The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #4)

Vaze glanced back at them with a scowl as they approached and pointedly looked toward their metal shod boots. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head slowly in disgust as he motioned for them to hold back. As silent as the shadows he summoned, Vaze pulled the door open and slipped up the darkened stairwell to scout.

Several minutes of silence passed before a concussive boom echoed from the floors above. Neph’s eyes snapped upward as dust floated down from the stone ceiling. Whatever had just detonated had been massive and he wasn’t sure if it was a spell or mundane explosives.

“Move!” Valor bellowed as he sprinted up the stairs. Foster followed without hesitation, taking the steps two at a time in an attempt to reach Vaze and support him.

Jala watched them both with a worried expression before glancing at Neph. “They never should have spotted Vaze,” she said with concern lacing her words before she moved quickly to the staircase.

“You think they were expecting us, then?” Neph asked as he fell into step beside her. “I don’t see how they could have known,” Jala replied with a quick shake of her head.

Another explosion shook the building and Jala’s pace quickened to a run in response. Neph could see the fear on her face and knew it was for her companions and not for herself. He had never seen Jala fear for her own life as much as she did for others.

The door ahead of them still swung loose on its hinges from where Valor had passed through and Neph could see fire filling the room beyond. The ring of sword blades echoed back to them with a frequency that spoke of brutal combat.

“Jala leave! Do not come in here!” Valor’s voice rose frantically through the sound of combat.

Glancing over at her, Neph grinned and shook his head. “It’s always good to ignore Valor.” The others had gathered behind them nervously and were watching him and Valor for any sign of what they should do. “Vosha, you are a dragon, but are you the fire breathing variety of dragon?” Neph asked as he pulled up his strongest shields.

Vosha shifted and shook his head quickly. “No, actually I haven’t exactly mastered my draconic breath yet,” His reply was hesitant and it was obvious the boy didn’t want to admit his failings in front of Zoelyn.

“Impress Zoey later, Vosha. Once we are out of here,” Jala snapped. Her own shields were in place now and he could see her readying her first spells. Neph knew she wouldn’t listen to Valor. How could she, after all. Jala was simply not the sort of person that could walk away and leave a friend to die, but then, neither was he.

The tempo of swords picked up again, followed by a grunt of pain and Jala looked ready to bolt through the door. Moving swiftly to her side, Neph grabbed her by the arm and shook his head quickly. “Fools rush in, and your fool already rushed in. We have to use logic here. Once we move inside we stay beside each other and use our shields together. If mine starts to fail I’ll drop back behind you to bolster it until I can strengthen it. The same goes for you. Got it?” He spoke quickly and glanced once more at the fire in the room then back to Zoey and the two boys. “Jala, the two Bendazzi and I are going in first. Hang back here and help where you can. This is going to be bad, kids so if you don’t come in we won’t blame you. Staying alive is your only priority right now and we don’t expect the help.” He looked at Zoey as he spoke. Normally she was the most mature of the three, but right now she looked terrified. She gave a quick nod in response to his words, but didn’t budge from where she stood.

“Vaze, fall back! Fall back!!” Foster’s voice rose to nearly a scream and Jala tensed beside him. Another explosion rocked the room and the ceiling shuddered once more.

“They are going to collapse the whole place on us!” Jala snarled as she glanced up at Neph. “You ready? I’d much rather kill them before they have a chance to do the explosion thing again.”

“Let’s kills some Rivasans,” Neph agreed as he moved slightly ahead of her and glanced into the room. “A lot of Rivasans,” he amended as his eyes quickly scanned over the figures moving in the room. An arrow thudded into the door beside his head and he pulled back hastily. “You have your ward against missiles up, right?” he asked quickly.

“Of course. You taught me to sleep with that damned spell active,” Jala snapped back. Her eyes were on the arrow and she had paled a bit at the sight of it. “Is it all of them at once, Neph?” she asked in a quieter voice.

“Looks to be that and more, Sweety. We aren’t leaving them, though. I won’t budge from here anymore than you will,” he replied quickly as he leaned through the door once more and then back quickly. “We move in and we go right as fast as we can. There is a small group of swordsmen there waiting for us, but with the Bendazzi we should be able to kill them quickly enough to gain purchase in the room.” Jala nodded in response and Neph let out a sharp breath before nodding back to her. “Let’s kick these pigs,” he mumbled as he drew on his own magic and pushed forward into the room.