Wood thunked and scraped across the floor, clattering into a growing pile where the pain-filled apprentices had once whimpered. Danello found a sword lying just inside the door and beyond the reach of a pale, still hand. The sword wasn’t as thin as his rapier, but he looked like he knew how to use it well enough.I looked away from the hand and searched for Tali. “Take the lead with Danello,” I said. “Show him the way out. I’ll follow behind.”She nodded. “Okay, but stay close.”The apprentices filed out behind them. Some knelt down and grabbed the fallen swords littering the hall outside the spire room. I stepped around the guard I’d shifted into, lying in the doorway between the spire room and the hall. Though some of the other guards groaned and twitched, he didn’t move. Part of me wanted to check and see if he was alive, but I was too scared to learn the answer.A dozen more guards were in the hall, so the Luminary had probably sent most of the inside guards after us.
