Avondale V

by Toby Neighbors

  They were pacing back toward the command deck when Lexi suddenly seemed to lose her balance and leaned heavily on Tiberius. He caught and held her, trying not to panic. Lexi’s eyes were shut tight, and she gripped his arms hard. Then she opened her eyes.

  “Are you—”

  “We’re almost there!” Lexi said.

  “What?”

  “Avondale,” Lexi said. “We’ll be in sight of the mountain soon. And there’s…”—she closed her eyes again—“a settlement or camp of some kind at the base of the mountain.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Tiberius ran to the bow of the ship once Lexi seemed stable on her own. He knew that Dancer could share mental images with her or let her see through the little animal’s enhanced vision. He leaned on the railing of the ship just in front of the catapult, straining to see anything he could recognize. He thought that maybe he could make out the river that ran along the plains not far from the base of the mountain, but even that was too far away to see clearly.

  “Ultimus Conspectus,” he whispered.

  Suddenly his eyesight shot ahead, past the river, which came into focus and then out of focus again as his vision raced ahead. The mountain came into view. It was green at the bottom and rose up, changing to rocky browns and reds as it neared the thick blanket of mist that covered the blighted lands. Lexi was right—there was a settlement at the bottom of the mountain. He could see soldiers standing watch and hundreds of small tents. The Hamill Keep sky ship was tethered to the ground, as well, and there were people congregating in groups all over the area.

  “I can’t believe it,” Tiberius said.

  “What do you think it is?”

  “It’s not Hoskali,” Tiberius said. “Those are my father’s soldiers standing guard. And the sky ship from Hamill Keep.”

  “Do you think the countess has taken a group of people down the mountain?” Lexi asked.

  “Someone has, but it’s hard to imagine the countess doing anything other than complaining.”

  Tiberius gave the captain instructions to descend, and the ship slowly moved down toward the ground far below. The river came into view first, and then the camp. The people in the camp moved quickly to take cover in the large sky ship from Hamill Keep, but Tiberius had the ship settle away from the camp. He was just getting ready to make his way down the rope ladder when Lexi grabbed his shoulder.

  “Look,” she said pointing. “It’s Olyva.”

  Tiberius looked up and saw the tall noble-born lady hurrying toward them. Even from a distance, Tiberius could tell that she seemed different. There were more patches of the small brown twigs on her exposed skin, and she was moving differently, almost as if she were moving through water.

  “Olyva!” he shouted. “I’m coming down.”

  “No, wait!” she shouted back.

  He sat on the railing with one leg in the ship and one on the rope ladder. The war ship was only about ten feet off the ground and still moving slightly despite the captain’s best efforts to bring the vessel to a halt. Mount Avondale loomed in front of them, growing larger by the second and making them all a little nervous that they wouldn’t be able to stop the ship from crashing.

  “The city is under attack!” Olyva shouted as she drew closer. “Leonosis sent his war fleet.”

  “When?” Tiberius asked.

  “Two days ago. Your father stalled him until yesterday morning, but there’s been no word from the city since.”

  Tiberius turned to Lexi. “I have to go up,” he said.

  “I’m going too,” she assured him.

  “We’re going up,” Tiberius called to Olyva, who was at the bottom of the ship.

  “I’m coming with you,” she replied, pulling herself up the swaying ladder.

  Tiberius swung his leg back over the railing, and then he and Lexi helped Olyva onto the deck of the ship. She looked a little sheepish and was out of breath, but she smiled at them both.

  “It’s good to see you again,” she said.

  “And you as well,” Tiberius replied. Then he turned to the captain. “Take us up, into the mist.”

  “Aye, my lord,” the captain said, before calling out orders to the soldiers who manned the war ship.

  “Did you find the stone?” Olyva asked.

  “We found it,” Tiberius admitted. “But it no longer has any power.”

  Olyva’s face fell. “I led the evacuees down the mountain. Actually there were so few willing to leave the city that we sailed down in my father’s ship. Rafe stayed to oversee the defense of the city.”

  “Was Leonosis with his fleet?”

  Olyva nodded.

  The next hour was tense. The soldiers who manned the war ship had been excited by the wonders of the blighted lands, and morale was high. But now, the news of the attack and seeing the evacuee camp made them nervous. No one knew what to expect from the city, and everyone was afraid that all they would find would be carnage and death.

  “Send Dancer back up,” Tiberius said. “We have to know what we’re facing.”

  Lexi nodded, and the little wind glider jumped from her shoulder and onto Lexi’s hands. One toss sent the tiny animal flying out and away from the war ship. Dancer spread its little legs, stretching the thin layer of hairless skin between them and catching an updraft, which lifted the tiny creature. Tiberius marveled at Dancer’s uncanny ability to sense movements in the air and ride them as effortlessly as if Tiberius could hop onto the back of a hay wagon.

  The war ship had just entered the barrier of mist that covered the blighted lands when Dancer sent Lexi the first images she saw of Avondale. Lexi closed her eyes, taking Tiberius’ hands to steady herself.

  “The king’s ships are all tied down around the city,” Lexi reported. “It looks like they’re empty.”

  “They must have sent their soldiers over the walls.”

  “No,” Lexi said, her voice sounding incredulous. “They’ve destroyed a section of the wall. It’s unbelievable. And the wall is black. It took an incredible beating.”

  “Leonosis must have used his fire bombs on the city walls,” Tiberius said.

  Lexi was quiet for a few moments, then she gasped again. “The king’s soldiers have surrounded the palace.”

  Lexi opened her eyes, but she looked worried.

  “Did you see Rafe?” Olyva asked.

  “He was on the roof of the palace with the earl,” Lexi said. “And King Leonosis was approaching the palace.”

  “We can’t trust him,” Tiberius said. “We have to get there as fast as we can. Flabra!”

  Wind burst from the portal propelling the ship up the mountain and through the mist so fast it looked as if the war ship were a fish leaping from the water of a lake.

  "You can damn well warn me before you do that next time!” shouted the captain.

  The soldiers scrambled to level the ship out as Tiberius let the spell die. The ship slowed, and the city walls were visible.

  “Captain, those war ships may come after you,” Tiberius said.

  “Let ‘em! We’ll show those bastards a thing or two.”

  “Get me on the wall,” Tiberius said. “As close to the palace as possible. And then give me a distraction, but don’t put the ship in danger.”

  “I never do, my lord,” he shouted, before launching into a curse-filled tirade aimed at a soldier who let one of the ship’s sails luff.

  The ship came in low and turned so that the vessel was sailing next to the wall. It came up slowly and then slipped over the top of the wall. Tiberius was already on the rope ladder and only had to drop a few feet from the bottom of the boat to the top of the wall. Lexi and Olyva were following, and the captain kept the ship directly over the wall, following the curve perfectly. There were no soldiers on the blackened, cracked surface of the wall, and the massive battlement’s condition made Tiberius feel ill, but he had no time to worry about it. He ran toward Lexi, who was close to a set of stone stairs
that led down to the city.

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t stay on the wall?” Lexi asked.

  “We have to get to the palace and help. We’ll be sitting ducks up on the wall, but on the streets we can use the buildings for cover.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Lexi said.

  Tiberius glanced at her. She was running behind him, hand in hand with Olyva, who was struggling to keep up. Her feet seemed larger and her arms and legs stiff, where she had always been agile and graceful before. Her condition piqued his curiosity, but he didn’t have time to ask her about the changes.

  “If we can take out Leonosis—” Tiberius started to explain, but Olyva suddenly stopped running, her face growing white and her eyes opening wide with fear.

  Lexi turned and looked at the noble-born woman, and Tiberius felt his skin prickle with fear.

  “We have to get them out,” Olyva said. “The mountain is going to erupt at any moment.”

  Tiberius wanted to scream with frustration, but then he realized that perhaps he could use the eruption to his advantage. He turned toward the wall. A narrow alley ran between two buildings, and then the wall towered up high overhead.

  “Here’s what we’ve got to do,” Tiberius said. “Lexi, you have to distract Leonosis.”

  “How?” she asked.

  “Tell him you know where I’m hiding.”

  “He won’t believe me,” she said.

  “You have to make him believe you. Olyva, you find a way to get the war band and Earl Ageus back to this alley—can you do that?”

  She nodded.

  “There will be a tunnel leading out of the city.”

  “A tunnel?” Olyva asked.

  “Straight through the wall, trust me.”

  Olyva nodded again, and both women hurried away. Tiberius walked quickly down the alley. It was wide enough for two men to walk side by side, but the alley was lined with trash and other debris. Tiberius ignored the alley and focused on the wall. The huge defensive battlement that ran around the entire city of Avondale was several feet thick at the top and more than twice that thickness at the bottom. Still, if Olyva was right about the mountain, then the wall was more of a danger to the people inside the city than out. Tiberius guessed that Leonosis would have left men guarding the main gates and even the hole he’d somehow managed to blow into the wall on the far side of city. The Avondale war band didn’t have time to fight their way out or traverse around the city. The alley was less than a quarter mile from the palace, and if Olyva could get the soldiers out of the palace, then she could get them to the tunnel he was planning to make and down the mountain safely.

  “Conflo Fervefacio Aestifer,” Tiberius chanted.

  There was no need to hold back the awesome power of the crucible spell. Tiberius let the incredible heat pound into the wall. The backlash was so blisteringly hot that Tiberius was forced backward, but after a few steps, he stopped, and it was the wall that gave ground. The huge blocks of stone were already glowing bright red, but all at once they lost their shape and began flowing back, away from the city and out a large hole on the far side of the wall.

  Tiberius adjusted his focus, enlarging the hole and making sure that it was big enough for the soldiers to pass through two at a time. Then, once the cavernous hole was finished, Tiberius stepped back, leaning down with his hands on his knees. Working the spell hadn’t been all that difficult. There was so little need for control that he hadn’t struggled with the spell at all, but the intense heat had sapped his strength. His entire body was soaked in sweat, and he felt shaky.

  “Flabra!” he said loudly, opening up a portal of wind that swept through the alley and out the new hole in the wall. The super-heated stone was much too hot for a person to walk through and would have taken hours to cool down on its own, but the wind carried the heat away. Tiberius turned, facing the wind that billowed past him and out of the city. He raised his arms and let the air cool his body. The sweat felt cold and then quickly vanished, the red hot stone turned black, then a dark brown as the stone cooled.

  There were shouts and screams coming from the direction of the palace. Tiberius looked up, saw Dancer circling above him, and hurried out of the alley. He had to find Lexi now and face his brother. It was not a confrontation he was looking forward to, but all he needed to do was keep Leonosis in the city long enough. The volcano would do the real work, and then, even if Tiberius was lost with his brother, the kingdom would be safe.

  For the first time, he really thought about dying. It scared him, but at the same time, he felt confident that he was doing the right thing. He didn’t want to bid Lexi farewell, or Rafe and Olyva, but he felt good about the knowledge that they would be safe. Avondale might fall, but the city could be rebuilt. And Tiberius could live with that, even if it meant he had to die.

  Chapter 39

  Rafe

  His men hurried to find a way for Rafe to get down from the palace rooftop. He knew that Leonosis couldn’t be trusted, and there was no way he was going to remove the heavy beams locking the main entrance just to open the door to get out of the palace.

  “We found a rope ladder,” said one of the officers. “Will that do?”

  “It will have to,” Rafe said.

  He wished more than ever that Tiberius was there with him. Rafe had faced dangerous men in combat, but his skill was such that he didn’t fear another man, one on one with a sword. But something powerful, beyond what Rafe could even fathom, had torn down the city wall. Perhaps it was Leonosis, perhaps his queen, or some other sinister being that had yet to be discovered, but there was one thing Rafe was certain of—he wouldn’t just be fighting a man with a sword.

  “He is not here,” Earl Ageus shouted. He was leaning out over the edge of the wall, looking down on his son. Rafe thought he could hear a note of desperation in his voice.

  “Then I shall darken the city with your blood, old man,” Leonosis snarled.

  Rafe flung the end of the long rope ladder over the edge and swung himself out over the wall.

  “Not if I have anything to say about it!” he shouted.

  The men of Avondale were cheering in earnest now, shouting and whistling. Rafe stopped about halfway down the ladder and raised one hand.

  “Men of Avondale,” he shouted. “Hear me now.”

  He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but he knew he was going to his death, and this was his last chance to encourage the men who had fought so hard for him. He cleared his throat, hoping that his nerves didn’t get the best of his voice. He was just about to speak when he saw a little animal circling in the air, far behind Leonosis. It was watching them but staying out of sight of the troops on the ground who were staring up at the palace. It was a small animal, but it filled Rafe with hope. He could almost hear the chattering trill of Lexi’s little pet and he knew his friends were nearby.

  “We have not just fought a rogue king this day,” Rafe shouted. “We have stood against evil itself. And years from now, when people tell the story of our lives, they will swell with pride at the courage, strength, and resolve of our city. Many of us may die today, but none of us will ever be forgotten. Follow your earl now, and be strong. Obey Earl Ageus and your officers as if you were obeying the sword master of Avondale himself.”

  “Come down,” called Leonosis. “Are you a politician now, set to bore us to death with your words?”

  He waved a hand, and the rope strands just above Rafe’s hands began to break. He hurried, trying to climb down, and was almost close enough to jump when the rope above him parted. He felt the rope ladder give way, and he spread his feet. The impact was sudden and harder than Rafe expected, but he let his knees buckle and threw himself forward, moving with the momentum rather than trying to resist it. He rolled over one shoulder and came up on his feet, drawing his sword in one smooth movement that brought a raucous cheer from the palace.

  There were men between Leonosis and Rafe, all with weapons drawn. Rafe was not wearing armor or even a
helmet, and the soldiers could have fallen on him en masse, but they held their ground. He almost thought he saw a grudging respect in their eyes.

  “You fall well, whelp,” Leonosis said. “It seems I shall have the pleasure of banishing you not only from Avondale, but from this life, as well.”

  “The only pleasure you’ll find is the sweet taste of steel, Leonosis.”

  “My, my, my, your tongue is sharp, but your common sense is as dull as this conversation. Make way for the dead son of a legend.”

  The soldiers parted, but Rafe stayed where he was. Leonosis stared at him; his eyes were dull and glassy, but they studied him so intently that the poor health of the king seemed almost like an act.

  “This is your last chance, brave warriors from Sparlan Citadel,” Rafe shouted. “Flee the city, and you shall live.”

  Some of the men laughed, but most didn’t. Rafe could see them gritting their teeth in indecision. He had seen enough death, and while the king’s soldiers were at that moment his enemies, they were also his countrymen. He didn’t want to see them die, but he couldn’t save them if they wouldn’t turn on their king.

  “Run!” he screamed.

  A few of the soldiers stumbled back, then the first bomb hit. Tiberius’ war ship was hovering several hundred feet away; only its bulbous balloon sail was visible, but the bomb that came hurtling toward the palace was all too easy to see as it left a trail of greasy black smoke in its wake. The bomb crashed into the back of the formation of soldiers. There was a wide plaza in front of the earl’s palace, and Rafe guessed that nearly three hundred soldiers were lined up in formation, waiting for orders to attack. Two dozen were hit by the thick oil and burned alive. Several others were wounded by the attack.

  Chaos erupted. There were screams of pain, shouts of panic, cheering by the men in the palace, and then, as several of the king’s soldiers moved to attack Rafe, a volley of crossbow bolts fell into the men closest to him. Most of the soldiers were running, looking for cover from either the crossbow attack or the fire bombs. It reminded Rafe of an ant hill that had been kicked by a child. The surprised ants would scurry around in a manic fashion, and the king’s soldiers seemed to be doing the same thing.