Welcome to Iridia

"There it is!"

She shoved the next key in, whispering for Bramblethump's blessing under her breath. It didn't turn. The door shuddered with an impact. Aralise glanced at her froggish reflection in the spear blade embedded near her head and slipped the third to last key into the hole.

"Gut it like a fish!" The voices couldn't be more than a few yards behind.

Sprinting metal and shouting flesh drowned out the clanking tumblers. Aralise slipped in and closed the door behind her. Only torchlight under the door offered any light. She missed the keyhole once, then twice, finding the metal by feel alone. She twisted it just as a sword thudded through, leaving a slit of dim, orange light in its wake. Fumbling in the dark, she seized a cabinet or dresser and tipped it in front of the door. The crash and ringing metal within deafened her.

The light fell on green leaves and 'Ver-', the embroidering of the tapestry. The fabric ripped as she tore it aside and begun pressing the stones. More points of light appeared—men cleaving through the door.

"Bramblethump, please." The uneven bricks scraped her hands as she floundered across them. None gave into her pressing. The kerthunk of weapons pounding the door continued, casting more pinholes of light into the room. She stepped back, something metal digging into her heel, and stacked objects she could not quite see onto her barricade. The room grew dimmer but the door still rattled.

"We're gonna tear you limb from limb!"