Reign of Darkness

by Michaela Riley Karr

  Drawing upon my magic and the strength of my Allyen locket, I chucked an orb of light and hit the creation square in the chest. With another shot by Evan, the Einanhi dissolved into sand mid-motion, the particles streaming out in the direction it had been running.

  Evan and I never broke our pace until we reached the nearest wall of the shanty where we skidded to a halt and pressed our backs against it. The shouting, the wails, and the sounds of burning wood and breaking glass were just around the corner. With so many mages here, we didn’t need to be throwing ourselves into the middle of it before we knew the lay of the land. Of the battlefield that used to be our home.

  Rachel was right. The war never ended.

  I peeked beyond the corner of the shanty to see Rhydin’s Followers rushing everywhere. Many of the Einanhis, and perhaps a few Mineraltins with pyromage magic in their blood, were unleashing vortexes of fire upon everything in sight. The center of the compound had already been reduced to charred remains, their faces blank as if they were doing nothing more than balancing their ledgers. I squeezed my eyes shut when a few Rounans darted out of a burning building for their lives and were caught in the mages’ fires just the same. But then, I looked toward where they were running.

  On the opposite end of the main road was such a strange-looking object that I had to look twice to figure out what it was. Floating in mid-air, as well as blocking a near steady stream of fire, was a hodge-podge of what seemed to be every metal object in the entire compound. Pots, tools, wagon wheels, all held and being soldered together by the fire it blocked. I squinted beyond the levitating mass to barely make out a few Rounans that I recognized from town with several more behind them. If Sam was anywhere in this nightmare, he’d be holding up that barricade.

  I was just about to pull Evan that way when he suddenly pushed me to the side, his magic giving off a golden flare as he headed off another Einanhi coming at us from behind. It was only a few seconds before Evan dispatched it, but my fall caught the attention of one of the few real people out doing Rhydin’s bidding. A black-cloaked man turned his head toward us, and I knew it was too late to find Sam behind the barricade. It looked like we would be waltzing into the center of the scene anyway.

  I jumped to my feet and swept my leg in a wide arc, spreading a blast of white light toward the Follower who saw us and anybody else who happened to be nearby. A couple Einanhis were knocked off their feet, but the human Follower jumped over it and unleashed a gale of fire upon us. The force of it threw his hood off to reveal Terran, a Mineraltin Follower that had been watching me for years, even before I knew I was an Allyen.

  Evan and I dove forward and cast a double-charged spell that sliced Terran’s fire in two, routing it around us, although the heat still took my breath away. Terran tried to launch another quick blast to catch us off guard, but he abruptly stopped, his fire colliding with the shanty behind us.

  Breathing hard, I instantly went to angle myself between the majority of the Followers and the makeshift, metal shield that protected the Rounans who remained, but Evan didn’t react. By the time I took up my position, my sword ready for anything, I noticed Evan staring wide-eyed at the Followers across from us. I followed his gaze, and my heart fell into the pit of my stomach.

  Standing in the center of the turmoil as if they hadn’t bothered to lift a finger the whole time were two men about the same age, but vastly different. One was tall with dark, peppered curly hair underneath a silver crown, no longer gold. Te other was quite short with hair and eyes that matched my own, the very picture of Evan except with the addition of far too many age lines and an unshaven jaw.

  King Adam of Lunaka and Robert, our father.

  Bile rose in the back of my throat, and anger threatened to choke me. I called across the burning void, “I should have known this was your handiwork, Adam! You should leave while you still can!”

  Adam’s dark brow twitched in anger at the lack of his title. He turned to the silent man next to him, who could only stare at my brother and I, before sneering loud enough for me to hear, “I say, Robert, I don’t see why you want your children to join Rhydin. They’re nothing but arrogant, disrespectful scum!”

  “You’re not the king anymore! I only wish I could have been the one to dethrone you myself,” I glowered, a grin tilting my lips upward for the briefest of moments. It was like pure ecstasy to see Adam’s skin flush with anger.

  He growled before he could help himself, “Lunaka will be mine to oversee forever, just as Master Rhydin promised! I will never lose my power to my traitorous son thanks to him!”

  I rolled my eyes. He may have been governor now instead of king, but he was still underneath Rhydin and a fool at that. I turned to eye Robert and Evan, who had been staring at each other unceasingly. I realized this was the first time Evan had seen Robert face to face, but then Evan abruptly broke the trance and jogged over to join me. As he took up his stance, I took stock of what I could sense now that we were in the middle of the battle.

  Rhydin’s Followers were mostly congregated before us, with a few out still burning buildings. Since the Rounans were behind us, I had no way of sensing how many of them were still in the compound, but I could hear brisk whispering. I hoped they were taking advantage of this diversion and putting as much space between them and here as possible.

  “One last warning, Adam. Leave, now, or you’ll die at my hand,” I shouted across the distance that separated us.

  A few beads of sweat seemed to appear on Robert’s brow while Adam chuckled darkly, “Do your worst. Attack!”

  All of the Followers and Einanhis in Adam’s vicinity turned from their former targets and unleashed their fires upon us. My stomach flip-flopped. We were no match for a dozen pyromages at once. I bared my teeth in anger that Adam wouldn’t fight his own fights, and my eyes unwillingly closed.

  Another call broke the roar of the flames behind us, “Duck!”

  Chapter Three

  W ith nothing to lose, Evan and I hit the ground hard, kicking up a cloud of ash. The massive jet of fire was just beginning to heat my scalp when something gigantic flew over our heads, pushing the jet back from where it had come.

  I dared look up, my hands covering the top of my head to shield it from the fire. The gigantic metal barricade had been thrust forward with Rounan magic to not only stop the fire from roasting us alive but also to crush maybe a third of the Followers who had stood in front of Adam and Robert. I couldn’t believe my eyes at how narrowly we had avoided death.

  A few Rounans rushed forward to aid us, and a familiar hand alighted on my back. Sam’s eyes bored into mine as I stood, worry creasing his brow. A lop-sided grin broke his face when he saw that I was okay, but then I glanced back toward where the remaining Rounans had come from. There was no one there. The rest of the Rounans had run as I had hoped, but that left only Sam, Evan, and I along with three of our neighbors. Against Rhydin’s Followers.

  Adam grew enraged at the scene in front of him as the rest of his Einanhi troop made their way back to join him in the center of town, their fiery assignment accomplished. His deep-set eyes shined in the blaze, his jovial mood gone. “You will all be hanged at dawn like the criminals you are! Surrender, you’re outnumbered!”

  I took a deep breath, forcing the air into the farthest reaches of my lungs, centering myself. Sam reached out to grab my hand and give it a squeeze, eyeing me once more. I nodded at him once more and looked to Evan, who gave me a curt nod in return.

  We would stand our ground. We’d give as much time to the running Rounans as possible. It was a worthy end.

  In only a second, all of us acted. Sam used his Rounan powers to lift two of the dozen Followers into the air and catapulted them into the burning buildings that lined the road like a flaming hallway. The other three Rounans engaged with Followers nearest to them, pointing their weapons back at them with the magic they could muster. Evan leaped into the air and angled charge after charge at the other Followers to drive them backwards,
to concentrate them together.

  I spun my sword in my hands, its weight more familiar to me than anything else by now, and then sped forward, my blade catching the back of an Einanhi’s knee. The creation crumpled to the ground, unable to stand but not dead. Since it wasn’t human, I didn’t feel too bad about the second blow to end it.

  When I faced the battle again, Adam had me in his sights. I stalked toward him, letting the firelight gleam against my sword. I’d been waiting for this ever since he tried to kill Frederick before Duunzer attacked by throwing him off the balcony at the Winter Ball.

  I didn’t wait until I was closer. I began charging and slinging attack spells as hard and rapidly as I could, capable of so much more than I had been three years ago. Adam blocked each of them with his wind magic, being an aeromage like much of Lunaka’s mages, but they kept him occupied as I grew closer. My fingers itched on my sword handle, aching to avenge countless innocent Rounan deaths and Gornish war casualties. Maybe, out of all the deaths I had inflicted over the last three years, this one would actually feel good.

  As I continued my magical onslaught upon Adam, walking ever so slowly through the chaos around me as Sam and the Rounans handled the rest of the Followers, my ears were dragged away from Adam toward the flank of the battle.

  “I will not fight you, Son. Please, let me explain everything. I want you to join me,” Robert said softly, his hands stretched outward to Evan.

  My brother shook his head violently, appearing more emotionally unhinged than I’d ever known him to be before. He shouted, “You abandoned us! Rhydin only wants us all dead!”

  “No… That’s not the case at all,” Robert responded soothingly.

  It was when Evan’s defenses dipped that I knew I wouldn’t be getting my revenge today.

  I chucked another couple of attacks at Adam and then veered off my course, sprinting toward my brother and my father. The point of Evan’s sword was nearly in the dirt when I skidded between the two of them, knocking Evan back as I threw my blade in Robert’s direction.

  Robert’s sword clanged against mine, and frustration seethed from him. He raged, “Why won’t either of you listen to reason?”

  His sudden, blistering anger seemed to wake Evan, who thrust a magical charge at Robert while he was entangled with me, blasting him off his feet. Evan spoke gravely, “We don’t reason with those who use Rhydin’s dark magic!”

  Evan and I both raised our hands, ready to begin again, when Adam abruptly yelled, “It’s over!”

  We turned to face him, and the blood drained from my face. Sam’s neck was in danger of being crushed in Adam’s grip, the former king’s dagger pointed at his throat. Maybe five Followers remained, including Terran, who all leveled their hands at us, ready to unleash their fire once more. The Rounans who had stayed to help fight all lay on the ground unmoving.

  “Any last words?” Adam sneered, his grip tightening on Sam. My husband gagged.

  “Yeah,” Evan answered, grinning so largely as his gaze shifted to the sky I thought he was crazy, “don’t look up.”

  I tore my eyes away from Sam long enough to follow Evan’s eyes, and hurtling towards us were four of my favorite Ranguvariians. Jaspen, Rachel, Luke, and James all flew in formation with their swords drawn, and relief flooded my system. The Alyen nou Clarii, the soldiers of the Allyen, were here to save the day yet again.

  While everybody else’s eyes darted to the sky, I concentrated a quick but potent magical orb into my hand and chucked it at Adam’s head, well away from where it could possibly hurt Sam. It scraped right by his head, scalding the length of his skull on the right side. Adam bellowed with rage, but when his hand reached for his wound, Sam dropped to the ground and rolled away from him.

  The Ranguvariians took out half of the remaining Followers with unhuman, deadly speed before they broke their formation and one of them headed for each of us. I lifted my hands to the sky just before Luke’s rock-hard hands locked around my wrists, sweeping me into the air as his beautiful, shard wings flapped powerfully. James connected with Evan, and Jaspen snatched Sam off the ground before Adam could retaliate.

  As Luke pulled me up by the wrists into a better carrying position, I caught both Adam and Robert’s gazes before they vanished from sight. One full of fury and the other hard to read.

  I only looked back once more before the Ranguvariians wrapped us within their glowing wings, ready to transport. The Rounan compound was entirely engulfed in flames that stretched high into the night, the smoke billowing upward to block out the stars and twin moons. Just beyond it was another, separate burning, and I knew in my gut that it was our house. A lump rose in my throat, unbidden. Another home destroyed by Rhydin and his Followers, just like my childhood home in Soläna had been. There was no choice of whether to go or stay now.

  The blinding white light of transportation magic blazed, and the air changed. The humidity from the fire and the coming spring vanished, leaving behind thin, cool air, which was a shock to my lungs. I held onto Luke’s armor tighter as my head adjusted, unable to see much of anything. Luke and the other Ranguvariians flew upward with their passengers, visible like colorful, glowing stars, and suddenly the rocky face of a mountain came into view.

  The Ranguvariians neatly flew around it and a couple other peaks before my nose was assaulted by brine, my ears the crashing of waves. I realized where we were just as we rounded the last peak, a dim window appearing out of the darkness. Ice crept down my spine as the Archimage Palace loomed. If I’d had my way, I would have never laid eyes on this place ever again. Not after what happened last time.

  To my relief, the Ranguvariians headed toward the light of an upper balcony rather than the front gate. I didn’t need to see the ruin and devastation of the throne room again. I saw it plenty in nightmares. Where Archimage Dathian’s throat was slit, Rhydin’s cheek cracked like stone, and countless lives were lost. Where we failed.

  No sooner did Luke set me down on the balcony than a figure rushed forward from the lit room within. Adrenaline still pumping, I reached for my blade before Luke touched a rocky finger to my shoulder. The figure collided with my brother in a fierce bear hug. My eyes finally made out the lavender curls in the dark, and I realized it was Cayce, Evan’s wife. He whispered to her inaudibly before Rachel spread her arms, trying to corral us toward the doorway.

  She spoke quietly, her eyes darting above us as if we were in danger of being seen on the palace’s ocean side, “Inside, people. We got all the way here without incident, don’t ruin it now.”

  Sam placed a heavy hand on my shoulder as we walked inside a rather bare entryway, and my arm automatically moved around his waist, short as I was. He smelled like fire, and his clothes were singed and sticky with sweat. I was probably the same, but I wasn’t about to let go of him. I wondered if other couples worried about losing each other nearly as much as we did.

  “It’s been a long night,” Rachel announced, and I gawked at her for reducing all the events that had transpired as nothing more before she continued. “The others will be arriving first thing in the morning, so you’d all best get some sleep while you can.”

  “The others?” I asked, my brow furrowing.

  “Frederick and Cornflower are on their way. Hopefully Xavier and Mira will be as well, but we don’t know yet. With the destruction of your Rounan compound, we need to decide as a group what comes next,” Rachel answered dryly. “Your children are sleeping in the bedroom at the end of the hall. Bartholomiiu is watching them.”

  I waited for some sort of backhanded remark about how I’d disobeyed her by disappearing when she transported my children to safety, but it never came. Rachel appeared lost in her own mind, exhausted after all her frantic energy before.

  It was unsettling.

  The door on the opposite side of the sparsely-furnished entryway opened into a hallway, and Rachel, Jaspen, and her brothers turned in the opposite direction than Cayce did. Sam and I entered the hallway last, and I found m
yself surprised that, while I didn’t think I had been in this hallway before during previous visits, it seemed as if it was utterly untouched.

  Part of me had expected the Archimage Palace to be looted and trashed by either impoverished people or Rhydin’s Followers. Instead, the only difference seemed to be a fine layer of dust and grime that had accumulated in the year since Dathian’s death. Perhaps, Rhydin didn’t care for relics reminding him of his status as First Archimage, or the general populace still didn’t know where the palace was. Both were probable.

  Evan and Cayce turned into a doorway just past an ancient set of armor that looked like it dated back at least a century if not more. Mineraltir’s flaming tree crest still glinted upon it. Down the hall, another door opened to reveal a long, lanky Ranguvariian whom I’d know anywhere. He was dressed in brilliant yellow, orange, and purple robes, but it was his white eyes that gave me pause. They hadn’t changed color since the incident.

  I swallowed hard, my heart aching. “Hello, Bartholomiiu. Thank you for watching Kylar and Rayna.”

  To my surprise, instead of staring at me blankly like the last time I’d spoken to him, Bartholomiiu actually gave half a grin and nodded twice, the scar tissue along his neck crinkling where Rhydin choked and burned him. Even his snowy eyes turned the lightest shade possible of pea green, probably imperceptible to anyone who wasn’t familiar with Ranguvariian eyes. Then, he walked away, and Sam and I gaped after him.

  “That was the same Ranguvariian that couldn’t respond to you at all last year, right?” Sam whispered, his eyes following the thin Ranguvariian until he disappeared.

  “Uh-huh,” I breathed, threads of hope weaving into my heart. “They weren’t sure if he’d improve at all after Rhydin choked and burned him for so long. I’m glad they were wrong.”

  “Me too.” Sam gave my hand a squeeze and then guided me through the door.

  Sure enough, Kylar and Rayna lay snug and sound asleep in a couple bassinets fit for the children of Royals, so Sam and I didn’t waste any time. Sam kicked off his boots and stripped his burned clothing and tossed it into a corner, likely irreparable, before he performed the quickest rinse of his arms and face ever in a wash basin in the corner.