I felt the darkness call to . Sohow, I knew, even in the addled depths of my mind, that all I had to do was breathe, and it would all be over. Just open my mouth and suck in, and I could go back to a different ti. It had been so peaceful. Studying, learning magic, making new friends. The childhood I never had. The enclave was a civilized place. So different from Uskar.
Only sothing had happened that changed all that. Sothing. I couldnt quite put my finger on it. I didnt want things to change.
But. Another concept took hold, almost too abstract to cling onto.
What if I didnt co back this ti. I didnt want to die. I couldnt die. There was soone I was supposed to protect. A promise I made. A resolve fird within .
I didnt want to die.
My head struck sothing hard and cold. My vision returned. I was floating imrsed in water. The mories ca back in a flash of panic. I dove into the water, and sothing exploded.
A long layer of ice had ford over the surface of the lake, covering my head. My breath burned in my chest, begging for release. Beside , a dark shape struggled, pounding at the ice.
Blackened hands, fingers breaking
I pushed the mory away, turning inward, finding my center. It occurred to suddenly that Id drank a potion of iron lung. I didnt need to breathe, I just wanted to. I swam over to the struggling shape beneath the water. Overhead, countless projectiles flew back and forth. The ones descending a higher elevation must be coming from the towerwhich ant the lower ones were whatever was left of Ralakoss n, firing from the shore.
I reached the struggling shape, darting backwards when they tried to cling on to . Extending my hand out so it was clear to see, I called the fla, holding it to the ice above us. It burned a hole clean through. I widened it a bit, and guided him to itit was Relyre, I thinkthen burned another hole in the ice for myself.
Air never tasted so sweet.
I spotted another struggling dark shapeNephdosand did the sa for him, and then guided him over to where Relyre was.
Slowly, carving holes as we went, we moved slowly towards the shore. We made it about half-way. Nephdos was still in a full-blown panic, clawing at the holes, trying desperately to get out when the ice cracked in a dull spiderweb of cracks and fissures.
Fuck.
The response was imdiate. A spear of magma crashed into the ice, crushing Nephdos and bringing the surrounding water to an imdiate boil. My face and arms stung and blistered. I kicked away, Relyre beside . Sothing ca up behind us in a blur and touched my back. I was propelled forward, body cresting the surface and slamming back into it as a jet of water propelled forward, gagging and sputtering until I hit the shore, rolling up on it in a tangle of limbs.
An infernal man I didnt recognize dragged up by the back of my armor and pulled towards the rounded bubble Erdos and his n stood inso sort of perable shield they cast spells through. I hacked and coughed up water. From the side, another man ran up my rescuer and tackled him to the ground, stabbing him over and over as he scread, glowing orange particles ebbing and flowing as he tried to form a spell, his arm eventually falling slack and extending towards .
A fireball hit maybe a yard away, catapulting to the side. I landed badly, my elbow smashing into my ribs, and sothing cracked. The ringing in my ears deafened and for a mont I panicked, spinning around, looking for Thoth amongst the carnage, before realizing how moronic that was. She wasnt here. If she were, Id already be dead.
I staggered towards the bubble. The man who had killed my rescuer shoved down. He was an infernal: a red, his eyes full of hate. His hands wrapped around my throat and began to squeeze. I gagged, little purple motes floating in my vision.
A pressurized blade of water struck him upside the face, tearing away his skin and revealing his teeth. He looked at , surprised, before falling back onto the stone.
I stared at him for a mont in shock, a piece of the puzzle finally sticking out to in all the chaos. Slowly, my eyes focused on a dozen n running down the beach towards us.
Why were other infernals attacking us?
Then a pair of rough arms yanked backward. Relyre and Urish together, both still dripping with water. Relyre raised both hands. The stony ground jutted upwards, cutting us off from the incoming assault. I collapsed inside the bubble, drawing breath after ragged breath. Artillery spells still pelted the barrier, thudding booms muffled within the do.
What the fuck is happening? I yelled at Erdos.
The hells if I know! Erdos yelled back, his expression grim.
Whose n are those?
Theyre sigil-less. No colors. Which ans this is soones idea of an unsanctioned operation. Now pipe down. Erdos chewed his lip. I need to think. The impromptu stone wall to our left began to shudder, bits of rock falling away. Another massive blue projectile impacted the do and it began to crack.
Erdos finally ca to a decision. Urish, get a smokescreen up. Urish began to cast, pulling chunks of earth into the air and slamming his hands together, grinding them into a fine dust that spread and thickened until it ford a thick canopy between us and the tower. It had to be constantly maintained, as the incoming projectiles would send the dust swirling in miniature tornadoes. Erdos shifted towards Urish. Get the prince out of here.
What? Why? I stared at Erdos.
Too many questions. Erdos reached up with glowing white hands, attempting to smooth the cracks out of the shield but only partially succeeding. Soones trying to start a war. Avoiding thats worth any price.
How am I supposed to get him out? Relyre was looking around wildly, panic in his eyes, not fully recovered from the close call in the lake.
Want to wipe your ass, too? Erdos pointed at the tall sheer wall of the cave behind us. Make a damn door.
I didnt want to leave them. But the do wouldnt hold for long. Staying ant certain death and I had no idea how far back it would take . I needed to make sure people in the enclave knew what happened.
So, when Relyre pulled with him, I ran. Relyre tore open a narrow hole in the cavern wall, the earth groaning as it sealed shut behind us.
----
My hands were still shaking after hours in the tunnel. I had a cracked rib, and my left hip hitched with every step, giving a debilitating limp.
It wasnt a fast process. Relyre would focus on the stone in front of us, small fissures building until it finally cracked open. I used my fla to give him light, but without anything to set on fire the illumination was dismal at best. Relyre had so analysis thod to detect parallel caverns in the earthaning we at least knew we were heading towards sothingbut that just ant we were being efficient. It didnt do anything to speed up our actual process. He collapsed, panting, spent once again. I reached into my satchel and fished out another stamina potion, handing it to him.
He took it, bemused. You have a whole apothecary in there?
That was the last one.
Damn for asking, Relyre said. His face was covered in a thin film of dust he no longer bothered to wipe off. We might be close enough that it dont matter.
Might?
Might, Relyre confird, Its closer than it was before, but farther than Id like it to be.
I silently reminded myself that the man was saving my life, and it was incredibly improper to go on angry tirades on the subject of specificity to soone in the process of doing you that large of a favor. So instead, pressed my back against the wall as he ditated and tried to regain so mana of my own.
Finally, I couldnt take the silence anymore. Do you think Erdos is dead?
Hes a cantankerous old geezer, but Relyres face sagged. There sure were a lot of them.
Relyre stood and tore the tunnel asunder, finally leading us out of the claustrophobic tunnel into a surface cave. We were still deep in the known cave network, but it felt a damn sight safer compared to where we ca from.
Guemon. I didnt share my suspicions, but it had to be him. I was honestly surprised he hadnt taken a swipe at earlier. The bastard had bided his ti well, but he made a mistake underestimating the sense of duty upheld by Ralakoss n. I started to strategize, running through the most efficient ways to run him into the ground, cursing my lack of foresight for distancing myself from infernal politics since the trial.
I was so deep in thought I ran straight into Relyres back.
Relyre? Whats
Words left . My gut twisted, awash in nausea. The cavern mouth was elevated by around a hundred feet, providing a full view of the enclave. Above the city, the artificial sun had shifted to a vivid crimson, dyeing the city in bloody rays.
A thousand dark shapes infested the city like insects.
The enclave was overrun.
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