Mist Rising by Eve Langlais
Chapter Thirty-One
Shock heldAgathe still for a moment. Then she gasped. “Thank you, Goddess.”
“Actually, the correct response is, ‘Thank you once again, Maric.’ You seem to be making a habit of me saving you.” The general knight stepped into view, wiping his sword with a rag he kept in a pouch.
“You! What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Not even a thank-you. Contain your happiness lest I be overwhelmed.” Dry mockery that narrowed her gaze.
“Why is it you always seem to appear at just the right moment? Are you the traitor in the group?”
“Asks the woman meeting monsters at night.” Maric shook his head.
“I was compelled to come out here.” Agathe suddenly found herself on the defense.
“So you claim.”
How quickly he tried to turn the argument against her. “I hope you trip and fall on the way down this hill.”
“That isn’t very Soraerly.”
She glared at Maric, who calmly sheathed his cleaned blade.
“Excuse me if I’m a little rattled, given I was lured here by a Vhampir. Which wasn’t supposed to happen. I thought they didn’t go far from the rim.”
“Guess we were wrong.”
“We, is it, now? You’re the one who’s supposed to be the expert.”
“Apparently not, given it didn’t go after the bait we kindly put out for it.”
“Bait? What bait?” she asked. Then it hit her. “You used Belle to try and draw out the Vhampirs.”
“Not for long. She complained nonstop, so we decided to return her to camp. A good thing, too, or I might not have seen you leaving it.”
“Why didn’t you stop me?”
He nudged the body on the ground with his foot. “If I had, then I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to kill it.”
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“Without asking?”
“If I had, do you think we would have reached the same outcome?”
No, because he’d have woken her from the trance. “Was it alone?”
“No idea. Logically, there shouldn’t have been one Vhampir this deep in the valley, so I guess it’s possible there could be another. Probably some human slaves, too, I’d wager.”
“Wouldn’t the influence die with it?”
“Maybe.”
She made a moue. “You’re just full of annoying non-answers tonight.”
“I’m not an encyclopedia.”
“As if there are any that discuss the Vhampirs,” she disparaged.
“There are at the Citadel.”
The reply stunned. “Actual books? With real information about the Vhampirs?”
“And other monsters.”
That quickly, her irritation evaporated. “I want to read them. And any other books you have on our history before the mist or during the early years of it.”
“You do realize those history texts have been studied. You won’t find anything we’ve not already discovered.”
“Says you. But it would be sheer arrogance to ignore possible other interpretations of events. Perhaps a fresh outlook is needed.”
“Perhaps. However, the books you seek to study aren’t available to the general populace. They don’t leave the Citadel.”
“How does one get permission to visit the library?” Agathe asked, the night looking up as she finally got a glimmer of hope that her trip might not be in vain.
“Only the King can grant it. Which is where you’ll fail. We both know you’ll never be able to ask him nicely.” Maric wore the kind of smirk that begged for a slap.
Instead, she turned on her heel and marched off.
“Was it something I said?” he mocked, easily catching her long stride.
She whirled on him. “How can you find this amusing? People are dying.”
“I know, and I am one of those putting his life on the line to make a difference.”
“Making a difference would be fighting the monsters before they make it past the rim rather than babysitting the Blessed.”
“Fighting the Abyss’s creations instead of protecting the Blessed is why the situation has gotten so dire. But then again, how would you know? Hiding away in your Abbae, criticizing without even knowing the basics. Must be nice living so ignorantly.” With that bitten-off retort, he left her behind.
For a second, she almost reached out to apologize. She’d been unreasonably rude, and in truth, he was right. Apparently, she didn’t know everything she should about the situation. The only way to expand her knowledge was by getting inside that Citadel, and she’d once more annoyed the one man who might be able to grant her access. She should make amends. She took one step in his direction.
Paused.
A sixth sense made her duck just in time. The person slashing at her missed, and she whirled, drawing a dagger.
Before she could throw it, she paused in surprise. “Fjior?”
His expression blank, Fjior slashed at her again.
“What are you doing?” She slapped at his hand, using the flat of the blade instead of the edge to knock it aside. “Wake up.”
His stare remained blank. Before she could haul off and punch him like Maric had, arms snared her from behind. They lifted her from the ground, drawing a surprised shout. “Put me down.” A glimpse of silver at the wrists and she realized Pol held her.
A flat-faced Fjior reeled his axe back for a swing.
She struggled in Pol’s grip; her feet didn’t connect with the ground. “Let. Me. Go.” A snap of her head and Pol grunted, loosening his hold enough that she rolled out of the way of Fjior’s descending axe.
Thunk.As she scrabbled from the body, Fjior pulled the axe free with a wet, sucking noise that didn’t bode well for Pol. Before he could bring it down on her, she stabbed him in the gut.
It had no effect. His arm began descending again, and it might have ended badly if it wasn’t suddenly lopped off. The severed limb flopped to the ground.
His head joined it next.
As the body dropped, Maric appeared, grim-faced.
While she welcomed his timely arrival, she couldn’t help saying, “Stop trying to be my hero.”
