Sam squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the voices shouting and swords clanging nearby. Right now, all that mattered was the barrier spell humming beneath her fingertips.
Like she'd done a bunch of times already, she pushed at it with her Levia. These barriers took more effort to break than the ones on the first floor. 'Come on, come on....'
Finally, the diagram shattered. She stumbled, gasping for breath. But no time to rest. As soon as she was done, she gestured to one of the prisoners who'd taken a keyring from a fallen guard, and the prisoner quickly took her place.
Sam had already sprinted off for the next door. The sounds of fighting grew louder; she was heading closer to a staircase. After taking out all the guards they could find on the second floor, the fighters split up to block the four entrances, holding off reinforcements from the floors above. They didn't need to last forever, just long enough to free all the prisoners from this floor.
As one of the two wizards, it was Sam's job to break the barrier spells. So far she'd only managed three doors and she was already panting like she'd run ten laps around school. How much Levia did she have left? And there were still three more floors to go.
No time for doubts. Besides, each cell they liberated added more soldiers to their army.
The battle around the stairs came into view, a tangle of swarming bodies. As she approached, one huge figure broke free from the mess and slammed a guard to the floor.
Sam grinned. Looked like Ivo was in great form.
But the grin slipped off her face when someone flew out of the crowd and hit the wall with an earsplitting clatter. Someone wearing rust-red armor.
Sam's heart skipped. As fast as she could, she ran to Ryllis' side. The nephilim slumped at the base of the wall, head drooped. Sam's stomach twisted into knots when she saw the crushed armor around her upper left arm, oozing dark blood.
"Sh-shit." Ryllis dug her spear into the floor and tried to rise, but her knees buckled and she went crashing back down. When Sam reached for her, Ryllis lashed out and only some quick dodging saved her from being hit in the face.
"It's okay, it's just me," she said, raising her hands.
Ryllis yanked her helmet off and glared at Sam, revealing the blood dripping from a cut on her temple. Sam's chest tightened.
"You're hurt," she squeaked out.
Ryllis sucked in a shuddering breath. "I'll...I'll be fine. Just give me...a moment."
She glared at the fight, a fierce, hungry longing in her eyes. When she tried to rise again, her injured arm swung uselessly by her side.
Sam felt sick. "No way. You're in no condition to – "
"Shut up!" Trembling like a leaf, Ryllis managed to make it to her feet. But she only stayed upright for a couple of breaths before her legs gave out and she tumbled face forward.
Sam's body moved before her mind could catch up. She dove for Ryllis, wrapping her arms around her torso. Ryllis' armored weight drove her to her knees, but at least Sam had saved her from hitting the floor.
This close, the smell of sweat and blood made her nauseous, but she didn't let go. Maybe she shouldn't be doing this – she needed to open the cells, after all. But she couldn't just leave Ryllis alone either.
"What," Ryllis gasped. "What are you...."
Sam forced herself to stare head-on at Ryllis' injured arm, so mangled she could hardly tell where armor ended and flesh began. "Let me heal you."
Ryllis stared at her like she'd sprouted a head from her chest. "What?"
"I, I know healing spells. Well, I don't have them memorized off the top of my head, but I've got them in here." Sam removed one arm from Ryllis to slip off her backpack and pull out her sketchbook. One-handed, she flipped through it. "There we go – eep!"
Before she could finish, Ryllis shoved her. Sam hit the floor on the rear. Pain shot up her tailbone, but it didn't hurt half as much as her heart.
Meanwhile Ryllis huddled against the wall, gripping her arm and panting like a cornered animal.
"I'm trying to help you," Sam insisted, reaching for her sketchbook.
A violent shiver swept through Ryllis' body. "I've had enough of your charity," she spat.
"It's not like that – "
"No more. I don't want to be in your debt anymore. Leave me alone. Get back to your work." With each word, her voice became duller. It was like Sam was watching Ryllis' fighting spirit disappear before her eyes.
'If I leave now,' Sam realized with a sickening swoop, 'I might never see her alive again.'
The thought hit like a brick to her heart. She bolted upright. "No! I told you, it's not like that! You don't have to owe me anything. I'm just doing this because I want to help you. Because you – you've already been so brave. Breaking in here, fighting even though you're exhausted...why do you have to do everything yourself? Even just a little bit, can't I do something for you?"
A sob swelled in her throat and tears stung her eyes, but Sam shoved them back as hard as she could. If she started crying now, she knew she'd never stop. And she wasn't the one suffering the most here, anyway.
Then a strange sound reached her ears, so quiet it was a miracle she heard it beneath the noisy battle.
But she did. Maybe because it was so incredibly bizarre. A low, rough voice – a familiar one.
Except...it was laughing?
Sam blinked. And blinked.
Ryllis had lowered her head, hand buried in her hair. But you'd be blind not to notice her shaking shoulders and heaving chest.
No mistaking it. She was seriously laughing.
Amazed, Sam took a step closer. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. Didn't matter, because Ryllis had started speaking.
"You...you're just like him. Wanting to follow me around for no good reason. Just what do you people see in me?"
"Him?" Sam's heart flipped around.
"Heh." The hand slid down from her hair, covering her face. Then Ryllis lifted her head. One eye was hidden behind her hand, but the other burned bright and fierce. "My brother. The one I'm looking for."