Firestorm

by William Stacey

  "We stay alive."

  The screams of dying elves followed them as they ran north.

  Chapter 19

  Angie and the others retreated north along the Silver Strand, keeping the eastern shoreline and the bay on their right. They picked up other stragglers as they moved, and their numbers grew. The rout hadn't been as complete as Angie had feared. Night fighting was always confusing and almost always worse than it seemed. Those elves who joined them carried both longbow and rifle, with swords belted to their waists. They kept a careful eye on their rear as they moved, but to Angie’s relief, the vampires didn’t come after them.

  After about twenty minutes, Prince Kilyn called a halt to reorganize his troops. His warriors fanned out, providing a defensive perimeter. Behind them, Imperial Beach smoked, but the fires consumed the heavily forested Coronado Island to the north, turning the night sky red. One of the elves handed Angie a canteen, and she drank deeply, her throat parched. She glanced at her watch and saw it was just past four a.m.

  "Are you hurt?" Tec asked her.

  She shook her head. "Just tired. Why did they let us go?"

  "Don't know. Maybe they didn't have the numbers to chase us."

  Or maybe they know we don't have anywhere else to go. She stared out over the bay at the glow of the burning Bay Bridge.

  There were now just over a hundred and fifty elves present, barely a third of the number that had pulled back to the trench line. Many of the elves were wounded, but none too badly; those who had been badly injured hadn’t gotten away.

  Prince Kilyn stood alone, his face grim. Tec and Angie joined him. "This is a disaster," he said, his voice weary. "I've lost the main defensive area with barely a fight. We were supposed to hold that line for days."

  "No plan of battle survives contact with the enemy," Tec said.

  The prince shook his head. "Vampires," he said bitterly. "Now Fey kill Fey. Stars above and below, what has it come to?"

  "You're hurt," Angie said, seeing the blood that soaked his trouser leg.

  "I'll live. More than I can say for others, elves who trusted me."

  "Not your fault," Tec said. "There must have been a hundred vampires attacking all along the trench line, maybe more. No one could have held against that."

  "Tell that to those who died this night. I'm afraid I am a poor war leader."

  "Not true," Tec said. "You made the right call and saved as many as you could. You and your longbows saved us. Everyone loses a battle, but you need to keep fighting. This isn't over."

  Angie slid closer. "Let me look at your wound," she said in a firm tone.

  The prince sighed but nodded. He removed his thick leather pants, exposing a gash in his leg that he didn’t remember getting. The cut was long and ugly but mostly shallow, and she managed to stop the worst of the bleeding with a homemade tourniquet. As she worked, more stragglers joined them, swelling their number to almost two hundred. The elves reported to their prince, stating that they had been the last to escape the trenches and that there would be no more survivors.

  "What now?" Tec asked the prince.

  Prince Kilyn looked to his exhausted warriors and then the burning island to the north and the bay. The forest burned, but the fires were mostly concentrated along its western side. "We move north along the eastern shoreline, where the fire has yet to reach. My mother won't abandon us."

  "Are there boats?" Angie asked.

  He shook his head. "The only boats were at the palace, and that..."

  Even from here, they could see the inferno that had been the queen's palace.

  "The rocs?" Tec asked.

  The prince's shoulders slumped. "Perhaps they escaped the dragon, but I just don't know. Our enemy was far more powerful than we expected … than I expected. I’m sorry."

  "Well, we can't stay here," Tec said. "Even if the vampires don't come again, when the smoke clears, the Aztalan army will come."

  One of the warriors hurried over. He bowed to the prince, his hand across his armored chest, his face blackened with ash, and then pointed to the north. "My prince, someone comes."

  Angie peered into the darkness. The Silver Strand, the ten-kilometer-long isthmus that led to Coronado Island, extended into the night with water on either side. The fires gave an eerie, otherworldly appearance to the island but also highlighted the shapes of a party moving down the road, dozens of figures. The elves handled their weapons nervously, watching the shapes moving closer. Moments later, the shapes materialized into elven warriors. Relief coursed through Angie. The elves, at least thirty of them, moved forward.

  And leading them was Queen Elenaril Cloudborn.

  Chapter 20

  Prince Kilyn embraced his mother. The queen, momentarily taken aback by the display of emotion, hesitated but then embraced her son. "Well met, my son," she said softly. Her gaze took in the other elves and rested briefly on Angie's face. She nodded in greeting. "You've saved more than I had hoped for. Well done."

  "I've lost the defensive line, Mother."

  "We've survived an attack by the Obsidian Butterfly herself. Be thankful any of us still draw breath."

  "What of my sister, Mother?"

  "Safe. She leads our people north to Sanwa City. Marshal has offered our people safe passage to the Fresno Enclave, and Ephix will send help."

  The prince looked to the thirty elven warriors with the queen. "Is this all that remains?"

  "Take heart, my son. The others escaped across the bridge before the dragon's arrival. Everything we've lost can be rebuilt, but we must escape ourselves."

  "What now, Your Majesty?" Angie asked.

  "We continue northeast along the shoreline of the bay. Ephix Lamia reports she can help us, but we’ll need to reach the old Ferry Landing on the northern shore of the island."

  Before she could ask any more questions, the elves began moving once more.

  They followed the Silver Strand north. The trek was miserable, and no matter which way the wind blew, acrid smoke stung their eyes and assailed their throats. Angie remained with Tec and the queen in the center of the elven formation, where they were protected by close to three hundred warriors. Angie expected the vampires to come after them at any moment, but so far, they had not pressed their attack. The Silver Strand’s western bank, exposed to the ocean, was barren and sandy, but the eastern bank and bay were better protected and had been built up decades earlier with man-made cays and urban development, all long since abandoned. Angie kept looking for old boats tied to the wharves, but in the darkness, she saw nothing but the dark bay waters. Out here, exposed in the open, if the dragon came back, it would burn them all with a single pass.

  They reached the end of the Silver Strand, passing an old naval base on their right, the buildings now overgrown by new forest. Hundreds of meters away, the queen's palace burned, the heat scorching. They skirted the fire, turning east along the shoreline and moving toward the Bay Bridge, its surface still on fire. Just after four thirty a.m., they passed under the bridge's colossal concrete support beams along the shoreline.

  "Your mother mentioned a ferry landing?" Angie asked Prince Kilyn.

  "Pre-Awakening," he answered.

  "Boats?"

  He shook his head. "No, but the water is narrowest there, only about five hundred meters across. If we must, we can remove our armor and swim to the mainland."

  "I can't swim five hundred meters," Angie said, her panic swelling. "I can't swim fifty meters."

  "If it comes to that, I'll pull you across," Tec said from beside her. "All you have to do is float."

  "I can't float either!" She had never in her entire life had a need or an opportunity to learn to swim. There had barely been enough water in Sanwa City for showers.

  "It's okay," he said reassuringly. "I'll show you."

  "It won't come to that," the queen said from just ahead, looking over her armored shoulder. "Have faith in Ephix Lamia."

  Angie wanted to object, but she saw the ruins of the old f
erry landing ahead of them now. Even overgrown by new forest, she could see it had once been an outdoor marketplace with numerous shops. This part of the island had been heavily developed with restaurants and businesses. In the years following A-Day—and Elenaril’s magic had grown a new forest—trees, saplings, and thick bushes had forced their way through the asphalt, growing over, around, and through the ruins. The fire had yet to reach this part of the island, but Angie could see the advancing inferno, feel its heat. By sunrise, all of Coronado Island would be burning.

  Queen Elenaril ordered the elves to move onto the sandy beach near the ferry landing, where Angie saw an old pier extending out over the water. At the far end of the pier, the remains of an old ferry sat submerged, with only the upper level and its rows of rusty benches remaining above the water. So much for the ferry, she thought miserably.

  As the elves established an all-around defensive position on the beach, Angie moved to the edge of the water and stared out across the channel. Even in the dark, she could make out the ruined skyline of San Diego, its skyscrapers highlighted against the stars. It seemed much farther away than five hundred meters, more like miles and miles. Can we really swim that far?

  Can Tec if he’s pulling me?

  She didn’t want to find out. The wind shifted, and smoke assaulted her throat, stinging her eyes. We may not have a choice.

  Angie turned to the queen and her son, who stood near the water, speaking softly to one another. "What now?"

  "Now I sleep," the queen said, turning away to find a clear spot on the sandy beach to lie down.

  Sleep?

  Angie stared at her and then at the fire consuming the island. The flames were less than a kilometer away and growing in intensity. If the wind shifted or grew stronger, the fire would trap them against the water. But apparently unconcerned, Elenaril, still in her armor, lay on her back on the sand and closed her eyes.

  "What are we doing here?" Angie asked softly, as much of herself as anyone else.

  "Leave it," Tec said. "I don't know either, but she knows her business. Just stay near me. If it comes to it, I'll get you across that channel. Trust me."

  "‘Trust me,’ he says." Angie sat down on a nearby stone wall, a remnant of when this had been a tourist spot. It was a relief to take the weight off her feet. She felt as though she had been marching and fighting for days. Tec joined her, sitting beside her in silence. She didn't say anything but was welcome for his company.

  Several of the elves moved among them, handing out what water and food they had. Angie accepted a chunk of dark bread and chewed it, washing it down with mouthfuls of cold water that did little to ease the soreness in her throat. She watched the queen, still lying atop the sand, her eyes closed, her arms across her chest. Angie's fingers brushed the talisman the queen had given her. Would she ever be able to sleep without it again? Angie glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost five a.m. She looked to the east, but with all the smoke in the air, the sky seemed as dark as ever.

  Then Queen Elenaril abruptly sat up. "She's coming."

  "Who—" Before Angie could finish the question, a cry of alarm rose from the warriors guarding their rear. She heard the release of bowstrings followed by the sound of combat.

  "They've found us," Tec said, moving in front of Angie, his rifle held against his shoulder. Now Angie saw shapes moving through the smoke around them—vampires, she realized a moment later.

  She drew Nightfall, readying herself. "I'm almost out of mana," she told Tec.

  "Stay by my side," he said as he slung the rifle and drew the machete he had stuffed through his belt.

  The elves with longbows released shaft after shaft, and vampires fell, their bodies turning to ash. But there must have been hundreds of vampires, far too many for the bowmen. A fierce hand-to-hand battle began as the vampires fell upon the elves, and the elves met them with sword and knife, forming a U-shaped barrier on the beach with Angie, Tec, and the queen in the center. A handful of the queen’s elite bodyguards remained at her side.

  Prince Kilyn fought among his warriors, his sword flashing, and Angie saw him behead one of the vampires, but two more leaped on him, knocking him down. The nearby elves rushed to the defense of their prince, using swords to keep the vampires back while other elves dragged the prince to safety behind the fighting. Blood flowed from Prince Kilyn’s scalp, and his eyes had rolled into the back of his skull.

  The vampires pushed the elves back onto the sandy beach. As the defenders’ numbers dwindled, the elves moved closer together, their fighting line shrinking. While each vampire was more than a match for a single elf, the defenders fought as an organized unit, and their discipline was holding—for now. When there were too few left and their cohesion broke, it would be a bloodbath.

  Then she felt something behind her, the presence of powerful magic. She spun to see the air shimmering over the channel, less than fifty meters away. "Behind us," she called out.

  Then the air warped, and the fabric of reality burst apart, creating a shimmering opening—a magical gateway—over the water, twenty feet by twenty feet. Through this gateway appeared a series of wooden boats, dozens of long dug-out canoes rowed by a pair of green-skinned trolls. Each canoe was painted bright red and green, with a scowling bestial visage carved into its bow. Thick rows of bright bird feathers bristled along the gunwales, giving the craft the look of living creatures. The trolls wore hide and fur, their faces and torsos scarred in ritualistic patterns. The canoes sped forward toward the beach. Angie’s gaze snapped to Queen Elenaril, who stood calmly, watching the new arrivals. They're here to rescue us, Angie realized, seeing that there was more than enough room in the canoes for all the elves.

  When she saw the plain young woman with long brown hair who sat at the front of the lead canoe, Angie's breath caught in her throat: Ephix Lamia.

  "Hurry, Elenaril!" Ephix yelled, motioning for the defenders to wade out into the surf and board the canoes. In one hand, Ephix held aloft a golden necklace from which dangled a black glass rose, the same talisman she had used to open a portal to the Hollows, the parallel magical dimension from which the Fey had originally come to this world. Angie’s fingers brushed the red glass rose she wore, a twin to the one Ephix used to open gateways. She should have recognized the similarity before.

  As the flotilla of canoes came closer to the beach, the trolls jumped out and held their craft steady for the elves to board.

  "Get in one of the canoes," Tec urged, grabbing Angie's arm.

  She was really getting tired of being manhandled by people trying to save her.

  "The others," she said, her gaze snapping to the fierce fighting in front of them. There was no way the elves would be able to disengage long enough to wade out into the waves; the vampires would rip them apart.

  "Not your problem," Tec insisted, pulling her into the surf.

  She gasped from the cold but let him shove her over the side of one of the canoes. Then he waded back to help the wounded elves aboard the boats. She watched him carry an armored elf in his arms as easily as if he were carrying a child, carefully placing the elf in one of the canoes.

  Despite her fears, the elves were disengaging. Their discipline was amazing. After moving the wounded, they began to peel back squads of warriors to board the canoes, all the while shrinking their defensive line. The vampires, realizing their enemies were escaping, redoubled their attacks, literally throwing themselves upon the elves' weapons. Any moment now, Angie knew, the retreat would become a rout. She saw Tec behead one of the vampires that had gotten past the defenders, hacking its head away with brutal blows of his machete. The vampire's body turned to ash, sticking to the soaking-wet Tec.

  Then the queen entered the fight. With sword drawn, she used her free hand to cast darts of blue energy at the vampires. When the darts struck, the vampires froze solid, ice coating their bodies—it was the same spell Wyn Renna had used, but the queen cast it with far greater skill. The elven warriors fell upon the frozen v
ampires, hacking their heads free with swords. The queen kept casting freezing blue dart after freezing blue dart, never seeming to tire or run out of mana. It was the most impressive display of magic Angie had ever seen. She knew Elenaril was a grandmaster mage like Char, but Char had never cast magic like this before. I thought blowing the Horn of Vajja to create fog was supposed to weaken her.

  Just how powerful is she?

  Under the queen's magical assault, the vampires pulled back, glaring at Queen Elenaril with naked hatred. Vampires were fierce opponents, but they weren't suicidal, and they must have realized they were outmatched by the queen's magic. They disappeared back into the smoke as quickly as they had appeared, leaving ash and blood-soaked sand.

  The surviving elves climbed aboard the canoes, each vessel more than capable of carrying ten passengers as well as the troll rowers. Angie glanced to the east, where the sun's glow finally began to shine through the smoke. It seemed impossible, unbelievable, but they were escaping. The queen must have been communicating with Ephix while asleep.

  "Hurry, Elenaril," Ephix shouted from her canoe. "I cannot keep the portal open much longer. We need to go."

  The queen glanced over her shoulder and nodded. A half dozen of her Phoenix Guard warriors remained with her, their spearheads flashing red in the dawn's glow. It was hard to tell from here, but her face looked strained. The trolls began to turn the canoes about and head back into the still-open gateway. The sky through the gateway shone crimson. We're going into the Hollows, Angie realized. Tec! Where's Tec? She looked about wildly but relaxed when she saw him in one of the nearby canoes. He met her eye and raised his hand.

  The Shade King's voice thundered in Angie's skull, causing her to wince in pain. THE DEATH BAT COMES!