The Crow King's Wife(122)

“If they have possibly set up an ambush shouldn’t we be a bit quieter?” Zoelyn grumbled softly. She had never actually met Victory before, but she was quickly coming to the conclusion that their absent friend was quiet correct in his assessment of them and that they were in fact idiots.

“House guards in a minor city.” Zachary replied in a bored tone. “Anyone worth his salt went with Derrick to deal with Grim. The only ones left in the Keep will be the scrubs. If they have in fact got an ambush set up Havoc will kill them before we even catch up with him.”

Firelight lit the hall ahead of them before Zoelyn could object further and the entire structure groaned once more. Zoelyn shook her head and blinked her eyes rapidly to clear the blindness as Dray tugged her along grumbling about insanity. The air around her was filling with smoke and she had to fight back the urge to cough as they drew closer to the Firym and his newest destruction.

“Got tired of looking for the stairs already?” Zachary observed dryly as he gazed down at the still smoldering hole in the floor.

Havoc shrugged and smiled. “Seemed faster. I hate Hide and go Seek, always have.” He replied and began unbuckling his sword belt. With a flip of his wrist he wound the belt around the two blades and tossed them to Zachary. “I’ll go down first. Toss my blades down when I yell for them.” He said as folded his arms around himself and stepped into the hole.

“He didn’t even check to see how far the drop was.” Dray gasped in dismay.

“One…Two…” Zachary intoned before violent cursing erupted from below them. Nodding Zachary dropped to a crouch and pulled his backpack from his shoulder. “It’s a little over twenty feet. The rest of us will want to climb down rather than jump.” He informed them as he drew coils of silk rope from his bag.

“Swords.” Havoc’s voice called faintly up to them and Zachary pitched the Firym’s weapons through the hole without bothering to look up from the rope he was busily uncoiling.

“Damn it!” Havoc’s echoed response brought a faint smile to Zachary’s face and he glanced up at the two of them impishly.

“Got him.” Zachary observed with a wink then stood and gazed around the hall for something to tie the rope off on. With a faint frown he settled on a door and busied himself for several minutes securing the rope to its handle.

“We would be better off with a rabid bear as our guide.” Dray whispered in her ear and Zoelyn fought back a smile as Zachary turned toward them.

“I’m not sure how the rope will hold up if it spends too long in contact with the stone Havoc melted so climb quickly.” Zachary tossed the rope through the hole as he spoke and motioned them both forward.

“Bloody hell.” Dray grumbled as he scrambled for the rope and held it away from the edges of the hole. “You first Zoey I’ll hold it for you.”

“Think I found the prison entrance. Big bad looking iron bound door at the end of this hall.” Havoc called up to them as Zoelyn hesitantly took the rope and tried in vain to spot the ground below the hole.

“Wait for us before going in. If they do have an ambush set it will be behind that door.” Zachary called back to him and motioned for her to move quickly. “He won’t really wait for us so go as quickly as you can without falling.” He urged.

“I’m not fond of heights.” Zoelyn sighed as she clutched the rope and braced herself against the sides of the hole. Logic won out over caution as the still heated stone around the edges of the hole began to warm her feet through her boots. “I’m not sure I like you right now Havoc.” She mumbled as she scurried down the rope and for one of the few times in her life she was grateful that she always wore gloves. She knew Dray’s hands wouldn’t fare so well on the climb down. The silk rope was lighter to carry than any other kind, but it was also slick under her grip and with nothing to brace her feet against it was difficult to control her momentum.

“I know I don’t like you right now.” Dray called in a louder voice as he followed quickly down the rope. Cursing softly he landed gracefully beside her and shook his hands in annoyance. “I think we are making this more complicated than it ever should have been.” He added with a sigh.

“Grim is actually the one that made it complicated. If not for the Stonevines we could have walked straight in without wasting time circling the building first.” Zachary corrected as he landed lightly beside them both and stalked off down the hall in pursuit of Havoc.