“Avry, get over here,” Odd yelled. He was backed into a corner with three soldiers advancing on him.

Weaving through the fighters, I snuck up on the men who had trapped Odd. I managed to zap two before being knocked to the ground. Two other ambushers picked me up under my arms and held tight. Unable to reach their skin, I kicked them without success. They dragged me toward the door. Icy fear flowed through me.

“Avry, duck,” Quain cried.

I leaned forward. Air swept my neck. Then came the sickening sound of a blade cutting through flesh and bone. Warm blood soaked my back and arm. I remained hunched as Quain pulled back for another swing. More blood splattered on me. I wiped it from my face. Two headless bodies lay at my feet.

Quain helped me up.

“Company’s coming,” Loren called. “Time to retreat.”

Only a few ambushers remained. We bolted from the ballroom. Pounding boots and shouts sounded behind us.

“What’s the plan?” Odd puffed.

“Get to the stairs,” I said.

Not bothering to check for enemies, we raced into the stairwell.

“Can we block the door?” I asked Odd.

He glanced behind. “No time.”

We made it to the ground floor, where Saul and his men fought a couple dozen of Cellina’s soldiers in the narrow hallway. These also were living and I wondered where the dead soldiers waited to ambush us.

“Oh, good, backup,” Saul said, disarming his opponent.

“Except we brought more...uh...friends,” Quain said. “How’s the escape route?”

“Blocked,” Saul said, engaging with another soldier.

“Stairwell,” Loren shouted. “Keep them from coming out.”

Odd’s men moved to stop them. I stood in the middle, unable to help. All my knives had toxin on them.

“Avry,” Loren called. He had disarmed a man and held him in a headlock.

I understood and darted in to zap the man into unconsciousness. After that, I zapped anyone my team trapped. We had a nice surge of energy, pushing both sides back. But with fatalities and injuries increasing and the large number of opponents, it would only be a matter of time. Fear pulsed in time with my heart. I kept an eye on Flea. He held his own, fighting with a fierce determination. But for how long?

Should I surrender? I imagined Cellina would be quite ecstatic to learn I’d been captured. And then I realized she could threaten to harm Flea, the monkeys, and Odd if I didn’t heal Tohon.

No surrendering for me. This would have to be a fight to my death. I refused to be put in that horrible position.

A ruckus behind the enemy’s line caused a change in dynamics. The soldiers eased off their assault against us. It seemed as if they were being attacked from the opposite direction. Saul’s squad took advantage of their distraction and increased the pressure.

Then the stairwell group retreated.