me. I took it.
"As if I would ever." He laughed. The window sill jutted into my stomach as I slithered over it. As I climbed to my feet I glanced around to see Cedric by the door, glancing up and down the hall. "Come on, we won't have much time until they realise we didn't actually fall to our deaths." I nodded pulling an arrow from my quiver as I slipped the bow off my shoulder. It felt odd in my hand – it was made of a far less pliable wood than mine had – it was harder to draw, and I had no idea how much I would have to adjust my aim.
Claude pulled his knife from his boot, long and sharp, and with a wicked gleam. In his other hand he held his pistol, where it shone with a high polish, ivory in the darkness.
"I can't see anyone yet." Cedric hissed over his shoulder, "But that could change at any moment." We slipped up behind him and glanced outside. Doors lined the hall, and down the far end were stairs.
"Let them come." I hissed savagely, feeling energy course through me, "They deserve everything they get."
"Not all of the Fae here would be like Mayon," Cedric said quietly, "Or like that man you talked to in the inn. Some are just doing what they're told. They might not have a choice."
"We all have a choice," I snapped, "And they've chosen to serve a corrupt leader. And they will face the consequences of those choices." Cedric answered me with silence, though his eyes betrayed a hint of concern. I pushed past him, hurrying out into the hall. "C'mon."
Cedric followed after me, a hand raised in caution.
"Irene, stop being reckless!" he hissed. I ignored him, reaching the stairs and leaping down them, three steps at a time. I could hear Claude and Cedric racing after me, lightly hopping down the stairs. At the lower landing I glanced down the hall – no one stood on high alert, waiting for us – it stood empty, and cool. I slipped over the railing of the stairs, falling down to the next floor, landing heavily on two stairs. Claude and Cedric were still above me, their feet hammering against the floor, as I sped up and left them behind.
I wanted to reach the ground before the guards reached us. I had seen the look in Cedric's eyes at my word; he was worried about what I would do if I was given the chance – I was worried too. I had always been a fighter, never shying away from violence or blood. But as I sprinted down step after step, slipping past floors like sand through fingers, I knew that something about what Imelda was doing was bringing out the worst in me.
I reached the next floor just as booted feet stampeded up the stairs towards us. I glanced over the railing to see guards rising to meet us, glinting in their armour like shiny, storm-grey beetles. I backed up down the hall, Claude and Cedric hurrying after me as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"What now?" Cedric huffed, stopping beside me. We faced the stairs and watched as guards rose and swarmed off the stairs towards us.
"How high up are we?" I asked, glancing back at the window. We had to have dropped at least five floors – we couldn't be too high up, could we? "We can jump." I ran to the window, smashing the glass with a fist. Hot blood welled on my knuckles at the impact, and I quickly knocked the last shards out with my bow. Down below snow covered the ground, an inviting blanket ready to smother me.
"Sorry to burst your bubble," Claude interjected, "But I'm afraid that I won't make that jump." He frowned, "You two could, but the fall would kill me."
"I see no downside." Cedric hissed darkly. I cast him an angry look, before facing back to Claude.
"Can't you use magic to, I don't know, float down or something?" I asked desperately. The guards were getting closer, no longer running, as they realised we were cornered. Their swords glinted like teeth, their spears were claws, and their armoured figures made up the body of a glittering beast.
"I see you still have no idea how magic works." Claude cried, exasperated, "Go! Both of you, jump. I'll figure out my own way down."
"Claude, no, i..." I began. He pushed me away from him, a snarl on his face.
"I said go!" he snapped, turning back to face the approaching guards. Cedric grabbed my hand and we ran, diving out through the window. The air held me, dark feathers caressing me and I fell through the night, a bird on broken wings. Cedric fell beside me, his hair wavering in the wind. For a moment fear clutched my heart and I saw all colour, stained dark as they were – the brown-grey of the trees, under their cloaks of snow; the burning yellow flames dotting the landscape around us – the purple-blue sky that stretched out above us.
Cedric's hand slipped from mine and I was falling by myself, my hair streaming up above me like water, and I felt my heart flutter in my chest, wings frantically trying to beat and hold me up. I searched for Cedric, my eyes finding him a few feet to my left. For a brief moment I watched as he fell, his hair wafting about his face.
And then the snow rose up like a starving beast, and with a sharp whack, we both slammed into it, swallowed whole.
***
Claude faced the oncoming guards, his heart pushing against his lips, fighting to get out.
"You stand accused for acts against the Queen Imelda, Empress of the West, and for the murder of the Baron!" one guard snarled, his voice rumbling off the stone walls, "What do you say?" the Faeri stepped closer, moving with the rest of his men. Claude grinned a feral snarl.
"I'm guilty as hell." He hefted the knife tighter into his palm and charged the first guards, raising the pistol to face the closest man. With a band that shook the walls his armour was rent apart and gore spattered the men behind him; splashing their faces and necks, blinding them.
He didn't pause and wait for them to regain their composure, and dived through the crowd, his dagger dancing through the air as if it had a mind of its own. He felt the give of metal through flesh as he tore through the throat of a man, before he whirled and plunged it straight into another's chest, hearing the terrible grind of metal through metal. A woman fell, her dark hair mingling with blood as it sprayed from the wound in her neck. Pain ricocheted up his arm as something sliced through muscle and he glanced over his shoulder to see a Faeri leap backwards, his sword trailing blood.
Claude snarled, diving after him, twisting to the side as the sword skewered the air, and forced his knife into the man's eye-socket. Under his hands, the Faeri went limp, slipping to the ground in a puddle of flesh and clothes, as blood pooled beneath him. Blood slicked his hands, making his grip on his knife fumble, but still he didn't slow down. There was the sound of whistling metal and he quickly dodged as a blade whipped overhead, almost taking off his head.
Claude flipped the blade in his hand so it faced backwards and slashed through flesh. He spun, still keeping low, to see the Faeri clutch his stomach, hands pressed over bent armour, and watched as blood flowed from within. He stood and made a run for it, diving past the last line of guards who were still trying to form order. He clutched his arm, feeling the hot blood under his fingers, and felt relief wash through him as he made it past the last Faeri without incident.
Suddenly something tangled itself in his hair, pulling him to a painful stop. He stumbled to the ground, feeling the wind knocked from his lungs on impact, and glanced up with blurry vision to see a man towering over him.
"The punishment for treason is hanging." The man growled, resting the edge of his sword on Claude's collar bone. Claude froze, breathing heavily, feeling the cold ground beneath him, and the icy blade on his skin.
"Then string me up, cap'n," Claude winked, feeling nerves howl through him, though he tried to quell them. His vision cleared, and he watched as more guards grouped around him, some returning swords to sheaths, others still on edge. The man above him only grinned, his teeth flashing like snow in his dark beard.
"Oh, you would be so lucky." He hissed, "No, I sentence you to death, here, and now." He motioned for Claude to be grabbed and stepped backwards as two guards moved forwards and hefted him to his feet.
"Any last words, filth?" the guard asked, raising the sword so it pointed to Claude's beating heart. Claude bared his teeth and a cool smile.
"See you in Alninė." Wrapping his fingers around the wrists of the men holding him, Claude felt their energy wash through him as he uttered the spell.
And then everything burst into flame.
***
I felt the heat of the blast wash over me. Forgetting the aches in my bones from the impact of the fall, ignoring the chill on my skin from the snow, I glanced skywards to see the third floor up explode with flame and noise. My breath left me in a silent scream.
Claude.
"No!" I cried, clambering to my feet in a flurry of snow, "No!" pain splintered up my leg and I felt hot blood gush down over my knee.
"Irene!" Cedric called. I heard him stumble through the snow after me. "Irene, don't!"
"Don't?" I snapped, turning to face him. His blond hair was matted to his forehead with dark blood. "Don't what? Don't... don't save him?"
"Irene you saw that thing!" Cedric tried, walking up to me, "There's no way he could've made it."
"We can't just leave him." I snarled. I tried to turn away but he grabbed my wrist. "Let go of me!" I jerked away from him.
"In a few moments this place will be crawling with guards." Cedric reasoned, "Even if we find him, he will be in no position to move. We won't be able to get out."
"We can't give up on him." I growled, stepping up to him. "What if it were you?" I poked him in the chest, "Would you want me to leave you? Let you die?"
"If it meant you were safe," Cedric said softly, eyes wide, "Yes."
"I..." whatever words I had planned to say were lost before they left my lips. "Cedric..."
"But of course I am far too valuable to be left behind," a voice coughed from behind me, "Besides, I love myself to much to even try... try to be that selfless." I whirled to see a figure hobbling towards us, his dark hair singed, but his green eyes still shining.
"Claude...?" I breathed, wondering if my eyes were playing tricks.
"Nice to see that you do care, though." He winked, a green orb being dimmed for a second. And then his legs gave way, and he stumbled into the snow.
"Claude!" I cried, hurrying to him. Cedric hovered behind me, as if uncertain what to do, "Claude what happened in there?" I grabbed his shoulders and turned him onto his back, holding him against me. Blood trickled from his nose, and his pale skin was scorched black and red in places.
"I... I used magic." Claude sighed, "To get rid of the rest of the guards."
"You could've killed yourself!" I snapped, brushing snow out of his hair. My hand came away sticky with more blood.
"Don't be ridiculous." Claude chuckled, "Unlike you, I am capable of using magic without killing myself."
"Claude..." I began.
"I'm fine," Claude sighed, "Though feel free to continue patting my head. I rather like this arrangement." I sighed, but didn't move. My eyes began searching his body for more dangerous wounds, however most looked superficial.
"You're bleeding, and burnt, and look like shit." Cedric snapped from over my shoulder, "Not what I would place as the definition of 'fine'."
"Oi, words can hurt, pretty boy." Claude snapped, "Watch who you're saying looks like shit. Just... just give me a moment..." He brushed my arms away, running a hand through his hair. As he moved I noticed the rigidity to his limbs, as if they were made of wire. He passed his fingers over his limbs, and I knew that he was healing whatever had happened. For a brief moment I envied his magic, but then memories of all the pain and suffering magic had caused me came back and the moment was gone.
"How did you survive that?" I asked quietly as he began wiping dirt and ash off his skin. "I felt that from down here. You should be dead."
"And here I was thinking you cared." Claude said, pulling a face, "Don't worry, sweetheart. It'll take more than a fire to kill me."
"All the more shame for it." Cedric muttered darkly from behind me. Claude slowly shifted to his feet, holding snow against the red shiny burns on his face. His eyes softened, though I could still see pain in them.
"I love you too, darling." He blew a kiss at Cedric and began to hobble away. "We have to move." He called, "Soon the whole city is going to be here, and I don't think everyone is going to appreciate the masterpiece we left them." Cedric shrugged, moving past me, his boots crunching over the snow. I glanced back up at the tower, seeing the burning glow shivering in the windows, and far above one of the curtains from the baron's window tore free in the wind, a grey night bird in the sky.
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