Dawn of Chaos

by Tony Donadio

  It is time, Windheart’s voice wept in her mind. You must let go of our bond now.

  No! I won’t let you die alone!

  Stefan splashed water in her face. “Randi, snap out of it!” he insisted. His voice was frantic.

  Five winged demons appeared in the air between her and the palace. Three of them held enormous bows, nocked and drawn. They loosed.

  Another arrow pierced her flank, and then another, and another. She writhed in agony as the barbed heads ripped into her side and neck. Stefan clapped his hand over her mouth in desperation to muffle her screams.

  She pitched to the side and began to fall from the sky. A vulture demon descended on her, its huge claws outstretched. They raked across her belly. Through a haze of searing pain she felt a gush of liquid running down her legs, and then the wet slap of ropey flesh striking her thighs.

  Stefan dunked her head beneath the water, and then pulled it back up again. She spluttered and gasped. “Come back to me, Randi!” he pleaded.

  A wyvern slammed into her from the other side. Its claws tore into her flesh like hooks, holding her fast. Its jaws closed around her neck.

  Goodbye, my princess. Her vision dimmed, and blackness began to swallow her.

  I love you, my Windheart, she wept. Go now into the embrace of the Divine.

  “She’s giving her life for you,” Stefan whispered angrily. He took Randia by the shoulders and shook her. “If we don’t go now, then her sacrifice will have been for nothing!”

  Stefan’s words finally reached her. Through a haze of pain and despair, she forced herself to look again through her own eyes. She saw where they stood in the pool, and felt the water dripping from her face and hair. Windheart’s death throes faded from her awareness. She was herself again.

  Stefan looked into her eyes. Worry furrowed his brow. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She nodded. Her expression was strangely blank and detached, as if she were in shock. Her voice, however, carried a new note of determination.

  “Get our clothes and throw them in my pack,” she said quietly. “We’ll need them, but there’s no time to change now. That’ll have to wait until we’re away from here.”

  Stefan sprang out of the pool and ran to where they had left their things. Randia waded over to the far end, next to where it was fed by a little waterfall.

  “What about mine? And the picnic basket?” he asked.

  “Leave them,” she said. “Our footprints are all over the glade. There’s no time to erase signs that we were here.”

  “What if the demons track us? Won’t they be able to follow our scent?”

  She shook her head. “I wouldn’t worry about that.”

  She dove under the water. Stefan finished gathering their things and waded in after her, looking perplexed. After a few moments her head broke the surface again.

  “It’s still where I remembered it,” she said. She looked relieved.

  “What’s still where you remembered it?”

  She pointed.

  “There’s a small opening behind a rock under the water right here. It leads to a submerged channel. It’s narrow, but you should be able to squeeze through it. How long can you hold your breath?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “I suppose not. Give me my pack. I’ll take it and follow you through.”

  He looked at her obstinately.

  “You know I’m a better swimmer than you,” she said. Her voice was insistent. “I can hold my breath for a long time. And I know the way.”

  “All right,” he said reluctantly. “What do I do?”

  Randia took the pack and slung it over her shoulders. There was a metal insignia in the shape of an eight-pointed star stitched into the leather flap just above the buckle. She twisted it with her fingers, and it turned like a dial. There was a brief sighing sound, and all of the pack’s straps tightened visibly.

  “Breathe deeply to charge your lungs,” she told him. “Once you’re under, go right into the opening. You’ll be in a narrow, rocky channel that’s about forty feet long. It turns a little, so keep your hands ahead of you to feel your way. Use them to pull yourself forward and kick your legs to keep moving. Don’t pause or stop.”

  “How far should I go?”

  “When you can’t feel the walls around you anymore, swim for the surface. You’ll find yourself in an underground lagoon inside the bluff.”

  “How long has it been since you used it? What if it’s blocked?”

  “If it’s blocked, we’re both dead,” she said simply. “There’s no other way out of here except trying to scale the cliff.”

  He looked at her curiously. Only minutes ago she had been weeping in pain and despair. Now she was planning their escape with purposeful efficiency. Her manner seemed strangely flat, without affect. It was as though a switch had been thrown inside her.

  “Randi, are you all right?” he asked tentatively.

  She shook her head. “No time for that,” she said curtly. “Go on now. I’ll be right behind you.”

  He nodded reluctantly, realizing that she was right. He began to breathe deeply, in and out. Randia nodded, doing the same.

  After a dozen breaths he dove under the water. She waited for a few seconds and then followed him.

  Flight from the Academy

  Orion stepped through the entrance from the garden and back into the classroom. It was already in an uproar. The students were all talking over each other, and Dame Marjeune was shouting to try to quiet them down. Lieutenant Caldor was barking rapid orders at the other two guards. Private Trevane looked like he was about to be sick, and the other one, Jenkins, was shaking his head in disbelief.

  To his surprise the room quieted abruptly as he entered. Frightened and skeptical faces alike turned toward him, as though waiting for him to speak. He nodded in understanding.

  “It’s true,” he said loudly, trying to keep his voice calm. “A large force of demons has appeared and is attacking the city. We’re still trying to understand how, but they seem to be entering through some kind of magical gateway that manifested in the amphitheater.”

  “Oh, come on,” one boy replied, rolling his eyes. “How gullible do you think we are?”

  “It must be some kind of weird philosophy lesson,” a girl said. “They want to see how we react to a fake crisis!”

  Orion looked around. At least half of the students wore openly skeptical expressions.

  “I don’t blame you,” he told them candidly. “It sounds crazy to me, too. I wouldn’t have believed it either, if I hadn’t seen it for myself.”

  Then his eyes hardened. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time to try to convince you. Our lives may depend on quick action — so I’m going to show you. Everyone outside. Now.”

  He had expected an argument. To his surprise, there was none. The students fell quickly in line and began to move toward the garden. Dame Marjeune expertly herded them along, as she had when they first arrived at the classroom. There was still some laughing and chatter, and most of them still looked skeptical — but they were listening.

  Caldor came to his side with the other two guards. “Can you see the demons already?” he asked.

  “I think some of them will start flying overhead shortly,” Orion replied. “The commotion in the street’s getting pretty loud, too. I’m hoping that’ll be enough to get the students in line.”

  Caldor looked around. “Where’s Diana?” he asked.

  “She insisted on staying up on the wall to keep watch. She promised to come down as soon as the flying demons got close.”

  Caldor’s face twisted in anger. “Why did you let her do that?” he barked. “It’s dangerous! She could be killed, or taken!”

  Orion followed the students out into the garden. He looked carefully at the lieutenant.

  “I’m going to guess you’ve had some experience with trying to tell that girl what to do,” he said calmly. Trevane put a hand over his mouth and chuckled. “I didn’t
think trying to wrestle her down from a fifteen foot wall was a good use of our limited time to prepare for — whatever’s coming. Besides, she was right. We needed someone to stay on lookout. I believed her when she said she’d be careful.”

  Dame Marjeune assembled the students along a path that led through the garden. Brightly colored flowers bloomed in the May sunshine, and bees could be seen everywhere, going about their business. They could no longer be heard, though. Their buzzing was drowned out by the growing panic in the streets outside the academy.

  The sounds were unmistakable now as screams — not ordinary screams, but the blood-curdling shrieks of people fleeing in mortal terror. Then in the distance, faintly at first but slowly growing in volume, they heard a martial chant. Soldiers with harsh voices were marching through the city. And they were coming their way.

  A swift blur of brown caught Orion’s eye. Diana was descending the wall, climbing hand over hand down the vine as though it were a rope. He had a moment to marvel at her agility before her feet hit the ground. She ran up to him and nodded.

  “They’re coming,” she said. “Straight up the road from the marketplace, maybe a quarter of a mile away. A column of soldiers in red and black armor. Human sized, but with red skin, almost like lava. A tall man in black with a staff is leading the way. They’re chanting something as they march. I don’t know the language, but it doesn’t sound friendly.”

  Orion nodded.

  “Hellmen,” he explained. “The song is their Slaver’s Chant. The wizard leading them is Zomoran of Westreach.”

  A figure circled into view above the garden. Orion looked up to see a large, winged demon with a scaly green hide, carrying a glowing red sword. Its wings beat steadily as it arced around them, rising slowly into the air above the Upper City.

  One of the students screamed. Dame Marjeune put her face in her hands and began to sob.

  “I told you this was no joke,” Caldor said harshly, through the numb silence that followed. “These things are real. And it’s my job to keep you safe until the army can drive them off. To accomplish that, we’ll need discipline. So no more acting up. Clear?”

  “What do we do, then?” one of the students asked. His voice was quavering and uncertain. “Run for the palace?”

  Orion shook his head.

  “We’d never make it,” he said. “We’d have to go right through the part of the city that’s already thick with demons. And the palace itself is under attack. It’s not safe to try to return there.”

  “Then what do we do?” Trevane asked.

  “We can’t go south or west,” Orion replied. “And if we go north, we’ll just end up pinned against the cliff wall. If we bolt, it’ll have to be east, along the line of the firth. And we’ll have to do it now, before that way is cut off as well.”

  “No one is running,” Caldor declared harshly. The others turned to look at him in surprise.

  “We’re not going out into a city that’s filling up with rampaging demons. We’ll stay here at the Grand Academy. It’s well defended with guards, and there are scholars here who are schooled in magic. It’s the safest place for us to wait out the attack.”

  Diana gripped Orion’s arm. When she spoke, her voice sounded suddenly panicked.

  “Wait. Did you say that Lord Zomoran was leading them? Lord Zomoran of Westreach?”

  “Yes,” Trevane said. “That’s what the lady mage running up from the marketplace said, too.”

  Diana looked directly into Orion’s eyes.

  “You realize that means they’ll come here, don’t you?”

  Orion’s face went white. “Oh, no,” he breathed.

  “The mage said the same thing before she ran off,” Trevane said, bewildered. “What does it mean?”

  “Lord Zomoran was expelled from the Grand Academy the day of his rampage at the Cathedral,” Orion explained. “And the very same regents who expelled him are meeting here today. Right now, in fact. If he’s back, he’s out for revenge. And the academy will be his first target.”

  “We have to get out of here!” Diana cried. “Make a run for it along the east road, like you said!”

  “No!” Caldor barked. “You don’t know that they’re coming here. And even if they are, it’s still our best chance of safety. Running off into the undefended streets is suicide!”

  “I’ll take those odds,” Diana countered. Her eyes flashed with defiance. “Who’s with me?”

  Orion turned to the lieutenant. He tried to keep his voice calm.

  “I agree with Diana,” he said. “Either choice is a risk, but my vote is to run while we still have time.”

  Caldor grabbed him by the shirt. He thrust his face directly into his.

  “You don’t get a vote,” he said flatly. “I’m the ranking officer here, and we do this as I say. Clear?”

  Orion’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not under your command,” he told him carefully.

  “You are now,” Caldor replied menacingly. “I’m an officer of the guard, and I have conscription authority. I’m using it.”

  “Oh for Light’s sake, Kieran!” Diana yelled. “We don’t have time for a bull-rutting contest!”

  The lieutenant ignored her.

  “You’re going to stick with us and help protect the students,” he continued. “Now, where’s the best defended position in the academy? Where will the rest of the staff go?”

  Orion took a deep breath, trying to hold down his anger. He pointed to a tall building that looked like a fortress.

  “The Deans’ Library,” he said at last. “There’s an exit into the courtyard at the far end of the garden. From there you can’t miss it.”

  Caldor nodded to the two guards. “Orion and I will lead the way. Trevane, Jenkins, bring up the rear. The rest of you, double time it!”

  Diana stepped up to him. She slapped him, hard, across the face.

  “You idiot!” she screamed. “You’re going to get us all killed!”

  Before he could react she turned and bolted across the lawn.

  The others gaped at her speed. She was halfway to the wall before Caldor had even raised his hand to his cheek in shock, and scaling it before he started to move after her in pursuit.

  “You’ll never catch her,” Orion said.

  The lieutenant stopped. Diana was using the vine like a rope, grasping it with both hands and walking up the wall with her knees bent.

  “Not in that armor, anyway,” Orion added. “She’s too fast for you, and you know it.”

  Caldor looked at him acidly.

  “Then you get her,” he ordered. “Bring her to the Deans’ Library. Knock her out and carry her if you have to, but bring her back.” He looked menacingly again into Orion’s eyes. “If you don’t, I will see you in the dungeons when this is over. Do you understand me?”

  Orion took another deep breath, and nodded.

  “I understand you perfectly, Lieutenant Caldor,” he said tightly.

  He turned and ran toward the wall. Dame Marjeune at his side, Caldor began leading the rest of the group toward the exit from the garden.

  Diana was already on top of the wall by the time Orion started his ascent. She was racing along it to the east, looking for a place to climb down. He scaled it quickly and was soon running after her.

  She heard him and turned. She stopped, waiting for him to catch up with her.

  “Quick — what’s the best way down to the street?” she asked.

  “Caldor ordered me to bring you back,” he said quietly. “I’m risking prison if I don’t.”

  Diana glanced down into the garden to see the others running through the exit and into the courtyard. Then she turned back to Orion. Her green eyes met his brown ones, and she held them for a long moment.

  “You know we’re right,” she said at last.

  She looked down into the city and pointed. “They’re heading straight for us. If we don’t go right now, we’ll be cut off. If we go back we’ll be killed. And that’s if we’re lu
cky and aren’t captured. You know as well as I do that no one’s going to get here in time to save us.”

  He followed her gaze. He saw the line of Hellmen coming up the road from the southwest. There was no mistaking the figure of Lord Zomoran now, walking at the head of the column. One of the fire elves marched close at his side.

  “What is it that Hellmen do to prisoners, Instructor Deneri? I’ve heard stories, but a scholar and a journeyman adventurer must know them in gruesome detail. Do you want that to happen to us?”

  Orion sighed. He shook his head and pointed in the direction she had been running.

  “Keep going. There’s a tree near the wall up ahead. We can jump to its branches and climb down from there.”

  Diana smiled. “Then let’s go.”

  A minute later they were sprinting across a road that led further into the Upper City. There were estates on either side of them, surrounded by low hedges. They hopped over one and cut across the lawn. After a short time they emerged on a street that led east, along a line parallel to the firth.

  As they did the first lines of the Hellman force ran up the road from the Lower City. With ruthless efficiency, they began to surround the Grand Academy.

  Chapter 7 - The Hunt Begins

  The Hunter

  The ground shuddered with the heavy thud of Gorath’s feet as it lumbered up the palace road. Behind it a second wave of demons rushed forward to block escape from the High City.

  An agonized roar keened through the air above. It looked up to see the enormous form of Incanus Thad flying toward the hellgate, its great wings beating frantically away from the palace.

  Gorath threw back its head and laughed. As with most of the larger and more powerful demons its voice was loud, and it reverberated menacingly. It had a grating edge that made it difficult to listen to, like the sound of nails being raked across a chalkboard.

  “So, the royals aren’t so soft after all,” it said aloud. “And once again you overestimate yourself, ‘Captain of the Horde.’ I don’t know what Lord Borr sees in you. Without that axe of yours, you’re just a second-rate Deman with pretty feathers.”