Shadowguard

Everna didn't need to be told twice.

She bolted to Lisette and hauled her to her feet as the cavernbrute stepped into the congregation. It swept the goblin's leader into its hand and tossed it, screaming, into its gaping maw. The tribe scattered, scrambling like roaches as they retreated further into the cavern.

A large gray foot soared overhead, slamming into the ground behind her. The floor trembled, cracks webbing across the stone. A spindly goblin leg, bent at an unnatural angle, stuck out from beneath the cavernbrute's heel.

Everna pushed her way through the scrambling mass and, with what little aid Lisette could offer in her daze, pulled Vina onto her back. She was heavy, more so than she expected, and much too tall. Vina's legs trailed behind her as the two of them fought past the last of the goblins and stepped onto the rickety bridge.

Though the ramshackle construction swayed wildly beneath them, the darkness of the ravine hardly crossed her mind. The true danger lay behind them, a hulking mass of stony gray among the terrified screams and the sickening crack of bones. Planks wobbled beneath her feet, the ropes creaking and snapping as she tore across the opening. Never had her heart beat so painfully in her chest — not even on the night she faced Windmore and fled the town's Guard. Her hands were numb, her trembling fingers barely able to keep Vina from slipping off her shoulder.

She could barely fit through the crevice in the wall, and the narrow, winding tunnel beyond was even more difficult to traverse. Yet, as if by the grace of the Golden Lady herself, she and Lisette pulled Vina through. As soon as Everna’s feet hit the floor of the cave and her gaze fell on the grassy plain just beyond the entrance, she sent a prayer of thanks to every deity she could name.

"How in the Nine Realms did you pull that off?" Lisette asked. She gasped for air, her hands trembling with such violence she could barely push her curls out of her face.

Everna shook her head. She hadn't a clue how her ridiculous argument worked, but it had. They escaped, and that's all that mattered.

"You've some kind of divine grace on your side. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a votary of Lady Luck," Lisette said between breaths. "Cavernbrutes always toy with their food before eating it — whether by terrorizing it or 'debating' with it. I've never heard of one that let their meals go, no matter how amusing they find them."

"If it was the Golden Lady, I couldn't tell you why," Everna said. "I've never been a devout follower of the gods. I'm the last person they'd grace with their blessings."

Lisette drew in a shuddering breath, then swallowed and said, "Come on. We need to get out of here. A few goblins might escape and I don't fancy being here when they decide to take revenge."

They dropped Vina near the cave entrance and wasted no time gathering what few belongings Lisette had smuggled out of the cavern. Everna struggled to pull on her leathers, still soaked through from the previous night's storm, as Lisette stuffed Vina into her dress. After no small amount of fumbling, Everna buckled the last belt into place and retrieved her sword from the pile of weapons tossed into the middle of the cave. Most belonged to Lisette, and she quickly lost track of where she hid the array of knives and daggers.

After she wedged one down the front of her pants, Everna decided she'd rather not know.

Less than a quarter of a mile from the cave's entrance, they found the horses, still saddled, grazing on the plains. Lisette collected hers and Vina's while Everna hauled herself astride the molted mare she left the safe house with. Esazia huffed as if displeased with having her grazing cut short, but trudged after the other two horses.

No sooner than they returned to the cave, Vina bolted upright with a strangled shriek.

"Oh gods! I'm dead! I'm—" Vina's babbling ceased as she took in her surroundings, her eyes wide with disbelief as her head whipped about. "Outside?"

"You can thank Everna for that," Lisette said from atop her horse. "You would be dead if she hadn't convinced the cavernbrute to let us go."

"Cavernbrute?" Vina asked, scrunching her nose. "Is that what that horrendous creature was?"

Lisette made a sound of frustration at the back of her throat. "I should've known. Goblin tribes aren't that well organized unless there's something much more powerful lording over them. It's usually a cavernbrute or a cave troll. Sometimes, if you're really unlucky, it's a dragon."

"What's the difference between a cavernbrute and a cave troll?" Everna asked. "Neither sound pleasant."

Instead of an answer, she received a muddy stiletto heel to the face.

"You!" Vina hissed, red with fury. She flung the second shoe at her. "I bet you had something to do with this! You just faint at the most convenient time and we get dragged into a cave with those vermin? You're trying to get us killed, aren't you?"

Everna hadn't a chance to respond before Lisette spun her horse about and pinned Vina with a withering glare. "You were the one who fainted, and thank the gods for it. With your attitude, you'd have gotten us killed in seconds!"

"My attitude?!" Vina recoiled, scandalized. “My attitude is—"

"Unbearable at the best of times," Lisette finished. "With the way you've been acting, especially since Everna arrived, you're lucky to be alive. I wouldn't have blamed her one bit if she'd elected to leave you behind."

"Since when were you on her side?!"

Annoying as Vina was, Everna couldn't deny it was a valid question. Even if she hadn't overheard Lisette and her brother that day in the training room, Lisette made it clear she didn't trust her. The feeling was mutual.

Though Everna supposed Lisette had every chance to leave her behind. She could've taken their belongings and escaped with Vina, leaving her at the mercy of the goblins. Yet she'd come back for her.

"Since she saved our lives when she very well could've left us," Lisette said with finality. "Now, please, get on your horse. It's been a long night, and I want to put as much distance between us and that cave as possible."

"Don't expect me to thank you," Vina hissed. "You commoners exist to serve the nobility. I refuse to reward a fish for swimming."

Once Vina was out of earshot, struggling to haul herself onto her unwilling horse, Everna sighed. "Beyond the fact that she's an insufferable brat, what in the name of the gods did I do to deserve this much vitriol from her?"

Lisette cocked her head. "Wil."

Everna stared at her. "I absolutely have not."

"I didn't mean it literally," Lisette snorted. "She likes Wil. He can't stand her."

"I doubt that. She's Anwellian. They despise anything that isn't human — as well as any human that's not, well, them.”

Even without considering that, Lisette's proposal made no sense. She'd never heard Vina speak to Wil beyond the tantrum she witnessed the day she arrived at the safe house. She'd certainly never seen Wil associate with her. It had to be something else.

Or Lisette's complaints put the idea in her head.

"Yes, she's Anwellian," Lisette said as if it explained everything. "Wil, allegedly, comes from Inverness's High Nobility. It's the status she's after. She's throwing a hissy fit because he won't look in her direction, but he's glued to your hip."

Everna rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Osain's the one responsible for that. Contrary to what everyone seems to think, I didn't woo my way into the safe house. In fact, I wanted nothing to do with him at first."

"That was after the fact. Wil... He wasn't supposed to get involved. Osain told him to watch you, but he went and dragged you into the Guard post instead."

Now that she thought of it, Wil never said why he'd been in the tavern the night of Mayor Ashburn's assassination. She never asked; with everything that happened since, it was the furthest thing from her mind. In hindsight, it should've been the first question she asked.

"In the tavern, or after the fact?"

"Both," Lisette said after a moment of debate.

"Why?"

A pregnant silence preceded her response.

"Because we were told you'd be the one to kill Mayor Ashburn."