My eyes widened at the drop. We were on the very edge of a sky city. In the dark, I couldn’t even see the ground below her. I stabilized myself and crouched down to grab her wrist. Wind buffeted us, rocking her feet as they hung limply beneath her. I could already hear the sounds of our pursuers growing louder, but there wasn’t time to think of that. Somehow, I knew we had something important with us – I had something important with me – that couldn’t get into their hands.
“Leave me,” Haskell whispered, but I shook my head, grabbing her arm tighter and pulling upward.
“Never.”
Her other hand slipped and she lost her grip, sending me sprawling forward at the sudden weight. I caught my balance and pulled, the grip of my hands on hers the only thing holding her from death.
I felt a mental nudge against me and I gritted my teeth, pulling harder. Another nudge - rougher this time – left me seeing stars and grunting as I fought dizziness and Haskell’s weight all at once. I couldn’t drop her. I couldn’t let that happen.
The next blow hit me so hard that I spun wildly from Hubric’s head. I seemed to be looking from far away. Hubric lost his grip and Haskell fell away, silent still despite her fate – like an angel flying in the wrong direction.
The look on Hubric’s face tore through me like the tip of a spear. Horror and loss left his eyes hollow. His hand reached up to clutch his chest, his mouth working though no words or scream escaped it.
I blinked, and I was back to the Kah’deem, tears streaming down my face. I was on both knees, shaking like a leaf, but this time the physical pain was nothing to what I was feeling in my heart. I’d betrayed him. Unwillingly, certainly, but I had. No wonder so many leaders had gone insane gripping these handles. No wonder some had died.
Hold on, Amel. Don’t give up.
But I had to give up, didn’t I? Because who was left? Only Savette. And if I let the Ifrit take her choices from her, then all was lost.
But if you give up, he will be the only one left to make those choices. You have to stop him!
No. I couldn’t. I needed to just let go.
STOP HIM
Was I imagining things, or had a Troglodyte just spoken to me?
I didn’t have time to find out.
Chapter Twenty
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it.
And then I was standing on a hill, the wind whipping my hair around me as my soldiers fought on every side. We were outnumbered and surrounded. Cold wind and rain slashed through my light dress and tabard, but I stood tall. They couldn’t see me flinch. It would make them quaver, too.
An Ifrit attack plunged deep into the heart of my lines around the crown of the hill. I heard the shouts first and then the clash of metal on metal. I spun, raising my hands, feeling the truth fill me. This must not hap-
Control was wrested from me by the Ifrit, but I fought back. How did he do it the first time? He’d nudged me. The battlefield was in chaos as Ifrits burst up from all sides. Soldiers – some Dominion just like us, others Baojang – attacked, rolling over our battle lines and breaching the defenses. Screams surrounded me as our men and women fell before them. A burst of Red dragons swooped past, flaming at the Ifrits in a complicated maneuver as beautiful as it was useless, against the terrifying foes. If the Ifrit had Savette there would be no hope.
He doesn’t have me. He is simply blocking me.
Was that her?
Who else would it be?
But she was fading. She fell to her knees, sweat breaking out along her forehead. As the light began to fade from Savette’s eyes, I pushed back mentally as hard as I could, thinking about Savette. She thought of the world in complicated tangles. She saw truth in everything. What was the truth here?
Unbidden, the words of the prophecy came to me, In the dark of night in the heat of battle, in the fire and flood, mercy comes. The strength of a friend to fight off demons, at the push of an ally, the enemy runs.
There was a prophecy about me! How could it mean anything else? I pushed with all my might, thrusting the Ifrit aside. Savette – me – surged to my feet, light springing to my fingertips. I directed it at the nearest Ifrit, not pausing to watch him explode to dust before focusing on the next, and the next, and the next. I felt the Ifrit battering at my mind, but I didn’t need to work to keep him out. He was never meant to be in this mind. He had no place here. I did. I was the friend who was here to lend strength.
Minute flowed into minute as I fought, watching as our people rallied, surrounding a white banner. The golden sun rose over a hill on the field of white and as it rose back into the air, our soldiers pushed back at the enemy. There were still too few of us – far too few. I slammed the force of Truth into the last Ifrit, a slight smile spreading across my face. Better to die here than anywhere else. Wait. That would mean the Chosen One would die. The smile faded.
A cry rose up from our flank and I spun to see what it was. A new attack? But no, that sounded like cheering. I spun in the other direction as a burst of cheers broke out in front of me. All along our perimeter, groups of people were joining us. They materialized out of nowhere like sudden rain on a sunny day. I didn’t have time to marvel, didn’t have time to join the cheer. I glimpsed – far away – a familiar face – Leng! – before I was swept back to my own reality, the Kah’deem.
I knew I was still there because of the pain washing over me. But no. I couldn’t look, couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything more.
Open your eyes.
It was too much. I couldn’t handle even one more thing.
Open them!
Opening my eyes was like trying to pry open a chest. Eventually, they opened to a slit just in time to see the Ifrit opposite me burst into a cloud of crystalline dust. Dawn was creeping up over the horizon. It had taken us all night. I opened my mouth to cheer or speak – or do something – but it was dust dry and all I made was a quiet croak.
Hurry!
Why hurry now? My opponents were gone. Collapsed, or disintegrated. But I couldn’t ignore the urgency in Raolcan’s tone. I twisted the handle, feeling the spikes dig deeper into my tender hand. The last cage around the artifact fell free and with a shing sound, the artifact sprang up out of the rock. I reached out my other hand and grabbed it.
Use it! Use it now!
And then, finally, I looked up.
Raolcan was at my side, hunched low as if to defend me. Someone had thrown Rakturan over his back. Jalla stood beside him, spear and sword ready, eyes full of violence. And no wonder. Her warriors surrounded the platform, but the men brought by the Crescent Prince had their own weapons drawn.
I drew a breath. Had there been blood shed yet?
Any moment now....
The first Ifrit in the line of Ifrits took a step forward and as if it was the sound of the trumpet, there was a cry from the Crescent Prince’s men and they rushed forward to clash and clatter against our warriors.
I let go of the spiked handle, tearing up at the pain in my shredded hand. No time to bandage it. The Ifrits rushed toward us – a line of dust and horror. I lifted the artifact. Now that it was free it felt - strange – almost as if it were alive. I could almost swear it was moving in my hand. But it was still a musical instrument.
Without knowing what else to do, I lifted it to my lips and blew a single note. Though I didn’t know what to expect, if I had guessed, it would not be what happened next. There was a roar of wind all around us. Sand whipped up, clogging my eyes, filling my ears, I pulled the artifact from my mouth and covered my face with my arm, holding my elbow over my eyes.
The howling seemed endless. Minute flowed into minute until the roar stilled and the battering of the wind died down.
You can open your eyes now.
The Ifrits had disappeared. Their human allies stood gaping – as shocked as we were.
Jalla snatched the instrument from my lips, a smile on her face. “I’ll take that, slave.”
Read more of Amel’s story in Dragon
School: Pipe of Wings.
Dragon School_Ancient Allies Page 7