Beside him Imogen sighed. “This is nice. I’m not saying I wouldn’t get bored in a few weeks, but until then I could stand to live here. What do you think? You and me on our own little island?”
He grinned. “We’d be trying to kill each other inside a week just to relieve the boredom. A day or two might be okay.”
She smiled back and they settled in to eat.
Damien was almost finished with his apple when he spotted something in the sky headed their way fast. Binder’s presence had so overwhelmed his senses he couldn’t tell if that was the last lookout or something else.
It’s the lookout and he’s terrified. Even at this distance his terror is screaming at me.
That wasn’t very reassuring. Damien climbed to his feet and tossed the apple core away. “Our lost bird has returned.”
The lookout came hurtling out of the sky and half landed half crashed into the beach. He stared at Damien with wide, buggy eyes. “Who are you?”
“Your relief. Everyone else has already returned to the mainland. You need to join them. Do you have enough soul force?”
He laughed, high and hysterical. “I’ll bloody well swim if I have to. No one can stay here. Do you know what’s coming?”
Damien and Imogen shared a look. “We have an idea, but why don’t you tell us what you saw.”
“A guy with black wings was carrying like fifty ships in chain cradles and flying them across the ocean. I never felt soul force that powerful.”
That explained how the enemy fleet was covering so much territory so quickly. “Thanks for your report. Get out of here.”
“With pleasure.” The lookout was in the air and hurtling east at a reckless pace before the words were fully out of his mouth.
“Five gold coins says we find him bobbing in the water on our way to Port Valcane,” Imogen said.
“No bet. How about we take a look for ourselves?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the sort of thing the king wanted me to stop you from doing. I’m equally sure nothing I can say will stop you from going so I might as well tag along.”
Damien would have preferred to go alone so he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else. Preferences aside he couldn’t just leave Imogen here, if he even suggested it she’d ignore him anyway. So they took off together, flying west at a steady pace. Damien had no intention of getting too close, he only wanted to get a personal sense of what they were dealing with.
He got his first inkling about fifteen minutes after they left Lookout Island. There was no sign of the enemy flotilla, but Damien now got a true sense of Binder’s soul force. It had a different feel to it than anything he’d ever encountered. The energy reminded him of the paladins, but with weird touches of corruption. Not really demonic, but not fully angelic either.
He flicked a glance at Imogen, but she showed no sign of noticing anything yet. That was only natural since her range was about two-thirds of his. She’d notice in the next few minutes and he was eager to hear what she thought. For all his power, Damien wasn’t that experienced a sorcerer.
Ten minutes later Imogen gasped. “Heaven’s mercy!”
“Scary, right? What do you make of him?”
“We need to turn around right now. I don’t want to get a yard closer to anything that strong.”
“Come on, we haven’t even seen the ships yet. We can’t give a useful report with what we know now.”
“Sure we can.” Imogen stopped and faced him. “The most powerful being we’ve ever encountered is on its way to the kingdom. Anything in its path needs to move as fast as possible the other way. What else do they need to know?”
She had a point, but he didn’t like the fear in her voice. In his experience, making decisions based on fear never turned out well. “We don’t have to get too close, but I want to at least see how many ships we’re dealing with. Despite what he said, I doubt the lookout had any idea of the numbers.”
“We count the ships and run, promise?”
“Sure.”
“Promise me!”
“Okay, okay, I promise.” Damien didn’t cross his fingers behind his back like a little kid, but this might be one promise he didn’t fully intend to honor.
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Damien hadn’t given the scout enough credit. As he looked through the viewing construct he counted forty ships hanging from huge soul force chains. The ships were of a design he hadn’t seen before. Even the whalers who arrived last year from the Old Empire didn’t have ships like these. They had rolled-up-tight red sails and were made of dark wood. A handful were equipped with catapults or ballistas. They would’ve been a formidable invasion fleet even without the archangel leading them.
Speaking of the Binder, he was an awe-inspiring sight. Damien guessed he was about eight feet tall with broad, black-feathered wings. His soul force crashed against Damien’s awareness like a sledgehammer against a boulder. Only Lizzy’s efforts to dampen the effects allowed him to get this close. The invaders still had to be ten miles from their position. If Marie-Bell didn’t make it back, there was no way they could defeat the Binder.
“You’ve seen them,” Imogen said. “Can we go now?”
Damien gestured and brought the deck of the closest ship into focus. “Let’s get a rough count of the crew then we can go.”
“Just hurry.” The tension made her voice tremble. Imogen and fear wasn’t a combination he’d experienced much. She was usually as eager to fight as him, if not more so.
The tiny figures on the ship’s deck were standing around looking out across the water. It must have been a tedious journey for sailors used to constantly adjusting sails and ropes. At least their lack of movement made them easy to count.
Damien was up to fifteen when he sensed a second titanic soul force approaching, one he’d felt once before.
Imogen grabbed his sleeve. “Damien!”
“I know. Things are about to get interesting.”
Leviathan burst from the ocean and snatched the ship Damien had been observing out of the air and crunched it to splinters. If anything, the ocean dragon looked bigger than he remembered. Hundreds of yards long and at least fifty in diameter, it looked like Leviathan could have swallowed Dreamer whole.
Jade soul force flashed in the dragon’s eyes and a moment later jagged shards of energy rained down on the imperial fleet. The attack shattered on an invisible barrier.
The chains holding the ships up lowered them to the water before lashing out at Leviathan. Binder wrapped the dragon in huge chains and dragged it away from the fleet.
Damien considered the helpless ships. If they struck fast, he and Imogen could sink them all while the archangel was busy. If all they had to worry about was Binder, it certainly would make things easier.
Leviathan’s roar split the air and hurt Damien’s ears even at this distance. He turned just in time to see the chains restraining the dragon explode into specks of energy. Both of them were monsters and evenly matched. The air shivered as they released enough soul force to level mountains. How lucky were they that this battle happened over the ocean?
“Let’s sink those ships,” Damien said.
“Are you mad?”
“We’ll never get a better chance. Binder is fully occupied. A few blasts and we’re done.”
She chewed her lip. Damien wouldn’t force her and he wouldn’t go alone. They either attacked together or fled together.
Another distant clash sent a breeze swirling around them carrying the stink of ozone. A battle that intense couldn’t last long.
“Imogen!”
“Alright, let’s do it. If we’re going to die, I’d rather die being brave than running away.”
Damien grinned. That was the Imogen he knew. He drew Lizzy and felt her unwavering support. Together they could do anything.
They dove toward the ships. Any sorcerers on board should have their senses overwhelmed by the battling monsters.
Damien charged Lizzy’s blade as they g
ot closer and unleashed a slash powerful enough to slice one of the ships in half. The golden arc struck a wall of chains three feet before impact.
That shield didn’t come from Binder.
Six figures with chains wrapped around their arms rose from the largest ship. They had power similar to the archangel, but far weaker. They must have been the equivalent of his personal paladins. Damien couldn’t tell exactly how strong they were, but if they stopped his and Lizzy’s combined attack, they must’ve been pretty strong.
Chains appeared. Several glanced off his personal shield hard enough to push him back.
Imogen shouted and he turned in time to see her falling out of the sky with a gash in her side.
Cursing the universe he dove after her.
More chains appeared all around him. Damien expanded his shield and rushed after Imogen.
He caught her ten feet from the water. Her wound was shallow but ugly.
“Time to go,” he said.
“Good idea.”
The larger battle had fallen silent. That wasn’t good.
Damien unleashed a powerful wave of soul force at the enemy, forcing them back just enough to make an opening.
He shot through it and raced away from the ships. They needed to return and warn the others. Binder’s power remained undiminished and he wouldn’t be long getting underway.
At least that was Damien’s plan. Instead some immense force grabbed him and yanked him off course. It latched on to him with such speed he didn’t even have time to consider resisting before he was stopped again, this time over another lonely section of ocean.
“What was that?” Imogen asked.
He wished he had an answer. At least it didn’t appear to be the Binder that grabbed them given the lack of chains. The answer came a moment later when Leviathan burst from the water and stopped level with them. Eyes as big as Damien was tall reflected his distorted image like a wavy mirror.
How had he failed to sense the dragon’s presence? Then again, what did it matter? Leviathan was here now, all that mattered was why and were they going to survive.
The dragon appeared incapable of speech, instead soul force cracked like jade lightning and slammed into Damien. His muscles clenched and it took everything he had not to drop Imogen into the water. Leviathan’s soul force mingled with his own, making it denser and more potent.
The transfer was over in seconds. Unlike the other dragons’ chosen, no link formed between Damien and Leviathan. This was clearly a one-time gift.
The dragon dove out of sight, leaving Damien to consider what had happened. Why had Leviathan chosen him? Probably because he was the only sorcerer out here in any shape to accept the power. He must have understood on some level that Damien would need the boost.
That didn’t bode well for Marie-Bell arriving in time. Speaking of which, they needed to get back to Port Valcane. It wouldn’t take the archangel long to fly the rest of the way.
Chapter Eighty-Eight
With the dragon’s soul force giving him a boost, Damien made the flight back to Port Valcane in fifteen minutes. When he arrived he found the city practically a ghost town. In less than a day, tens of thousands had been relocated. The docks had been fortified with an eight-foot-tall stone wall and the underwater spikes Dahlmis suggested. As expected it appeared his master had things well in hand.
The archmage’s soul force flared for a second and he turned her way. A few seconds later Damien landed outside Watch headquarters and set Imogen on her feet. Her wound had stopped bleeding, but from the way she held herself she was clearly still hurting. Hopefully the archmage would take the time to heal her. If he tried to do it now, he’d probably blow her in half.
He’d barely taken a step toward the doors when Jen, Uncle Andy, and the archmage emerged and rushed down towards them. Jen hugged him before moving back.
“Tell me,” Uncle Andy said.
Damien gave them the condensed version of the battle with Leviathan and the flotilla of ships approaching. When he finished he added, “We’ve got a few hours at most. Any word on Marie-Bell?”
The archmage shook her head. “Nothing. Whatever she’s doing, she’s taking her sweet time. The dragon-chosen have withdrawn to the edge of the city. If she doesn’t make it in time, they’ll withdraw further. Your Builder friends did a fine job at the docks, though I doubt we’ll dare put anyone in position to try and fend off the Binder. The Leviathan wasn’t nearly as free-handed with you as the other dragons were with their chosen.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t forge a permanent link between us either. I’m happy to accept that trade-off,” Damien said. “Good call on keeping everyone back. Binder fought a dragon to a draw, anything we throw at him would be a waste of time and I count myself in that as well. Is the evacuation finished?”
“Pretty much,” Uncle Andy said. “The sorcerers are making a final sweep of the city. Everyone else has fled east. I don’t know what we’re going to do if the city suffers major damage. Winter will be on us in earnest soon. Finding shelter for a few hundred thousand people won’t be easy.”
Damien fought a smile. It was good to see Uncle Andy planning for their survival. It meant he hadn’t lost hope. “Maybe the Builders will be willing to lend a hand with repairs.”
Power from the west slammed into Damien. He spun to face the docks even though he couldn’t see them from their current location. “That was faster than I expected. He’s almost here.”
Everyone tensed.
“You’re certain?” Uncle Andy asked.
Damien nodded. “This isn’t the sort of thing you mistake for anything else. He’s still a few miles out, but it won’t be long.”
The archmage sent a beam of soul force into the sky. “The remaining sorcerers will withdraw now. We’d best join them.”
“Maybe I can negotiate with him,” Uncle Andy said.
“I didn’t get the feeling Binder is one for negotiation,” Damien said. “Unless you’re willing to surrender the kingdom, we need to run for it.”
The muscle in Uncle Andy’s jaw bunched. “Very well. We’ll pull back to the capital for now. Hopefully Marie-Bell returns before he reaches us. If not…”
He didn’t need to finish that sentence. If she didn’t make it back they were doomed. What they needed was time, and running wasn’t going to buy them much. First Damien needed to get the important people out of the city, then he’d be free to use Leviathan’s gift.
The archmage wrapped Uncle Andy and Imogen in a soul force bubble and they took off. Jen turned to go, but Damien grabbed her shoulder.
“What?”
“Don’t let him come back to the city, no matter what happens.”
Jen gave him a hard look. “What are you thinking?”
“Running’s not going to buy us enough time. Binder’s faster than I am. If something doesn’t slow him down, he’ll be waiting for us at the capital.”
“If a dragon couldn’t stop him, what are you going to do?”
“I wish I knew, but Leviathan gave this power for a reason and I think this is it. A few minutes might be the difference between winning and losing. I have faith Marie-Bell will make it back before it’s too late. I’m staking my life on that belief. But I can’t do what I need to if I’m worried about you guys.”
Jen hugged him again. “If you get killed so help me I’ll kick your ass.”
Damien grinned. “Just one more reason I need to survive. Go on.”
She gave him one last long, searching look before vanishing at warlord speed. He was on his own now.
Chapter Eighty-Nine
Marie-Bell didn’t know how long she spent watching the images of human corruption the dragon projected into her mind. It felt like she’d been sitting on the lonely, wind-swept plateau for days, but for everyone’s sake she hoped it was only hours. The torrent of darkness finally ended with the final days of the Old Empire and the emperor getting dragged through the streets before his body was torn to pieces by an ang
ry mob. The images turned her stomach, but she bore it in the hope that when Golden Dawn finished she’d get a chance to make her case.
“This is the race you wish me to help you save from Binder. After all that I’ve shown you, do you still think your people worth the effort and price it will cost to save them?”
“You’ve shown me a great deal of evil.” Marie-Bell spoke slowly, gathering her thoughts as she went. “I would be the last to deny humanity’s flaws. As a paladin, fighting such evil, or better yet serving as an example to help people find a better way, is my duty. Despite the darkness in some men, I have seen acts of sacrifice that would amaze you. There are people that have risked everything to save those they care about and they continue to do it over and over. I believe there are more good people than bad and that those are the ones worth sacrificing for.”
“Your sincerity is heartening,” Golden Dawn said. “But I wonder if your determination would hold in the face of a more personal betrayal. Behold.”
The monks’ temple appeared in her mind. Sir Collin approached, having returned from whatever madness gripped him. As she watched, the monks opened the gates. The chain fighters emerged and Sir Collin held the gates open for them.
Her stomach twisted as the chain fighters slaughtered paladin and monk alike. Through it all Sir Collin did nothing but watch until the final defender lay dead.
“What do you say to that?” Golden Dawn asked. “This betrayal happened only moments ago. These evil men wait even now for your return.”
Marie-Bell sprang to her feet. She would make them pay for killing her comrades. Before taking a step she caught herself. There was no way she could defeat the surviving chain fighters on her own.
“I will give you my power. Enough to destroy them all,” the dragon said. “Is that what you wish?”
She drew a breath to say that’s exactly what she wanted.
“Before you answer, know that you can either use my power to avenge your friends or stop Binder, not both. The choice is yours.”
On Blackened Wings Page 30
