An insistent banging on the door spurred her into motion. She opened the glass doors. Jaft, Rae, and a bunch of Invisible Swords practically tumbled into the room.

Jaft gaped at the prone forms. “Did you kill them all?”

“No. The priestess killed the prince, the rest are recovering. Come on, everyone, I need backup.” She raced to the other entrance.

“For what?” he asked, almost on her heels.

“To hunt down the priestess.”

At each intersection, she sent teams of two to each side while she kept straight with the rest. Something pulled her in that direction. This area of the complex was intact, but soon they reached rooms with collapsed walls or holes in the floor.

They rounded a corner and spotted the priestess. She stood on a small pile of debris. In front of her was a large gap where there used to be a floor. The destruction she had caused prevented her from escaping. Shyla took a moment to appreciate the irony.

The priestess turned and stared at Shyla. The fury in her gaze was mild compared to the evil thoughts in her head.

“You will not touch me,” the priestess said to Shyla. “You are sun-cursed. I am a child of the Sun Goddess and she will protect me.” She leaped across the gap.

Or rather, she tried. The Sun Goddess did not grant her wings. The priestess fell without a sound. Although, when she hit the bottom, there was a loud thud. Shyla and Jaft rushed to the edge. Perhaps the priestess survived the fall.

The unnatural angle of the woman’s neck meant there hadn’t been a miracle.

Shyla returned to the throne room and sent her people to search the entire level and deal with any remaining deacons or Arch Deacons. “Take a couple of wielders with you in case you find seers.”

“Seers?” Jaft asked.

“That’s what the priestess called her magic wielders.”

“Figures. Come along, Seer Rae.”

“Stop that right now or I’ll make you believe sand rats are crawling up your pant leg.”

Jaft gulped. “Understood.”

Shyla questioned Timin about the survivors. “What did the priestess do to them?”

“She had them all taken to the black cells,” he said.

“Do you know if…” She was afraid to ask about Rendor. Because right now she had hope he lived. If she found out otherwise… No. She was not going to imagine a world without Rendor. “How many people were locked up?”

“I don’t know who survived. After the explosions, I stumbled from my room and found a couple injured guards and got to work. When the deacons showed up, they dragged me away from my patients and presumably rounded everyone up.”

“Are the black cells intact?”