by Franc Ingram
Instead Leith clung to what shards of focus he had left. He remembered the feelings of all the yetis he'd felt before coming in, all those active animalistic minds he'd connected with. He reached out to them. And because he was holding on to the mind of this one he could reach out to even more of them than ever before.
He could feel the ones hiding in corners far down under the mountain, ones out on the tundra. All of them were connected. Then it was up to Oleana to do the rest.
Oleana had experience controlling people. She could see with clearer eyes. Oleana took over and all the yetis froze. It was chilling to be connected to someone with such precise control. Leith saw exactly how she did it, knew he could repeat the maneuver whenever he wanted.
The more the yetis fought against her control the harder she clamped down on them. She dug her fingers deeper into the recesses of their minds. Then Oleana and Leith looked through three hundred yeti eyes.
They saw where Ivar was hiding. They saw where the packets of Elevated and Failsea troops were waiting in ambush, and they saw every corridor and turn in the whole Mount Elmire complex. The flow of images overwhelmed Leith and he pulled away to protect himself, but was kicked back into the void space.
This time, the space wasn't an indistinct gray with no end. The images from the yetis’ eyes played out on the walls, hundreds of different screens playing at once. Oleana showed up beside him, then Lysander and Lorn.
"That didn't take long," Lorn remarked. "I'm impressed."
"Felt like forever," Leith groaned thinking about how much damage Mason and his team must have taken in the interval.
"No time to chat. We can't hold them forever. Pick your targets and go," Oleana ordered. "Move swift."
"Be safe," Lysander, Lorn, and Leith finished for her.
01101101
With the yeti frozen in place, Lorn was free to go after Ivar. The fact that the warlord got away once was a burning pain in Lorn's side. He wouldn't let it happen again. With his archer squad around him, Lorn knew no target would escape his reach.
Lorn turned to his team. "Ivar and his men are holed in a factory at the heart of the mountain. We can finish this one off together. He won't get away from us this time."
Fabian nodded. Lorn had been surprised when the Prince of Darten agreed to take a second-string position for this fight. He vaguely recalled Oleana's exchange with him earlier in Darten. The man's ego could have easily led him to dismiss the fighting in Arismas as not his problem, but Fabian showed up with troops in his wake. To top it off he agreed to fight on Lorn's orders. Tycho and Paley were with him as well. Tycho and Fabian got the job done together last time, so Lorn couldn't break up the pair. In Darten, Paley proved herself to be a talented archer. Lorn wished she'd been with his group from the start.
"Up ahead is a three-way split. The middle hall with take us where we need to be, then there’s a storage room. There are troops waiting there for us, heavily armed and easily protected. Ivar is deeper in the factory floor area. It will be a hard push to get to him, but I know we can do it. The archers and I will climb the stairs to the catwalk around the factory floor and provide you some cover from there."
His archers nodded. They were with him. Inside the cave, there would be no rain to call down, no strong winds to stir up. He would have to rely on his fighting skills, the tenaciousness of his plan, and the ferocity of his people.
Lorn counted to three, centering himself. "Forward!" he yelled. People swelled around him and Lorn had to full out sprint to stay ahead. It was weird maneuvering around the frozen yetis, their mouths open, eyes darting around but not even a twitch from their limbs.
At the narrower parts of the corridor, Lorn and his group had to go single file because the yetis took up all the space. By accident, he knocked one over and it fell like a log and didn't move from there. Lorn was struck by the oddness of it and wanted to test what else they could do while in that state, but the press of people behind him forced him to move on.
Before crossing into the storage area Lorn and his archers let arrows fly. After grunts and groans, a line of Failsea warriors came screaming at them. Lorn dodged out of the way of the first line, using one of his arrows like a spear.
He jabbed and pushed his way through until he was on the open factory floor. The yeti had somehow carved out a massive room out of the bed of the mountain. A hole in the ceiling allowed snow and ice to funnel through constantly collecting in big barrels taking up one corner. There were giant smelting furnaces, most of them currently dormant, spaced at even intervals throughout the factory floor. Still the smell of superheated metal and yeti sweat clung to the walls.
Paley got to the stairs first and she climbed like her butt was on fire. Lorn had to take two steps at a time to catch up with her. No one had thought to place guards up there, so once they were at the top it was a clear shot to hand down danger from above.
Mevra, Allana, Dexter, and Connor followed behind them, spreading out along the catwalk. After the noises from the storeroom quieted down for a few minutes Lorn heard Tycho's baritone call out. "Room secure."
Lorn smiled. He didn't even bother cocking an arrow into his bow. He peered over the railing of the catwalk, searching for Ivar's familiar face.
"Ivar, you've lost, it's over," he yelled.
Ivar looked up, fury dancing in his eyes. He hurled an ax toward Lorn, but its trajectory came well short of reaching the height Lorn was at. Instead, it landed back on the ground without doing anyone harm.
"I'll kill you," Ivar spat.
"Doubt it. The numbers are in my favor," Lorn said showing off his row of archers. Ivar had maybe fifty men around him. Lorn had twice that much and they already took out the first wave. For Ivar to even start his charge he would have to go through a gauntlet of arrows. "Do you want your men slaughtered or do you surrender?"
Ivar did the one thing Lorn never expected. He turned and ran. His men held their ground, though some of them looked around confused. Lorn gave them credit for holding it together after their fearless leader showed such cowardice.
"Want me to take him out?" Paley asked, her bow already drawn.
"I'm tired of the bloodshed today," Lorn replied.
Lorn had another trick he could use. Maybe the show would encourage the others to lay down their arms. All that time in the void space with the others gave him access to more powers than he could have imagined. He could do on a small scale what his mother was doing all over the mountain.
It wasn't an easy thing locking onto Ivar's mind. The bio signals he put off were erratic. Luckily Ivar wasn’t the most skilled runner and the factory was large. Once Lorn got a hold of that signal he knew the right frequency to emit to counteract it.
Calling to the smart particles coursing through Ivar wasn't the same as pulling in the clouds or summoning lightning, it took more control and finesse. The first time Lorn reached for Ivar his grip was imperfect. Ivar stutter stepped, nearly tumbling over.
"Don't you dare!" Ivar screamed. He ran to hide behind a large empty caldron as if that would keep Lorn at bay.
Lorn tried his trick again, this time wrapping his mind around Ivar's and holding him tight. Ivar was a puppet on Lorn's strings. He walked out from behind the caldron on stiff legs and sat down in the middle of the floor.
"We surrender," Ivar whimpered.
"What was that?" Lorn asked.
"Surrender!" Ivar shrieked.
"We'll fight to the death," Ivar's second in command shouted.
"You'll lay down your arms or I'll force you to walk yourselves into those large fire pits in the back," Lorn replied.
The two men closest to the door tried to run for it. Paley and Allana both let arrows fly stopping the Failsea warriors dead in their tracks. Ivar moaned as he tried in vain to wrestle free of Lorn's hold.
"Don't make me ask again," Lorn urged.
Lorn heard the weapons hit the floor before he saw the resignation on Ivar's second command's face.
"We
surrender."
"That's what I like to hear." Lorn turned back to the outer room. "Fabian, I've got more prisoners for you to look after." Lorn tried to keep the smile off his face but the day was good, and his load was lightened.
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Lysander and his group were the ones out on the tundra, drawing as much attention as they could to give Oleana and Lorn the chance to find what they needed to stop the yetis.
He'd suffered losses against the combined forces of yetis and Elevated. When the yetis stopped, Lysander had the break he desperately needed. The loss of their yeti allies sent the Elevated scrambling. Without Emmaray to lead them, they ran in every direction.
"Round them up," Lysander told Jonathan, "I'll go after Emmaray."
"We're coming with you," Arrissa and Wade volunteered.
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
"Quit yapping and go," Jonathan urged. His smile uncut his harsh tone.
"As you wish," Lysander said offering Jonathan a salute. Their relationship had changed drastically after Gaeth. The boat ride home had been a much more pleasant experience than the one to Gaeth. Somehow, with Leith's help, Lysander had gained Jonathan's confidence and friendship. Lysander felt as comfortable fighting with Darten soldiers as he did Rangers from Caledon.
Emmaray had taken a defensive position up on the ridge of the mountain, raining down fireballs from above. Lysander tried to use some vines to trip her up but there was so little that grew in the area what he had to work with was quickly burned up by Emmaray.
He would just have to take her down the old-fashioned way. From the mental map he'd obtained from all the yetis’ eyes, Lysander spotted a back way up to the ridge. He had to snake his way through the tunnel system of the mountain complex and maybe he could come at Emmaray from behind.
For once Lysander got to lead his two favorite scouts, Arrissa and Wade. They'd been through so much together it only felt right that he should end the battle with them at his side. With everyone else caught up in their own fights, or too busy trying to run away to pay any attention, the trio had an easy time of navigating the narrow passages that wound around under the mountain.
Most of the way was so dark, Lysander wished he had the eyesight of the yetis. Then they ran into a room that seemed to be lit up from everywhere at once. The transition was jarring, that and the sweltering heat coming off the fire in the center of the room.
There was a raised platform at the middle of the room that was engulfed in flames. Lysander wondered if it was Emmaray's bed. The Fire Ultra couldn't have been faring well in the ice dungeon away from her favored volcanoes.
Lysander skirted carefully around it, looking for the door that would lead up to the upper deck area that Emmaray was using for her staging area. The steps were roughly cut into the rock in uneven intervals, spiraling up the mountainside. Lysander had to run his hand along the passage to keep from tripping. The cold outside air smacked at him as he climbed. Emmaray hadn't closed the door behind her leaving herself open to attack. It was a rookie move that Lysander hadn't expected of her.
He slowed, expecting some trap to spring the moment he hit the top level. "We go on one," he told the others. "Three, two, one."
Lysander rushed through the opening axes raised. Emmaray whirled, hurtling fire at his face. Arrissa grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him out of the way. He didn't have time to thank her because Emmaray fired again.
Lysander rolled hunched over Arrissa and taking the hit across his back. The armor protected him, but he had to drop into the snowy ground to keep from going up in flames. The Elevated moved in by then, two men both taller and broader than Lysander, and two earrings hanging in their ears. Lysander took a blow across his side that knocked him onto his butt.
Arrissa was ready, using her low position to her advantage. She rested back on her forearms and kicked out with both feet hitting each attacker just above the waist. Lysander stood, swinging both axes down on the closest guy. The first swing hit the guy across the shoulder, the other swung wide. The man tried to backhand Lysander, but the hit went wide, and Lysander was able to knock the man down and finish him off with the handle of his ax.
He moved to help Arrissa, but she was already moving on to her next target. Emmaray had Wade pinned behind an outcropping. She was chipping away at the rock with hit after hit. Lysander lobbed one of his axes at an Elevated woman who charged at Arrissa. His aim was true, hitting the woman in the head and knocking her over. Arrissa finished the job with a hard kick to the woman's face.
Then he was free to charge Emmaray, taking his ax back from a grateful Arrissa. Emmaray realized her mistake too late. She was embroiled in a two against one fight with no room to really hurl her projectiles. Even without the fireballs, Emmaray was a fierce fighter. Lysander could tell where the Elevated got their signature style from. He should have known she would know how to hold her own in a fight.
Emmaray landed a lucky hit across Lysander's face and his skin burned. He didn't know how he was going to put her out, that was until he remembered he wasn't just the Master of Earth anymore. He absorbed a piece of Lorn's ability and he had a mountain of snow at his disposal.
He pulled down a bitterly cold wind off the top of the mountain, swirling it around Emmaray in a tornado of snow.
"No!" she howled. She hurled fire at them, but the wind sucked it up before they could do any damage. Emmaray raged and beat against the wall of wind until she had nothing left. She crumpled to the ground in a sad wet heap.
Wade, Arrissa, and Lysander surrounded her, weapons pointed at her face. "Surrender?" Lysander asked.
Emmaray sobbed into her hands, "How did I end up like this?"
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: REBIRTH
Back in Evermore, Leith helped Alonzo lift the new support beam for the south gate. Repair work was going on throughout the city. Ivar and Emmaray were locked away in their prisons next to Seth. Leith still couldn't believe how much they had gone through and accomplished.
It seemed like only yesterday his forearm started glowing and he ran into a strange woman with an even stranger son. Then Daycia, in all her unique perverseness, had forced him down in that ranta pit just to prove he was an Heir. Now he was King of the World.
Leith and Alonzo held the beam up while two locals nailed it down. Leith felt a familiar warmth spread through his arm and couldn't hold back his smile.
"We have incoming," he informed the work crew.
They hurried to get the beam secure and move out of the way in time to watch Lysander come in on horseback, his mother beside him. Lysander took the long way back to Evermore, taking a contingent of troops with him to squelch what Failsea opposition was left causing trouble in Caledon. He'd promised to bring some of his family back with him, so they could see Nadir.
Lysander pulled up short when he saw Leith and slid down off his horse. "You started the work without me," Lysander said turning around to get a full view of all the repairs done.
"Figured you had own work to do."
Lysander nodded. "A task completed in record time. Word of Ivar's capture beat us to the battlefield. A lot of the fight was out of them before we arrived. All I had to do was show up,"
"And take credit," Lorn finished as he ran up to greet them. The boy was covered in ash from his hair to his boots.
"Why are you so filthy?" Lysander asked dodging the hug Lorn offered.
He wiped his forehead with the back of his arm, managing only to smear the dirt around. "Mom and I were helping to remove the burnt wood from the damaged farm houses along the wall."
Lady Lillian was off her horse and pulling it along, "Lysander, I appreciate this happy reunion, but I would really like to see my husband now."
Leith felt shame flush his face, "Sorry milady, ain’t mean to keep you."
Alonzo stepped forward, "I'll take the horses, you guys go on ahead."
Leith led them through the city to the Crystal Tower. The streets were busier than ever, but the tone was diff
erent than Leith was used to. During most of his stay in Evermore, Leith had been running from one crisis to another. The city had been filled with soldiers on guard waiting for the next attack, and refugees keeping their heads down, bracing themselves for the next blow.
Now people from different realms were working together to rebuild the city. Every day they received new visitors bringing in supplies as thanks for liberating them. As Lysander had said, word had spread far and fast. There was still a lot of work to be done before Gaeth and Failsea would be truly free, but the hardest part was over, and everyone couldn't wait to celebrate.
Many of the soldiers that had been calling Evermore home decided to return to their homeland and see family they'd neglected for too long. The subtle change from a militant population to more a civilian society was affecting more than just the overall mood. Instead of the rattle of armor, the echo of children laughing filled the halls of The Tower. Instead of bumping into a discarded weapon, toys were strewn about. People were gathered in small groups chatting, playing games, and eating. Leith didn't know how Lorn had managed to pull himself away from it all to work.
Nadir was in his new favorite spot, the Grand Room. People were lined up down the hall waiting for their chance to see him. Leith had to squeeze past to even get in the room. People started to object until they recognized who he was then they parted, many dropping into bows.
Hands reached out for Leith as he passed.
"Thank you."
"The Twelve bless you."
"Thank you."
"You saved us."
All of it came at him at once Leith couldn't tell who said what. Lorn swatted at the dust in the air, suddenly aware of how ridiculous he must look. "No need for that," Lorn said blushing.
All of that went away when Nadir caught sight of Lillian. The power of their reunion was like a vacuum that sucked all the air out of the room. Lillian rushed to Nadir's side, kneeling in front of his wheelchair, and grabbing his face in her hands. Leith watched in awe as the two of them kissed for what felt like forever.