Asher stepped through the doorway, a nasty expression on his face. His eyes were wild with fury and he let out a low growl as he took another step toward us.

"You," he seethed. "And Thainalan the Ravager. This is an act of war."

"The act of war was when you tortured a fae of the Autumn court!" Thain roared, starting to grow into the beast I saw him as on the training field. "Wren, run."

Thain shoved me behind him into the bottom of the lift, but the shelf lifting Schula was still at the top, not yet lowered down again for the next passenger.

"You will not escape me!" Asher roared. "Not a second time."

I took in a sharp breath as Asher came at us at a frightening speed. But Thain met him in the middle of the room, claws out and eyes blazing silver as the two hulking fae crashed together with a terrible sound.

The butcher block table that had been between them was in splinters and thrown to the side, narrowly missing a cart holding an elaborately decorated cake. I bit my lower lip, watching them fight and waiting for the shelf to slowly make its way back down.

What was the right move? If I stayed to fight would I just be in Thain's way?

If I went to be with Schula, I knew I could get her away from the danger and back to Mila's cabin. But would Thain need help?

I cringed as a splatter of blood, I couldn't tell who it belonged to, dashed across the floor. I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back the scream that was building in my lungs.

The shelf hit my shoulder with a dull thud and I whipped my head around in the shaft to see it was ready for me to climb on. I was turning my body to sit on it, when the clatter of new arrivals stopped me.

My eyes flickered over my shoulder to the doorway where two more fae had arrived. Both were dressed in brown fighting leathers and bore the Winter crest on their shoulders. One of them held a sword, and the other a bow. The bowyer raised her arrow and aimed for the scuffle that Asher and Thain were in.

"No!" The word ripped from my throat before I recognized it came from me. I gripped either side of the entrance to the lift and flung myself out, toward the new fae.

The unexpected sound of a snarl came from my lips as I closed the distance between me and the surprised fae in the doorway. I gave them little chance to react as my hands flew in front of my body and I let out all the rage I had toward the Winter court in the form of a stream of fire.

Protect Schula. Protect Thain.

That was all that would run through my head as I released my fury on them.

Unlike anything I had created before, this was white hot. White fire. The heat from it suffocated the room, I just hoped it wasn't affecting Thain. The bright flames licked at the warriors as they tried to jump away. Still, I know I burned the bowyer's arm, and it satisfied me that she could no longer draw an arrow.

Now in the open, I searched for a weapon to defend myself with. I reached for the nearest knife, a long serrated bread knife, and lifted it between me and either of the fae that might recover and attack.

No sooner was my blade in the air then the room was blown apart. A gust of wind like no other ripped through, scattering food and tools in it's anger. The wind smelled of sweet maple and I knew it was Thain who had done it.

I toppled to the ground and slid out the doorway, but so had the two fighters as well as Asher. We all landed practically on top of each other under the gale's wrath.

I would have preferred the chance to recover from being blown into the other fae, but what I got was an elbow to the ribs as Asher clawed his way out of the pile to rush at Thain again. Thain, for his end of it, was wiping a large gash on his forehead to clear his vision of the dripping blood. He roared and crashed once again into Asher as the blue and grey blurs merged and fought.

I yelped as my legs were pulled from under me and I slammed into the stone floor hard. Over me, one of the Winter fae sneered and held his blade high, ready to strike. I flailed and clawed, trying desperately to roll out of the way or at least conjure more fire, provided I hadn't spent everything with my last display.

"Wren!" The screech like a banshee chilled the halls and lifted my heart into my throat. I felt her before she reached me, ice creeping on the floor in her path and sending jagged shards at the male standing over me.

"Get out of here!" I yelled, twisting to see where she was.

Schula's eyes practically glowed ice blue, the rest of her ghostly white and her hair whipping around her in Thain's wind. If I weren't completely and utterly captivated by her as my beloved triquetram, I certainly was now.

Her glare grew wide as she hissed and knocked the female off my legs, freeing me. Schula was fierce, and powerful, and she embodied the first proud feelings I got from her when I met her in the mountains.

She pulled me to my feet and I hugged her tightly. "Why didn't you run?"

She gave a breathy laugh. "Without you? Never."

Our reunion was but short though, when a roll of thick fog filled the kitchen, shooting down our throats and pulling the air from our lungs. It was a deep red color, making it hard to see. I coughed and dropped to the ground, pulling Schula with me.

There was no bottom to the cloud in the air, no escape on the ground like there would be from fire smoke. Schula coughed and shook her head, pulling us away.

I couldn't find Thain, but I could hear him. Asher hadn't relented in his fighting, and neither had Thain.

Schula pulled me close so I could see her face. "Does- cough. Does it burn?"

My eyes widened as I realized what she was asking. I turned away, and tried to ignite the air around me. I felt the fire at my fingertips, but it wouldn't do more than spark.

I looked to Schula and shook my head. She bit her lip a moment, thinking, then she grabbed one of my hands. "Now try."

I tried again, this time with a pleasant tingle of ice mingling with my magic. It was thrilling, the feeling of our bonded magic, and all it took was a simple touch.

She gave me the same exhilarated look as I was giving her, and then with a flash of her fangs, she growled. "Now."

The energy that came from us was hot and cold at the same time. Bursts of fire and ice collided and pushed in explosive bursts around us, driving away the dark cloud and letting my lungs fill once again.

Furniture and fae alike were shoved out of our way as the room cleared. One of the far walls cracked, a few pieces of stone falling to the floor under our force.

Reluctantly I let go. Schula almost didn't, but she finally drew her hand back too. We cleared the room, now we needed to conserve energy.

I turned to Thain who now had Asher pinned under him, a bloody hand was half buried in Asher's chest as he roared in anger and victory over him.

Asher wasn't giving up though. Despite the line of blood at his mouth, he drew back a clawed hand, striking for Thain's throat.

Thain growled as an arrow sprouted from his collar, and Schula and I gasped.

Schula ran to Thain, and I ran for the doorway where more fae were coming into the kitchens. I spotted the offending bowyer right away and I snarled as I released more white hot fire into them.

Asher recovered somewhere behind me, or that's what it sounded like anyway, and he retreated into the line of incoming soldiers.

"Can you get him to the lift?" I shouted at Schula over the sounds of fighting.

"I'm fine," Thain grunted.

The fae in front of me cut off any more conversation as a male with some wicked looking thorns down his arms stepped forward in a fighting stance.

I was no fighter, I had barely learned to meditate and conjure fire, albeit recklessly. I stepped back toward Schula and Thain, keeping my guard up and sending chutes of fire occasionally to keep the Winter fae back.

"What's our next move?" I asked Thain, the most seasoned warrior among us.

"You two get to the lift," he growled. "I'll blow them back and follow you. You two can probably fit on the shelf if you squeeze tight."

"We are not leaving you," Schula hissed.

"What are the chances we could- oh!" I was cut off by an arrow that we barely dodged.

Thain grunted as he grabbed the arrow protruding from his collarbone and snapped it off near the base of the wound. Then, he stood, not taking his eyes off the wounded Asher who was already being tended to by the Winter court fae who had still been arriving in a steady flow. By now, we were dreadfully outnumbered.

"Go," Thain said. "Now."

I gritted my teeth and looked to Schula, who was just as resolved as I was. She nodded at me and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"We all go, or none of us go," she said flatly.

Thain looked like he was about to argue, when the first wave of soldiers shot forward.

There was no more time to discuss it, the battle had started.

Schula slipped her hand under my shirt to press against the small of my back. The direct contact did wonders for whatever magical bond we formed, and I felt her added strength coursing through me as I shot a wide fan of fire at the enemy.

Thain was all fangs and claws as he roared and fought like a wild beast. He tore through the numbers that assaulted him, but the fae kept coming.

A loud snap rose over the battlefield, the wall that had cracked earlier from the pressure of mine and Schula's magics was crumbling the rest of the way down. You could hear the strain in the walls overhead. I knew little of a cave-in, but I expected that before long that would be exactly what happened here.

It felt like the rest of the sounds of battle stilled to listen. Thain's strong voice rumbled in our ears as he said, "Schula, Wren, it has been an honor. If you will not run, then will you help me bring it down?"

A shiver trembled to my core.

Those were last words if I had ever heard them. I looked at Thain who promptly cleaved the arm of a large green male in a gory mess. His chest was heaving, his eyes gleaming wildly, his wounds bleeding slowly. He was in the battle now, mind and soul.

Schula just gripped me harder and added her own ice to my powers. I was afraid to look at her face, but I was resolved to end with her, if that was what she wanted. I didn't want to run either, so I couldn't blame her for standing by Thain, even if we did try to tear Icehold down.

"Above us are residences. West of here houses the soldiers and DuVarick's armories," Schula said. Thain roared his agreement.

I wrapped an arm around Schula as she had an arm around me, and we turned our assault to the doorway and the fae under it.

So far we had avoided killing anyone, but if we really did bring any walls down that would be unavoidable. At least it would be the warriors who had tormented Schula all this time. That, I could take solace in.

I let out a slow breath, and we released our combined magics.

Once again the pressures exploded around us. Something about the hot and cold didn't mix well, or did mix well I supposed, depending on the results you wanted from them. The flames and ice licked the walls and chased out all but the most hardened warriors. But still, more came to take their place.

During our assault, Thain had felled the enemies before him and went to another doorway on the crumbling wall. With a low rumble, he called on the gale winds he had summoned before, and began hurling his might down the halls to where Schula had indicated.

The cracking and creaking overhead were surely heard in more parts of Icehold than just the kitchens, but we tore through the few warriors left in our path and left the halls entirely.

By now the whole of Icehold must know something was going on, as small groups of fighters found us every few minutes and we had to stop and fight them off.

Forward we walked, throwing our forces at whatever was before us. Walls, soldiers, rooms. But neither Schula nor myself were endless wells of magic, and our bodies trembled with the effort before long.

Another snap overhead, and a large section of stone fell, blocking the path behind us.

I panted as Schula released me and we both slid to the ground, breathing hard.

A rumble in the distance told us that our efforts were working elsewhere. That or Thain was to blame.

"We're not done yet," she breathed. "DuVarick has this disgusting gauntlet, he makes any of the Winter creatures who cross him badly enough run through it."

She ran a finger down a scar on her hip and grinned wickedly. "If I go down, so does that damned thing."

I stood, helping Schula up. "Show me."

And she did.

There was a deal of rubble to handle now as we picked our way through what was obviously a forge and armor shop. It took us to a tunnel, then another, then another. Screams around us told of more soldiers looking for us, but our destruction was everywhere and no clear path of where we were.

The mad gleam in Schula's eyes told me she would welcome the destruction of this gauntlet, if it was the last thing she did. I had few regrets. Not having more time with Schula, Thain, and Eberon was one. I also found recently that I wanted to search for the witches, or maybe the elves for more answers of my parents, though it would not break my heart to not find out more it did sadden me some. Puko I would miss. Nassir I would miss. Perhaps whatever afterlife awaited an elven witch would allow me to see Bryn again. Or Lark.

Schula flung ice periodically, destroying weapons and rooms as she saw fit in her path to the gauntlet, until finally she stopped before a giant iron doorway at the end of a long and empty hall. It was heavily decorated, and stood out from the corridors around it.

She let out a slow breath, and pulled the door open with a grimace.

Shouting behind us told of more soldiers approaching, but we stepped inside the room, ignoring them. For this was it, this was the gauntlet.

A long tunnel of grotesque iron sculptures and tools. Pits of spikes, swinging blades and heavy chains. Every bit of it had brown splatter of old blood on it. My mouth opened in horror as I looked into the nearest pit where several mostly whole skeletons now rested, a little meat still on the bones.

"What is this place?" I whispered.

Schula looked over the room darkly, her eyes resting on a golden throne at the back of the room.

"A place to suffer. Bring it down."

She turned suddenly and hugged me tightly, twisting our bodies as she cried out in pain.

"Schula!" I screamed as an arrow struck her arm. She had used her body to block it.

"Now!" Schula kissed my cheek, tears in her eyes as she turned us to the gauntlet.

Now I was the one with tears in her eyes. It would have been nice to have more time with Schula. It would have been nice to see Thain once more.

We raised our arms and let out everything. Let it out as it burned my skin, let it out as it cracked walls and froze the iron around us. As it melted the door and blew out the walls. The ceiling screamed overhead with the bursts of pressure and loss of supports.

In a palace of DuVarick's warriors, sometimes you had few choices.

And our resolve was strong with our choice, as we brought the gauntlet down.