by Beth Alvarez
Yet something told her that wasn’t the case. Though she was far from happy with the way things transpired, there was an odd spark of something in her that she hadn’t felt in far too long.
Hope.
“Everyone ready?” Kytenia called.
All around the room, mages nodded. With the Archmage’s command, they lined up and worked with Royal City mages to open Gates to places on Elenhiise both familiar and foreign to Firal’s eyes.
When Firal’s turn came, the sight of Ilmenhith on the other side brought tears to her eyes. She led her group through the portal and drew herself up with a queenly air. Her job was among the most important, but also one of the easiest. She took a step, meaning to lead her group toward the chapter house.
Beneath their feet, the tremors began.
22
Promise
“Last chance to change your mind.” Rune flexed his clawed hands as he peered around the corner. The throne room was still a floor away and the hall ahead was empty. He couldn’t see anyone, but now and then, voices carried in the empty palace.
Envesi was up there—on the dais or near the throne, if his perception of location was right. He couldn’t guess as to what she was doing, but he felt her, sure as anything. There was no sneaking up on her, but he’d done his best to better their chances. He’d seen the trick the Alda’anan used to hide their magic long before he’d known they existed, a feat practiced by the Underling queen he’d once served. Rune had never been good at it, finding it took too much concentration, but he used it now. The seal on his Gift made his power muddy and faint in the senses of others, but if he masked it correctly, he’d become invisible.
The glow vanished from his eyes as he willed every flow of energy away from himself. She’d feel Rhyllyn, but the similarity between them—both free mages, both touched by corruption—would keep her from knowing Rune was not the one she sensed; if all worked as planned, she wouldn’t know there were two of them until it was too late. As it was, she seemed unconcerned by his presence.
“Let’s go,” Vahn whispered back.
Rune nodded. They’d gone over the plan a half dozen times as he retrieved his clothing from the chest beside the jailer’s desk. The jailer himself stood down the moment Vahn appeared, but Rune had still entertained the idea of stuffing the man in a cell. Had there been more time, perhaps he would have, but they couldn’t risk the delay.
They ghosted up the hallway and the stairs. Rune led the way, taking every shortcut he knew. They encountered no one on the way, and the hall that led to the throne room’s doors was just as empty as the rest of the palace.
“Is this place always so creepy?” Rhyllyn asked in a whisper as they lingered just outside the doors.
Without a word, Rune dropped his guard and reached for Rhyllyn’s power as his own stunted magic came rushing back.
Conversation in the throne room halted. Rune strode in with Vahn on his heels.
Envesi glowered as she rose from the throne. “What have you done?”
Not caring who the question was meant for, Rune seized the invisible threads of power that constituted her Gift.
He’d tried before and failed, but this time they were near equally matched. She pulled against his hold and her eyes widened when she realized he wouldn’t budge this time.
Her surprise didn’t last. She twirled her fingers in the air and hacked through the flows he held with an invisible edge. At her side, her companion drew his sword and advanced on them. Ennil Tanrys. Rune had expected no other.
Vahn drew his blade and moved between them. “Stand down,” he barked, holding his sword ready.
Rune tore his eyes away. He couldn’t risk distraction now. The last thread of energy snapped and he released his hold. Overpowering her still wouldn’t happen. The best he could hope for was driving her to exhaustion before he or Rhyllyn gave out.
Envesi didn’t give him time to think. She snapped an arm toward him and jagged pieces of ice flew from her fingertips like a dozen daggers.
He brought his hands together before him and swept the ice away with a barrier of wind. The shards spun and fell, shattered against the ground and glittered beneath his feet like broken glass.
“We’ve tried this before,” Envesi snarled, drawing her arm back in preparation for another burst of magic. “You can’t possibly expect to best me now.”
“I have to try,” Rune replied.
To his side, Vahn advanced on his father in a duelist’s stance.
“You can’t possibly think you can win,” Ennil goaded.
“You’d be surprised,” Vahn said. “I’m not the one who lost my balls in a training exercise!” He twirled inward, blade flashing in the light that spilled from the hole in the ceiling.
The ceiling. Rune’s eyes flicked upward.
Envesi spun her hands again in the elaborate gestures she favored and flung her arm toward him in a second attack.
This time, Rune dropped to the floor to avoid the daggers of ice, one palm flat on the cold marble.
Beneath their feet, the earth began to rumble.
Their swords clashed and Vahn and Ennil both stumbled.
“Deviating!” Vahn snarled.
Rune ignored him. Of course he was deviating. Following the original plan meant putting the whole island at risk. Bringing the palace down meant only they were in danger.
Envesi staggered sideways and extended both hands to regain her balance. Scowling, she swept her claws along the floor and stepped onto an invisible platform of air.
Silently swearing, Rune abandoned his attempt to shatter the palace. Drawing through Rhyllyn, he could pull down the castle or he could shield himself against her magic. Not both.
Vahn recovered the moment the quake stopped and rushed back to combat. Fast as he was, Ennil still regained his feet before the first blow fell.
Always faster, Envesi drew power into herself again. Her eyes darkened, betraying her intent.
Instead of dodging, Rune moved to meet the streak of power the moment it left her fingertips. Crackling power shot up his arm, the current flowing through him like electricity. His heart pounded off-rhythm and time slowed as magic flooded his senses and stood his hair on end.
Then he spun, and the magic shot from his claws on his other hand, missing Envesi by only a hair.
The Archmage’s mouth fell open and Rune smirked. Thanks for the trick, little brother.
Her surprise was short-lived. Quick to compensate, she fired again, lightning bolts sparking from both hands.
Dancing backwards, Rune caught them where they converged, but this was hotter, faster, and he gasped as the searing power shot through him. It moved too fast for him to aim and the magic exploded against a column, shattered the stone and brought a chunk of the balcony down with it.
Envesi’s eyes flared.
“Pull back!” Rune barked. He couldn’t stay that lucky.
Vahn grunted in response, twisting away from his father’s blade to run for the hall.
“Coward!” Envesi flexed her arms outward. White-hot energy drew into seething balls in either of her hands. “I’m not finished with you!”
Rune threw a shield between them as she hurled the magic toward him. It hit the barrier and burst in an explosion of white flame, the heat enough to make his eyes water.
“You think you can challenge me and live?” the Archmage screeched.
Reinforcing the shield, Rune turned and ran.
He closed his eyes, envisioning the destination, willing the path to open.
Reality split and when his eyes snapped open, a wall of pure black filled the hallway.
Vahn stopped dead in his tracks, Rhyllyn at his side.
“Go!” Rune roared.
Grimacing, Vahn dove through and disappeared.
Rhyllyn turned back, anxious. Then he met Rune’s eyes and nodded. He stepped backwards through the portal and their link severed. All the weight of the Gate’s power came down on Rune alone.
&
nbsp; Pain exploded in his head and chest as the seal on his magic reacted to the raw might of the portal, making stars burst in his field of vision. Then cold black enveloped him, and he hit the ground hard.
The Gate closed.
“Where are we?” Rhyllyn asked. His eyes made two blue pinpoints in the dark. They faded whenever Rune looked directly at them. The stars in his vision were brighter.
Rune groaned, sat up and pressed both hands to his head.
Farther ahead, Vahn choked back an oath as he collided with something.
“Oh, hold on.” The rasp of metal followed Rhyllyn’s voice and a moment later, all three of them squinted against the flare of a mage-light.
Rhyllyn held Rune’s sword aloft, the ruby in its pommel infused with magic and illuminating the room.
Years of dust coated the floor and surfaces, but the must of dried herbs still lingered. The room was roughly furnished with makeshift counters along the walls, tables and two rudimentary chairs in the middle of the room, and a narrow bed in the far corner.
It was all so unchanged it made Rune’s heart ache.
Vahn studied the single room, crowded with the three of them in it, his brow furrowed. “What is this place?”
“Home.” Rune winced against the throbbing in his skull as he pushed himself to his feet. “Or it was, once.”
“This is in Core?” Vahn looked toward the lone doorway with a frown.
“Not far off the central column. The mines are at the bottom.” Rune tried to ignore the room. “It was the only place I could think of that I was sure would be the same as I remembered it. I thought about the waterwheel or the river, but I don’t know what the market looks like now.”
“Better not to risk it,” Rhyllyn said softly.
Vahn worried his lower lip with his teeth. “I guess we should head toward the Gate down there, then. I’ve never been here. Lead the way, would you?”
The door resisted when Rune tried to open it. Wood crackled and rusted hinges shrieked as it came loose. The main hallway on the other side was just as he recalled. Wide, dark, and empty. Even when Core had been fully populated, the halls were never crowded. There were thousands of cave-houses lining dozens of halls branching from the central column. Maybe enough for every one of the Underlings to have their own.
Ruin-folk, not Underlings, he reminded himself. They’d moved on, grown into their role under Firal’s rule. Funny, in a way. He’d always expected he’d be the one to help them re-integrate with the people of Ilmenhith. Glad as he was it had happened without him, it was amusing to think of his hard-earned support shifting to Firal simply because they’d been married.
“How long do you think we have before Envesi follows us?” Rhyllyn asked, his voice low against the oppressive silence of the underground.
“A few minutes to get our bearings, I hope,” Vahn said.
Rune made a thoughtful sound in his throat. “As far as I know, she’s never been to Core. That may have changed, but I doubt it. A Gate directly to me is her only chance of finding us.” And now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure that would happen. He didn’t know much about Envesi’s skill, other than that she was powerful. She always had been. Even when she’d been bound by affinity, her talent with magecraft let her easily outpace him in ability.
Until he’d found a teacher.
After what she’d done to the mages of the Grand College, Rune did not doubt Envesi had killed the Alda’anan he’d been seeking. The knowledge gave him a strange sense of mingled sadness and guilt.
Thirty years ago, she’d tainted Rhyllyn in her quest to gain more strength. Rune knew what she had done. Yet even after the civil war ended, even after he was given freedom to look for the Alda’anan, he’d never once thought about trying to find Envesi and making sure she couldn’t harm anyone else the same way. If he had... He shook his head, unwilling to think of it any longer.
“What’s that?” Rhyllyn shielded the glowing gem on the sword’s hilt with one hand, dulling the light. It made the glow at the far end of the passage appear brighter.
“Sunlight,” Rune replied, amused.
Rhyllyn dismissed the mage-light and let shadow fall around them. “I thought we were underground.”
Rune chuckled. “You’ll see.”
Air stirred behind them and a cold chill rolled down his spine as magic built in the empty corridor. Faster than he’d anticipated, a Gate cracked the flows apart.
“Run!” Rune turned back as the others moved past him, though they both stalled and looked back after a few steps. He gritted his teeth. “Now!”
“Another!” Envesi’s grating voice reached his ears before the portal stabilized.
Like those he created, the Gate she’d opened was functional on both sides. He could see into the throne room on the other end. For a single, fleeting moment, he considered stepping through and continuing the fight in the palace, giving Vahn and Rhyllyn a chance to escape.
Then she stepped through the Gate and let it drop.
Envesi strode forward, but she wasn’t looking at him. Instead her eyes passed him, pure fury on her face. “Another one, and I didn’t know! How is this? What have you done?”
Rhyllyn and Vahn had stopped, frozen in place, unwilling to let him fight alone.
Rune had an inclination to strangle them himself.
“So young, no more than a boy! A child that carries the curse...” Her lip curled in disgust. “So it does breed true.”
Fighting a flare of agitation, Rune turned and grabbed Rhyllyn by the arm. Vahn needed no more than a shove to get him moving again.
Linking with Rhyllyn as they ran, Rune paused just long enough to erect a defensive barrier behind them. “We have to get to the bottom! We’d be trapped in the lift, we’ll have to run.”
“Where?” Vahn outpaced them easily. Supporting the barrier slowed them down, but he stopped at the mouth of the tunnel. “Which way?” He turned back and his eyes widened.
Rune felt the shield ripple as Envesi struck it, a wash of heat pouring through after the flames were stopped. He didn’t dare look back. “Down the spiral!”
Vahn disappeared around the corner.
Rhyllyn stumbled, but Rune’s hand on his arm kept him on his feet. They burst out of the corridor side by side, and when Rune saw the central chasm of Core, he stopped and stared in disbelief.
Trees.
All along the river, along the waterfall that fell from the corkscrew and plummeted into the earth, trees erupted from the stone. Some clung to the sides of the spiraling column, all of them reaching toward the sky like black-scarred white arms. In their presence, the air was cool. Fresh, green leaves fluttered in a faint stirring of air.
Rune dropped the link and pushed Rhyllyn ahead. “Go with Vahn.”
“But—” Rhyllyn started to protest.
“Go!” Rune barked. “I have an idea.”
Rhyllyn swallowed hard, but went.
Rune turned back toward the corridor and locked eyes with Envesi. Though they ran, she advanced slowly, walking with her head held high. He’d counted on that ego and hadn’t been disappointed. Regal as she tried to be, she gave him all the time he needed to prepare.
Instead of reaching for Rhyllyn’s power, Rune reached for the trees. All his life, mages had drilled him with rules and precautions, warnings about what to draw from and when.
The trees answered his call. Their power flowed into him, filling his mind with a deep awareness of their presence. Dozens of trees, all linked, all growing from the same root. Their life and vibrance pulsed in his senses and he breathed deep.
Pure energy coursed through him and he used it to snare the stone of the tunnel’s ceiling. Rune pulled and, drawing from the aspens, the stone shattered.
The first pull was too small. Envesi batted the falling rock away without a thought and increased her pace.
Steeling himself, Rune tried again.
Like an avalanche, the hall’s ceiling came down. The ground
quivered beneath his feet and Rune widened his stance, waiting for the rumble to halt.
He couldn’t risk running on the slick ramp, not with that gaping chasm in the center and no rail to keep him from going over. He’d once laughed at Firal for being afraid of falling. Now the same fear gripped him and he regretted ever teasing her. He hugged the wall on his way down.
An explosion on the path behind him knocked him to the ground. Rune slid several feet before he caught himself at the bridge where the walkway and river met.
A shower of gravel and stones tumbled down the walkway behind him. They pelted his back and shoulders and stung.
He pulled himself upright with the bridge’s corner post, tightening his hold on the life force of the trees beside him. Closer than before, they formed a stronger bond, and he gathered magic into his fingertips for a new attack.
Envesi appeared on the path above, disheveled and enraged, her eyes seething red and the stone walkway trembling under each stride. “How many times must you try before you realize you cannot best me?”
She swung her arm. An arc of water poured up over the bridge and formed blocks of ice around his feet.
Gasping against the burning cold, he pulled more and aimed his fingers toward the walkway below her feet. Magic whined past the seal, skirting his own abilities as he drained the trees. Beside him, their colors shifted, the vibrant green leaves taking a golden glow.
The blast struck a shield around Envesi. Dust and gravel splashed against a sphere of clear air.
She sneered.
Then the rock split through and the earth fell out from underneath her, and she shrieked as it spilled her onto the next level of the walkway in a cascade of stone.
A startled oath echoed from below and Rune hissed as he realized his mistake. He’d dropped her to the next tier—putting her that much closer to Vahn and Rhyllyn as they fled.
Still shrieking, Envesi clawed her way out of the rubble as Rune struck the ice at his feet with magic. It shattered, freeing him, and he scrambled down the ramp.
