by Tony Donadio
“Yes, let us be away from this place,” another voice agreed.
The group turned to see Salmanor Darden approaching them. Many of the other lords of the council stood with him. The serving girl from earlier was at his side, clinging to his arm.
“We must find a more defensible position for the lords of the council during this crisis,” he said.
Lord Rugon regarded him with open loathing. He spat on the ground at his feet.
“You betrayed the Crown, Darden,” he said with contempt. “You left the King and Queen to die.”
“What?” Gerard exclaimed. His eyes narrowed in surprise and suspicion.
“That’s treason,” Palanad Lantar said coldly.
“No,” Danor interrupted. He reached out to place a reassuring hand on his chief councilor’s arm.
“I understand your anger, my friend, but we cannot afford the luxury of infighting right now. We must stand united against the threat we face.” He turned a stern gaze on Salmanor Darden. “The high priest and I will discuss his failure to come to my aid when I called for it, but we will do that later.”
“My power was needed to defend the council,” Darden replied haughtily.
“The demons were after the King!” Lord Rugon replied hotly. “They barely noticed the rest of the council!”
“Because they saw they were under my protection,” Darden countered acidly. “Had I left them to come to the King’s aid, they would have been slaughtered.”
“Enough!” Danor yelled. “We will not fight with each other while demons attack the city! Is that clear?”
The King’s command struck the voices around him into silence. Lord Rugon executed a shaky bow.
“As you wish, my liege,” he said.
“I may disagree with the high priest’s tactical assessment of the battle,” the King continued, “But he does have a point. His power will be needed to help protect both the palace and the council in the face of what is to come.”
He turned to Darden.
“Since it appears that I can trust you with that duty, your grace, and with little else, you may take it as my command. General Banderman will fortify our position, and bring the rest of the council to the safest place in the keep that he can find. He will bring the princess there as well, and send word immediately to let me know, as soon as he has found her. You will help as you can to defend the palace, and fall back to protect the council if it is breached.”
Darden opened his mouth to reply as the general saluted his orders. The King turned his back on him.
“Palanad, I want you to come with us. Gerard, the Queen, and I will accompany you to your laboratories at the top of the tower. I want any spells or magic items that we can use in the coming battle made ready. Nothing is to be held back.”
He glanced out through the room’s ruined windows. “I also want to get a good look at what’s happening in the rest of the city. There’s nowhere better to do that than from the Sky Dome.”
He strode through the doors, and the others followed quickly behind. They crossed the great hall and stepped onto a platform at the base of the stairs to the palace tower. There, a shaft surrounded by a circular stairway rose through the center of the citadel.
The court mage spoke a word of command, and the platform began to ascend rapidly through the shaft. Palace guards and workers rushed along the stairs around them, most of them carrying weapons, food, or other items.
Elena turned to Gerard. “This was your work, wasn’t it?” she asked.
Gerard nodded. “For my studies in magical crafting. It was my final project.”
Palanad grinned. “It earned him highest marks, too. He invented an entirely new dweomer to construct it. We’re studying the design now to see how it can be adapted for other uses.”
The Queen beamed at her son. “You have a gift for this, Gerard,” she said. Her voice was proud. The prince colored slightly in embarrassment.
The lift reached the laboratory, and they stepped onto a porch by the entrance. The doors were wide open. Young men and women in apprentice gray were running in and out of them, carrying items up or down the stairs.
“I anticipated your order, Your Highness,” he explained. “Any item that can be used to combat the demons, no matter how experimental, is being put into play.”
Danor nodded. “Good work,” he said.
“Most of the apprentices, and a good number of wizards as well, were in the palace when the attack began. With your leave, I’ll join them in organizing our magical defenses.”
“You have our permission to do so, Mage Lantar,” the King replied formally. “Gerard can lead us the rest of the way.”
The court mage bowed and strode off.
“Alanon!” he cried to one of the other wizards. “How much Mage’s Fire do we have on hand? We’ll want to collect all of it for loading in …”
Gerard gestured with one hand. “This way, Father,” he said.
The prince led them through a narrow passage and into another stairwell. This one had no lift, and the three had to climb the rest of the way up.
Danor seemed to have recovered his strength, but Elena still appeared weak. The King lifted her easily into his arms and carried her. She protested feebly at first, and then subsided, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Thank you, my love,” she whispered.
The stairs finally opened onto what appeared to be a wide, circular platform. Gerard led them onto it, and Danor set the Queen on her feet again. There was only a slight breeze.
The top of the mage’s tower was the highest point in the city. The platform was open to the sky, and a magical ward surrounded it like a dome of shimmering glass. The barrier allowed fresh air to penetrate, but otherwise protected it from rain, wind, or intrusion by matter or magic.
Danor strode to the eastern edge and looked out over the city. Chaos met his gaze.
He could see the shimmering dome of the hellgate in the amphitheater. Endless ranks of demons in military formation surrounded it, and more were marching through its surface. The air was dotted with flying creatures, circling as far out as the cliff-wall. A barrier of them hovered and wheeled around the palace, surrounding it, though at a respectable distance.
The King shifted his gaze. Two more groups of demons were marching into the city along the roads to the north and south. The southern group in particular seemed to be composed of especially large and powerful creatures. It had already swept around the tip of the firth, and was making its way along its shore to the east. The northern group was larger in number, though its soldiers were smaller. Their skin and armor glinted in shades of red and black.
“Lady of Compassion protect us,” Danor said quietly.
Gerard felt sick. “There must be thousands of them in the city already,” he said.
The King pointed to the shimmering violet dome. “That’s what they’re using to enter.”
“It’s like a scene from the legend of the Great War,” Elena breathed.
She turned to her husband. There was a look of horror in her eyes.
“This isn’t just an attack on the city, Danor. It’s something much greater. It’s an invasion of our whole world.”
He looked down at the palace road. A formation of battle demons was running along it and fanning into the surrounding streets. There appeared to be hundreds of them already, and more were following from behind.
“No getting out that way,” Gerard said grimly. “We’re cut off.”
“They’re still marshaling,” Danor observed. “Whoever is directing this battle is an experienced general. He’s doing nothing gratuitous, taking no chances for effect or emotional self-indulgence. He’s making sure that he has an overwhelming force built around his gate before launching his main attack. We’ve barely seen the beginning of this.”
“What about the groups marching through the city?” Gerard asked.
Danor pointed. “Strategic positioning,” he replied. “The one coming up the road towar
d us is setting up to prevent our escape.”
He pointed again. “And if I read it right, that big group to the south will be heading for the Silver Star. My guess is that their commander is probably risking a second strike force, like the one they sent against us. He knows better than to try to take your grandfather by surprise, so he’s coming after the Adventurer’s Academy with a slower but stronger force.”
“It’s led by some kind of fire demon,” Elena said. They looked at her, startled, only to find her staring out over the city with a faraway expression on her face.
“Small and remarkably human-like, but incredibly powerful. Stronger even than the Captain of the Horde.”
“Be careful, mother,” Gerard cautioned. “The demons may sense you scrying them.”
The Queen waved a hand in dismissal. “Of course I’ll be careful, Gerard,” she scolded. “I’m no amateur at this, you know. Besides, the tower ward will protect me.”
“Are you strong enough to link our minds again?” Danor asked. “It would help if we could see what you do as well.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I can.”
A moment later, it was done. Danor and Gerard found their awareness suddenly projected out over the city, as though they were flying over it and through the air.
For a moment, everything around them became a blur. Then they settled above a force marching north into the city. They saw an army of Hellmen, Zomoran striding at its head.
Predictable, Elena thought. They’re making for the Grand Academy. Just the kind of vanity I would expect from Emil.
“Excuse me, Your Highness?” a querulous voice asked from behind. Their shared viewpoint blurred again, and then settled behind them on the entrance to the Sky Dome. A young guard was standing there nervously, trying to attract their attention.
The King turned to face her, the sight of his own eyes abruptly re-asserting itself. “Yes, soldier?” he said.
“The general sent me with a message,” she answered cautiously. “He said you would want to hear it right away.”
Danor nodded impatiently. “Your report, then?” he asked.
The guard swallowed.
“We’ve conducted a thorough search of the palace,” she replied. “The remains of a pegasus have been found, fallen onto the ramparts. The general believes it is Princess Randia’s steed. It appears it was attacked in flight and killed by the demons.
“There is no sign of the princess. She cannot be found anywhere in the palace.”
Chapter 8 - A Brief Respite
The Road Through the Cliffs
Randia’s lungs heaved air as her head broke the surface of the water. She was in a dark, high cavern with little light. The only illumination came from an opening in the ceiling far down the length of the cave. There, streaming sunlight shone into the darkness, reflecting weakly on the wet stone of its walls.
She blinked. She made out a few glints from the pool she had emerged in. She could see faint outlines of shadowy shapes around her, but little else.
One of the shadows moved toward her. “Randi, is that you?” it asked.
She heard Stefan’s voice and breathed a sigh of relief. He had made it safely through the tight underwater passage.
She swam to meet him and grasped the shadowy arm that reached out to her. It drew her out of the water. She fell onto her side on the bank.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. She took a minute to breathe deeply, catching her breath.
“You were a long time,” he told her anxiously. “I was beginning to think you’d gotten stuck, or caught.”
She waved a shadowy hand of her own in dismissal.
“Nothing to worry about,” she said softly. “I took some time to try and hide the opening behind us. There was a large stone and some underwater plants nearby that did the trick nicely. There was no room to turn around after, though, so I ended up having to go through the passage backwards.”
She heard Stefan sigh. “You didn’t leave yourself much of a margin for error,” he admonished.
She shrugged. The movement was barely visible in the dim light.
“Perhaps not. But it was enough.”
She got to her feet and slipped back into the water.
“We need to get away from here,” she said. “We’ll follow the cavern toward that light. The pool leads into a stream that leaves the cave there. Then it runs along a ravine between the cliff walls. Try and stay in the water as much as possible so we don’t leave a trail or a scent to follow.”
“Are you sure you don’t need more time to catch your breath?” he asked. His voice was still anxious.
“We don’t have time for that,” she said impatiently. “The demons might still find a way to follow us. I want to be well away from here if that happens.”
Stefan followed her into the water. “All right,” he said reluctantly. “Let’s go.”
They swam toward the light at the end of the cave. The pool was wide but not very deep, and it wasn’t long before they were wading through it toward the ravine.
The light grew steadily brighter as they progressed. A long, narrow crack was opening in the roof of the cavern. Before long they could see the sky coming into view, and there was enough light to see each other again.
Stefan pointed upward. “Could the demons spot us from there, if they fly over the cliffs?”
“They might,” Randia agreed. “That’s one reason we need to be quick about moving on, before they give up on the cave and start searching the rest of the area. There’s a whole network of ravines through this part of the cliffs. To see them, though, they’d need to fly up over the top of the southern bluffs.”
“That’ll make us harder to find,” Stefan offered. He sounded relieved.
“And this one’s harder to see than the others,” she agreed. “The trees and brush are thick at the top, so they’d have to be looking almost straight down. It took Windheart and me a while to spot it, and she has much sharper eyes than any demon.”
Randia’s voice caught, and she was silent for a few moments. They were wading along the center of a stream now. Lines of trees ran along the bank to either side. They became steadily taller as the pair progressed. Soon they began to obscure their view of the sky above.
“Had,” she finally corrected herself. Her voice was barely audible. “She had sharper eyes.”
Stefan reached out to take her hand. “Randia, I am so sorry,” he said gently.
She turned to look at him. She squeezed his hand tightly.
“I know,” she said quietly. “Thank you.”
“The way she came down and attacked the demons, drawing them away from us …” He paused and realized that he was crying. “It was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen. It deserves to be commemorated in song.”
“You write it,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever have the heart to.”
“I will,” he promised.
Randia picked a few pieces of fruit from the trees as they walked. She bent over to wash them in the stream, and then handed one to Stefan.
“We never got to our picnic meal,” she said simply. “We should eat something.”
Stefan took it with a nod of thanks. It was a leron, a large orange fruit with a sweet and sour pulp common to northern Carlissa and Elde. He sniffed it, and then bit into it with relish. It was soft and ripe, just the way he liked them. They walked together in silence for a while as they ate.
By the time Randia led them out of the water their view of the sky had disappeared. They were completely hidden now by a thick canopy of trees that grew around the stream. A dim light scattered through the leaves above them, illuminating their way in soft hues of brown and green. The ground was firmer here, and a rough path of stone ran along the bottom of the ravine wall.
They followed the path for a time. The gurgling of the water began to fade as the stream turned away to their right.
They continued along the rock wall until they came to a
shallow indentation in the cliff. Randia turned into it, and soon they were walking into a cave. She stopped a short way inside.
“This is the spot I was making for,” she said. “It’s as safe a place as we’re likely to find for now. We should rest here for a bit where there’s still some light, and get dressed.”
Stefan nodded with a wry smile. They had become so comfortable with each other’s bodies during their courtship that it had slipped his mind that they were both still naked.
“We’ve had it easy so far,” she continued. “But some of the terrain ahead is pretty rough. Without shoes and clothes it’ll be difficult and painful to get through.”
She turned the device on her pack’s buckle again, this time in the other direction. The straps loosened with the sighing sound of air rushing through fabric. She slipped it off her shoulders and set it on the ground.
“Let me carry that from now on,” he offered.
She shook her head. “It’s not that heavy. And it’s about to get a lot lighter, anyway.”
She drew out the clothes that Stefan had stuffed hastily into it earlier. They were all dry, protected from the water by the buckle’s enchantment. They dressed quickly and in silence.
“This cave looks very dark,” Stefan offered, when they were ready to go on. “Could we use a light? Wrap some brush around a branch and make a torch?”
“We might,” she said thoughtfully. She had withdrawn a small hunting knife from her pack and was attaching the strap of its sheath to her belt. “I’m not sure it would be a good idea, though. I wouldn’t want to be seen in the darkness, when we might otherwise have remained hidden.”
He nodded. “Good point.”
“We should be able to get through to the other side by hugging the wall on the left. Besides, I can always conjure a light if we really need one. I do have a bit of my family’s skill with magic, even if I’ve only used it to learn some basic performer’s tricks.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed.