“You risk your own life. I’ll be all right. You go on and get yourself out of here. I can sense the battle; it goes badly for New Sharren.”
He smiled gently. “I will not leave you alone. When you are gone, then I will leave.”
She sighed and shook her head but didn’t argue further. Her eyes drifted closed and her breathing shuddered slightly. Then she looked at him again. “I dreamed last night of New Sharren.”
“You did?”
Clarene nodded and a sad smile played on her lips. “It was beautiful. There was tall spires reaching toward the sky. A wall, higher than the one we have. Big gates. And people. So many people in the streets. No Mallay. Gardens growed food next to every house. It was beautiful.”
“Was it another of your dreams that are more like visions?” Kellinar couldn’t help the hope that sprang in his heart.
“I don’t know. I only dreamed it once, and I won’t live long enough to know if the dream would come again.” A sad smile trembled on her lips. “I wish I could see it like that. But it felt distant. A time well beyond my death.”
“I wish you could see it too.” He swallowed the lump in his throat and smiled back at her.
“For your sake…for everyone’s sake…I hope the dream is true…” Her hand went slack and the life in her eyes faded…she was gone.
Kellinar bowed his head and prayed to the Fates for her safe passage. After several minutes he pulled his hands away and quietly left her home, barely noticing the tears that slipped down his face. Clarene had deserved to pass with a prosperous nation around her, not the destruction of all she had hoped for.
Maybe her dream was true and at least the rest of the New Sharrens would one day see the city she’d seen. For now, he walked through the deserted, half-made streets as everything they fought for, hoped for, and dreamed of slowly caught fire around him.
Maleena walked the city wall with Raylah. Like the riders from Boromar, Raylah held her emotions carefully in check. A characteristic common to the Boromari it seemed. Although her bond with Nydara eased the difficulty of being around others, it was nice to be in the company of someone who had no overflow of emotions. The woman was easy to be around. Maleena found herself gravitating toward her when issues in Calladar needed to be discussed.
Raylah wasn’t a ranking person in the nation, but as Arandrall’s wife she still held quite a bit of power and had become the official emissary between Maleena and the Council of Nine. Though the men of the council were well trained at maintaining their own mental shields, Raylah was better.
They walked past one of the newly widened areas of the wall where a launcher had been built. Loaded with a sharpened spear made of steel with weaves laced through it from Galdrilene, it sat ready in case of an attack. The Border Guards had spent weeks practicing with the launchers. They’d sent many of the dull wooden practice spears at the flying dragons to learn how to aim at a moving target. Their willing targets didn’t make it easy for them either.
The sunlight reflected off the length of steel, and Raylah’s voice faded into the background.
The launcher no longer sat still. It was manned by bloodied men. Scorched bodies lay scattered on the wall walk. Soot and ash blackened the sun and the mountains across the river spewed smoke and fire into the sky. Kojen swarmed over the villages outside the wall.
“Maleena, are you all right?” Raylah’s voice cut through the images and the unmanned launcher faded back into view.
Maleena put her hand against the wall and looked out at the peaceful villages. Dread crawled through her, and she realized Raylah had sent one of the guards to find Mckale. Maleena turned toward her. “There’s no time.”
“Time for what?” Raylah frowned. Her uneasiness was so acute that Maleena sensed it as clearly as if it were her own.
“We’re about to be attacked.”
Raylah didn’t question her further. Instead, she pulled up her long skirt and ran down the wall to the nearest stone steps, shouting orders.
The empty wall sprang to life. Guards ran to their positions and launchers were pulled back and locked, ready to be released. Maleena barely registered the well-organized commotion or the warning bells clanging all over the city.
Emmaleen was with Grandme at Mckale’s family’s house, outside the wall. “Nydara!” she shouted the dragon’s name in her mind.
“I’m already over the house. Do you want me to fly to you?”
“There’s no time, you saw that. Get Emmaleen out of here.”
The sky darkened with black Jumps.
Azurynn opened the Jump to Calladar. The black disk opened to the ground, slicing through vegetation and a Kojen that had strayed too far to the side. Murynn eased into the inky darkness. Below the dragon, a range of mages marched with the multitude of Kojen. The oppressive void pressed against her and, in the emptiness, the cries of those trapped within sang like a twisted lullaby. She concentrated on it, and her lips curved into a smile. They were here, trapped forever. Those souls from the docks would never know peace. Not even the Fates could reach them in the void.
All too soon, Murynn slid out the other side. The towers of Taragen reached high in the sky above the formidable city wall. In the smaller villages outside the wall, people fled toward the city. Azurynn sent a signal to the mages below and the newer riders that just came through their own Jumps.
Below, the ground trembled. The old volcano perched to the northwest of the city, where the north and west mother branches of the Blood River joined, coughed a plume of smoke and ash. The earth shuddered again as the Shadow Riders who wielded fire awakened the dormant beast.
Murynn, sensing what Azurynn wanted, banked away from the impending battle and began a wide circle. Unlike the others, Azurynn wouldn’t begin the battle and then retreat. Kovan, Oksana, and Sadira were fools. She understood their reasoning that the first wave of attacks should contain only the newer riders, the fodder. That the more experienced should hold back until the front was weakened. Understanding didn’t make her think them any less than fools. A single, massive forward movement by all of them would do more than splinter and drive back the Guardians—it would overrun and destroy them all.
Except they didn’t listen to her. She couldn’t direct the Shadow Riders in their entirety, but she would stay for this battle. When this attack was over, Calladar would be a wasteland.
Maleena raced along the wall as smoke billowed into the sky to the northwest. Kojen poured out of Jumps along with black-cloaked Shadow mages. The ground trembled with the force of the awakening volcano. She scrambled down the stone steps to the ground and ran. The earth swayed. Everywhere, people were trying to mount a defense and stay on their feet at the same time. Large stones broke free from walls, tumbled down, and crushed people below. Outside the wall, Border Guards and Ke’han fought side-by-side against the Kojen, doing their best to allow as many people as possible to get inside the still-open city gates. A flash of gold and green moved among them as the Nagi with the Ke’han tore their way through the Kojen.
In her mind, she felt Nydara’s battle with a Shadow Dragon. The silver hadn’t had time to get Emmaleen to safety. “Tellnox, can you get to Emmaleen?” Maleena sent to the green.
“I’m trying to get Mckale there. Shadow Dragons are everywhere. We are moving as fast as we can to—”
The sending dropped as she sensed his engagement with a Shadow Dragon.
The ground shook again. Several stone blocks crashed down a wall toward Maleena. Without breaking stride she dodged, hoping they would miss her but unwilling to give up her race toward the city gates that still stood partially open. A translucent barrier sprang up above her. The stones smacked into it and slid off one side to the ground. A moment later Brock and his golden, Olen, flashed overhead.
Green fire shot through the air. It smashed into the central fortress of the city and set fire to the stone. The plume of smoke and ash from the volcano moved southeast with the wind, slowly blocking out the afternoon
sun. Another rumble shuddered through the earth and sent her sprawling. She scrambled to her feet and lurched forward, shoving and pushing to get past the crowd rushing in through the gates. Before she could reach them, the gates began to swing shut. It was too late.
A weave of air slammed the gates back open. Kojen and dark mages poured in. The people around her kept running for the inner wall shoving her along with them. Screams and shouts echoed off the stone walls. The roars of Kojen filled the air. Loud thwacks signaled the launchers letting loose and the occasional shriek of a Shadow Dragon announced when the metal spears hit their mark.
The wave of panicked people pushed Maleena back through the inner gates. The Kojen were right on their heels as the ground shook again. Balls of fire shot into the city from the mages. Unable to get back to the gates, Maleena turned and ran. Weaponless, she needed to put some distance between herself and the Kojen.
“Nydara, there is fire everywhere. Where is Belynn?”
“Fighting for control over the volcano. The Shadow Riders are trying to force an eruption.”
Belynn was the only one there who could fight the shadow fire that ate away at the fortress and other structures near it. Ash from the fires drifted over the city.
The mad stampede to get to the inner city had changed into a determined defense. While some attempted to rush children and the elderly to a semblance of safety and shelter, everyone else who could hold a weapon with any degree of skill took up arms and charged back toward the incoming Kojen and mages.
Maleena climbed up several fallen stones in the street and turned back to the fight. She needed the vantage point. After sending a desperate prayer to the Fates to protect her daughter, she reached for her magic and began a weave. She threw it at the Kojen with a strong wave of power behind it.
Every Kojen that had entered the inner city dropped dead. The mages, though powerful in their own right, were suddenly without their living shield. They were quickly overwhelmed by the Calladarans.
It looked as if the inner city would be reclaimed.
A Shadow Dragon swooped low and belched green flame into the fighters. Many were able to scramble out of the way, many more died. More Kojen charged through the inner gate, trampling over the bodies of friend and foe alike. Maleena started another weave but dropped it when a sharp pain stabbed her head.
“We can’t have that again, now can we?”
Maleena turned. A woman walked toward her across the rubble-strewn street. Her hair, the color of cold blood, drifted on the breeze. She stopped several paces away and regarded her with dark green eyes ringed with black. Azurynn, the woman from Merru’s memories.
Azurynn smiled, a weave forming in front of her. “I can’t let you kill all of my Kojen like that.”
Maleena made her own weave and they both threw at the same time. The weaves met, exploding with such force it tossed both of them back. Maleena hit the paving stones several paces from where she’d stood, her lungs stinging while she shook her head to clear the spots in her vision.
In her mind she felt Tellnox shift in her direction. She reached out to him, “No. Do not bring Mckale here. He doesn’t have the magic to fight this battle. She would kill him before he got close to her.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s what I would do. Keep him away.”
Azurynn coughed, wiping away the blood trickling down her face, and chuckled as she pulled herself up. This woman was going to be a challenge. Above, she sensed Murynn keeping the Guardian Dragons well occupied. Especially the silver one. She turned toward the woman getting up. This must be the Silver Rider they had captured and failed to keep before Azurynn had found her way to the Kormai. What was her name? Maleena, if she remembered right.
She started to form another weave. So did the Guardian. The weaves clashed again although this time they didn’t explode. Instead, they meshed and became a match of wills. Sweat beaded on Azurynn’s brow as power roiled through her, and she worked to push the Guardian’s weave back. Violet eyes locked on hers. This woman matched both her skill and her strength.
The clash of swords and bodies moved closer down the street toward them. Azurynn couldn’t break her concentration even to spare a glance at what was happening. From what she sensed, neither could the Guardian. The meshed weaves grew and bulged. They weren’t going to hold.
The two weaves latched onto each other and collapsed. The resulting blast tossed them both well away from each other and crumbled the buildings around them. Azurynn smacked into a half-intact wall and slid to the cracked paving stones. Blood ran down her neck and soaked the back of her shirt.
She blinked through blurry eyes and tried to gain her feet. Staggering, she held onto the wall. Down the street, the Guardian was also struggling to stand. Azurynn started another weave and fumbled as a vision crashed through her. One that told of her own death. But not here, not now. Images of the future flashed in rapid succession.
Azurynn stumbled back and stared at the battle raging in the city. This wasn’t where she was supposed to be. This wasn’t her battle. It wasn’t even her war. This belonged to the Shadow Riders, and she wasn’t one of them. Not anymore. The vision made that clear. Neither was she a Guardian. She was broken—and there was no fixing that. The Guardians were a path she could never take. There was a greater darkness on the distant horizon than this war, and that was where she would find her place in the world.
Azurynn backed up and stared at the other woman as she approached. “I don’t belong here.”
The Guardian looked momentarily confused before her expression set and a new, deadly weave began to form in front of her.
Azurynn turned and ran, dodging around the debris from half-buckled buildings. Murynn was already diving for an empty area. The black landed just as the ground shook again, crumbling more buildings. Azurynn fell, scraping her palms, and climbed to her feet again. She raced the last of the distance and leaped for the saddle, barely grabbing hold.
The black hurdled into the air as Azurynn pulled herself into the saddle, ignoring the stinging pain in her palms. Murynn opened a Jump and dove into it. There was no place to go except back to the Kormai. That would work for now. She needed to plan.
Maleena stood stunned as the Shadow Rider disappeared into a Jump. What had just happened? A Shadow Rider backing away and saying she didn’t belong here? What in the name of the Fates could that possibly mean?
A deafening explosion rocked the city. Maleena’s ears rang. A loud roar drowned all other sounds of battle. Above the wall, a distant and massive plume of smoke and ash rose into the air. Lightning flashed inside it.
“I’m coming to get you, be ready,” came Nydara’s urgent sending.
More ash, heavier and mixed with small rocks, began to fall. The day darkened to dusk in the span of a few moments. Maleena ran through the debris toward an opening left by a collapsed building. Nydara landed on top of it.
Maleena reached for the saddle and froze. Emmaleen. She could sense her. Grandme must have made it inside the walls. Turning, she searched the buildings around her for the source. There. Her heart sank. Little was left to call a structure of any kind.
“Nydara!” She bolted for the pile of broken stone and wood. “Emmaleen is buried!”
“Mckale and Tellnox come,” Nydara returned.
Maleena reached the pile and started digging. The roaring of the erupting volcano covered any sounds, but she knew without a doubt her child was there. Her fingernails broke off as she clawed her way through. She grabbed the edge of a block and heaved with everything she had. Even with her dragon-bond strength, there was no moving it.
Mckale grabbed her upper arms and pulled her away. She fought him. “She’s in there!”
“I don’t doubt you, but you can’t move those blocks. Give me a minute,” he shouted over the roar.
“Nydara and Tellnox can move them.”
“They have the strength, but if something shifts wrong it could crush her.”
“They Jumped as soon as the volcano erupted. Brock and Serena are getting as many people out of Taragen as they can.”
“Serena?”
“She showed up just a few moments ago with reinforcements. They’re taking care of the Kojen and mages that didn’t make it to a Jump.”
Mckale placed his hands on the rock and closed his eyes. It slowly changed and flowed away into the street, taking timbers and boards with it until several huddled, bloodied, and dust-covered forms were visible. Maleena froze, her heart racing in terror. A wash of anguish from Mckale rushed over her. Maleena grabbed his arm.
One of the huddled forms was Grandme, her broken body wrapped protectively over Emmaleen.
Mckale lifted the crying babe from the rubble. Maleena took her, cradling her close while Mckale turned back. With gentle care, he lifted Grandme and carried her quickly across the street to where Tellnox and Nydara waited.
Maleena coughed and hurried after him with Emmaleen clutched tightly in her arms. The ash was so thick she could barely see him as he climbed on Tellnox while maintaining his hold on his grandmother. Maleena shifted Emmaleen to one arm and pulled herself into the saddle with the other. She only managed one safety strap before Nydara launched into the murky air. It was almost as dark as night. Maleena’s nose and throat burned causing her to cough more. She wrapped her cloak over Emmaleen hoping to shield her from the ash.
The rumbling from the mountain grew louder. As Nydara gained altitude, it quickly became apparent that the noise wasn’t just from the eruption. The Blood River raged well above its banks in a tsunami of trees, mud, and pieces of houses. The plain between Taragen and the river was completely inundated. Mckale’s home village, along with the other three villages that had spread out along it, were gone. The city of Gateway across the river was also washed away. Only raging, muddy water flowed where it had once stood.
Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) Page 23
