Of Caverns and Casters ✓ [TLRQ #1]

Chapter 59 - Sean

Aster calls out a strange word, sounding simultaneously triumphant and choked. I spin. Ice-shards fall toward him through the air, but clatter to the ground before touching him. He falls, and across the room, Veradeaux stands, arms mid-air, mouth open.

One of the guards lets out a gurgling sound, and I snap back. He falls, an open gash across his throat. Idyne stands over him, blood dripping from her silverglass. The other guard is already on the ground, clutching his bleeding gut. Their lives seep from their eyes like the blood from their wounds, and fear and disgust flood my mind.

Leavi stands back, pale. "You didn't have to kill them," she chokes.

"They would have killed us," Idyne says. She turns to Leavi, strange sympathy in her eyes. "Besides, they hurt you."

Leavi's gaze is still fixed on the dead-eyed stares of the guards. Looking for some way to ignore them, I turn her to face the rest of the room. "Look what he did to Veradeaux."

Instead, her gaze fixes on the floor, eyes going even wider as she rushes to Aster's side, fingers flying to his pulse. Blood on Leavi's arm catches my eye. We'll need to tend to that cut when we get to the farmhouse.

She relaxes. "He's alive."

I pick my way through the ice to Veradeaux. Closer now, I can see that her chest is rising and falling slightly. Her eyes narrow, watching me. Otherwise, though, she's unmoving. It's almost as if an immobile case surrounds her, just enough room between her and it for her to breath and blink.

Her finger twitches, and I start.

"Hey," I call, backing up. "Whatever Aster did, I think it's wearing off."

Idyne hurries over, snagging a candleholder along the way. "I can fix that." She smashes it over the woman's head. Veradeaux's eyes shut, unconscious, but the strange force keeps her erect. I glance back to see if Leavi noticed, but she's preoccupied with Aster.

"We should leave as soon as the spell's worn off," Idyne says.

"Yeah." Uneasy, I glance at the bodies. Remorse fills me. I force myself to look at their faces, to commit them to memory. They deserve that much at least. One is a blond fellow with a crooked nose and thinned-out cheeks. He holds the ceiling in an unending stare, never to close his eyes again.

The other is the man who forgot his truncheon. The one who talked about drinking every night.

The remorse for him drains. His family's probably better off without him.

Behind us, there's a thud, and I turn. Veradeaux is limp, sprawled on the ground. Idyne picks up the woman's arms and drags her to the door. I help Leavi carry Aster.

In the halls, we hear a few guards hurrying toward us—they must have heard the fight—but Leavi leads us around them, back out the side entrance, and we speed off the grounds. We keep off the path, staying at the edge of the woods, as we walk to the farm. When we make it to the farmhouse door, I push it open. Tired and coming off the adrenaline high, I just focus on putting one foot in front of the other as we file in.