Death Wind (Elven Alliance #3) - Tara Grayce Page 0,82
free.
Gathering her magic, she pressed a hand to her leg and let her magic flow into her bones. It would take some time for her magic to heal herself after the damage she had done. Hopefully the trolls would not come for Farrendel while Melantha was still lying there on the floor, helpless to even walk.
Just a few more minutes. That was all she needed.
THE WHINE OF THE rock-cutting drill cut off as the Escarlish soldier finished the last hole in the stone.
Essie lifted her hands from her ears and craned her head around Julien to watch as one of the other Escarlish soldiers stuffed a blasting stick into each of the holes. He then uncoiled all the fuses and tied them together and to one longer fuse a few feet from the door. He then laid out this longer fuse for about ten feet.
About forty feet away, Essie was huddled against the cliff side between Julien and Edmund. The three elves crouched behind Edmund. One of them tapped Edmund’s shoulder. “Should I shield us when that explodes? I do not like the look of the slope above us.”
Edmund glanced at the shale above them. “Neither do I. But whatever happens, no magic unless we are all about to die. If there’s a chance the trolls will sense the use of magic back here, I don’t want to risk it.”
The elf nodded and sent a glare upward, as if daring that slope to come sliding toward them.
Essie leaned closer to Julien. “This is safe, right? There isn’t going to be a rockslide?”
Julien’s muscles tightened. “Keep your head down. And be prepared to run.”
That was...not comforting. Not at all. Was this the kind of thing her brothers did all the time? They were far too calm for the circumstances.
The soldier lit the fuse, then raced to where everyone else was huddled. Julien turned and put an arm over Essie. “You might want to plug your ears again. And keep your mouth open.”
“Keep my mouth open?” Essie tucked herself into a tighter ball.
“For the shock wave from the explosion. It shouldn’t be bad enough to burst our eardrums, but best not to take the chance.” Julien shifted so that even more of his body covered Essie’s. Next to them, Edmund tucked close to Essie’s other side, further protecting her.
Essie plugged her ears and let her mouth hang loose. With her brothers pressing so close, she couldn’t watch the fuse. The only warning she had was a tightening of Julien’s arm.
A boom tore through the air, shaking the stone beneath her. A fist of air pummeled Essie so hard her breath caught in her lungs. When she tried to gulp in a breath, it clogged in her throat.
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t.
Julien’s arm wrapped around her waist and dragged her to her feet. Shale peppered Essie’s back, rattling off the barrel of her rifle. A cloud of dust and smoke enveloped them, stinging her eyes. She probably would have been coughing, except that she had yet to force her lungs to take a breath.
Then they were inside a dark tunnel, piles of rubble at their feet. Essie slumped against the wall and finally drew in a breath of the dusty air choked with the acrid stench of the explosives.
The others piled inside, even as a deeper rumble started outside. More of the shale mountainside poured onto the ledge.
“Is everyone here?” Julien glanced around, his mouth moving as if he was counting heads. After a moment, he nodded. “Ah. Good. Everyone’s here. Let’s get moving. Someone might have figured out that blast came from the rear instead of the front gate.”
Two of the Escarlish soldiers lit lamps. As much as they did not want to give away their position, they also wouldn’t make good progress if they stumbled around these tunnels in the dark.
One of the elven scouts took the lead with Edmund padding behind him.
As Julien set out after them, with the Escarlish soldiers following, Essie hurried to keep up. The other two elves glided behind her. Until they reached Farrendel, they would be severely outmatched if they ran into any trolls with strong magic. Even after they rescued Farrendel, would he be strong enough to help?
The dark tunnel sloped upwards. It was nearly pitch black, even with the two lamps casting pale orange circles around them. Edmund and the leading scout elf disappeared into the darkness ahead.
Essie’s chest tightened, and she forced herself to breathe normally. Her heart beat so loudly in