The door gave away. Not all at once, just a crack. Maribelle stepped up, inserting one of the tubes from her belt. She listened for the hiss and moved back. The smell of the acrid smoke seeped in through the opening.
Coughing on the other side. She waited.
They came again. Another bang, another crack.
Cora’s face was solemn. She moved one hand to each lever.
The hinges rattled. The door buckled in. Maribelle steeled herself. An armored hand forced its way into the opening like a snake.
She took aim with the dart thrower on her wrist, and fired.
The slender brass dart lodged itself into the skin. The snake stopped searching.
She could see them in her mind’s eye; pulling at the frozen man from the outside. The armor ripped away as the limb got pulled back through the opening, skin shredding on the splinters.
Maribelle readied another dart. She glanced at the tea.
Gone cold, anyway.
Thuds at the base of the door. The hinges shook and rattled. One snapped. Weight against the top of the door and the other followed it. The door fell inward.
A narrow opening formed, large enough for one man to enter. She shot him in the face, and smiled.
“Are you sure it’s worth it?” She loosed another dart. “Must be something really scary on the other side of that door.”
She threw another canister into the hall, and smoke obscured her vision.
But they can’t see either.
Maribelle aimed into the smoke. A crossbow bolt hit a book next to her on the shelf. She triggered the last dart.
More bolts. She did not try to dodge them, focusing on reloading one at a time.
Something stung her shoulder. She ignored it.
“Are you boys afraid to show your faces?” She raised her wrist again. The smoke was clearing.
A tall shield passed through the door. She spared a glance for Cora.
Her daughter’s eyes were full of questions but the levers stood still. Maribelle shook her head, and approached the opening.
She stuck her arm past the steel shield, and fired. Twice. Three times, blindly. The man fell, but there were more behind him. The shield fell away.
“Do you know what you’re fighting for?” A sword came down from above, and Maribelle reached for the knife on her belt. The blow landed on her and she dropped.
Burning in her neck. A tear.
She looked over to Cora. The levers were down. Her daughter swam in her vision.
“I love you.” She smiled. “You are the best thing I ever made.”