The Eternal Blade Saga Book 2, Chapter 35: Blazing Madness

Coughing hard, I quickly rolled away from Lord Aedan as he lay on his back hacking and struggling to compose himself. Smoke burned my lungs, and every breath I took was followed by hacking and wheezing. Flames roared all around us and consumed everything in its path. The smoke and the heat made it feel like I was in the belly of an angry beast intent on suffocating me. I had to get out of there fast before I either choked to death on the smoke or was burned to a crisp. I stayed low and crawled as quickly as I could toward the hole we ripped open in the floor earlier. I tried to ignore the heat, but my whole body felt like it was roasting in an oven. Every move I made also elicited a sharp pain from my side. I glanced down to find a small trail of red smeared on the floor under me. Lord Aedan’s sword must have pierced my side when I collided with him.

I had almost reached the edge of the opening when something firmly grabbed one of my ankles and pulled. I cried out in opposition as I tried to dig my axe into the floor and fought to keep my ground, but I didn’t have the leverage to sink the blade in deep enough to get a hold. All I ended up achieving was putting a deep cut into the hard floor. As I slid along the rough floor against my will, I rolled myself onto my back and found Lord Aedan dragging me away from my destination.

“You crazy bitch,” the highborn lord barked as he gave my ankle one final yank. His dark, leather coat had been roughed up and smeared with ash, and his light brown hair was messy and wild. He thrust the point of his sword at my throat. “What did you think you were going to accomplish? Were you hoping to kill us both in this inferno?” His eyes fell upon my blood-covered side. “Getting a good start on yourself.”

He pressed the heel of his boot against my wound. Sharp pain radiated up my side, and I inhaled sharply as I stifled a cry. I tried to pull away, but he pushed the tip of his sword against the vulnerable skin of my throat. Feeling the sharp pain of the weapon drawing blood, I froze, but didn’t dare loosen the grip on my axe.

“No thanks to you,” I replied tersely.

The sound of crackling fire amplified as the flames discovered an untouched board across the main chamber. A wave of intense heat washed over us as the fire gained momentum and rose up high to feed on an overhead beam. The highborn lord wiped at his sweat laden brow with the back of his free hand. I wanted nothing more than to not be in in the middle of this burning building, but I couldn’t move with the blade on my throat without risking my life. Then again, my actions putting us in this position had already done that.

“Drop the axe,” he ordered with a calm collected tone, despite the fact we were in the middle of a makeshift furnace that could come down on top of us at any time.

Seeing as he had the upper hand, I did what he said and reluctantly let my weapon fall to the floor. He motioned for me to get up to my feet, and I did slowly, always keeping his blade in my peripheral vision. A piece of burnt wood began to split above us, and the cracking pulled Lord Aedan’s attention away from me. As soon as his eyes moved upward, I pushed aside his blade hand with my arm and landed a punch on his chin. The man stumbled backward and uttered a sharp profanity as burning wood fell to the floor. As quickly as I could, I dropped to the ground and picked up my axe just in time to block his next swipe of his blade before he drew more blood.

The lord’s unsuccessful attempt to harm me fueled his anger and he let out a cry unbecoming of a highborn lord. Even though his next strike lacked precision, his brute force made up for it. The blade collided with my axe again and the power of the collision sent vibrations up my arm and into my shoulder. He struck wildly again and again, and each blow weakened my grip on my axe. I tried to hold on, but he was wearing me down. Eventually, I failed to block a strike, and his blade found my arm. I recoiled, holding my arm to at my side.

Rushing toward me, he grabbed my tunic’s collar and it tightened around my throat as he lifted me up to my toes. “You would dare deny us the opportunity for justice for our child? Your parents denied our right to avenge his death. They did nothing. Just like the Ministry. Just like the Queen! They preach peace and tolerance toward those who would do us harm. They have the power and the ability to protect their people, but refuse to because of their own selfish agendas. And when their shortcomings are challenged, they shut us out!”

I would be lying if I said I didn’t pity the man in that moment. His face close to mine, I could see the pain and sadness raging in his eyes. The pain of losing a child had driven this man and his wife to a state of madness where killing became acceptable as long as it got them closer to their goal. This all-consuming torment—I could almost understand. The loss of my parents had scarred my heart, but that’s where the similarities ended. I wouldn’t have ever justified killing an innocent person in the name of my mission.

Charred wood and embers suddenly burst inward toward us, and Lord Aedan was forced to let me go in order to shield himself from the debris. Not wasting my sudden freedom, I picked up my axe and swung upward, catching his sword by the cross-guard and pulling the weapon from his hand. He reflexively pulled back and cradled the blood-covered limb against his chest.

“What in the mists are you doing in here?” Dee asked me, bewildered, as she kicked a burning beam out of her way. “Why is everything on fire?”

“Long story. I’ll tell-.”

A bright red light caught my attention, and before I could turn to look, my chest suddenly felt like something was trying to squeeze my insides. I doubled over, unable to breathe. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dee rushing toward Lord Aedan, who had brandished a firearm of Inquest make. He turned the weapon on her and fired an electrified ball of energy that enveloped the norn’s torso.

My tensed muscles finally relaxed enough for me to fill my lungs again. I inhaled deeply just in time to watch the highborn lord push past Dee who was still doubled over and struggling to breathe. She tried to grab him as he fled, but he slipped through her weakened grasp. Still trying to compose myself between filling my lungs and coughing, I planted my stance and focused my energy into my axe as I threw it across the room. The weapon flew after Lord Aedan, spinning wildly as claws of green energy tore at his back. He cried out in pain and fell forward into a pile of ash and cinders. Bits of red-hot coals stuck to his leather jacket, burning little holes in the material.

“I’m sorry. I need to go, Dee,” I called to the norn woman as I pointed to the hole in the floor.

She shot me a confused glance. “What do you mean, go? Where are you going?” Covering her mouth with her arm, she coughed hard and then waved some smoke away from her face.

While the norn’s attention was on me, Lord Aedan ran out of the burning hall while shaking embers off of his coat. I fought the urge to go after him and instead reminded myself why I had thrown myself into this burning building in the first place. There was another cracking sound, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I nervously waved Dee over to me, but a beam half consumed by flame, fell between us. Smoke and embers wafted up all around and I stumbled back as I covered my face.

“You need to get out of here, Dee,” I called to her and then coughed out a lungful of smoky air. “This place is coming down and the others need your help fighting in the courtyard.”

Pieces of charred wood rained down from the fire-ravaged roof, followed by more creaking and cracking along the walls around us. The overall structural integrity of the hall was finally failing

Dee squinted through the smoke. It was becoming increasingly thick at this point and we were having a hard time seeing each other through it. “What about you?” she called back to me.

“Don’t worry about me. Go, get out of here now!” I yelled back as more burnt wood fell from the roof. I sped for the opening in the floor. As I started to lower myself down, there was a thundering crack above me that made my heart jump into my throat. I glanced upward just as a section of cross beams started to fall on top of me. There was no time to think. I let go of the edge and fell down into the passageway just as the burning beams crashed to the floor, blocking the opening and raining down embers and ash on top of me.