Of Kings and Killers (Elder Empire Sea #3) - WIll Wight Page 0,75

glanced up.

Shera emerged from the mist.

Her tight-fitting gray silk made her whole body blend into the mist. Strands of her dark hair peeked from inside her hood…and her eyes were darker still, ice-cold, with crushing depths that made him think he was staring into the bottom of the ocean. A line of blood had been drawn across her cheek, just above the cloth that covered her nose, but she stared at him ready to deliver death.

Her right arm was raised, clutching an Awakened knife that billowed with blue-silver clouds. Even as he shoved the helmet over his head, he knew it wouldn’t be enough. He’d let his guard down for the last time.

A thorny vine made of golden light wrapped around Shera’s ankle and pulled her back into the mist.

Champion Tyria’s Soulbound power.

Calder’s helmet fitted into place, and for a moment the world was dark…until the Intent in the glass of the Emperor’s visor allowed him to see once more. The Emperor had intended it to enhance sight, so that was exactly what it did; Calder suffered almost no loss of vision from wearing the helmet.

Shera lunged back out of the fog again, swinging her dagger, and Calder jerked his head back a moment too slow…but the blue Vessel skittered off the side of his helmet before he was able to back beyond her reach.

She couldn’t break the Emperor’s armor. He was safe now.

…but she wasn’t.

Tyria emerged from the mist next to him, her silver needle in one hand and hair tied into a long tail. She still managed to look casual even with the gold power of a Soulbound pooling around her feet. Golden vines made of light retracted back.

She shot him a wink and tapped that long needle of hers against her shoulder. “You’re pretty slippery, aren’t you?” she said into the fog.

Before Shera could respond, an explosion of wood echoed through the room. Some of the Guards shouted, and Calder readied his sword; even Shera couldn’t have done all this without a team, and if this was the rest of her squad blasting through the door, he needed to be prepared to fight.

But Rosephus helpfully identified himself by shouting “FACE ME, SNAKE!”

Shera didn’t answer. Of course.

Calder turned his helmet toward Tyria. “Has that ever worked?”

“I’ve never fought with Rosephus before,” Tyria said. “But I can say with confidence that no, it never has.”

“East exit!” someone shouted.

Calder couldn’t pinpoint the direction of shouts in the mist, but he could see the north wall, so he could orient himself enough to be able to point to the east exit.

If he could do it, the Champions could do it faster.

Tyria instantly thrust her needle in the direction of the east exit, but held herself back from firing whatever power she had been about to unleash. If she fired blindly, she could easily hit a Guard.

Rosephus had no such reservations. Calder saw him briefly emerging from the mist as he leaped entirely across the room, a massive man with a blade in one hand and a dozen more strapped all over his body. Daggers of red light floated over his head—the ghostly weapons created by his Soulbound Vessel.

The floor cracked as he landed, and Rosephus continued to rage, so Calder took that to mean that Shera hadn’t been caught.

Tyria motioned to Calder, and when he leaned in, she kept her voice low. “You and I and that ape are the only three in this room she can’t kill. Spread out. He’s got the east exit covered, I’ll head to the west, and you walk along the south wall. Call out your location when you make contact.”

She vanished with inhuman speed even before he nodded his understanding.

Walking through the veil of magical mist was a uniquely terrifying experience, even though he was only a few paces from the south wall.

The first two people he ran into were Guards, but they saw each other as dark shapes in the fog. He nearly crossed swords with each of them before they recognized each other and lowered their weapons in relief.

When he reached the south wall, he decided to check the southeast corner first. Rosephus seemed like he would be less likely to check systematically, so his corner would be the most dangerous. Calder wanted to get that over with.

As he walked, he saw something that focused his attention and made his breaths come faster: bloody footprints.

They could belong to anyone, but he had seen Shera bleeding. Just as the thought occurred to him, he