The Broken Song

Chapter Thirty-Seven

—Higher Town—

The doors swung open as her back hit the thick wooden surface, her body tumbling ungracefully through the air and onto the unforgiving stone. Her skin scraped from the friction, leaving her bruised and bleeding. Lulu pushed herself up the moment she came to a stop, ready to rush ahead back into the fight. The Sorceress appeared at the end of the castle's main hall, her flawless, stoic form bathed in long shadows that stretched out through the stained glass window behind her. She held Lulu's gaze as she snapped her fingers. The castle doors shut.

Lulu growled unhappily. Turning around, she was going to plan her next infiltration attempt, but her thoughts halted with the hard slap to her face.

"Are you completely stupid?" Idelle stared at her furiously, her brow set in a hard line. "You went in there alone. You're lucky she didn't kill you."

"So dramatic, Dell. Like she could take me...I mean, maybe that wouldn't be a terrible idea...I bet she's amazing in the sack."

Another hard slap to her face. "She'd bite your head off afterward."

"Worth it."

Slap. Lulu laughed.

******

Ori tested it again, but the barrier still held strong. It wrapped around Isca Kiverryn, offering no path inside save the front doors themselves. She lowered her hand and sighed. The front doors weren't an option. If they marched in there, even if they were prepared, they would be cut down one-by-one. After what the Sorceress had done to Tal'Dovah, Ori was under no illusions that she was prepared for their next fight.

"No other way inside?" Alistair stood there, a thoughtful expression on his face as he ran a hand across the barrier. It undulated beneath his touch. "Well, if we can't avoid the trap, then, all we can do is spring the trap first."

"Springing the trap could still get us all killed within seconds," Ori reminded him. "We need to know we actually have a chance of defeating her before we walk in there. Idelle and I aren't enough to fight her. We need something else."

"I don't see what else we could possibly get," Alistair shook his head, turning to face her. "You and Idelle are already extraordinarily powerful. With that and the staff..."

"I'm telling you, Alistair, it won't be enough."

His hand touched hers, gentle fingertips curling around her hand to draw her closer. Ori tilted her head up to look him in the eyes, struck, not for the first time, how much taller he was than her. His dark blonde hair was no longer slicked back, hadn't been for their duration in Kiverryn, and she couldn't help but think how much better this relaxed manner suited him. His emerald eyes drifted across her face, lingering for a second too long on her lips as he undoubtedly remembered their kiss. Her lips tingled at the memory, and she found herself rocking up on her toes just a bit.

"I believe you're strong enough to fight her, Ori," her name fell in a soft whisper between them. "We just haven't found the right way yet."

She lowered her head, lightly pushing her forehead against his chest. "I don't know about that. In the end, I couldn't even kill Tal'Dovah."

"You said you didn't want to kill the Sorceress. All we need to do is find a way to weaken her."

"I don't want to, but we might not have any other choice. She's not going to surrender just because we ask. I just..." A long, ragged sigh escaped her. "I just don't know what to do..."