Page 48 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
Niels’ heart pounded in his chest. “Are you all right?”
She rubbed her hand across her lip; her fingers came away bloody. It wasn’t bleeding terribly—probably just scraped by the rubble, or maybe she’d bitten it. She pushed herself up on her elbows, the locket still clenched in her hand. She looked down at it, a curious expression on her face.
“Oh, thank the stars and fate,” Fely gasped from behind him. Niels looked over his shoulder to see the King grimacing as Fely adjusted him into a more comfortable position.
Niels wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it for himself. “You did it.”
Hallie pushed herself shakily to her feet and stumbled forward, the locket swinging in her fist. Niels jumped up to help, but Hallie waved him off. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” Niels murmured under his breath, but he joined her.
If she’d heard him, she didn’t act like it. She just handed the locket back over to Fely, who quickly reattached it around her neck.
Niels ran a hand through his hair. He would figure this out. He just needed to be patient. Normally that wasn’t hard for him, but the Fogs had begun chipping away at that.
Just the thought made his headache flare again. He clenched his teeth against the pain. No one noticed as the King’s eyes opened fully.
“I cannot feel…I cannot feel my legs.” He didn’t sound regal anymore. His usual silky voice was rugged and raspy. “I need to walk. I need to find…my uncle needs me at the chamber. What happened?”
“You almost died,” Hallie said frankly.
Filip blinked, looking at Hallie. “Did you…?”
She shrugged. “Good thing you showed me what to do.”
Fely smoothed back his hair. “She used my relic’s reserve—not entirely her own power.”
The King was silent for a moment, his eyes closed, his face strained. After a moment, a soft golden glow enveloped his body. Both Hallie and Niels flinched, but Fely stayed steady.
It was over as quickly as it had begun. The King opened his eyes once more, his breathing labored, his skin cloudy. “I might be able to supplement with my own, but it will not be an easy feat, nor a quick one.” His jaw worked. “If I can’t find the sword, all of this will have been for naught.”
If the King was putting on a show, Niels had to admit he was an excellent actor. The distress in his voice seemed real enough.
Niels didn’t know if that made him feel better or not, but as a man, he could sympathize. As a man, you needed to be the strongest, the best, the one to have all the answers. When you didn’t, you felt useless. He barely understood what the task was.He’d only agreed to come along with Hallie because she needed him, whether she knew it or not.
Though he was beginning to doubt that now. He’d been completely useless the entirety of their journey thus far. He’d only gotten in the way. He was the reason she’d nearly burnt out from using her power; if he hadn’t been hurt, if she hadn’t tried to heal him, she would’ve had enough power to open the portal with no problem.
“Where are we, exactly?” Niels asked, interrupting the King and Fely’s conversation.
Hallie patted her lip once more, but it had stopped bleeding. She fetched a canteen from her pack and took a sip. “I think this is the old city.”
He leveraged himself to his feet, using the nearby stone pile for assistance. His hand slipped, scraping his palm. He sucked air through his teeth.
Hallie set aside her canteen. “You need a medic.”
Niels pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth to try to relieve some of the headache that roared when he’d slipped. It didn’t help much. “I think we both know we ain’t gonna find one of those out here.”
She gave him a skeptical look and pulled her pack onto her back. “If we’re lucky, we’ll find some medicines in the healing wing of the palace. The only problem is, we’ll have to hike to get there.”
Fely finally pulled her hand back, panting heavily; she wiped her wrapped brow awkwardly. The bandage wasn’t soaked, but a few fresh spots of blood had appeared near where she’d been injured. “We can’t go anywhere yet. We need the sword.”
“What sword?” Hallie asked, packing the canteen back into her pack and standing. “You keep mentioning it.”
Fely and the King exchanged glances. With a subtle nod, Fely looked back at Hallie. “Kainadr’s Shadow, an ancient blade forged with the power of a god. It is the Myrrai Gate’s guardian.”
Niels blinked. He had no idea what any of that meant. Hallie looked equally confused.
“But that’s just a fairy tale.” Hallie played with the straps of her pack. “All the scholars say so. Even if the story is based upon truth, the legend has expanded so much it’s unrecognizable—like King Arthur and Excalibur from First Earth.”
