Page 43 of Destroyer

The artifact pulled against Ru's mind, vibrating with what felt like fear. Was it warning her? Or was Ru’s mind affecting its voice?

At last, the wind turned, carrying Sybeth’s words toward the carriage.

“Fools,” the rider growled. “I said, drop your weapons.”

“Excuse me,” said the carriage driver, cutting in from above, his voice much clearer to Ru despite a quaver in it. “If we could all perhaps—”

“You,quiet,” barked the guard whose sword was drawn on Lyr.

“Shout at him one more time,” growled Lyr, his voice so low Ru could barely make it out. “I'd love a reason to disembowel you.”

Each guard and each rider was a coiled snake ready to strike, a bloodbath held at bay only by controlled, taut muscles. The trees waved above them, casting shadows on bright armor. Seven bright helmet plumes fluttered in the breeze.

Ru found herself unable to move or react, she was so glued to the scene. Still trying to make sense of it. Her heart beat a staccato of dread against her ribs.

One of the guards turned toward his colleagues, whose bright blades were angled toward Sybeth and Lyr. With tight-jawed aggression, he hissed, “Get thedoors.Get thebloodydoors, one of you! I told you louts not to wait. She’ll have already crawled out the other side—”

A sweat broke out on Ru’s forehead, her throat tightening with the beginnings of panic. In the haze of waking up, the nonsensical tableau outside had been more confusing than anything, not clear enough to give her reason to flee.

But the guard’s words shook her into sharp awareness, grounding her with a flash of fear to her nerves. They wantedher. Swords were drawn, threats exchanged because of her. Rational thought demanded to give way to panic, but Ru couldn’t let it.

Her gut in a knot, breaths jagged and shallow, she tried to think of a plan, a logical way to put an end to this confusion. But the need to arm herself, the desperation to get away, engulfed all other thoughts.

If they wanted the artifact… She had to get away. And there stood the forest, old and dark, practically untouched for millennia. She could hide there, lose herself in the ferns and shadows. She would crawl out the far door of the carriage, disappear into the trees, and wait. Wait to see who would reveal themselves as friend and who was foe.

Because Ru wasn’t no longer sure she could trust the riders. What iftheywere trying to hurt her, and the guards were attempting to keep her safe?

Another incalculable problem without an obvious solution. Almost every variable an unknown, jumbled by emotion. The only surety came in the form of Ru herself, and the artifact. She would defend herself at all costs, as the laws of human nature and a panicked mind demanded. And the artifact, as the regent had ordered, as Ru’s instincts demanded, also needed protection.

Shaking, staving off waves of panic with sheer force of will, Ru clutched the artifact to her chest. As quietly as she could, she undid the latch on the far door of the carriage.

How many steps to the edge of the road? How many steps to reach the forest's full darkness? How many guards would it take to find her? Pointless calculations rattled against her skull, doing nothing to soothe her.

Then came another shout, sending a burst of terrified energy through Ru. In one movement, she opened the door and half-jumped, half-rolled out of the carriage. Her hands smarted in pain as her palms slammed against sharp gravel.

Not waiting to see if anyone had heard or seen her, she dashed pell-mell toward the forest, spraying bits of gravel as she did.

She only made it three steps before a figure slammed against her from behind, flattening her under the weight of a body. She gasped at the metallic press of steel against her back — not a blade, but armor.

Her attacker was one of the guards.

“Got her!” he cried, his voice unfamiliar, hoarse from exertion.

Ru’s chest screamed beneath his weight. His hot breaths fell on her hair and exposed neck, and she struggled wildly. Wedged between his breastplate and the artifact, the air had been punched from her lungs.

Panic, at last, overtook her.

And then, as quickly as he had come, the guard leaped to his feet, leather and armor creaking as he did, gravel moving under booted feet. His weight disappeared from her back, and gasping, Ru drew breath. Tears stung the corners of her eyes.

There was the sing of steel, an obscene squelch, and the guard fell to the ground with a heavy thud. From where Ru lay only inches from the man’s body, she watched, frozen, as blood leaked from the corner of a bearded mouth. Unseeing eyes stared out from his white face. A breeze moved against him, the plume on his helmet dancing.

Ru sat up and scrambled sideways, away from the body. The artifact pulsed against her, that ever-present tether taut and vibrating.

She couldn't pull her gaze from the guard's empty stare. He had come for her, come for the artifact, come for both — in that moment, it didn't matter.

Sybeth appeared in front of Ru, crouching, her eyes wide and wild. Blood spattered her front, red and wet and bright. Ru couldn't tell if it was hers or the guard’s.

“Get back in the carriage,” Sybeth ordered. “Now.”

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