Continuation...
…click.
Then clang—a sudden shriek of steel as a bolt slammed into the wall just inches from Lenora's head. She didn't flinch. She turned, eyes narrowing toward the corridor beyond the smoke.
"Crossbows," Luther murmured. "They want to slow us, not kill us."
"Cowards or clever," Lenora said, her voice low. "Let's find out."
Another whistle—closer this time.
Lenora moved.
She surged forward, faster than most eyes could follow, blade singing as it sliced through the hanging smoke. Luther was a heartbeat behind her, a quiet predator rather than a soldier, striking low and hard at the shadowed figure waiting around the bend.
Steel met steel. Sparks lit the hallway like fireflies.
A rebel, masked and lean, caught her strike just in time. But Lenora was stronger. The impact drove him back into the wall. His feet slipped on the marble, but he recovered with a spin, a dagger appearing in his off-hand.
He lunged.
Wrong move.
