Page 87 of Daughter of the Darkened City

Enid grabbed her sword and sheathed it, then left the room. She would go to her brothers. The ritual was dangerous, and spending more time with her fellow warriors was just what she needed.

The streets were quiet as night blanketed the world, softly dimming with each step. Fireflies blinked in and out, and she followed the soft music from the tavern down the way.

Turning the corner, she came to a halt. Soldiers in heavy armor filled the street, marching in her direction. She crossed her arms, skin prickling.

“Enid Erebus,” the front soldier, a centaur, said. “We need you to come with us.”

Her wings instinctively spread out, feet widening her stance. He’d said the words calmly, but every alarm sounded in her brain.

“What’s going on?” she asked, trying, and failing, to keep her voice unsuspecting. It cut like a knife and the soldiers stiffened.

Fuck.

That wasn’t good. There were… she counted the soldiers she could see. At least twenty. That seemed a little overkill if this wasn’t a show of power.

“It’s Avenay. She’s in trouble, and King Edond wants your help.” He shifted on his feet, his words dry and unconvincing.

He didn’t even try to mask it as truth.

“Where is she?”

“There’s no time to explain. Just come with us.”

Enid’s hand slid to the hilt of her sword, fingers tapping the top of it casually. If they were telling the truth, she didn’t want to waste time. But she knew they weren’t. Her intuition screamed, and she wasn’t about to ignore it.

She had only a few seconds to make her move, and she had to be quick about it. Drawing in a breath, she jumped up, bringing her sword down on the centaur. As expected, he blocked her attack. It was anobvious one, meant to draw all eyes on it and set them on edge and get her closer.

Less expected, though, was her casting a shadow shroud, disappearing from view. Gasps rippled through the soldiers’ ranks and they shifted uncomfortably, drawing their weapons. Good, Enid wanted to keep them on their toes. She shifted to the side and threw up a wall of smoke, letting it sift through the group like fog. They swatted and moved in a harried fashion, letting Enid slip through them. The shadows diminished their vision, causing them to run into one another and start fights with the other.

Light as air, she slipped around, knocking one, two, three on the side of the head and sending them unconscious to the ground. Shouts rose as they frantically tried to locate Enid. She slipped around, taking out a few more. Her hands shook and her feet grew unsteady, though.

What’s going on?

The shadow shroud and smoke were strong power drains, but she’d been doing them for only a few moments. Normally, she could go much longer before she felt weak.

“We found her!” someone called out.

Enid stepped back from the group, holding her breath. How? Yes, she was getting tired, but her focus was still sharp.

But they didn’t mean her. Another group of soldiers came from behind with a bound Onora. She fought with every step, spewing curses and causing trouble for the soldiers dragging her.

True fear climbed up Enid’s throat. Fighting the soldiers to sneak away was one thing. But why was Onora now bound?

“Careful!” the centaur called out. “Enid is hiding somewhere amongst us.”

Onora stopped thrashing at his words. She became preternaturally still, nostrils flared, eyes slowly scanning. None of the others noticed as they talked about how to find Enid. If she could get to Onora and take her shackles off, then she’d have an ally in the fight.

She slipped around the chaos to Onora, sending out more fog to overtake the new group of soldiers too. Enid had barely taken a step next to her when the woman grabbed her arm with a callused grip. Damn, her senses were good. Enid hoped she never had to fight her.

“Keys,” Onora whispered so low that only Enid could hear.

A shiver ran down Enid’s spine. She knew Hunters spent years training to fight against magical beings, specializing in demons, but everything Onora did held a cold calculation to it, a knowledge so precise that Enid felt an even deeper fear of them than she ever had.

Enid shook her head and refocused. Her blood pumped too fast and her power was depleting too quickly. Far too quickly. Glancing down, Onora pointed to a soldier a little ahead of them. Hanging around his belt were keys.

Shit.

She was well hidden at the moment, but if she took the keys, they would know instantly where she was. Her hands shook from the strain the shroud put on her. Her head spun and her other senses slipped from her. She needed to drop the shroud soon. How could she get the keys before she had to? She’d never been a good pickpocket. Her hands were too clumsy even without the tremors.

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