Page 352 of Of Empires and Dust
Calen lifted his gaze to see Rist standing over him. He grunted and hauled himself to his feet, looking up at the ceiling as the cracks spread. Before he could say a word, a flash of motion blurred past and Rist was gone.
Calen looked down to see Ella standing over Rist, Faenir at her side. One of the Chosen broke away from Tivar, only for a black and gold wolf as large as a wagon to leap from arooftop, wrap its jaws around the Chosen’s helmet, and slam it to the ground. The runes in the Chosen’s armour blazed as the monstrous wolf tore its head from its shoulders. Calen could feel the call of the wolf howling in his mind, could feel Fenryr’s pull.
The giant wolf surged towards the second Chosen, shifting as it did, bones twisting and snapping, forming into the broad man in black plate Calen knew. A gleaming golden axe took shape in Fenryr’s hand, and he buried its wicked blade into the Chosen’s chest, tearing it free as the creature collapsed.
The other Lorian mages stood together, the Spark rippling around them, the gemstones gleaming at their necks. The man with one arm lay in a heap on the ground, his chest rising and falling slowly. But within a heartbeat, Aneera and Diango were there as well, and so too were Kaygan, his two druids, Asius, Therin, a Narvonan woman with her sword drawn, and a number of rebels.
More rocks broke free from the ceiling and crashed down, one smashing through a nearby building, the other crushing two Lorian soldiers beneath it.
“This place is crumbling,” Kaygan said, gesturing towards Una.
Una’s eyes turned a milky white, and a portal opened beside her. Through it, Calen saw blue skies tinged with the red light of the moon.
“Now,” Kaygan said firmly as rocks continued to rain down, one impacting the ground beside Fenryr.
Boud was the first one through, followed by the rebels. Ella stared down at Rist for a moment, snarling, then whispered something in his ear and rose. She grabbed Calen’s arm and pulled him towards the portal. He shrugged her off, and she growled like a wolf and stormed through the open portal, Faenir with her.
Calen looked down at Rist and extended a hand. “Come with me.”
Rist stared back at him, then at the two mages who stood over the man on the ground.
“Rist, please.”
Another voice called out – the man whose face Calen had burned. He’d lifted the one-armed mage up and slid a hand behind his back. “Rist, it’s coming down. We need to go!”
Rist looked from the mage to Calen and back to the woman with dark hair, her breastplate partially crumpled. A rock smashed down between Calen and Rist, and a hand rested on Calen’s pauldron.
“He’s made his choice,” Fenryr said, a growl in his voice.
“No.” Calen stepped forwards, another rock crashing to the ground beside him. “Rist!”
Rist just stood there, his head shaking slightly from right to left, his jaw slack, eyes wide.
A monstrous crack sounded overhead, and threads of Air burst outwards from Rist to seize a large chunk of rock before it landed atop the other mages. He whipped the threads sideways and sent the rock crashing into a wall.
“I can’t leave them…” Rist said, looking back towards the other mages.
“Rist, you have to come with me… you have to…”
“I’m sorry.” Rist stared into Calen’s eyes. “I can’t leave them, Calen. They need me… I will find you, I swear it.”
Rist turned and ran to the Lorian mages, threads of Air whipping at falling rocks.
“No! Rist!”
Fenryr grabbed Calen’s shoulder and pulled him backwards, but Calen pushed his hand away. “Rist!”
Rist slipped his arm around the unconscious mage, looking back over his shoulder as the group fled for the nearest tunnel mouth.
“Rist…”
Valerys roared in Calen’s mind. Where Calen’s heart was sorrow and loss, Valerys’s was fury and wrath. Everything Ella had said was true.“I didn’t leave him, Calen. He stayed.”
Valerys’s fury burned Calen’s agony away, devouring it, their minds pulling together. Helios and the other two dragons had alighted on an open plain on the western side of the mountain, and there they remained while Valerys, Avandeer, and Varthear perched on a mountain cliff.
As Rist vanished in the rockfall, Fenryr grabbed Calen once more and pushed him through the portal.
Chapter 82
