Rainbow Snippets: Nothing but closed doors

_{^{Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.}}

And the World Crumbled is currently available for pre-order, so I’m going to share a little more by delving into chapter two.
With it being set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and following Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him, it’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and depictions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

Gasping frantically for air, he pushed off from the bare stone. His chest ached from the impact and his chin stung, but he mercifully hadn’t hit hard enough to break his nose. His legs trembled as he went to take another step, unable to resume the momentum he had lost.

He took in his surroundings, making the most of his reluctantly self-enforced rest. Like in much of the tower, a few closed doors lined the halls. He hadn’t dared slow to check what sat on the other side of them earlier, but now he’d no other option.

I’ll see you all with more of And the World Crumbled next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.