Chapter Fifteen

Rayne walked along the dark cave corridor, leaving the wild blizzard behind them. Only the light of her torch illuminated the darkness. Only the sound of their horses' hooves sounded in the passageway. She reached out, running her fingers along the cave wall slowly.

"It's pretty dry in here, and no tracks leading further in either." she said, coming to a stop and knelt down to the ground, running her fingers along the ground next. She felt Gideon's eyes on her back, but she ignored it. She can't have distractions while this close to completing the mission. However, the conversation earlier still rumbled around in her mind. What if Xerath wasn't the true enemy here? What if he can actually be an ally?

"Do you plan on praying there?" Gideon spoke up, interrupting her thoughts. She was still kneeling on the ground. She got to her feet, brushing off the dirt from her knees and continued forward in silence. No distractions.

They walked for what seemed like hours, until an opening came up. A large cavern waited for them, a long stone walkway over an open abyss was their only way to getting to the other side. Rayne stepped close to the edge, peering down into the depths before examining the walkway carefully. Three pillars distanced themselves beneath the walkway, holding up the stones.

"I don't know stability, but we won't have much of a choice right now." as she said that, an object whipped past her head and skipped along the stone path. When it came to a halt, she could barely make out a rock. She glanced back at Gideon who was holding another rock in his hand.

"You seemed busy." he said, before launching the next rock even further ahead. They listened to the clattering of the rock hit the stone before slowly stopping. Nothing.

"Looks like we're in the clear." he said, putting his hand on her back and gave her a gentle nudge forward. She gathered herself, glaring back at him before holding her reins close to her and walked on ahead. The stone path held true as Rayne and her horse carefully walked along. She listened to Gideon and his horse follow twenty feet behind them. She looked around, her brows knitting together. This doesn't seem right. It's too easy.

As those thoughts played in her mind, a slight tremor rumbled behind them. Her heart started to sink as the crumbling of stone sounded behind them.

"Run!" she yelled, slapping her horse's rear, sending it sprinting across the stone ahead of her. She didn't dare look back as she ran, all she could do was listen to the sound of the stones cracking and crumbling. When she reached the other side, she spun back watching in horror as the stones fell behind Gideon. He had sent his horse ahead of him. She grabbed the reins of his horse, pulling her away from the collapsing bridge. Rayne turned back to Gideon, her hand reaching out to him as he closed the distance, his hand outstretched to hers as the stones fell beneath him.

"Gideon!"

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Gideon slowly opened his eyes, his free hand patting his body down. He remembered the stones caving beneath him, and Rayne's desperate scream. He looked down st his feet that were standing on the solid cave floor. He stood up straight, glancing over his shoulder to only see the continuation of the cave.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, stomping his foot on the dirt.

"A spell, a very powerful spell." Rayne said, touching the wall. Gideon looked over to her, raising a brow as her hand still squeezed his. He blushed lightly, feeling the same tightness in his hand that he felt back in the village. He closed that door, letting go of her hand. The gesture caught her attention, and she cleared her throat.

"He made it very convincing. We need to tread carefully from here on out." he said, patting his mare's neck in reassurance. Rayne agreed and took the lead once more. He looked after her as he followed along. How long must it be awkward between them? Last he checked, she made the move.

They continued on for sometime when Rayne stopped in her tracks. He raised a brow at her, watching as her hand went up into the air.

"There's a draft." she said softly, tugging on her reins and quickened her pace. Gideon let out a sigh, running his fingers between his shirt and the armor. He never knew it to be this heavy before. The clinking and clanking of his armor settled in his ears, and for once it started to bother him.

The draft grew stronger as a light came into view. Rayne stopped at the exit, lowering her hood and inhaled deeply. Gideon met up at her side, breathing in the chilly air and sighed in relief. Before them stood a forest with fresh powdered snow, undisturbed. Gideon pressed on slowly, only hearing the now gentle wind and the crunching of the snow beneath his boots.

"The storm must have stopped some time while we were walking." he exclaimed.

"No, it's still raging below. Look." she pointed at the sky. Following her finger, he noticed the clear night sky, the stars sparkling brighter than normal. But further out of this area, grey clouds still formed.

"How long can he keep this sort of spell going?" he asked, and Rayne shrugged, taking out her bow and quiver.

"He has to be maintaining a strong connection. He probably thinks we're still struggling down there." she said, leading her horse off to the side. She kicked the snow around until grass poked through. "We'll leave the horses here. They don't need to be in the crossfire." she said, checking herself over. Gideon lead his own horse across from hers, running his hand over her coat one last time before meeting up with Rayne.

"What's the plan?" he asked her, but she remained quiet. Her eyes were darting around the forest as they walked. "We need to have a strategy. We're about to go up against the most powerful wizard that ever existed." he said as she started to braid her hair. "You're playing with your hair now?"

"I don't like it getting in my face." was all she said before she walked on. He was growing flustered with her. He can't read her like he could with other women. Flattery, wine and sex made things easy, but with Rayne, no, her brain didn't operate that way. She rejected a gift from a prince, even kicked him from her chambers. She hated conversation unless it in reference to the current situation. Heavy drinker, ale is typical at your common tavern, and even that spiced elvish wine she polished off on her own. He inclined his head as he thought. He could get her drunk again to get her to open up, but for all he knew now is that they may not even live past tonight.

"Ryder." her soft spoken words caused him to stop, watching as she stepped up behind a tree and nodded her head forward. He moved in behind her, peering around the trunk to see the infamous tower. The stone tower stood alone with a small stone staircase in front of it. Lights shined in from several windows, but the mysterious purple light was evident in the window near the top. The tower stood in a clearing with a large snowbank off to the side.

"I don't see any movements at the windows. He could be further in, or possibly sleeping." she said, stepping out from behind the tree. Gideon kept looking around though. His gut twisted uncomfortably. Something seemed off about this. Rayne stepped into the clearing, walking past the snowbank when it shifted just slightly enough for Gideon to catch. He narrowed his eyes on it, watching as the snow slowly fell away from the heap.

"Winters!" he called out to her as the unknown snow pile rose up beside her. She didn't hesitate to jump away, quipping an arrow to the string as the snow took form. It rose up, towering over her. White fur covered the beast from head to toe, its arms as long as her. It's red eyes gleamed angrily, and its jaws dripped with drool as it hung open in a roar. Gideon unsheathed his longsword, charging through the snow and slid in front of her when the beast brought its fist down on her. He flipped the grip on his sword, twisting the blade as the fist made contact against the flat side.

"Get back, Winters!" he ordered her, using all of his strength to push the creature back. The monster roared again, swinging down both of its fists. Gideon sidestepped one, swinging his arm above him as the other fist came down on him. His blade made contact, blood raining down on him. The creature roared in pain as it reeled back. Gideon took the moment to give distance between himself and monstrosity.

"It looks like a troll." Rayne yelled to him, pulling her bowstring back to her lips. Gideon started to untie his armor. "What are you doing?" she asked him as he threw down his plate armor.

"It's slowing me down." he gritted his teeth when the cold air seeped through his shirt. He felt lighter now as he gripped his sword, facing the troll head on. The beast snarled, blood staining its fur and the snow. Gideon took a deep breath, channeling his energy throughout his body. He felt his muscles relax, his mind clear and his heart beat steady.

The sound of an arrow whistled through the air past his head and made contact with the beasts abdomen. It swung its hand down, breaking the arrow that protruded from its stomach, its eyes fixated on the archer. Gideon moved in its line of sight, switching grips again as he charged forward, jabbing his sword forward at the troll's ribs. It swiped down at it, knocking the attack aside and swung its other arm around, slamming into his side. Gideon grunted, getting flung into the snow, his sword landing next to him.

Another arrow shot through the air, planting into the troll's neck. It yelled, whipping its head towards her. Rayne dropped her bow and unsheathed her shortsword as the troll charged her. She stepped within its range, spinning on her feet as it reached out with its hand. She brought her sword down on its wrist, slicing across and sliced her sword across its stomach. Blood waterfalls down its abdomen and hand. It released a deafening screech that made Rayne drop to her knees and cover her ears. In the next instant, its large hand grabbed hold of her, raising her up into the air. It continued to squeeze her until a scream escaped from her, blood streaming from her mouth. It raised its hand behind its head, taking a step forward. Rayne's eyes widen as she waited for the troll to throw her, but a yell interrupted the movement as Gideon stepped in, swinging his sword into the back of the troll's knee. It yelled out, dropping to its knees, releasing Rayne from its grasp. She falls to the ground with a soft grunt, her sword just a few feet away from her. She gasped at the pain searing in her side as she crawled toward the sword. A shadow flew over her and landed across the clearing. When she looked up, Gideon was struggling to get to his feet. Her hand reached for the hilt, but its hand slammed into her back, pinning her down in the snow. She coughed, blood spurting out of her. It flicked her sword away with its other hand before resting on her head. Panic quickly set in as reality was coming to light. It was going to kill her. From across the way, Gideon had finally gotten to his feet, holding his leg where his pants had been torn and bloody, his other hand holding his longsword.

"Gideon..." she let out with a gasp, the troll's finger moved to her left eye, it's sharp nail presented in her line of sight.

Gideon froze up when Rayne's tormented screams filled the night air. He watched in horror as this creature had her pinned and its hand over her face, but he couldn't see what it was doing. A feeling rose up within him, a rage that he had never felt before as he let out a battle cry, charging at the troll when the door to the tower slammed open, light sprayed out and a shadow stood in it.

"What is going on out here?!" a croaked voice yelled out, the troll stopped and pulled back from Rayne. Gideon didn't hesitate to drop his sword and run to her side, her screaming not subsiding.

"Winters?" he asked, shaking her, but her hands were clutching her face. He growled in anger, turning toward the troll that had limped toward the new figure that stepped out into the cold.

"It nearly killed her." he barked at him, but he stopped, staring at the man that proceeded to make his way toward them. He wore a white button up shirt, and brown trousers, his white long hair was tied back loosely, his thin framed glasses sitting low on the bridge of his nose. He knelt down on the other side of Rayne without hesitation.

"It was protecting my home from intruders, and it did a decent job all things considered." the old man said, finally looking at Gideon who continued to stare at him, "Are you going to continue to stare at me or take care of your friend here?" he asked, forcing Gideon to swallow any remarks he had and rolled Rayne onto her back. Her screaming didn't stop. Blood soaked her hands and her face, clutching the left side of her face.

"Rayne?" Gideon called out to her, but his voice was slowly drifting away as darkness consumed her.