Chapter 41 Tower In Peril
However, Alexander had already climbed too high.
On the tenth level, he kicked Neville aside, sprang off the railing, and darted toward the very tip.
A sickening crack split the air. The mast gave way, and the whole tower began to crumble.
Screams tore from the boys below; even the spectators blanched as timber rained down.
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Against the stampede, Zephyr surged forward, planted himself beneath the broken beam, and drove his back under its weight.
Sadie arrived to find Zephyr alone beneath the swaying colossus. Every muscle strained; sweat beaded along his brow and dripped from his lashes. Gold–stitched shoes sank into the earth as he bought the boys precious seconds to flee.
She stood frozen, knowing his smile often hid a blade, yet the sight of him lifting a tower for strangers sent her pulse skittering all the same.
Stepping closer, she noticed the faint smear of blood on his mouth. A handkerchief pressed against his lips, she wiped away the trace of weakness.
Zephyr lowered his gaze and met hers, dark eyes unreadable.
After a long breath, he spoke, malice curling through the single word. “Leave.”
Every glance around her felt like a silent indictment, as though Alexander’s peril were a punishment she alone had wrought.
Sadie staggered back two steps and craned her neck toward the tower’s ruined crest. It soared beyond imagination. High above, gusts whipped a thousand bright streamers into a blinding veil, swallowing everything from view.
Zephyr let out a strangled groan. Spent and shaking, he dropped to one knee and spat a dark ribbon of blood onto the shattered boards.
Behind him, the mainmast snapped. The tower caved in on itself and slammed into the clearing with a deafening crash, hurling a wall of dust into the air.
Grit clawed at her lungs, yet Sadie plunged into the swirling haze without hesitation, frantic to reach Alexander.
Sadie shouted, “Alex!”
Her thin, frightened cry skittered across the ruins and echoed down the broken street.
Alexander called weakly, “Sadie, over here.”
She pivoted toward the voice and scrambled over splintered beams and shattered tiles.
Alexander had slumped against a cracked mast. A spear jutted from his calf, dyeing the soft yellow of his robe a violent red, yet laughter still flickered at the corners of his pale lips.
Sadie dropped to her knees beside him and peeled the torn cloth away. The shaft had buried itself deep. turning flesh to pulp. She bowed her head, fists knotting until her knuckles shone white.
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Chapter 41 Tower In Peril
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Alexander lifted a tattered victory pennant and flashed a triumphant grin. “Look what I won. I beat Neville. Didn’t disgrace you, did I?”
She answered with silence. Tears slid from her lashes and splashed hot against his injured leg.
He ruffled her hair. “Why the tears? Upset that I flattened Neville? Next time, I—”
She muttered, “Idiot.”
Then she wrapped her arms around him, sobs soaking his shoulder.
If you had died, I would never forgive myself,” she choked.
He traced soothing circles along her spine and whispered, “But I didn’t. I’m right here, so dry those eyes.”
As the dust finally settled, onlookers saw Sadie clinging to Alexander, her face a river of tears.
Alexander, the notoriously spoiled heir of Dwarven City, scratched the back of his head in confusion. Blood darkened his sleeve. Yet, his entire face radiated tender indulgence toward the young girl beside him. Every few beats, he tossed out a teasing quip meant only to coax her laughter, the ruthlessness in his nature turning soft and gentle whenever she glanced his way.
Not far away, Neville had collapsed against a fallen beam. Because the alarm had sounded before he could climb down from Skyreach Tower, he now nursed a fresh gash of his own. Wide–eyed, he stared at Sadie and Alexander, powerless to look elsewhere.
Sadie was crying–crying for a man who shared not a drop of her blood.
A childhood scene flared across Neville’s mind. The first time he tried to ride, he tumbled off and scraped a knee; she had wept as though he were dying. Finding her tears strangely amusing, he later smeared pig’s blood over his tunic just to frighten her. She had wailed even louder, wrapping her tiny arms around him, desperate to erase the hurt.
But now, she tended to Alexander alone, not sparing her real brother a single glance.
Neville knit his brows and shouted, “Sadie, I’m hurt and bleeding too!”
Sadie’s tears dried in an instant. She tore a strip from the hem of her dress and, with brisk efficiency, pressed it to Alexander’s wound and wrapped it tight.
“I’m not a physician,” she said without looking up. “What exactly am I supposed to do about your bleeding?”
“I’m your brother!” Neville fumed. “How can you ignore me and coddle an outsider?”
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