"Shay, take the reins!" Reed said. "The rest of you, with me."

Shay slipped through the opening of the wagon like a summer breeze, pushing Francis' body to the side to yank on the wagon's lines.

The wagon jerked to a stop, sending us sliding across the floor into the back of the driver's bench.

BANG!

The world spun. I clawed at the wooden boards to make it stable. Across from me, Reed got to her feet in a crouch. She sprinted out of the back of the wagon with her long club tucked under her armpit.

A scarred hand clapped my shoulder, and a voice cut through the ringing in my ears.

"Stay near the wagons and watch for arrows."

It was Castille.

Who was she talking to?

"Jacob! Do you understand?"

I blinked until the shock wore off. I looked at her and nodded.

The Northern woman smiled and patted me on the cheek.

"Look out for each other."

She set her jaw and nodded to Dugan. They jumped out of the wagon with Thor on their heels.

"R-Ready?" Isla asked.

In the mayhem, she had found her staff. She held it close to herself, her wide eyes shifting from me to Francis' slumped body.

"No. You?"

"No…"

"Good. Let's go."

I scrambled to my feet, jumping off the wagon into a warzone. The two wagons behind us veered to the left and right. Black-clad guards filed out of them with their shields held high. Arrows were raining down on them, puncturing the wagons' canopies. Muffled screams followed. I ducked behind our wagon wheel. My eyes darted from the wagons to the guards and then up to the sky just as a dome of thin ice obscured it.

Beside me, Isla crouched.

I nodded.

"Thanks."

I peeked around the wagon wheel.

Reed led the charge into forty stone men armed with shields, swords and short spears. Behind them, two crooked lines of archers loosed alternating volleys of arrows. Castille, Dugan, Thor, and a few of the guards were rushing to Reed's side. The Inquisitor fell to one knee, slamming her club on the ground and raising a barrier that looked like a sheet of golden, stained glass.

"OK, now we go!"

We ran with the remaining guards to the frontline. Reed's barrier was tall and wide, blocking the incoming arrows and curious spear thrusts of stone men on the other side of the glowing surface. As her guards swarmed around her, two lines formed between the Inquisitor and her barrier. We stopped a few paces behind Castille, who was a few paces behind Reed.

"Guards!"

"Special Inquisitor!"

Her voice was strained. Her shoulders heaved with each breath.

"Like we practiced!"

The ends of the barrier curled forward like two horns of a bull and rammed into the stone men. Those who were knocked off their feet were crushed into the earth or dragged along the bottom of the barrier until their weight ground the advancing wall to a halt. Reed's guards marched forward in orderly lines, attacking the fallen stone men who slipped under the barrier with maces, truncheons and the sides of their shields.

Castille and Dugan moved to join them until Reed's outstretched arm blocked their way.

"No… I need you fresh… Let my guards fight… Let them avenge their fallen."

Reed grabbed the handle of her club with two hands, pushing herself to her feet. The barrier flickered like a candle flame.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Shay…"

"I'm here, Apprentice."

Shay floated up behind us, pulling out one of three arrows lodged in his chest.

"Shay… The archers."

"I know. Annoying, aren't they?"

"Take them out."

"Oh! Understood. Drop your barrier."

Reed sagged against her club, releasing the tension keeping her upright. Her golden barrier dissolved into motes of light that winked out of existence.

"Abscissus," Shay said with a dismissive wave.

As one, the stone men's bow strings snapped in two, making a single cursed musical note. A handful of Reed's guards broke off from the main attack to engage the archers.

"Well done," Reed said in between her panting.

"It's what I do. Are you alright, Apprentice?"

Reed straightened, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"I have to be."

For all her constant pestering about getting rest, how much sleep had she gotten? Between fighting on the frontlines and planning the town's defence, not much. And looking at the size of the barrier, she had tapped into her maximum potential as a mage.

"You know you always have your will well."

"I know… I'm saving it."

"Suit yourself."

Shay turned away to watch the guards finish off what was left of the stone men.

"I missed this. How long has it been since my last battle, Apprentice?"

"That's confidential, Shay."

"Oh, right. However long, it never gets old. The sound of steel clashing… The colorful heraldry… The bouquet of aromas...."

"Do you even have a sense of smell?" Isla asked.

Shay sniffed the air.

"I don't. What does it smell like?"

"Shit and blood. And dirt. More dirt than usual," Castille said.

"Then I'm grateful I can't smell."

The walk to the mine's main entrance was a slog. We took careful steps over the bodies of our enemies and the few guards that had fallen in the fighting. By the time we reached the opening, Reed was back to her calm, composed self while the rest of us remained tense. Not fighting was a mistake. We needed an easy win to take the edge off before the real battle started, like a warm-up before sparring. Now we were stuck holding a bow taut, waiting for release.

Reed raised her hand to stop our advance.

Three guards ran back to the wagons and returned, holding strange lanterns with two small wagon wheels attached to either side. They rolled them down the mine's opening to light the floor below.

Clever.

The guards organized into rows, marching down the tunnel's gradual slope—a few carrying lanterns instead of weapons. Reed stopped a short, stocky guard walking past her.

"Phil. You're with us."

"Special Inquisitor?"

"You will accompany me and the irregulars to create a bridgehead at the bottom floor. When that's done, I'll need you to return to the surface to bring reinforcements. Understood?"

He gave her a sharp nod and fell into parade rest at her side.

"You're speaking my language, Inquisitor," Castille said.

Reed smirked.

"The Sanctifiers are scholars before anything else. I've read every military treatise written in the past two hundred years."

She glanced at me over her shoulder.

"Knowledge is power."

From below, shouts from the guards rang out.

"Clear! All clear! Clear!"

Reed turned to us.

"It's time. Are you ready?"

We exchanged looks. Thor grunted, Dugan nodded, Castille grimaced like she tasted something sour, Isla frowned in her best impersonation of Castille, and I smirked, trying to hide my nerves.

Shay looked at us, a faint smile on his face.

"They're doomed."

# # #

We walked across the broken tiles of the ruin's first floor. Reed's guards stood near the stairs to the second level while a few shined lanterns over the dunk. The stone face next to it was sealed and back to its neutral expression.

"No way that still works, right?" I asked.

"It would be the fastest way to send up his army," Reed said.

She walked over and pressed her hand against the smooth stone. Without a sound, the mouth opened into a circular portal that scrunched the features of its face. Inside, the platform we used to escape was waiting for us.

"Why leave it working? By now, he must know we're here," Isla said.

"Why wouldn't he keep it working? It lets him know where to expect us," Castille said.

Beside her, Dugan nodded.

"Trap."

"Indeed," Reed said. The corners of her mouth twitched in a frown.

"Shay, I need you."

"And I like to be needed."

Shay floated to her side, pulling out the last arrow buried in his chest and letting it clatter on the floor. They walked together onto the platform; Reed turned back to give us an expectant look. Her guard, Phil, was next to step onto its rectangle, stone surface.

"You want us to walk into a trap?" I asked.

Shay grinned at me.

"Don't you trust me?"

"No."

"Smart boy."

Castille stepped onto the platform.

"Let's get this over with."

Dugan was next, followed by Thor and Isla.

"We don't have all morning, Jacob," Reed said.

I sighed, stepping onto the platform.

"We better not die."

"That depends on Shay."

I glanced at the Immortal Tailor. His arrogant exterior was gone. He stood tall, arms hidden in his robe's drooping lavender sleeves, eyes unfocused in deep concentration. The mirth had died in the face, leaving the stern expression of a wizened crone.

I shivered.

Was this the real Shay or another mask he wore?

I keep my distance from him on the platform.

Whatever he was planning, I didn't want to be too close.

The crystals at the corners of the platform glowed a bloody red.

"Prepare yourselves, we're going down," Reed said.

The platform jerked into a slow descent, floating down the shaft without ropes or chains. The bands of light embedded in the walls flashed over us. Anxious preparedness filled the air. We shuffled from foot to foot. Hands tightened around the handles of weapons. Eyes scanned the smooth surface of the stone for signs of enemies.

FLASH.

I squinted from the lights evenly spaced in the walls. They were bright compared to the Steeltowners' lanterns and glowed white like daylight.

FLASH.

Was that… faster?

FLASH.

I blinked.

FLASH.

"Guys…"

FLASH.

"We're accelerating!"

FLASH.

"Reed, do something."

FLASH.

"Reed!"

FLASH.

The platform jerked again, picking up speed.

FLASH.

FLASH.

FLASH.

BOOM!!!

The platform slammed onto the bottom floor.

Stone pots shattered and flipped over, splashing their contents onto braziers positioned around the room.

And then, the world exploded.

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