Faster than the weary elves, Inara collided with the Reavers first. Firefly blocked and batted away one sword after another before lashing out on the offensive. Her steel cut through limbs, necks, and heads until her path was clear. Those that survived her onslaught were faced with Galanör and Aenwyn who, between them, made short work of Alijah’s protectors.
Stepping onto the wooden boards, Inara looked out on the largest excavation she had ever seen. With extraordinary tenacity and unparalleled skill, the dwarves had dug down, forging an abyss in The Moonlit Plains. The interior of the shaft was a mass of walkways, bridges, and pulley systems. The design was dizzying to Inara’s eyes, but the dwarves weren’t new to the art of digging large holes in the ground. She could see how, if one knew the structure, the miners could get to anywhere inside the shaft, but she was looking for the quickest way to the bottom.
Alijah crossed her vision, on the other side of the shaft. He was hurrying down the sloping walkway that lined the interior wall.
“Come on,” she bade.
The trio dashed to the left and began their descent around the curve of the shaft.
“What are these?” Aenwyn questioned, referring to one of the stone tablets they passed every twenty feet.
Inara glanced at one as she ran past, having noted them pressed into the muddy walls. She instantly recognised the ancient glyphs carved across their surface. “They’re warding stones!” she called back. “They were used on The Lifeless Isles to prevent the use of portals!”
“Good!” Galanör grunted. “Then he only has one way out of here.”
Inara laid eyes on her brother across the way. “He won’t be leaving here!” she proclaimed, in a bid to free herself of the emotions that tied her to Alijah. Then, without warning her companions, Inara jumped, kicked off the interior wall, and leapt into the shaft.
“Inara!” Galanör’s voice disappeared above her.
As planned, Inara reached out and caught the rope of a pulley system. She slid down thirty feet until a bridge intersected the shaft and allowed her to spring the gap. Sprinting along the bridge, Inara made for the centre before hopping over the side and falling again. This time, she landed on the flat surface of a lift designed to haul tools up and down. The whole thing buckled under her weight and she heard chains rattling far above. Of course, she had never intended to be on it for more than a second. Springing away, before it fell into shadow, the half-elf gripped a stray rope hanging from another pulley and swung to the other side of the shaft.
Timed perfectly, Inara crashed through the railing and into Alijah. The siblings bounced off the wall together and tumbled down the walkway in a collision of limbs and stray punches. Falling over the edge of the boards was inevitable. They plummeted ten feet before careering off a lift platform and landing on the next walkway below.
Inara added her groan to Alijah’s as she tried to get up, but his dragon armour had protected him better than any of her leathers. Rising first, he lashed out with a firm kick. Inara caught his foot an inch from her ribs and twisted, bringing him down on top of her. They grappled across the narrow walkway before, again, falling over the side.
By chance, they fell towards an intersecting bridge. Alijah hit the main bridge, landing flat on the boards, while Inara looked as if she would miss it. At the last second, utilising her elven heritage, she twisted and managed to grab hold of the railing, slamming her body into the side of the bridge. Every muscle cried out with new injuries, as well as a couple of ribs, but she refused to let go of the railing.
Again, Alijah was the first to recover. He crawled over to his sister, her fate in his hands. Or so he believed. As he hammered a fist down on her fingers, Inara let go with that same hand and reached up to snatch at his hair. One strong tug pulled his face down onto the railing, knocking him back in pain. Using the time she had, Inara swung her legs up and climbed onto the bridge.
Alijah was only a few steps away now, tending to his sore nose. Inara took the moment to look up and check on Galanör and Aenwyn. Both were still navigating the sloping walkway, too tired from battle to follow her dangerous route down.
“That hurt,” Alijah commented casually, wiping blood from the fresh cut across his nose.
“You don’t know pain yet,” Inara retorted, her words as barbed as her tone.
“You can’t stop this, Inara. It’s already been seen and written in blood for thousands of years.”
Inara looked at the man she knew to be her brother and numbed herself to the emotions that took note of his voice. He was just her enemy, another threat to the realm that needed dealing with.
“There are no words that will stop me from killing you,” she stated flatly.
Alijah looked to be considering that. “How about these words?” He turned his palms down to the bridge and barked a spell of destruction that tore through the wooden boards.
Inara was accustomed to falling, an exercise she had practised many times with Athis, and instinctively jumped to the side as the bridge shattered into pieces under her feet. As the debris fell into the depths, she cleared the bridge altogether and grasped the edge of a lift platform. Alijah had made no such attempt to prevent his fall. He simply allowed himself to plummet and snatch at a
