by Logan Jacobs
It wasn’t often that I got to see so many of the estate powers in action, and even less often that I saw Hud putting up with anyone, but as I watched a group of ten witches levitating the holly shrub to keep it out of the spreading burn, and I couldn’t help grinning a bit.
“We’re stopping just up ahead,” a sorcerer informed me. “So, you’ll have to get off, too.”
I looked around the area and tried to get my bearings. I was still a fair distance away from the dragonkin’s lair, but closer than I was before.
“No problem,” I said.
I was prepared to jump off while the cart rattled a little further up the road, but before it could reach its destination, the sky started to radically change.
The smoggy black smoke shifted to a dark red color. It was so deep, it looked like the heavens had been filled with blood, and ash started to fall from the sky. It wasn’t the type of ash that fell from Cinis when she cried, instead it was hard and heavy like hail, and it fell faster and faster in a matter of seconds.
The hair on my neck stood on end as I was pelted with the stuff, and I jumped down from the cart as the sorcerers yelped and buried their faces in their arms.
I stopped in the middle of the street and shielded my eyes as I squinted upward, and the blood-red color raced across the sky and covered the land in all directions. Suddenly, the kingdom was blanketed by a red, smoky sea, and as pellets of ash piled up on the buildings and roads, so many thoughts entered my mind.
Was this really the end for all of us? Was all the land going to burst into flames all at once, or would Ignis bury us in ash instead?
The sky seemed to scream, and the air felt thick with heat and rage, but despite the tumult above me, my final thought went directly to Cinis.
Fear gripped my chest, and I remembered when she told me that if she were to die, the ember fields would flood the surrounding kingdoms.
For all I knew, this was what happened before her embers surged into the kingdom, and the thought of her being discovered by Ignis wrenched a hole through my gut.
Then the rolling red clouds settled and were perfectly still. The ashen hail stopped, and it felt like the whole world had gone stagnant. I stood surrounded by inches of hardened gray ash, and while the city went eerily quiet, no flood of embers arrived.
Then the sky to the far south started to change.
A violent orange glow appeared, and it got brighter and brighter until it was stark white. I was almost blinded by the sight as the orb of light expanded over the forest, and right when I thought my eyes might burn from the brightness, something began to descend from the sky.
It looked almost god-like, but in the most twisted way, and the thing’s red and black hooves were the first to arrive. Then its blood red legs appeared, and the flesh was all cracked with deep fissures torn across each appendage. Lava seemed to flow under the surface, and it looked ready to erupt from every crevice as the beast continued to descend.
The next thing I could see were its hands, but they weren’t anything like a human’s. Instead, they were scythes, and each enormous blade curved out and around until it pierced the beast’s own wrists.
I didn’t even need to see the rest of the form to know who I was looking at.
Ignis had finally arrived, and he was certainly making a show of it.
Cinis had told me Ignis could have torn straight the trees to get here, but apparently, the titan decided climbing from the clouds would be more appropriate for the occasion.
I actually snorted as his torso slowly emerged next, but I didn’t mind his approach.
It meant I had plenty of time to get into the perfect position.
I began to sprint back the way I’d come as screams of terror filled the air around me, and I bolted over the ashen streets, between fleeing carriages, and around the members of the estates.
All around me, efforts had turned away from the isolated fires, and every being on hand frantically reorganized as the head of the titan finally emerged from the sky.
The bright white light behind Ignis started to become more distant, and the skull that loomed above us looked like it had come straight from hell. It was shaped like a starved goat’s head, with massive red horns curving backward from the top of his skull. The horns were rigid and serrated, like they had blades wrapped around them, but it wasn’t the ghastly image of the goat’s head or the horns that were most terrifying.
It was Ignis’ eyes that were the worst of all.
Cinis’ eyes were an enchanting red-amber that I’d seen vary between black and fiery-red flickering stars, but Ignis’ eyes blazed a vibrant, angry orange. They were so bright, they cast a tangerine haze everywhere he looked, and they gleamed straight through the smoky sky as his hooves finally touched the earth.
The ground shook with the weight of his landing, and I stumbled and almost tumbled into a horse-drawn carriage as it careened past. The buildings shuddered, and beasts and beings alike screamed in fright, and I pounded to a stop as I took in the entirety of Ignis’ form.
His head reached as high as the tallest spire in Ocadia, and his whole, molten red body loomed above the southern edge of the kingdom. Lava began to steadily ooze from the fissures in his flesh, and his scythe hands swung around him as he turned his violent orange eyes across the city.
Then he flung his arms back and pushed his chest forward as he let out a thunderous roar.
“Ciniiiis!” Ignis bellowed, and his treacherous voice seemed to shake through the city.
It made shingles tumble loose from the buildings around me, and it sounded like an inferno raged in the titan’s throat. There was something vaguely familiar in the sound of his rage, though, and I realized I’d heard a little of this same fiery fury in Cinis’ voice when she accused me of being a changeling.
The two were clearly related.
And I was clearly fucked if these bolts didn’t do their job.
“Cinis!” Ignis roared again. “I know you’re in the land of Ocadia! Reveal yourself to me or suffer the wrath of Ignis!”
More screams broke out as Ignis’ orange eyes scoured the city like he was hunting for the Ember Priestess, but in that moment, nothing like fear coursed through my body.
Hearing this giant, flaming, ugly bastard roar Cinis’ name across all of Ocadia only set my feet in motion again.
The conjurers I passed cowered in the shadows of the buildings while a flurry of mages sprinted in the opposite direction, but I barreled forward.
And I kept my eyes locked on my next target.
Chapter 18
Every pounding step I took, I prayed to whatever gods I should pray to that Cinis would stay in my estate like I’d ordered. I prayed she wouldn’t be impulsive or lose her temper before I could kill Ignis for her, and I pumped my legs as fast as they could carry me.
“I know you’re out there, Cinis!” Ignis roared, and a cascade of shingles scattered onto the street as I covered my head. “Get out here, you traitorous bitch! You belong to me, and I will find you if it’s the last thing I ever do!”
With that, the titan raised a scythe hand, and as he swung it out wide, three of the closest buildings broke against his blade. The strike ignited the rubble in a burst of orange flames, and the fiery bricks scattered through the air and into the streets.
“Shit!” I gasped and forced my legs to run faster.
The titan began to march forward, and the war cries of the knights of Ocadia rang out.
I sprinted down a side alley as I tried to anticipate the path Ignis would be on, and I listened to the clanging of armor and the shouts of men as the battle began.
Ignis roared just before I heard another building shatter, and a swarm of witches rushed down the street directly ahead of me. There must have been over forty wild-haired women in this group, and Nara was at the lead in platform heels as she shrieked orders to her coven.
When I came out onto the broader street, I turned to see hundreds of knights in armor covering the paths ahe
ad of Ignis. Spears and wooden arrows flew through the air toward the titan’s massive torso, but all of the weapons burned up before they even pierced his molten flesh.
Then Nara screeched an order to her witches.
“Ventusea!” the Headmistress screamed.
The band of witches was directly ahead of me as I sprinted toward Ignis, and all of the wild-haired women raised their palms to the sky in unison. Then a gale force wind blasted from their palms and straight at the titan, and I caught sight of Nara’s shrieking expression as I raced past her.
The Headmistress’ mouth looked ready to split her face in half as her fingers curled forward like talons, and her scandalous body shook from the strength of her magic.
I watched the witches’ wind attack collide with the titan in the distance, and his lava glowed brighter as he staggered backward. This one blast of air spared a few dozen knights from being crushed under his hoof, but he didn’t fall.
Ignis’ raised hoof smashed through two lines of stalls instead, and the roar he let out next almost shattered my eardrums. Half of a turret roof broke loose from the sheer volume of his rage, and I dove down another side alley as I saw the titan’s massive scythe swing toward the nearest building.
Seconds later the crashing of stone resounded through the city, and I stopped just in time to avoid a flying, flaming stone.
“Retreat to the next avenue!” a distant knight belted, and the clattering of armor echoed through the streets of Ocadia.
I had to get a better view of Ignis, but gaining higher ground wasn’t an option. The titan’s strength and fury were bringing whole buildings to the ground, and all it would take was one rogue, fiery brick to shatter my entire body.
I glanced to my left and right as I came out onto the next street, and then I saw a broad canal shaded with gnarled oak trees. It flowed beneath this avenue and onward through the quarter, and a twenty-foot-tall statue stood on a pedestal at the center of it. I knew this would be the safest spot to be if Ignis unleashed any more flames on us all, but it also gave me a clear visual of the point where the three closest streets converged.
I broke into a sprint again as Ignis roared, and I was almost trampled by a group of mages along the way. Then I jumped into the canal just in time to avoid their hovering boulders, and I waded through the rushing water that came up to my chest. When I reached the stone pedestal, I vaulted up and then crouched on the square slab of stone.
I turned around in time to see the group of mages send their boulders at the titan from streets away, but it was too late.
He was prepared for the attack, and his scythe hand sliced through the air and crumbled the entire volley. The broken rocks cascaded over the city like burning coals, and the mages scattered to avoid being pelted.
Ignis was on a warpath of destruction now, but from the looks of it, his path would bring him straight into my range in a matter of minutes.
I steadied my balance on my knees at the feet of the statue, and as I glanced up, I realized it was the spitting image of a water goddess. The thought brought the shadow of a smile to my face as I pulled my drenched cloak off, and I bundled it at the base of the statue. Then I removed my crossbow sling, and I laid the weapon in front of me as a group of snickering elves scuttled along the road near the canal.
They each carried a little glass flask of black liquid in their fists, and while I grimaced at the sight, I had to admire their determination and sense of self-sacrifice.
My pockets were drenched and stuck to my legs, but I dug into them to pull out one of the canisters that the alchemist had given me, and with my other hand, I grabbed one of the Jupiter glass bolts from my quiver.
Then I took a long, deep breath, but before I could open the canister, a strange sparking sound rose above the screams in the streets.
Gray and purple swirls had started to appear around the titan’s horned skull, and they looked almost like he tore portals open in the red clouds. Then demonic screams peeled through the portals, and they sounded like ten-thousand people were being tortured or killed.
I scrunched up my face and covered my ears as best I could with my hands full, but the screams just got louder and merged together until it felt like my ears were going to bleed. The haunting sound weaved through the kingdom and sent several fleeing beings to their knees, but it didn’t last for more than a minute.
Some distant estate managed to send ghoulish green jets of fire at Ignis, and the attack distracted him enough to force the portals closed again.
I shook my head hard to regain my focus despite the chaos around me, but the streets were flooding with citizens again, and I realized several of them had been forced out of their homes by flaming rocks.
Humans dashed back and forth with wild screams as they fled the area, and I saw a few sylphs jetting between buildings. Another troop of knights were moving to the west now, and I waited until a whole line of them jogged past before I turned my attention back to the canister in my hand.
My heart pounded in my ears as the titan roared Cinis’ name again, and as more shingles broke loose, I told myself I had to hurry.
If the Ember Priestess emerged before I could finish this, who knew what would become of us all?
Ignis was still making his way closer, but he wasn’t in range yet, and I’d lost a visual on him now that the taller domes around me blocked the view. I was about to abandon my spot and find a closer position, but then the rushing water below me suddenly halted.
The entire canal went completely still, and I heard a soft, lyrical voice behind me.
I whipped my head over my shoulder, and then I saw the siren.
Ephy bobbed in the perfectly still water, and she looked up at me with her teardrop eyes and a sweet smile. Her periwinkle hair clung to her wet shoulders, and her light green skin stood out in the strange red haze of Ocadia.
For a second, I thought I’d imagined her.
Cinis told me Ephy had gone to see her in the river near the Ardere, so I knew she could travel through the water, but something about seeing her within the kingdom seemed otherworldly to me. I tried not to get flustered because of the petite women who floated closer and closer, but it was difficult not to.
In all of the fiery chaos, Ephelia seemed like she was encased in tranquil energy, and it drew me to her as my heart rate steadied again.
“Ephy, what are you doing here?” I gasped as another roof caved in.
“I’ve come to see you, Dex Morgan,” the siren replied.
Her mouth slightly curled at the edges when she spoke, and her blue eyes sparkled as she swam up to the edge of the pedestal. Then she hooked her elegant hands on the stone and smiled up at me.
“I can’t be here for long,” the siren admitted. “My body is tied to the pond, but I’ve been searching for you. We saw the terror of the city through the water, and I feared for you.”
“Ephy, you aren’t safe here,” I said as my gut clenched, and I looked around as another stampede of knights ran down the street beside the canal.
“But I needed to be sure you received my message,” Ephy said with an anxious frown. “I couldn’t find you near the fountain in your estate.”
“The message you gave Cinis?” I asked.
“Yes!” The siren’s blue eyes lit up. “She found you?”
“She did,” I quickly assured the siren. “She told me of the necromancer woman, and I’m incredibly grateful to you. You helped me a lot, but right now, I--”
Suddenly, the sound of the titan’s fury broke over the town again, and I could feel the vibrations of his massive hooves treading closer.
Screams erupted behind me, and as I turned, I saw a building burst into vibrant orange flames as the roof collapsed.
Ephelia shrieked and dropped her head under the water, and I quickly ducked myself behind the statue as a few flaming stones skittered into the canal. I could see the siren’s periwinkle head peek up on my left side, and her hands were clenched beneath her chin as she shook with f
right. Then she let out a small squeak when she saw the flames build higher and higher into the sky.
“Dex Morgan, what are you doing out here?” she asked in a shaky voice. “This is not safe, and the fire is so big!”
“I’m here to kill--”
Before I could continue, Ignis’ horned skull rose up beyond the buildings to my right, and Ephelia almost screamed out loud.
She covered her lips just in time, but my heart ached a little to see how terrified she looked. The cracked and molten flesh of Ignis seemed to have shocked her so much, she didn’t even drop into the water, and I stayed perfectly still as the orange cast of the titan’s eyes turned toward us.
He looked far beyond the canal to the distant quarters of Ocadia, but then a wall of ice lances shot through the air at his skull. The attack melted yards before it could reach Ignis, and he let out a fiery laugh that made the trees near the canal shrivel and smoke.
“Don’t worry, Ephy,” I muttered as I hastily repositioned myself on the pedestal. “I’m taking care of the situation.”
“Oh, dear,” the siren whimpered. “I-I believe in you, Dex Morgan.”
The way her voice wavered made me realize she was only half-certain about this, but as I held my breath and started to open the canister, another wave of calm washed over me.
“Don’t worry. I can handle this. I think.” My hand steadied as Ephy bravely grabbed onto the pedestal ledge again, and she sent me a smile.
“I do believe in you,” the siren murmured.
I grinned at her. “Better hold your breath.”
“Why?” Ephy asked, but the canister was already open.
The siren spluttered and pinched her nose as teal steam rose from the canister and disappeared in the sky, and I carefully dipped my Jupiter glass bolt inside.
The dull purple sheen of the bolt shimmered as I turned the hooked tip around in the liquid, and when I pulled it out, I let it drip for a moment. I was relieved to see Myokos had been correct about the strength of Jupiter glass, and no part of the bolt began to corrode.