by N. M. Howell
Raesh raised his hand and cast a spell. A massive byzantium purple ray of light shot up into the air, so powerful it made him stumble. The light shot up into the cloud, and Raesh maintained it for as long as he could before he had to go back to defending himself.
“Super pretty light,” Sarinda said. “Want to tell me what it was for?”
“Just desperation.”
“Can that thing you’re carrying help us or is it just for Andie?”
“Just for Andie, I think.”
“Come on, back to back.”
Once again, they found themselves pressed upon and threatened. They parried and reflected, stringing out the inevitable end that awaited them. They were surrounded by more men than they could count, and each was doing his utmost to destroy them. When the bullets began to fly among the spells again, Sarinda clapped her hands above her head and a shield came down around them. She knew she couldn’t hold it forever, not with so many attacking them at once.
But she only needed to hold it for a few seconds.
The first thing that happened was that a terrifying roar was heard. It was followed by four more. Within moments of the fantastic roars, five gargantuan dragons came soaring up over the precipice and swooped down over the soldiers there. The dragons opened their great jaws and spewed flames over the soldiers. The army scattered, every man running for his life, screaming as they abandoned the attack.
The dragons continued to spray fire until every man was cleared or burnt to a crisp. The creatures landed, and it was mere moments before Andie was in Raesh’s arms. They both had never felt so relieved.
“So, you saw my distress signal,” he said, still holding her.
“It was hard to miss.”
She released him and then went to hug Sarinda.
“A few minutes later and we’d have been done for,” Sarinda said.
“I was just waiting for a glorious entrance.”
“Saeryn, it’s good to see you back safe,” said Raesh.
“It is good to be back. I’m only sorry we lost four of our own along the way. How have you fared here?”
“Well, we haven’t really. The army got here a week ahead of schedule and we were completely caught off guard. We barely managed to get everyone to safety in time. But when we heard over the radio that you were back and that you were fighting, everybody found their courage. They’re mounting an attack inside right now.”
“No,” Andie said. “They got into the University?”
“Yeah. We thought everyone would be safe in there and that it was impenetrable or at least would require a few days of siege, but one minute it was totally quiet and the next we were being overrun.”
“The portal,” Andie said, turning to Saeryn to confirm. “They’re coming through the portal in Leabharlann. We were flying all over Noelle trying to track them down. But we know for a fact that the Dead have at least two. They must have set them up wherever they made camp and used them to cut the distance and get here earlier.”
“And with the portal in Leabharlann they got to skip security and come right in.”
“Is everybody safe? In the University or in a shelter?”
“Yeah. The city is completely empty.”
“Good. Then we need to close that portal now.”
“Come on. There’s a secret entrance over here.”
They hurried over to the exploded hole in the mountain where Raesh and Sarinda exited. They had to blast their way back in from where the opening collapsed. Raesh went down first, followed by Saeryn. Andie rushed up behind them and leapt into the hole.
She turned to look behind her and lost her breath.
A battalion soldier had snuck up on them and caught Sarinda by her throat. He held her in the air, as if her weight were nothing. With his free hand, he broke one of her arms and then held the other hand so she couldn’t cast. Andie raised her hand to cast her spell, but just as her hand raised level with her face, the soldier flicked his wrist and Andie heard Sarinda’s neck break.
For a moment, she was unable to think. Raesh sent a spell past her head and caught the soldier in his chest. It knocked him off his feet, but he rolled and got up again. But no sooner had he stood again than Andie raised her fist toward him and opened her fingers wide. He disintegrated on the spot. Andie’s eyes grew wide as Raesh whistled in response. She didn’t even know she was capable of such a thing.
Andie ran back out to Sarinda. She took her head in her hands and tried to wake her, but she was gone. There was no life left in her eyes.
“No,” Andie said softly. “No.”
Saeryn came back out and grabbed one side of Sarinda, indicating that Andie should grab the other. It took Andie a moment to focus, but then she lifted her ally, her friend, and they carried her into the mountainside. They both carried her along through the tunnel, Andie hardly able to see anything through the darkness and her tears. They arrived in the University and made their way to the main hub. They could still hear intense fighting going on in the distance, but the professors and council fighters had managed to push the army far back. Andie and Saeryn lay Sarinda down near the edge of the room. They and Raesh sat next to the body and mourned.
Meanwhile, the engineers had finished their work on the battalion suits and Ashur was ready to lead his forces into battle. They did not have the natural ability of the Dead, but they were certainly not a force to be trifled with. They were one of the most formidable and dangerous armies to march those lands in living memory. No one truly knew the limits of their power. Lucas stood ready and alert, prepared to follow his commander into the most brutal and bloody wars of recent memory. All the soldiers shared that loyalty, that undying obsession to serve Ashur in any and every way possible. Such brainwashing was part of their training.
Ashur stood at the front of his battalion. He was only twenty-seven years old, but already he carried enough anger and hate in his veins to fill a hundred lifetimes. Large parts of his old armor merged with his flesh, and he wore a newer, stronger armor over that. His training was unimaginable. His desire unshakeable. His fury and his power undeniable. He had waited and waited for this day, his revenge on those who he felt had falsely taken up a residence in his world.
In his mind, there was only room for one leader, and it must be him. His face was terribly disfigured, half melted by the bolt from that despicable dragonborn Andie Rogers that nearly killed him. His body ached in constant pain. His mind twisted in part by insanity and part by the blinding need for revenge. But what he was capable of was both great and horrifying. Even Beladorion had underestimated him.
Without any pomp or circumstance, he gave the order and his men began to file toward the portal.
Chapter Nineteen
“No. No, we’re not going to do this. We can’t afford to. Not now.”
As she spoke, Andie got to her feet and pulled Raesh up with her. Saeryn stood, too, though all looked shaken and unsteady.
“Sarinda was brave and strong and she doesn’t deserve this,” Andie continued. “But we can mourn for her later. We have so much work to do, beginning with shutting down that portal.”
Raesh nodded and all three hurried toward Leabharlann. They reached the library and rushed across the room to the Archives. Down and through they went until they reached the portal. Just as they entered the room, a battalion soldier emerged, followed by another, and another. Saeryn didn’t even allow them the chance to raise their hand. She waved her arms in an inward sweep and the sand and dirt from the floor were brought up into a localized storm, picking the soldiers up and slamming them into the ground so hard Andie was sure they must have been pulverized. But, surprisingly, they stood. They marched forward again, and more were still coming.
“Upgrades,” said Andie.
The three together began casting with ferocious speed and power. Raesh’s pearlblood magic knocked the soldiers right back through the portal. Andie lifted the stone floor beneath the soldiers’ feet and folded it over backwards, crushing the
m back into the portal. Saeryn’s blade put down two soldiers. Once the room was clear, Andie rushed to the portal and recalibrated it. One soldier was caught half way between destinations and was promptly cut in two.
As the soldiers were thrown back through, barely alive, Ashur was surprised. One soldier looked through the portal and only the bottom half of him fell to the ground when it changed. Lucas, still standing beside the portal, looked completely baffled.
“My leader… I was sure… I thought…”
“Never mind, Lucas,” Ashur said. “This is not your fault. It’s the dragonborn. This is what they do. Maim and destroy. It doesn’t matter. We’ll just have to adapt our plans. Recalibrate it to follow the Dead. We’ll land in Arvall and then attack.”
Andie stepped back from the portal and breathed in relief. With the battalion’s plans to enter through Leabharlann stopped, they had one less thing to worry about. Raesh stepped forward, looking down into the portal.
“I thought we were going to turn it off?” he asked. “At least it looks like there is no sign of the time curse. Doesn’t stop the enemy from using it to transport across our own time, though.”
“Yeah. Not just the enemy. But I almost forgot… Hang on.”
And without warning, she jumped into the portal. Raesh rushed up and leaned over the surface of the device, so shocked he hadn’t even calmed down enough to be afraid. Saeryn came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder, her face frozen in a look of shock as strong as Raesh’s. Together, they waited and watched, but it was only a matter of moments before Andie resurfaced. And she was not alone.
With her came Yara and a handsome, intelligent-looking young man with blond hair and green eyes. Bonhaus. Raesh had a moment of absolute disbelief before he finally believed his eyes and embraced Yara.
“But you’re dead!” he said.
“Not as dead as I could be. It’s so good to see you,” Yara said. She then turned to Andie and frowned. “I was starting to think maybe you weren’t coming.”
Andie shook her head and smiled. “I’m sorry. But you’re here now.”
Raesh was still frozen in shock. “I know we don’t have the time right now, but someday soon you’re going to have to tell me how it’s possible for you to be here.”
“I will, I promise. Everybody, this is Bonhaus.”
“Hi,” Bonhaus said, in a strong voice.
Yara paused for a moment and looked at Andie.
“Raesh,” Yara started again. “You should know that Bonhaus is—”
“The man you love,” Andie finished.
The two girls shared a look and then a smile. And just like that the bond was renewed.
Raesh scratched his head and turned to Andie. “But, how did you… Where did she… I don’t…”
“Another time,” Andie placed her hand on Raesh’s shoulder and smiled. “I’m sure Yara has a lot to catch us up on her own adventures, but for now we must focus on our own.”
“From the looks of you three I’d say we’re already under attack,” Yara said.
“They’re here a week before we thought was possible. They’re using the portals to travel faster. I’m shutting this one down now,” Andie said, turning the portal off in some capacity, so that at least the enemy couldn’t come through from the other side. “But they can still get in by the one down in the city. Our main concern now is to push the enemy out of the University and reclaim this as a safe haven.”
“Let’s go. Bonhaus and I are ready. We’ve been ready and waiting for a very long time. I’m just sorry more of us weren’t around when you finally came through to find me, Andie. Does anybody know how Carmen’s doing?”
Now Andie paused. She had forgotten that Yara hadn’t seen her friend in months, not since that day in the Hot Salts of Mithraldia when the dragon carried her away.
“She’s awake,” Raesh said.
Both Andie and Saeryn turned their heads toward Raesh. Andie advanced on him.
“What?” she asked. “Since when?”
“Since a couple of days ago. I wanted to let you know, but I couldn’t reach you. She’s awake and she’s strong and when this is all over you can both see her. She’s in The Letter, in Taline.”
A flood of relief and joy came over Andie as she stood there, her knees threatening to give out beneath her from shear elation. Before she knew what was happening, she and Yara were hugging again, rejoicing in the news they’d waited so long for.
“But as long as we’re doing updates, there’s more, and I’m afraid it’s bad. Yara, you don’t know, but we just lost Sarinda. And for all of you, we’ve lost Professor Iceubes and Oren.”
“What?” Saeryn said, her hand moving up to her chest. “When? How?”
“The Dead attacked your home in the Hot Salts. They’ve captured all of your people who were there at the time, but they haven’t killed them. They only killed Oren. He wouldn’t stop defending your people. He took down his share of Dead before they got him.”
Andie, Saeryn, and Yara were all heartbroken. It hurt that much worse when great news was followed by terrible. For the first time, Andie saw Saeryn’s brave face falter. Tears threatened to spill from her lids, and it was no wonder. Oren had been one of her truest friends and strongest allies. Andie didn’t know which made her feel guiltier. That Oren died because he had to defend their people alone, or that Professor Iceubes died performing a task she gave him. Ultimately, she knew it no longer mattered. She could pity them and herself later. They had to keep going. They had to save the city.
“Okay,” she said. “Okay, okay. We’ve suffered some losses. Heavy and early. But this war isn’t over. It’s only just getting stated. All of us need to get to the hallway now. We’re the strongest fighters here and now is not the time to fall apart, no matter how weak we feel.”
There were some halfhearted nods and the wiping of eyes. Everyone breathed. Bonhaus rubbed Yara’s back for comfort. Andie took a breath and then turned to hurry back out to the hall.
When they reached the fighting, the professors rallied at the sight of them, parting to let them to the front. Armed with the heartache of their losses, the new group that Andie led cast spells more powerful and devastating than any that army had ever seen.
All through the hall, soldiers were falling or fleeing, terrified of the newcomers whose fury far outweighed their own. Andie, Saeryn, and Raesh worked as a perfect unit, casting and slicing their way toward the front of the University. Just left of them, Yara and Bonhaus were no mean feat, either. Despite his lithe form and handsome looks, Bonhaus fought like he was born to it, mixing casting and hand to hand combat in a seamless blend. He was stronger than he looked, smart, and lethal. Beside him, Yara was a force of nature, demonstrating all the things she learned from Andie and the new tricks she’d picked up on the eastern shores of Noelle. Andie also noticed a new strange flare to her magic, one she must have picked up from wherever and whenever she had ended up on the other side of the portal when Oren sent her through. She would have to ask more about that place when they had more time. Andie was just fortunate she was able to use the portal to their own advantage while they still had it, and that the time curse didn’t somehow send her back in time when she jumped to get Yara and Bonhaus.
The army tried to maintain some sense of dignity, but the close space and the fury of Andie and her team unnerved them to the point where they could no longer take it. One of the soldiers called for a retreat and suddenly the whole mass fled. Andie had half a mind to shoot spells into their backs, but she was heavy with the thought of what had already been lost. She let them run for their lives.
She continued forward until she came out of the University’s front doors. The mercy she showed had only spared a few, for no sooner were the men outside than the dragons began to spray fire again. Saeryn called to the dragons to calm them, her soft song carrying in the wind. The mountain side was alive with scrambling soldiers racing down the slopes. It would take them all night and part of the mor
ning to finally reach the bottom.
A cheer went up through the professors and students. They had finally reclaimed the University, but Andie knew the battle was far from won. The men would regroup at the base of the mountain and join the rest of the army. The battalion would launch its attack. The Dead, who were hiding somewhere among the buildings, would seek their revenge. Blood would be shed, and much of it.
Amidst the celebrations, the dragons began to call out. It almost sounded as if they were hurt. Andie and Saeryn rushed to them and tried to calm them, but they were inconsolable. The celebrations dwindled as all heads turned to the dragons, who were growing more and more agitated.
“What’s wrong with them?” Andie asked.
“I’ve only ever seen them react this way once,” Saeryn said, taking a nearby dragon’s head in her hands. “It is how they react when one of their own is suffering.”
“But I don’t understand, there aren’t any dragons up here. I know they can sense each other, but wouldn’t they need to at least be within a few kilometers of each other?”
“The city,” Saeryn said. “If the Dead are here they surely brought our people as their captives. And they’re dragons, too. They would want them near to make sure they could not escape and to have ready access to their blood once the spell is broken. We must go now.”
Saeryn leapt up onto the dragon and Andie climbed up behind her.
“What can we do?” Yara asked.
“Nothing,” Andie said. “The only way to get there fast enough is to fly down on the dragons. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
The dragons lifted off and plunged down the mountainside, as fast as Andie had ever seen them fly. In mere seconds, they passed the soldiers who fled from the University. Down and down the dragons flew in a slanting dive, racing to their brothers’ and sister’ aid. They flew so fast and purposefully that Andie had to hold on tight or risk being lost. After a very brief time, the dragons reached the bottom and leveled out, shooting into the city and down the streets like enormous, breathing bullets. The force of the wind rushing past was so strong and loud that Andie couldn’t even hear the dragons’ wings beating.