"Tell me what I need to know and I will not hurt her. Fail to tell me, and she dies." Lester pushes the knife against my throat hard enough to break skin. I feel the blood drip onto my collarbone. He turns back to the prince.
"I'm sorry, Fen," I say. "I should have acted sooner."
His eyes are frantic. His body rages against the restraints. But he cannot break free. He cannot save me.
This time, I must save us both.
I twist, pulling the giant man off balance. He crashes to the ground. I draw Spero and plunge the blade into his back. It goes in smoothly. Quietly.
A part of me knows I have taken a life. It whispers to me of guilt and shame. But right now, I cannot listen. My mind thunders with rage. And there are more lives to take.
I charge at Cliff. Blade forward. His sword is up in defense. I feign a strike from above, but attack from below, slicing his knees. He falls, screaming and staining the snow red.
Baron jumps forward from behind me, landing on Cliff's chest, slashing at the man's throat until he screams no more.
Fen roars, fighting against his restraints, but he isn't strong enough to break free. Lester's eyes widen, glancing between his fallen comrades and me. He holds a knife in one hand, a hot poker in the other.
I strike at his feet.
He blocks low, crouching. And that is when I have him. There is more to a sword than just the blade. That I learned from Kayla.
I rush my hand up.
And slam my pommel into Lester's face.
He falls backwards, his nose broken and red.
Baron stalks forward.
The man pleads for his life. He looks to me. "Stop him. Stop him, please."
My mind is cold. My heart quiet. "You harmed Fenris Vane, Prince of War. Perhaps I would spare you, but he will not."
Baron leaps forward.
And the man pleads no more.
I run over to his body and grab a key from his belt. I find a lock on the chains and open it. The metal falls.
I rush to Fen and drop to my knees before him, tears streaming down my face. "Are you okay?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "I've been poisoned. It's working its way through my body right now. It will take too long to leave my system. We need to find shelter before this storm buries us. I'd survive, but you... " He takes my hand and pulls me closer to him. "You wouldn't make it out here."
Baron walks over to us, then howls long and loud into the night.
I help Fen stand, but he has to lean heavily on me to walk. "Where do we go?" I ask.
Fen looks at Baron. "Find us a cave, boy. Someplace out of the storm."
Baron howls again, not as long this time, and begins sniffing around. He takes off, slowing when he realizes we aren't following as quickly as we should be.
It's slow going, and I'm so very cold. Fen is getting worse, his body heavier with each step. I'm worried I won't be able to keep going, that I'll get too cold and my body will collapse under the weight of us both, but just as I'm about to lose hope, Baron howls again and disappears into darkness. I follow him, hoping it's some kind of shelter, and find a cave carved into the side of a mountain. I assume Baron already checked for unfriendly critters, so I duck and put a hand over Fen's head to protect him from knocking himself silly as we scoot into the cave.
I can barely see inside. We'll need a fire for light and to survive the cold. Or at least I'll need a fire. My vampire might be fine, but he doesn't look fine, and I'm not okay with him suffering.
I lower him carefully to the floor. The cave is bigger inside than the opening makes it seem.
Fen groans and tries to stand, but I push against his chest and he stays. "No moving. You need to rest. I'm going to find some wood and build a fire. Just... sit."
"Don't go out," he says. "The storm is coming."
"I'll take Baron and stay close to the cave, but I need heat even if you don't."
He tries to stand again. "I'll get it."
I push him back like he's a child. "Shut up. You aren't going anywhere, and I'm not helpless. Just don't make more work for me by trying to be a tough guy and hurting yourself more."
I leave before he can argue more. Baron stays at my heels, and I scavenge through snow that freezes my hands, trying to find dry enough wood to burn. When I have an armful, I return to the cave and set up the fire pit the way Fen taught me during one of our training sessions. He felt it was important I learn more than just fighting, that I learn some survival skills as well, given how unfamiliar this world is to me. I grumbled at the lessons then, but silently bless him for them now.
It takes me longer than I'd like, and I let fly a few choice curse words when I come close to getting the fire going only to repeatedly fail, but finally a tiny ember sparks. I stack more tinder on the flame, then fan it with my hand so it ignites. The blaze grows until it's a proper campfire, and I sit back and grin, proud of myself.