Page 106 of The Mirror in the Mountain

Rivan stopped abruptly, his hand splayed onto the frozen soil above him.

“We should be shielded by the left side of the door.” His voice was barely discernable over the shouts of the battle above. “Not a lot of space between it and the mountain, but we’ll fit.”

I clasped a hand on his calf. “Then we just have to get around a door.”

Rivan snorted. “How hard can it be?”

I reached out with my shadows. “There’s enough of them inside that even if we get those doors closed, we’ll have to fight.”

“How many?”

I smirked up at him. “Not enough to stop us.”

Rivan looked down at me, violet eyes gleaming in the reflection of Tobias’s light, his answering smile just as deadly. His tone was almost polite as he asked, “Ready?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

Wrapping my shadows around us, I tensed as Rivan pushed the last of the tunnel to the side. A gust of Yael’s magic kept a pile of snow from falling on top of us, pushing it back as Rivan pulled himself over the edge.

The storm had grown markedly worse during our brief stint underground, the temperature dropping drastically as we emerged. I drew my sword as soon as I was able, but no one saw us behind the enormous iron door swung wide, the only thing between us and the massive force in front of it.

Rivan swore under his breath as he caught my gaze. Because of course it was iron.

I reached down, silently pulling Eva over the lip of the hole. Snowflakes clung to the twists of her braid, the length of her lashes. I reached up to brush a few from her cheeks, feeling them melt under my thumb. Tobias climbed up next, Quinn behind him as they squeezed further behind the door and the snowy mountainside. Yael nimbly sprang upward, her boots sinking into the packed snow beside me.

I reached out with my shadows, closing my eyes as they dispersed around the door into the mountain itself, rustling over booted feet. It wouldn’t be an easy fight—especially when the more magic I used now meant the less I had to fight Aviel. But if we didn’t get the doors closed, and the False King’s entire army came after us…

Leaning over, I spoke directly into Yael’s ear. “Do you think you can get these shut if I create enough of a shield to hold them off until you do?”

She tilted her head down in the smallest of nods, then reached for the bow resting on her shoulder. An arrow, I knew, could be notched and ready to fire before I had a chance to blink.

I signaled over my shoulder, knowing Rivan would take up the rear without looking back to check. We had trained and fought together for too long not to sense what the other would do.

Raising my hand, I jerked my fingers forward in a silentGo, go, go.

My shadows wrapped around us as we came around the corner, even though I knew they couldn’t shield us entirely in plain sight. But the army in front of us was too distracted by the battle raging in the forest before them to notice the creeping shadow against the dark door behind them. Their forces were still busy raising magical shields against the continued barrage of earth-shaking explosions. Grimly, I wondered how long Pari and Akeno could keep that up before utterly burning themselves out.

We skidded into the threshold. A shout of alarm rang out from inside the mountain just as I ordered, “Now!”

Yael’s hands were already up, spread wide apart as she tried to bring them together. Her magic whipped the falling snow into a cyclone as it pushed against the open doors. We might not be able to manipulate the iron door itself, but we could close it with enough force.

Soldiers rushed toward us, their swords raised, moving in from both sides of the entrance.

I quickly erected a wall of solidifying shadows, forcing the soldiers outside back. Magics collided against mine, swords clashing behind me as my friends fought their counterparts.

“Yael.”

She gritted her teeth, snow swirling from the ground and the sky as her power barreled against the doors. They barely inchedforward. Despite the warning in my head to save my power for the final fight against Aviel, we didn’t havetime.

Shadows rippled down my arms, gathering from the corners of the room as they entwined with the current of air attempting to force those doors closed. With a groan of metal, our combined forces slammed them shut with an echoing crash, immediately dampening the magic outside it. My shadows wrapped around the two enormous door handles, chaining them together as the army outside turned its full attention on getting back in.

A myriad of magic bore down upon me, attempting to open what had been closed. Yael gasped in pain.

“I’ve got this,” I grunted, sparing a glance at the battle behind me in a plaintive gesture that she was needed there. While I knew she could handle herself, I could hear Eva’s pants of effort as her blade cut through the air, clearly taking my order to conserve her magic seriously.

Dimly, I realized our bond felt muted somehow, like the magic of this mountain was running interference. A chill ran down my spine, even as I forced my focus back to the task at hand.

Yael’s eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second. Then her arrows flew. I didn’t have to look behind me to know each struck true before she rushed forward, her sword raised.

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