“Thank you, but no. I can manage that much still,” Ruethwyn replied, taking a deep breath and heading toward the shrine of the Shifter instead.
Not many people were attending the particular shrine, Ruethwyn noticed, though it was still busy enough she had to wait. Most people seemed focused on the shrine of the Princess and Guardian instead. Another acolyte attended the small shrine, handing out candles as well as she smiled at each supplicant in turn.
“Here you are. May the Shifter re-unite you with those who you’ve parted with,” the woman told Ruethwyn gently.
“Thank you. I do hope the same,” Ruethwyn replied, lighting the candle then setting it on the next empty space.
“Jayla… we may not have seen eye to eye, but I hope you’re safe. Anara…” Ruethwyn hesitated, then bowed her head and continued. “You may not have known how I felt, but goddesses know, I want the chance to tell you. Just that one chance would be enough for me, but I’m not going to lose you or any of the others. I promise… I’m coming for you and everyone else with you. May the Shifter bless you until then.”
Unlike with the shrine of the Dowager, there wasn’t any response that Ruethwyn could sense, but that wasn’t unusual. She took a moment to pray for the others who she knew had been taken, then made her way back to her seat.
It still took a minute to move through the throngs of people crowding the chapel, as many people had needed to attend multiple shrines, but soon enough, she was slipping down the row and back to her seat, where Korima had already returned. The others looked up at her in concern, but it was Korima who spoke first.
“Rue? Are you alright? You took a while, and you look like you were crying,” Korima said, looking worried.
“I’m as well as can be expected. There were a lot of names to recite… and those were just the ones I knew,” Ruethwyn replied, stepping past the kitsune, which put her in Ruethwyn’s blind spot for a moment before she took her seat and was able to focus on Korima again. “I… broke down for a minute. I also decided to visit the Shifter’s shrine to take a moment to recover.”
“I don’t blame you for being that upset,” Tadrick said softly, shaking his head slowly. “So… do you want to go out tonight? I was going to go to a nice dinner with Navaan, but I’m certain he wouldn’t mind additional company. It’d be a gift from me, nothing more.”
“Sure,” Ruethwyn said after a moment’s hesitation, then smiled. “First we have to get through the rest of the service, though.”
“It shouldn’t take too long,” Tadrick said, then smiled as he added, “I would like to stop by the dormitory first, though. You two are invited as well, Sella, Korima.”
“Sounds like a plan. It’ll be nice to be around friends for Midwinter,” Sella said, smiling at the offer.
“Exactly! I don’t like being alone, so this will be nice,” Korima agreed, grinning as she added excitedly. “This also gives me an excuse to wear my nice dress again!”
“Just try not to tear it. Magic can fix many things, but cloth wears out regardless of that,” Ruethwyn said, shaking her head in amusement.
“Sure… still, I need to get you to teach me that mending spell. It’s too useful, I think,” Korima replied, her ears flicking happily.
“If you’d like,” Ruethwyn agreed, smiling as she remembered her father’s lessons. “Just no looms, alright?”
“Sure,” Korima said, but the confused look on her face made it obvious that she didn’t understand.
That was alright with Ruethwyn, though, and she settled back to wait for the service to resume.
“Hey, have any of you seen Madeline?” Barthel asked as they trudged down the path through the snow toward the dormitory. “She was supposed to meet me for the service, but she never showed up.”
“Not since before the service,” Sella volunteered.
“Oh? I hadn’t seen her since last night, so that’s good,” Barthel said, the furrow to his brow easing as he nodded. “I was afraid something had happened. Something bad, I mean. I’d guess something else came up to keep her away.”
“She was looking for Yalline when we saw her,” Ruethwyn said, frowning slightly. “Maybe she didn’t find her? I know that Yalline has been all but acting as her maid, and if she didn’t find her in time, she might not have been ready. I don’t think Madeline would’ve wanted to enter the chapel late.”
“Yeah, that’d make sense. She really wouldn’t have wanted to interrupt the ceremonies, and I can see her not waiting for the break to enter,” Barthel said, nodding firmly. Ruethwyn took in his fine tan tunic, nearly gold-colored wool coat, and trousers before smiling slightly. She suspected it’d been all but a date, which would also explain why Madeline had been so worked up about Yalline’s absence.
“Maybe you can find her in her room?” Ruethwyn suggested. “I doubt she’d have gone out.”
“Yeah, if she was expecting to meet with you, she might be happy if you showed up,” Korima suggested, glancing at Ruethwyn in amusement. She likely had caught the same indications that Ruethwyn had, which wasn’t too surprising.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Barthel agreed and passed them to head toward the dormitory at a brisk pace.
As he passed the twins, Tadrick murmured, “A silver they get together, then split up within a month?”
“Not on your life,” Korima disagreed. “He’s too laid back, and she’s too controlling. They’d be horrid for each other.”
“Unless they balanced each other out. Stranger things have happened,” Sella interjected, heading along the path at a sedate pace.
“True…” Tadrick said, frowning for a moment, then asking. “So you want to bet on it?”
“Nope. It just could happen,” Sella said, grinning. “Now, let’s get inside. Unlike Rue, I don’t have an enchanted dress to keep me warm.”
“That’s hardly my fault,” Ruethwyn replied, feeling the cool air, but no more than enough to realize it was cold.
The others laughed, and they quickly hurried down the path, following the others into the building. The moment she stepped inside, though, Ruethwyn stopped, her nostrils assailed by the faint scent of sulfur. An alarm practically rang out in her mind as Korima spoke.
“Ugh, that smells like rotten eggs! Where’s it coming from?” the kitsune demanded, her nose wrinkling.
“I don’t know, but I think we’d best leave and let the teachers—” Ruethwyn began, taking a step backward, but flinched away as a wave of heat hit her blind side, exclaiming. “Gods! What…”
When she turned, she saw a solid wall of fire on the other side of the doorway. As she watched, the frame darkened from the heat, and Ruethwyn swallowed hard, paling as she looked at it.
“That isn’t good,” Sella murmured.
A scream from the kitchens caused Ruethwyn to flinch away, any feelings of amusement or contentment instantly gone.
Chapter 40
“What—?” Sella began.
“Help!” a man cried out from the kitchen, his voice panicked.
Tadrick was the first to move for the kitchen door, and Ruethwyn tore her gaze from the wall of fire to follow after him. Dana and Delvin were near the stairs, but followed after a moment as well, moving more cautiously.
Shoving the door open, Tadrick came to a stop, cursing at what he saw. Ruethwyn flinched herself, feeling almost physically ill at the sight within. The kitchen was simple enough, with far more counterspace than any home she’d lived in, but that wasn’t what drew her attention. Instead, she saw the cook who’d been working at the stove was frantically trying to escape a horrific elemental.
The elemental had two arms and legs like an elf or human did, but there the similarities ended. Its body was covered by a layer of ash-gray scales that were ragged and cracked, and its wedge-shaped head was like that of a snake, if a snake had four beady eyes set into its sockets and a pair of horrifying mandibles like a slavering insect. Two clawed arms were holding a thick set of chains that glowed with heat, and
one loop was currently wrapped around the cook, raising welts where the chain touched him.
“Unhand him, monster!” Tadrick demanded, quickly stepping into the room.
Ruethwyn thought his actions a bit foolhardy since Tadrick wasn’t armed, flicking her wrist to eject her wand into her hand. A moment later, her opinion changed as Tadrick extended his hands and his sword appeared in them in a flash of light, runes glittering along the blade’s length. It was shocking, considering how expensive enchantments like that were.
“Ahh… more lambsss to the ssslaughter,” the creature hissed sibilantly, its mandibles clattering. “Missstressss will be pleasssed.”
“What the hell is that?” Delvin demanded, but Ruethwyn didn’t have time to reply before Tadrick charged.
The creature snarled, throwing a loop of chains at the young man, but Ruethwyn’s hand rose almost instinctively as she activated her wand, the blast knocking the chain off-course. Sparks sprayed as the elemental blocked the sword with its chain, hissing in anger as it did so.
A thunderous crack of lightning echoed from above, and Ruethwyn cursed under her breath, then asked, “Korima, Sella, watch behind us!”
Ruethwyn’s mind flickered over possibilities for a moment, then she decided to go with a simple answer, taking a step into the room as she prepared a spell. It looked like a fire elemental, likely a demon of some type, so ice was a decent option. Flicking the wand through the gestures, pain lanced through Ruethwyn as she drew on her mana reserves and began a quick incantation, made longer than normal by her injuries. The elemental gave her a deathly glare, but was too busy trying to fight Tadrick and keep the panicked cook under control to interfere.
The spell manifested as a glittering orb of ice that shot across the room like a slung stone and hit the creature in the side. There was a hiss as steam erupted through the room, and the creature shrieked like a living steam kettle as ice rimed its side. Ruethwyn flinched at the sound but smiled as Tadrick took the chance to injure one of the creatures hands, his blade only partially biting through its scales, but almost forcing it to drop the chain around the cook. Another attack like that ought to do it, so Ruethwyn started drawing on her mana as she heard Dana’s voice in an incantation behind her.
“Rue, move.” Delvin’s voice was startling, and Ruethwyn dodged to the right, bumping into the counter as she turned to look.
She caught only a glimpse of Dana, wreathed in armor of glittering stars, anger on her normally impassive face, and with a matching bow and arrow of starlight in her hands, at least until she loosed the arrow.
The bolt of light was nothing more than a blur, and by the time Ruethwyn could follow its path, the arrow had buried itself in the eye socket of the elemental. The creature froze for just a moment, and then began to bubble and collapse on itself, its chain losing cohesion as well as it pooled on the floor and evaporated.
“Good, a summon… and shadow aligned as well,” Ruethwyn murmured, letting out a breath of relief, then looking at the twins, slightly stunned.
Dana still had the armor of light, while Delvin had created a similar set of armor made of shadow, but he had a sword and shield instead of a bow. She’d known the two had talents for light and shadow, but she’d never seen them use spells like that before.
“That was impressive, Dana,” Tadrick said, setting his sword on the counter as he moved to the cook in concern. “Hey, are you alright?”
“What, did you think we were in the class for show?” Delvin asked, a slight smile on his face, but it quickly faded. “More importantly, what the hells is going on?”
Ruethwyn flinched as she heard a howl from upstairs, then a rumble from the hallway, followed by Barthel cursing.
“I… I don’t know. I sent Karin downstairs to get more potatoes, then that thing came upstairs. The exits were all blocked by a wall of fire by that point, and I couldn’t run,” the cook replied, his breathing hard. “I don’t know what’s going on!”
“We’ve got more problems than that,” Barthel added, the man’s fine coat singed as he scowled. “Until Korima turned half the floor into a wall over the stairwell, I was being chased by a half-dozen hounds that were on fire. I don’t think anyone is upstairs, but I nearly didn’t make it back downstairs.”
“Crap,” Ruethwyn murmured.
“I’ll help the cook… does anyone know how to get past the wall of fire?” Sella asked, moving over to try to treat the man’s injuries.
A mastiff with crimson fur that perfectly blended into the flames surrounding it chose that moment to come up the stairs in the main room, and Dana spun, firing another arrow of light that instantly destroyed the creature.
“One moment,” Ruethwyn murmured, dropping her wand and falling to her knees. Closing her eye, she concentrated and began murmuring a spell, forming the gestures rapidly as she reached out with her senses, then pressed her palm against the floor as she released a pulse of mana through the area.
Dozens of sources of mana sprang to life in her mind throughout the building, but two in particular made her want to swear. After a moment, she did so, opening her eye.
“Rue? What’s wrong? My stone wall won’t last forever,” Korima said nervously. “Plus, I don’t think fire is going to do much against these.”
“No, it won’t. The problem is that someone must have subverted the wards. The wall of fire that’s trapping us is also keeping all the teachers out,” Ruethwyn said, shaking her head as she added, “If it weren’t so powerful, I’d be willing to try a powerful shield to escape, but that isn’t going to work. Worse, I’m certain that the keystone of the wards is in the basement, and I detected something bad down there.”
“How bad?” Barthel asked, murmuring a few words as he created a ball of lightning that he bounced between his hands.
“A major mana source that felt a lot like a summoning circle, but more powerful. Likely someone’s opening a planar rift,” Ruethwyn explained grimly.
“Ah, shit,” Tadrick muttered, frowning deeply.
“One hell of a celebration,” Delvin said with a scowl. “I’d ask if anyone knows how to teleport, but the wards would stop that. We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”
“I think we might…” Barthel started, then paused, looking at Ruethwyn as her head rose, speculation flashing through her mind. He asked, “Rue? Did you think of something?”
“Maybe. I don’t suppose anyone knows how to shadow-walk? I saw someone go through the wards with that once,” Ruethwyn asked, looking at Delvin. “I don’t know much about it myself, I’ve never thought to ask Umbra about it, and I know she’s not powerful enough to perform the planar transfer.”
“Shadow-walking? Are you insane?” Delvin asked, blanching.
“He can do it,” Dana said quietly, glancing at the stone wall, where they could hear claws scraping against it. “He did it when we were younger.”
“I nearly died!” Delvin protested. “A monster nearly ripped my arm off! Besides, even if I did, I only have enough mana to take myself. I have no way of taking anyone else with me.”
“Also not true. I can go with him,” Dana said, frowning. “Still, it’s… dangerous there.”
“There’s also the question of what happened to Madeline and Yalline. Do you think…” Sella began, swallowing hard before she asked, “You don’t think they’re dead, do you?”
“No. Elementals, especially demons, prefer prisoners. I’m pretty sure that was a type of fire demon, and those were hellhounds before,” Ruethwyn replied, shivering at the idea, her thoughts racing. She reached up to rub her forehead before murmuring, “This will be bad. We don’t have time to wait for a rescue. If that rift opens, we’re all doomed.”
“Why’s that?” Korima asked, her voice surprisingly calm now.
“A planar rift is a direct portal to an elemental plane. It requires an appropriate nexus, but the rules on things like that are… different on Midwinter Night,” Ruethwyn said, grimacing. “Dozens of elementals could pour thro
ugh, grab us all, and drag us through before the teachers can get through the wards. Worse, they probably don’t know exactly how little time we have.”
“Yeah, that’s bad. But we also have some time. Hey, sorry to ask, but do you know where the keystone is?” Tadrick asked the cook gently.
“Um, yeah, I know where it is. We all do,” the cook said, paling as he added, “You aren’t going to ask me to… to go after it, are you? I don’t know how to turn it off!”
“Dana, Delvin? Are you willing to risk shadow-walking? Just to get outside and let the teachers know how bad it is in here?” Ruethwyn asked, turning her gaze to the two.
They exchanged looks, and Delvin sighed and nodded. “Sure. I mean, if my choice is possible death or being dragged into the hells by demons… I suppose possible death is better. At least it’d be quick.”
“I’ll go to help ensure he gets there,” Dana agreed softly. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to try to shut down the rift before it forms,” Ruethwyn said grimly. “While I do that, I’d suggest that the rest of you, or at least Barthel and Korima, go with the cook and try to break the keystone.”
“Rue, are you insane?” Sella exclaimed in horror.
“Why me? It sounds like you’re going into something dangerous,” Korima protested, and Barthel nodded.
“You and Barthel have magic that has a chance of breaking the keystone, Korima, where mine isn’t ideal for it, nor is Sella or Tadrick’s,” Ruethwyn explained, and a smile flickered across her face as she continued. “As to insane… possibly. I have one last ability I’ve held off on, since I wasn’t sure that my body could handle it anymore. But considering the circumstances, I’d rather risk it.”
“What sort of ability?” Tadrick asked, frowning at her. “And I’m going with you, if you’re going to try to shut down the rift.”
“Fine,” Ruethwyn said, ignoring the first question for the moment as she looked at the cook. “Are you willing to help us? They could look for it without you, but I don’t know that it’d be any safer up here.”
The Avatar's Flames (Through the Fire Book 1) Page 31