BooksBarbecue
Back Wards of Faerie
Chapters (38)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. Dedication
  36. BY TERRY BROOKS
  37. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  38. Excerpt from Bloodfire Quest

Then he picked her up again and carried her back down the hallway to where the others were waiting.

30

EVERYTHING HAPPENED QUICKLY AFTER THAT.

Bombax and Cymrian, the former stripped of encumbering clothing and weapons and the latter armed with a dozen blades strapped to his arms and legs and torso like body armor, left the other defenders at the doors leading out to the airship landing platform and went down through a utility hatch into the crawl space that led to the catwalk.

“Wait until you know the barricades are down and the way to the airship is clear before you open these,” Bombax instructed Krolling, pointing to the huge ironbound doors with their massive slide bars and multiple bolt locks. “Don’t open them otherwise. Not to try to help us out, not for anything. If we don’t make it to the airships, take as many as you can and go into the tunnels and do your best to find a way out.”

Aphenglow, standing close, listened and felt something clench in her stomach. That Bombax and Cymrian would fail, that they should be killed, was unthinkable. Even in the abstract, she rejected it out of hand. “We’ll be ready when you are,” she assured him, looking him in the eye in a way that left no doubt as to how she expected this to go.

Bombax smiled. “You should be the one going instead of me, as fierce as you are.”

She blushed, leaned in, and kissed him hard on the mouth. “I’ll come after you if I have to.” She glanced at Cymrian, who was looking away. “You, too. I need my protectors.”

“You don’t need anyone,” Cymrian declared, giving her a momentary glance before looking away again.

They moved into an adjacent hallway, to where the hatch cover stood ajar, slipped through the opening, and were gone.

“Come on, Arling,” Aphenglow said at once, taking her sister’s hand, telling Woostra and the Trolls she would be right back.

She had been thinking about this since she knew what the Borderman and the Elf intended to do, wondering how she could put herself in a place where she could watch over them even if going out onto the catwalk was not possible. Even if she couldn’t go with them, she reasoned, perhaps she could find another way to help.

At the very least, she would be able to see what happened.