by C. Ellsworth
Traizen growled and spat, “Rot-minded fools!” He hefted his hammer, looking like he was about to go pound some sense into each and every one of them.
A woman’s sultry voiced called from behind. “My pet is right.”
The three of them whirled about, and there was Valenda, emerging from the tunnel with Kergen and others in tow. The pale woman stepped forward, hips swaying and white topknot whipping in the wind. She didn’t seem concerned with the chaos in the sky, or the rain, or the tremors. She was calm and composed, confident. As she approached, Addy and the others stepped back, while the other skeg closed in around them.
Valenda came to a stop a few paces away. “The all-powerful Lord of Light has made his intentions clear!” Lightning cracked, accentuating her words. Kergen stood at her side, bald head free of his dark hood, a deep bleeding gash visible across his jaw. His void-black garb was cut in several places, and red showed where the fabric was split open.
The other skeg emerged from the tunnel and spread out to join their brethren in the semicircle. Many of them wore cuts on their pale flesh, some even limping heavily or gripping injured arms.
Aeric hadn’t gone down lightly.
Valenda regarded Addy through pale, spiteful eyes. “I know His plan, because I am His voice! Through me, He makes His wishes known. And this—”She raised her hands and eyes to the swarming, chaotic sky. “—this is by His design. This is His wish! And if you refuse to join me in celebrating His divine will, then you are of no use to me any longer!”
Valenda thrust her hands down toward the ground at her feet, and the earth around her erupted into a cloud of dust and debris that raced outward in all directions. Every skeg touched by the cloud turned instantly to ash and blew apart in the wind, including Kergen.
Addy squeezed her eyes shut. This was it! This was the end! She would be blown apart like the others. She opened her mouth to scream, but the blast struck her before any words could escape.
A moment passed, the wind whipping wildly around her.
She opened her eyes, gaze landing upon the gray, ashen figures that had been her friends. Their eyes had bulged in their final moments, and their mouths hung open in silent screams. Then they too disintegrated, their ashes scattered to the wind.
Addy’s heart seized in her chest. Her eyes stung from the ashes and tears. Oh, Spirelight! Ryan! Traizen! Her legs unhinged, and she dropped her to her knees.
Valenda stepped forward, arms still pointing toward the ground. “All of this, I have foreseen!” Her gaze fixed on Addy. “Nier'd'ka, the Lord, will cleanse the earth in holy fire! The wicked and ignorant will forever burn, and only the faithful will rise again to stand at His side!”
Addy watched the last of her friends vanish in a cloud of dust. Oh, Spirelight, it was hopeless! She had come all this way, faced death, endured pain, only to see all her friends die before her. How could she continue on now?
Valenda came to stand before her, the wind still whipping her topknot of pale hair and the furs of her scant clothing. She reached out and took Addy’s chin, turning her face up toward hers. Then her lips bent into a small frown, her gaze filled with pity.
Pity.
Addy frowned, a fire erupting in her middle.
Valenda blinked. “Defiant to the end, I see.” She dropped her hand. “Now don’t pout, my sweet. Embrace your fate with a little dignity.”
Dignity? Addy sneered, the Power sparking inside her. The vile woman was going to answer for what she had done! The horrid skeg was going to die!
Addy succumbed to the torrent raging inside her. She let it fill her until every bone, tendon, and muscle in her body screamed in pain. Oh, Lord of Light, the pain! She was going to burst! She clenched her jaw. She shut her eyes. Then she drew more!
Addy’s eyes shot open and met Valenda’s gaze. Doubt creased the woman’s brow for the briefest instant. Then Addy let it go, directing the raging torrent out in a blue fire at the woman before her.
Valenda screamed as the blast struck her. It sent her flying backward like a leaf tumbling end over end to land twenty paces away with a force that sent ashen mud spraying outward.
Addy sucked air into her lungs. Her arms and legs felt numb, as if she had run for miles without rest. But she had done it! Twice now, she had called upon her magic, and twice it had done as she had—
Valenda stood from the small crater in the mud, face twisted in anger and hands balled into fists at her sides.
Addy’s stomach clenched. How? Addy climbed to her feet, legs trembling beneath her. She sought the spark, but there was nothing there. There was nothing there! Had she . . . sapped the last of her strength?
Valenda thrust her hands outward toward Addy, and bolts of white lightning shot forth from her fingertips, casting everything in a blinding flash of light.
There came a deafening boom, and Addy was sent flying backward. She clamped her eyes shut, the wind whipping by and whistling in her ears. Then she struck the ground hard, and the world spun.
Addy’s heartbeat was fast and loud in her ears, her breath heavy. The ground was cool beneath her back. Birds chirped in the distance. Birds? Something tickled her cheek. She cracked her eyes open and . . . grass? She was surrounded by tall, green grass. And the sky shown blue above her.
She sat up and looked around. The grass was inches above her head, making it difficult to see.
Grass rustled nearby. Someone was walking through the tall blades. Valenda? Addy sat very still. Her breath pulsated with every heartbeat.
“Are you here, my daughter?”
Mama! Addy stood. Before her, stretched a vast plain of tall, green grass. And standing a few paces in front of her was a translucent figure. It shimmered and faded in and out. Mama? The figure did bare a resemblance, with her long dark hair and her dark green dress.
The figure turned to Addy. “Thank the Lord I got to you in time!” She sounded relieved, but any such expression was lost on those smudgy, half-seen features.
Addy took a step forward. It would be so good to hold Mama right then! But could she hold her? She looked like a mist that might blow away at a touch. Addy stopped. “Why can’t I see you very well?”
Mama clutched her hands together before her. “It is taking most of my strength to hold you here, child.” Her voice sounded hurried, impatient. “It is all I can do just to appear to you as I am.”
Addy looked around. This place . . . it was from her dream. “How did I get here? Am I dreaming? Am I . . . dead?” Was Kergen going to leap from the grass with his chained canth? She swallowed hard, brow beading with sweat.
Mama’s form shimmered and then faded for a moment. “No, child. This is not a dream, but this place is not unlike the dream world. I brought you here because . . . the witch you faced is far too powerful. Had I not acted when I did, she most certainly would have killed you like she did your friends.”
Addy’s chest tightened. Oh, Ryan! Traizen! But there was no time for emotions right then.
“We don’t have time to waste, child.” Mama’s tone was urgent now. “The Lord will soon purge all life from this world, and then it will be too late! I need you to open up to me. I need you to . . . lend me your Power so that I can help you.”
Addy frowned. “I . . . I don’t understand. How do I do that?”
Mama tilted her head back slightly and closed her eyes. “Relax and close your eyes.”
Addy hesitated a moment before doing so, but how could she relax? An itch had grown between her shoulder blades, the kind she got when something bad was about to happen. Perhaps Valenda’s lightning had struck her after all. Perhaps it was just being in a place from her dreams while still awake.
Mama breathed a relaxing sigh. “Now seek the Power, my dear.”
Addy sought her Power, the spark, but found nothing. Had she drawn in too much of the magic when fighting Valenda? Had she burned herself out like a candle flame? “Mama, I . . . I can’t—”
“Try again, child!” Mama’s voi
ce was impatient. Odd. Mama had never been impatient, but then this was a very desperate situation. If she couldn’t work her magic soon, it might be too late.
Addy breathed a deep sigh, letting her shoulders sag, her arms hang. She probed again. And this time she found something. There it was! It was faint, but it was there. In her mind’s eye, she stretched out her arm toward it. But it was out of reach! She gritted her teeth. She had to touch it! Time was slipping away. The world would be bathed in fire, as Valenda had claimed, and only Addy could stop it!
“There is no time for this, Addy!” her mama scorned. “Try harder! I must have your Power!”
Addy? Addy’s eyes shot open. Her hand closed over the handle of her dagger, and in an instant, she sent the weapon flying with a quick flick of the wrist.
The woman’s eyes bulged in surprise, just before the blade pierced her shimmering form.
“Mama never called me Addy.”
The world twisted around them, faded from view, only to be replaced by the gray of the Waste. The storm raged above, and the wind whipped around her. Skeg stood all around. And there . . . there were her friends, standing beside her! They were alive! Ryan was alive!
Valenda stood in the same place that she had before, hands half raised toward the dagger in her chest. It had all been just a dream, a waking dream, and the witch had somehow pulled her into it. Addy breathed a moan. What did I just do? There would be no talking their way out of this now, if that had ever been an option. No taking it back.
Ryan and Traizen shifted, their eyes darting at the skeg around them.
Valenda’s arms dropped to her sides, and she regarded the handle protruding from her chest as if trying to work out how it had gotten there. Then she shot Addy a furious glare. “You wretched little girl!” She took the handle and tore the dagger free, and blood fountained from the wound. “You can’t kill me! I am the divine Chosen of the Lord. His power is mine! He will—”
Valenda blinked. Her eyes lost focus. Then she pitched forward and landed with a wet thud on the muddy, gray soil.
Kergen rushed to Valenda’s side, his eyes wide with panic. Kneeling down, he rolled her onto her back, but it was too late. She was still and silent. The horrible howl that left his lips drowned out the sound of the storm.
Addy’s heart pounded. Valenda was dead. She was really dead!
Ryan stepped forward and took her by the arm to lead her away. “Come on, Addy. Let’s get away from here.”
The crowd of skeg muttered angry curses, starting forward with their weapons in hand. But Kergen stood and stopped them with an upraised hand, his large mouth twisted into a sneer. He barked a torrent of sharp skeg words, drawing his two swords from within his torn dolinatis garb. Then he roared, “She is mine!” His shout made the howling wind seem a mere whisper. “They are all mine!”
Traizen, with his two-hand hammer raised, took a step toward the raging skeg chief. “Ryan!” He braced his feet in the muddy soil and took a wide stance. “Get her out of here!”
Addy shrieked. “No, Traizen! He’ll kill you!” If the seasoned Guard Captain couldn’t defeat the skeg giant, what chance did Traizen have? She grabbed him by the arm and tried to pull him back, but he stood rooted to the spot. Then an arm wound around her waist, and Ryan was pulling her away. She screamed again, “No, Traizen! No!”
Traizen barked a mirthless laugh over his shoulder. “Three times, I’ve been in this cursed hell!” He hefted his mighty hammer. “Lord of Light, I’m sick of it!”
The man was a fool! That thick-skulled, stupid fool!
The crowd of skeg parted as Ryan pulled Addy away by the hand. Those pale men would not disobey the word of their chief, their Ka’lat, and so they allowed the two of them through with only threatening glares and spat curses.
Addy followed Ryan into the night, running until her lungs burned. Aeric, with his decades of experience, had held Kergen off for what seemed like mere minutes, so with Traizen the only one standing in the way now, their lead was bound to be short-lived. Addy’s eyes filled with tears. Oh, Traizen! Lord, grant him strength! Please!
In the distance loomed the Tower and its radiant spire, a foreboding beacon in that bleakest of nights.
Chapter 34
Addy’s legs were numb, her lungs burned, and her heart felt about to burst from her chest. How long had they been running? It was a wonder she was able to remain on her feet, especially with the tremors shaking the ground beneath her. But she had to press on. Those who had died so that she could get this far did not make those sacrifices so that she could give up now. Sorsia. Liah. Karine. Aeric. Traizen. She recited the names over and over in her mind, drawing strength from their memories. They had not died for nothing!
Something caught the toe of her boot, and she stumbled a few steps, arms windmilling as she tried to maintain balance. But despite the rain having stopped, the ground was still slick with mud, and she fell forward to land hard on her side. She lay there momentarily before rolling slowly onto her back. Her breath came in gasps. Get up, Addy! Get up! But she was so tired! If she could rest just a moment . . .
Ryan knelt beside her and took her face into his hands, staring worriedly into her eyes. His own breath came in heavy gulps of air. He looked haggard, his face blood-spattered and his body covered top to toe in muck. It didn’t matter, though; he was still beautiful.
“Are you hurt?” There was desperation in his voice. “I’ll carry you, if you can’t stand.”
His eyes, like vibrant brown pools, caught a flash of lightning, and for an instant radiated golden amber. She was safe with him here, for the moment at least. She could close her eyes and catch her breath. Yes, Kergen was coming, the world was ending, but she could spare just a moment to . . .
Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Her chest tightened. And she cried. Oh, Spirelight, I’m not strong enough! I can’t do this!
Ryan pulled her close and caressed her hair. “I’m here, Addy.” His voice was soft and calming. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
Above them raged the storm, but it didn’t matter. She had been strong for so long, and now she just had to let it out or be consumed by it all. She cried and cried until the sobs finally gave way to soft hiccoughs that were drowned out by the wind.
With Ryan cradling her, she opened her eyes and caught sight of the Tower over his shoulder, powerful and imposing in the shadow of the storm. The red beam that pierced the sky pulsed angrily and gave off a deep hum that resonated in the ground beneath her. The Tower was close now. So close. Had they run all night? Had they left Kergen and the skeg far enough behind?
Ryan drew back, and Addy stared into his dark eyes. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was nearly a whisper. If he hadn’t been leaning in close, her words would have been lost in the howl of the wind.
“For what?”
“For . . . being weak.”
Ryan laughed softly, and for some reason his eyes seemed suddenly to glisten. “You aren’t weak, Addy. You are . . .” His voice hitched. “You’re the strongest person I know.”
Staring back at him, Addy gave a weak smile. “Then help me up so we can finish this.”
With his help, Addy rose to her feet, muscles aching in protest. The horizon to the east glowed now with a soft, broken light through roiling clouds. They really must have run all night! Morning was approaching, and not a single day more was likely to pass if she failed to complete the Affirmation.
Side by side they walked through the mud, leaning into a biting wind that swept across the barren landscape as if trying to hold them back from their destination. More than once Addy stumbled, her legs weak and throbbing, but Ryan was always there to catch her. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, but his jaw was set with determination. He would see her to the Tower if he had to carry her, like he had said.
She reached out and took his hand into hers, holding it tight. He gave her a smile, crooked though it still was, but it wasn’t wry or
condescending, not in the least. And her heart leaped.
A tremor shook the ground, nearly sending them to their knees. It should have been over in a few seconds like those that came before, but this one carried on and on. She tried to maintain a hold on Ryan, but the earth sent him one way and her another. She fell to the ground on hands and knees, inches deep in mud, and gritting her teeth. Spirelight, would it never end?
Then the ground broke and fell away beside her. She scrambled back as a huge crevice formed, ever widening. Ryan shouted to her through the roar of the quake and the howl of the wind, and when she looked up and saw him, he was on the other side!
“Jump, Addy!” But the gap was already a span across! How could she possibly make it over? “Jump now, before it’s too late!”
She scrambled to her feet. Lord of Light, she was tired! She took a few steps back. How deep was the crevice? Would it swallow her whole? Don’t think. Just run! And run she did, but the ground was slick, and her foot slipped with nearly every step. She reached the ledge and leaped, ground opening up beneath her. But the span was too wide, her pace too slow. She wasn’t going to make it. She had let everyone down!
Then the air exploded from her lungs as she crashed into the cliff on the other side. She felt Ryan’s fingers digging into her forearms. “Grab on to my arms, Addy!”
Addy sucked air into her empty lungs, tiny specs of light dancing in her darkening vision. She fumbled until her hands finally closed over his arms. Then she was hoisted upward over the ledge and dragged to safety. Then the tremors subsided.
Ryan gasped for breath as he sat beside her. “When we get home I’m going to teach you how to jump.”
It was hardly the time for humor, but it still brought a small smile to her lips. Lying there on her back, she stared up into the swirling mass of clouds and at the red spear of light piercing its eye. It was right above them. Finally! She turned onto her side. The Tower rose high, its metallic exterior covered in a dull sheen, ridges winding around to its top. Her head swam as her eyes followed it to its height, where the clawlike spire cast its hellish red glow.
