The Last Goddess

by C.E. Stalbaum

  ***

   

  “Well, we’re not just giving up,” Rynne said defiantly as she glanced about the empty warehouse. “One of them might know where he is.”

  “Bremen’s not that stupid,” Van murmured as he leaned over one of the ambusher’s corpses. The Darenthi mage was still alive, but none of the others seemed to be. “You don’t set up a decoy team and tell them where your real troops are.”

  Tryss blew a thin stream of air out the front of her teeth. “They also wouldn’t bother with a distraction if Rook was completely out-of-reach. I doubt killing us is really that important to any of them, especially with everything else going on. All they wanted to do was slow us down.”

  Rynne nodded in agreement and stretched her arm experimentally. Tiel’s magic was already coursing through it and had stopped the bleeding. Tryss could tell the other woman was still in pain, though, and that arm would be more or less crippled for a day or two. Fortunately she could probably still shoot with her good hand and at least manage to help reload with the other.

  “So we hit some of the other places you pointed out,” Tiel said. “What was second on our list of candidates?”

  Van scratched at his chin. “The old Tower of Venar, but I still think that’s a long shot. It’s only a few hundred yards from the plaza, and I can’t believe the Empress’s wouldn’t have a squad or two there.”

  “Many of whom are loyal to Bremen,” Tryss countered. “It’s highly defensible, and it would let him keep a loose eye on the celebration. “

  “Still seems risky to be that close,” Rynne murmured, “but maybe that’s what the Balorites were counting on—hiding in plain sight and all.”

  Tryss shrugged. “It’s the closest alternative anyway. We might as well check.”

  One by one, the others eventually nodded in agreement. Tiel stepped outside the building and looked around. “It looks like we go on foot.”

  “We can follow the sewers back to 7th street at least,” Van suggested. “I’d rather not take any chances, and it’s probably faster anyway.”

  Soon the four of them were rushing through the sewers again. This time, however, there was no playful banter or idle commentary. They remained silent the whole way, focused solely on reaching their goal, and perhaps ten minutes later they hit the exit they were looking for.

  “Hopefully we don’t pop up in the middle of a parade,” Van said as he climbed up the ladder and pushed up the grate.

  Rynne followed right behind him and snorted softly. “With our luck, that wouldn’t surprise me.”

  Fortunately, they didn’t. The street was remarkably empty aside from a handful of pedestrians, though most of them did bolt in the opposite direction when they saw a pack of well-armed newcomers crawl up from the sewers.

  “It’s still several blocks that way,” Van said, nodding his head. “Let’s go before a patrol shows up.”

  Tryss ran. The wind whistled in her ears and her heart pounded in her chest, and she couldn’t help but appreciate the irony of the situation. A few years ago, while she was finishing her studies at the academy, she would have much rather faced the Flensing than the pangs of physical fatigue. The lifestyle of most magi, especially those within the Ivory Tower, was extremely sedentary. But then Veltar had kidnapped her and conditioned her to become a passable warrior as well as a mage, and now she could sprint across half the city full bore and not be out-of-breath. Without his training, they never would have been able to reach Rook in time—at least not without Van slinging a spoiled princess over his shoulder.   

  Of course, they might not anyway. But she didn’t even want to consider that.

  She reached the last intersection before the Tower of Venar and slowed to let the others catch up—mostly Van, since he was burdened by a lot more armor than the rest of them. The streets here were reasonably crowded, but the actual patrols were light. Normally a bunch of armed and armored people wildly running around would have drawn plenty of attention, but not today—at least, not this far from the plaza.

  The tower was plainly visible just ahead. No guards waited outside, and it immediately made Tryss rethink their decision to come here. But then, just because no one was standing out there in plain view didn’t mean an entire army couldn’t be piled inside. The Balorites might not have wanted to draw attention to the fact they were making use of the abandoned tower.

  “Looks like no one’s home,” Rynne said breathlessly as she hunched over, her good hand at her hip.

  “Yeah, right,” Van replied, glaring harshly at a few lingering passers-by and sending them scurrying away.

  Tiel’s eyes narrowed as he tilted west towards the plaza. “Something’s wrong.”

  “About a million things are wrong right now, kid. Which one?”

  Tryss followed the monk’s gaze and listened. She could still hear an indiscernible voice speaking from the heart of the plaza, but Tiel was right—it had changed. A shift from female to male, perhaps? It was hard to tell with all the echoes from this distance, but it was more than just the voice; the noise from the crowd itself had shifted.

  “Oh, no,” she whispered. She dashed ahead to peer around one of the buildings blocking her view—

  And then it happened. It started with a flash of energy, but soon after the air began to hiss and pop as if it were burning. A chorus of screams quickly followed, and then the entire crowd seemed to shriek at once. She could almost feel the encroaching thunder of tens of thousands of people all attempting to flee at once.

  “What in the name of the gods was that?” Van asked, stepping up next to her.

  “The Fane,” Tryss breathed. “Crying in agony...”

  Even five blocks away, they could already see the throng of people billowing outwards. Among them she could pick out the small glimmers of violet light from the helmets of the Faceless now under Balorite control.

  “We need to get Nate,” Van said. He grabbed at her arm, but she didn’t move.

  “I have to stop them.”

  He glanced to the others, then back to her. “Princess, there’s a stampede of thousands of people heading this way. You won’t even get close.”

  Tryss turned to face him. “I have to try.”

  Van glared at her, and for a moment she thought he might snap back—

  “Go,” Rynne told her. “We’ll catch up with you if we can.”

   Tiel nodded his agreement. Van glanced incredulously between the other two before finally sighing and clapping Tryss on the shoulder.

  “You’re a good match for him, you know,” he said softly.

  She cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

  “Stupid heroics, just like Nate,” he told her. “The two of you are going to take years off my life.”

  Tryss smiled faintly. “Get him back.”

  “We will. Just don’t get yourself killed.”

  “You, either,” she said, glancing to each of them.

  She turned and sprinted off towards the devastation.