‘We didn’t exactly have a plan, did we?’ Rhyn said in reply.
He pushed a hand through his hair and looked out at the horizon. There was still some snow at the edge of the plain and covering the mountain peaks surrounding it. But more and more of the black, hot dirt was becoming visible as the snow melted. The charred earth continued to appear as the fiery hot air spread outwards. Rhyn knew it wouldn’t be long until the ripple effect reached the mountain and then advanced past the mountain range and on to the rest of his world.
Another bellow roared from within the mountain and Rhyn glanced up to see scorching red fire erupting from the peak. A violent torrent of lava spewed into the air and swelled over the rim of the mountain before it began to flow down the mountain face towards them.
Rhyn swore and gathered Sloane up in his arms, ready to run. But Jack nudged his arm, causing him to turn. The Brakys were fleeing away from them, but two lone figures could be seen charging towards them, against the panicking swell of creatures.
Rowe’s white blonde hair shone brilliantly against the deadened world surrounding her and Esther’s face was filled with determination.
‘If they can reach us in time, one of them might be able to close the rift,’ Jack said.
Rhyn glanced up at the molten lava that was pouring down the mountain behind them. It was gathering speed as it descended and it wouldn’t be long until it reached them. He turned back to watch Rowe and Esther, and beyond them, he could see Kai and Lorian and some of the Unfaih warriors helping the injured fighters up onto the large rock. His brother and the elder were safe for now, but he couldn’t say the same for Sloane’s sisters.
‘Clear them a path,’ Rhyn ordered. Jack nodded and pulled the gun from his waist. He took aim and fired into the crowd of escaping Brakys, taking down any that stood in Rowe and Esther’s way.
The two girls raced quickly across the plain, moving much faster over the crusty black earth than they would have through the deep and rutted snow. Esther was clearly slowing herself to keep pace with Rowe, who was already starting to pant and gasp for air.
‘Come on, come on,’ Rhyn whispered under his breath as he helplessly waited. Thick chunks of ash were starting to clog the sky, and as the mountain continued to rumble, angry bursts of fire began to shoot high into the air before crashing onto the plain below. They hit the ground with loud booms, sending flames and dirt flying through the air. Some of the plummeting balls of fire rained down on the hoard of Brakys, wiping out dozens of the creatures with each destructive explosion.
Rhyn felt the ground quake even more violently beneath him with every second that passed, and he could see huge cracks opening up in the scorched earth that surrounded them. One of the fractures opened up right beneath a group of Brakys, and many of the creatures tumbled into the dark crevice. Other ruptures surrounded and trapped the beasts on crumbling islands of black rock.
The world felt like it was falling apart in a violent blaze of ash, fire and fury, and Rhyn knew that no one would survive if the rift remained open much longer. Rowe and Esther had to make it. The whole of Ellysia was counting on them.
‘Did it work?’ a small voice croaked from beneath Rhyn.
His heart clenched at the sound, and he glanced down to see Sloane slowly opening her eyes. Their green glow was duller than he’d ever seen before and her face was so pale it would have matched the snow.
‘You’re awake,’ Rhyn said.
She slowly nodded, but even the small movement seemed like a struggle for her.
‘It worked, but a little too well,’ he replied. ‘We need you to close the rift again right now.’
Her brows pinched in a frown as she looked past Rhyn towards the blackened sky overhead.
‘Quickly,’ he urged, glancing over his shoulder at the molten lava that was flowing their way. It had reached the bottom of the mountain face and was starting to spread across the plain. Sloane followed his gaze, and her own eyes bulged as she saw the red-hot lava moving towards them and the angry balls of fire that hissed as they hurtled through the air overhead.
‘I don’t know if I can stand,’ she murmured. Rhyn immediately went to lift her to her feet, but even when he got her upright, Sloane’s head was still drooping, and she was struggling to move.
‘You can do this,’ Rhyn said softly.
The sound of a gunshot thundered through the air, and Sloane turned to the noise, her body becoming rigid as she looked to where Jack was shooting. A Braky dropped as a bullet lodged in its head, and Sloane saw her two sisters running towards them.
She turned back and glanced at the lava and Rhyn, fear flooding her eyes. ‘They’re not going to make it,’ she said. Her body was shaking within his grasp, and he could sense her terror in every word.
‘They will,’ he replied. ‘But you can’t focus on them right now. You need to close the rift.’
She gave him a weak nod and, with Rhyn’s help, Sloane stepped towards the glowing rift she had created. The world beyond the opening was a vibrant blue forest. It looked so peaceful and serene, and even though everything was coloured in strange cobalt tones, it was a lot more appealing than the shades of red and black that had covered Ellysia.
Sloane reached out an arm, the Oblivion Stone firmly within her grasp. Her eyes scrunched up as she pushed her hand into the rift. She was slumping despite Rhyn’s firm hold on her, and he knew that without him there she would have dropped to her knees. But her face was firm, and her brows were wrinkled tight as she attempted to close the rift by drawing its energy back into the stone.
Rhyn knew he couldn’t help her. All he could do was be there with her and hope that it was enough. His eyes widened as he looked up at the mountain once again. The lava was getting closer, and there was even more erupting from the summit and spreading out across the plain. The boiling, surging magma would soon reach the boulder and begin to engulf it, and Rhyn hugged Sloane tighter, desperately hoping that this moment wasn’t their last.
The rift hadn’t changed, but Sloane’s eyes were still squeezed tightly shut. Her face was grimaced in pain, and she was clearly struggling.
‘Here, take my hand,’ Jack shouted.
Rhyn glanced over his shoulder to see Jack leaning over the edge of the boulder, his hand held out to help pull Rowe up on top of it. Esther quickly followed her sister by leaping up the side of the rock in one bound. Rhyn let out a breath of relief that they had made it to them safely. But he worried that Sloane’s sisters had only put themselves in more danger. They had been lucky to reach the rock in time, but the lava was still drawing nearer.
Rhyn held Sloane close as the magma reached the base of the boulder. He watched as it slowly parted around the massive rock and continued on to cover the rest of the plain. Rhyn followed its progression and saw it cornering some of the Brakys who were trapped by the large fissures in the ground. He looked away before the lava engulfed the creatures, but he could hear their screeches of pain as the scolding hot sludge covered them.
He could see the lava was slowly rising, centimetre by centimetre, up the side of the boulder. The intense heat from the molten liquid was suffocating. It stung his eyes and felt like acid in his throat every time he breathed.
‘You can do this, Sloane,’ Rowe said, coming up on Sloane’s other side. She placed her arm around her twin and helped Rhyn to hold Sloane upright.
As if Rowe’s presence gave Sloane extra strength, a grunt sounded from her lips, and the glowing sparks from the rift began to recede. The opening to the strange blue world became smaller and smaller, and with it, the colour started returning to Sloane’s cheeks. She started standing a little taller, and she no longer seemed like she would drop without their support.
The rift winked out of existence, and when Sloane opened her eyes again, the bright green hue had returned to them. Sloane’s eyes were focused only on Rhyn, and for a brief moment, he forgot about the destruction that was tearing apart the world around them. All he needed was standing right
in front of him, and his heart swelled with love as he watched her.
‘It’s working,’ Jack yelled, causing Rhyn to turn and look out over the plain.
The air around him had turned frigid again, sending a chill down his spine. As he looked around the boulder, Rhyn could see the lava steaming as the freezing air hit it. The glowing torrent of magma hissed, the bright orange glow dimmed, and the lava slowly turned to hardened, blackened rock as it rapidly cooled.
Rhyn watched as the frozen air spread wider. The ground beneath them stopped quaking, and even the rumblings from the mountain started to subside. The blackened clouds overhead thinned out, allowing a touch of the clear sky overhead to return. His familiar winter world was back, and yet it was not the same. The blackened earth and the hardened lava beneath them remained, an ugly scar of the violence they’d just survived.
‘You did it,’ Rowe said, before pulling Sloane into a hug. Rhyn watched the two sisters grip each other tightly; as if they were worried they might fall apart if they let go of each other.
He glanced away from them towards the rock where Lorian and Kai were still perched. The two of them clambered to the ground together before tiredly starting to trek across the distance that separated them. There were only a handful of Unfaih warriors walking beside them, the rest having been lost in the battle against the Brakys.
As he thought of the creatures, Rhyn searched the area for any sign of them. He had seen many perish in the fiery hell the opening of the rift had caused, but he was surprised he couldn’t see any of the creatures left on the plain. They couldn’t all have been killed, and he suspected they had been attempting to escape back down into the ravine. Some may have made it safely back to their lair.
He let out a long breath as he looked at the ruined land before him. The landscape had been completely altered, and even a heavy snowfall might not be enough to completely cover the damaged plain. It was a powerful reminder of the danger of opening and closing rifts.
‘Do you hear that?’ Sloane asked.
Rhyn turned in her direction, and she nodded towards the rift that still glowed softly in the distance. As Rhyn focused on it, he began to hear what Sloane was talking about. The sound of clashing metal and the bellows of roaring men reached his ears. There was fighting on the other side of the rift, but the noise dulled as something coming out of the rift distracted him. Two figures stepped through the opening, into Ellysia. They were Brakys, and Rhyn’s gaze immediately locked onto the tallest one. The massive creature stood in front of the rift, a glowing green stone shining brightly against its chest.
Sloane was clearly focused on the other one though because out of the corner of his eye Rhyn noticed her reach out and grab Rowe by the hand.
‘It’s the Captain,’ Sloane murmured. ‘Our father has become a Braky.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sloane’s eyes were wide as she looked at her father. He was nothing like the man who had tried to kill her the last time they met. That’s if she could even call him a man now. His sun-touched tan had disappeared, and his skin seemed to be in the process of turning the same shiny black colour as the creature that stood beside him. His face and arms were a sickly grey colour, and scaly patches of glossy black skin already coated his hands. His once slick blonde hair had turned a ghostly white colour, and it had grown so it fell down over his forehead and around his neck.
Though it was torn and shredded, the Captain’s uniform still hung from his body, revealing bulging muscles that hadn’t been there weeks ago. He’d clearly drunk the Liftsal, like one of the originals, as he looked far stronger and more menacing than any of the normal Brakys Sloane had fought.
He stood with the Original Braky and surveyed the ruined world they’d arrived in. Both their faces were completely expressionless, and Sloane wondered if they were surprised by the devastation surrounding them. Had they been close enough to the rift on Aeris to hear the chaos that opening a rift had caused in Ellysia, or had they returned to check on their trap? Sloane couldn’t care less what the creatures thought; all she wanted to know was what was happening on Aeris.
The sight of the Captain made Sloane’s stomach churn with anger. Her whole body was pulsing with rage, and she could feel the emotion building within her as it became something dark and twisted. She’d always wanted to stop the Captain from doing terrible things, but right now she craved more than that. She wanted to end him, and the intensity of the desire was both driving her and scaring her.
Rowe gave her hand a squeeze and Sloane tore her gaze from the Captain to look at her sister. ‘That’s not our father anymore,’ Rowe said.
Sloane stared deep into Rowe’s eyes as she spoke, trying to understand what she meant. Was she giving Sloane permission to kill him?
She eventually nodded. Rowe was right. The Captain had changed. Sloane had always thought he was an evil man, but now he had freely allowed himself to become a creature of darkness. Sloane finally understood that he had been on this path ever since her mother had died. His quest to control the Liftsal had turned him into a monster. One who would see the beauty of Rhyn’s world wiped away and replaced by brutality and terror.
Sloane faced the two Brakys once more and her heart filled with resolve. She had been too weak to stand only a few minutes before, but her body now pulsed with the energy she’d absorbed from the rift. She could feel the Oblivion Stone humming from where it rested against her chest, and she knew that it could give her the power to stop her father once and for all. She just needed the courage to take her first step.
‘You deal with the Original,’ she said, glancing in Rhyn’s direction. ‘Let me handle the Captain.’
Rhyn looked hesitant to agree, and like he wanted to shield Sloane and keep her from any more fighting. But the battle wasn’t over, and Sloane refused to hide. She didn’t wait for him to respond, and she jumped down from the boulder in one mighty leap.
She landed on the hardened volcanic rock in a crouch, before rising and sprinting towards the rift. She could sense Rhyn right behind her, and the others were scrambling to follow them too.
The Original Braky stood waiting, his body languid as he watched her racing towards them. He made no move to prepare for their attack and simply stood there staring at them with confidence radiating from his blood red eyes. Sloane was only focused on the Captain though, who stepped out in front of the Original Braky. His body moved with animalistic fluidity as he took a defensive posture and waited for Sloane to approach.
As she drew closer, Sloane could see the Captain’s transformation more clearly. His eyes had turned blood red in colour and his fingers now curled around into fierce-looking claws. In his terrifying eyes, Sloane could see a look of triumph as his gaze landed on the glowing stone around her neck.
A snarl ripped from his throat, his mouth opening to reveal long, jagged teeth that were dripping with blood. Sloane didn’t want to think about whose blood it was. Considering she could hear a battle raging on the other side of the rift, she knew it must be one of her people. He had done more than turn on his own kind. He was out to destroy them.
Her ears began to roar with the anger that pumped through her body. Her veins started to scorch as they pulsed with a desire for vengeance. Everything else in the world faded into darkness as she focused on the one man who had tried to destroy them all—the man who had caused her mother’s death.
She lifted her sword up as she closed in on him. ‘Burn,’ she whispered, the fire in her veins throbbing through her hands and towards the weapon. The blade erupted in bright orange flames, and a battle cry rumbled from deep within her chest as she brought it down upon the creature before her.
The Captain raised his hand, and his claws clashed against the sword with a resounding clamour. In the same movement, he booted a kick into Sloane’s side. She felt the impact against her gut but absorbed the energy from the blow, so it didn’t send her flying through the air.
In a fiery clash of claws and metal the two of t
hem fought. Sloane was fast, but the Captain was just as quick as her and just as strong. Their movements blurred into a seamless series of strikes and blocks. The flames barely seemed to bother the Captain as he used his claws and the thick scales on his hands to deflect every blow she swung at him. He slashed back at her with renewed fury each and every time.
One of his strikes broke past her defences and narrowly missed her head as she ducked and rolled to the side. She heard a howling screech come from the rift. She looked up to see the Original Braky calling out as Rhyn and the others approached him. Responding to his hideous call, at least ten Brakys rushed through the rift and ran past their leader to meet his attackers.
Sloane saw Rhyn draw his sword and Jack raise his gun. Rowe already had an arrow nocked to her bow and Esther had pulled her sword from its scabbard. In the distance, Sloane could see Lorian and Kai racing across the blackened plateau towards them, but they were still some way off. She desperately wanted to run to her sisters’ aid, but she had her own fight to win. She had to trust that Rhyn would keep her friends and family safe.
She tore her eyes from the other Brakys and leapt to her feet just as the Captain threw himself towards her again. She dodged to one side and slashed at his stomach, landing a blow that sent him crashing into the ground. As she listened to the crack of Jack’s gun, the screeches of the Brakys and the clash of swords on flesh behind her, she felt the urge to finish her father as quickly as possible.
He climbed to his feet and touched his clawed hand to his side where Sloane and struck him. The skin was singed from the fire of her sword, and black blood was gathering at the small wound she had caused. It was barely a scratch on the Captain’s blackening skin though, and he grinned as he looked up at his daughter.
‘You lied to us,’ she yelled, as she paced towards him, raising her sword again as she moved to land another blow. ‘About everything.’
The Captain darted out of range though, an evil smile upon his lips.
The Rift War Page 30