The door was blocked from fully closing by one of the cocooned bodies that had tumbled over, but Maddison didn’t suspect the door was how the spider came and went. At a guess, it was twenty times his size.

  Even if it was exactly his size he would have trouble justifying any sort of payment to try and dispatch it.

  He scraped as much of the webbing as he could from his boots, flinching when he turned his attention to the attic and saw that the commander had moved.

  The man was now standing before the door, graciously providing Maddison with enough space to leave without bumping into him. He no longer had his eyes closed, and the humming had subsided. His gaze was fixed on Maddison, eyes wide open to flaunt the dull fade that had consumed them. Within a blink of being spotted, he raised his sword, cleaving the cocooned corpse in two as Maddison ducked out of the way and drew his weapon.

  The second strike Maddison blocked, its sheer strength rattling his arms as he gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands to keep a hold of it. The commander pressed forward with another strike, his blade cutting into the wooden floor where Maddison had barely managed a side-step.

  His strength was certainly inhuman. He was swinging his blade with one arm and doing twice the damage that Maddison could do two-handed. As their spar continued, Maddison slowly worked through his affliction.

  His body was being controlled, it left his posture rigid and open every time he made a strike. The one pulling the strings certainly didn’t seem versed in martial weapons. Maddison hadn’t seen any wounds on him, aside from the shallow cut he had delivered to his shoulder with a lucky shot. And yet, without the orange glow that once bathed his face, it was clear that the blood had run from his cheeks and left his thin lips a sickly blue. The cut on his shoulder also failed to bleed as much as Maddison had anticipated, dark and thick as it globbed on his pauldron.

  After parrying a blow to his side, Maddison seized the opening in the commander’s front. He threw his hand out to grip the man’s throat, his ice-cold skin shooting up Maddison’s fingertips as he kicked the commander’s leg out from under him and threw him to the floor.

  He kept his grip on the man’s throat for a few seconds longer, confirming the worst.

  There was no heartbeat.

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  ——-

  Cody strode through the halls, Sariel at his side with her final crossbow shot at the ready. They had very little time to spare, those ten minutes were gone, or very nearly there.

  They had to find Maddison and at least have a meat shield before the fairy bared its fangs. Maddison was heading upwards last they split. Up to the tower that seemed to be a tacked-on addition to the house.

  An oddity that a fairy could certainly call a home in its circle.

  He reached the stairs, so consumed in his goal that he barely registered Timber as the small child took his side. But the short stack of blonde hair grounded his feet as he looked between the two twins and the strange masked girl they had picked up. “None of you are coming.”

  Tim breathed out a scoff at Cody’s comment. “If ya need a babysitter guess I can watch Sajus and Sariel.”

  Cody frowned, his gaze drifting to the crow perched on Sariel’s shoulder. He scrunched his nose in displeasure at Timber’s logic. “Can you keep an eye on them, Crow?”

  Crow let out a hissing squawk, jumping off Sariel’s shoulder to land on Timber’s with a wobble.

  Cody motioned for the pair to hold on, sifting through his bag to fish out a strange ball of metal. It was woven with fragile iron strings like a net, and was filled with little black and glinting shards. He muttered an incantation at it, his magic slithering along the netting with a red glow before fading away.

  “If you run into something bad, throw this at it, and throw it far.”

  Timber held the ball with a frown, handing it off to the Follower who gently stashed the ball in their satchel.

  “And scream like your life depends on it so we know to come back.”

  “Got it, mom.” Timber retorted, giving him a curt wave before leaning against the rails at the base of the stairs. Sajus did not stir as Cody and Sariel departed, and Timber had a sour look on them until they left his sights.

  Maddison was right about one thing through his slew of grumpy remarks. If they were going to fight a sorcerer, they needed to keep potential hostages and collateral out of the fight. They came to an empty hall, each door stretched wide open to flaunt a fresh search. Still untrusting of the mercenary in general, Cody kept an ear out as they passed each room, his focus primarily on the ladder at the end of the hall. The way up.

  It was no sooner that he placed his palm upon the ladder that a voice erupted from behind him.

  “Cody! Look over here!”

  He turned instinctively at Sariel’s call, his mind catching up far too slowly.

  Sariel had been standing right next to him moments ago.

  The voice had not come from her.

  He saw a streak of magic, a sharp pain spearing his mind momentarily before stilling to nothing.