His grip loosened as he glanced away from the chaos and toward her, and with that opening, Nalah pushed him over the railing. The split-second look of surprise that crossed his features as he fell over was almost comical, and then he was gone from sight, the magical thread snapping as he disappeared.
The elf appeared then before her, and a faint memory of this woman seen from a distance at Fallon’s side rose up and replaced Lian’s face at the front of her thoughts. “Aislynn?”
“Yes. The Realm Jumper?”
Nalah pointed toward the now empty box that once housed Beylor and Tiffany. “The woman is blonde and with Beylor. She has no idea what she has outside of a pretty ring. But there’s someone else, a woman with long silvery hair, she’s gone too-”
Aislynn’s hand shot out and grabbed Nalah’s upper shoulder in a near painful grasp, restrained panic clear on her face. “Silvery hair, past her waist, pure black eyes and beautiful like a doll?”
“Yes, that’s-”
Aislynn didn’t wait but turned and hauled ass towards the box’s exit. Nalah followed, running as fast as she could, which was nowhere near what the elf was capable of. The only reason Nalah could keep the elf in sight was because Aislynn had to dispose of the guards who finally figured out there was an enemy here. She used her bow as a melee weapon, parrying the edged weapons the men carried and striking out with it, spinning the instrument to fight the guards as they crossed her path.
They neared the box, and from a small hidden hallway came the echo of her mother’s ring. “Aislynn, down that path,” Nalah called, and pointed the way when the elf turned to look at her.
Aislynn swerved, and now there were no guards, but this time the elf couldn’t outrun her because barely two dozen steps into the hallway were two bodies lying in the middle of the hallway.
Beylor and Tiffany, both recognizable despite the multitude of claw marks on their bodies and the chunks of flesh torn from their exposed torsos, expressions of horror still detailed on their faces. This wasn’t a quick kill – someone took time slicing them both up. Bile rose in Nalah’s throat, a thick lining she swallowed hard against as she stepped back and averted her eyes to the elf. Aislynn had no expression and didn’t appear to be fighting the nausea like Nalah was. Aislynn’s eyes wandered over the bodies before her gaze met Nalah’s. “Is this the woman who had the Realm Jumper?”
“Yes.”
“Her hands are bare. The ring was taken.” The corridor branched off into five possible routes of escape, and Aislynn gave a quick glance around each exit. “I see no obvious sign of which path was taken. I need you to find the ring.”
Tiffany hadn’t been a friend in the strictest sense, and she’d made her choice when she’d taken up with Beylor, but the good-hearted blonde hadn’t deserved this. Nalah had seen the aftermath of death, but not this type of desecration. Magic infused the corpses. There was an echo of joy attached to the bodies, pleasure in the pain and fear they’d experienced, even a shade of disappointment it hadn’t lasted longer – sick joy that was burrowing into her, becoming part of her, past the feeble defenses that were losing ground by the second. The bile thickened, and Nalah pressed her hand hard against her mouth.
Cool, smooth skin stroked over her brow. “Nalah.” The voice was understanding, with warmth, and love for life, all things opposite of the magic surrounding her represented. “The ring is heritage from your mother, a link to her goodness and love for you. Fight now, and protect it.”
The weight of Aislynn’s words penetrated, dissipating the evil, and Nalah breathed deep, blanking her emotions. She pushed her power out, searched the myriad of corridors the killers may have used, keeping all attention away from the bodies. “Down the farthest right.”
They took off, but not ten more steps Nalah grabbed at Aislynn and pulled her back, hard enough that despite her superior strength, the elf stopped and turned in confusion. If only Aislynn could see, she would understand. Magic shifted in impossible ways, swirled through the air in violent streaks past her, a shredding of barriers that existed for very good reasons. “Aislynn – something’s wrong.”
Chapter Seventeen
‡
Aislynn made to bring up her bow, but Nalah didn’t let go of her arm. “Shouldn’t we wait for Fallon?” Even this evil didn’t blot out Tenro’s signature, a hard burn bursting against her and making Nalah’s skin tingle, and no offense to the skilled elf archer, but nothing in Aislynn compared.
“I would love to, but there is no time. I carry nothing that can contact Fallon through the blackout zone and inform her of where we are, and as this development was not one we prepared for, I do not know when she will arrive.” With that, Aislynn disentangled herself. If the archer felt any fear, it wasn’t evident in her sure stride or steady hands. She went forward, keeping Nalah behind her and protected.