Sweat slicked my palms as one of them leapt, clinging to the ceiling, its neck bending backward unnaturally so that it could watch me as it prowled closer. Another clung to the wall, finger bones slipping into cracks in the stone, knife clenched between its teeth. But it was the largest, which strode with heavy scraping strides, that led their attack.
My breath came in too-quick pants, and it took all my willpower not to retreat. Not that there was anywhere to go. Behind me, Bjorn grunted with effort as he battled screeching draug, but I dared not look. Not when he was trusting me to guard his back.
The draug moved closer. My shield was nowhere near wide enough to block the width of the tunnel, and my attention skipped from the one on the ceiling to the one on the wall to the one striding upright, its jaw cracking open in a parody of a grin.
Step. The bones of his feet scraped on the stone. Step.
It tensed, preparing to attack.
But it was the one on the ceiling that moved.
I shifted my shield, clenching my teeth as he rebounded off it, barely managing to move my arm in time to knock back the one that sprang from its perch on the wall.
And not nearly fast enough for the third.
His sword slashed past the right edge of my shield. I jerked my own blade up to parry and the impact of his weapon against mine sent me staggering. He swung again, and my arm shuddered as I knocked it away.
Beyond, the other draug were back on their feet, and more had exited from the stairwell, the stink of rot wafting ahead of them.
The big draug tried again to slice at me. This time, I blocked the blow with my shield. My magic sent the weapon flying out of his hand, and I took advantage, thrusting my sword toward his heart.
Only for the weapon to pass right through the creature as though it were no more than air.
The shock cast me off balance, and I staggered.
Right into the draug’s grasp.
Its skeletal fingers closed around my throat, mouth stretching wide to reveal blackened teeth as it pulled me toward it. Pain lanced down my neck, my lungs desperately trying to draw in breath, and beyond, the other draug moved to take advantage.
I tried to cut at the creature with my sword, but the draug only let out a breathy laugh, stink rolling over me.
No weapon forged by mortal hands can harm them. Bjorn’s warning filled my ears, but I couldn’t move my shield to strike without giving the other draug space to pass. If I did, they’d stab Bjorn in the back, and I refused to allow that to happen while my heart still beat.
Which might not be much longer.
My chest convulsed with the need to breathe, and mindless desperation drove me to try to stab the draug over and over, but the tip of my sword only slammed into the tunnel wall.
So I let go of my blade.
The weapon clattered to the ground as I balled my hand into a fist and swung. My knuckles split as they collided with the creature’s skull, but though it recoiled, it didn’t let go.
My lungs were agony and my vision was blurring, but I bared my teeth and swung again. And again. My knuckles bruised but the pain was secondary to the need for air as tears slicked my face. Then the draug caught hold of my wrist, bony fingers digging into tendon and flesh, and…
Flame flashed overhead, and Bjorn’s axe cleaved through the creature’s skull. For a terrifying heartbeat, its grip on my throat remained strong.
Then it exploded into ash.
I sucked in a breath, the world swimming, but I managed to keep my shield up, protecting Bjorn’s left as he carved into the draug, leaving explosions of ash in his wake. The creatures shrieked in fury and fear, one trying to flee, but Bjorn threw his axe, the fiery blade turning it to dust. Bjorn spun, the axe reappearing in his hand as he searched for another opponent.
But we once again stood alone in the tunnel.
“I’m sorry.” My voice was raspy and barely audible as I reached down to pick up my sword and sheathe it, my battered hand barely managing the task as pain lanced up my wrist and arm. Yet for all the pain, what I felt most was shame. “My weapon passed right through it and—”
“I saw what you did.” He caught hold of my waist and pulled me close, the light from our magic revealing a deep cut on his brow that spilled blood down his face. On the ground farther up the tunnel, his shield rested in pieces. “Don’t you ever put yourself in danger for me again.”
My pounding heart flipped at the intensity of his voice, the warmth from his hand spreading where it pressed against my back. The adrenaline racing through my veins, now deprived of a threat, turned to another purpose and I found myself leaning closer. “Why? Because your father will kill you if I so much as stub my toe?”