“I’m so sorry they are gone… But I swear to you, their deaths will not be in vain.” Pulling away I looked into her eyes. “We will free Caelisium for them. And for everyone else who gave their lives to get us here.”
The type of courage that was only born from true pain vanished the torment capturing her features, and Evie nodded. “We will win for them.”
Hands intertwining, I glanced towards the curtain wall and the ward that still blocked the palace from us. “Let’s go, we can’t let Raithian escape.”
I transported us to the moat, where the survivors of our army were gathering, along with Harrison and the land riders. Mercifully, about three hundred warriors stood there, ready to fight whatever was on the other side of the curtain wall, and free the rest of the slaves kept in the caves.
“Brother, you are alive!” Harrison pulled me to him the moment I arrived. Blood, cuts, and bruises covered his form, but he was still with us.
“I’m glad you are too,” I confessed, pulling away. “Where is Asher?”
A jarring silence captured everyone around me, and Harrison shook his head, the muscles of his jaw tensing. “He died with honor.”
Horror captured my being while I stared at him, frozen. Every inch of me became aflame with pain and cruel understanding. I had lost him. Asher was the brother I never had, my best friend… and now he was gone. Another good man lost to a war that should have never happened. The flames arose inside me, burning my throat, my soul, making it harder than I thought to set aside the pain of his loss.
Brief images of us together inundated my mind, laughing, training, even him ripping into me when I unknowingly accepted Lachlan’s life or death challenge. Asher had been there for me even through learning my Devenish magic. When I feared my own power, he’d believed in me. Those were memories that would haunt me for the rest of my life, but I fought them with everything I had.
Chest rising with a steeling breath, I shut my eyes tightly, clinging to the promise I’d made Evanna. Their deaths would not be in vain.
There was no other choice, we had to keep going.
Letting out the breath slowly, my eyes opened again to find the same fight visibly going on inside Harrison. With a hand on his shoulder, I sent healing energy into him, erasing his injuries. “Let’s rescue the rest of our people and end this.”
I stepped back and lifted my arms to the ward that swayed before us. My golden energy flowed out of me once more, expanding over the ward until the green magic submitted to me, becoming part of my being. As soon as it was done, I shot a fire blast towards the opening mechanism among the stone and steel wall, blowing it up. The drawbridge collapsed onto our side with a loud bang, finally giving our warriors a way inside the courtyard.
The last of the sentries rushed towards us, but Harrison, Finn, and Islay, trotted forwards on their horses, slicing off heads, arms, and torsos with their spears while our army rushed in behind them. It was only then that I noticed Hanna and Fletcher were also missing. They might not be dead, just incapacitated, but I couldn’t focus on that right now.
Pushing everything else aside until all of this was over, I glanced up at Raithian’s tower. “I can get us into the throne room. Hold on tightly.”
Wrapping an arm around Evie, I envisioned the room to its every detail. Sure, I’d only been there in the mindscape, not in person, but I had to at least try. The golden fog spread along my legs, encompassing Evanna too, but every attempt I made to transport us there took us right back to the moat.
“Something is blocking me.” I looked up at the tower again, seeing a greenish glow overwhelm its interior.
The sight brought both alarm and recognition to Evie’s face. “I think the Warlock King is doing a dark rite with the Dragon ring to amplify its power, and in turn, his own. We need to get to him before he succeeds and becomes unstoppable.”
There was no way we were going in through the main gate now that a new battle raged there. “We have to find another way inside the fortress.” I glanced all around us, searching for options. “How were our people ever able to escape?”
“Some found a way out when he took them out of the Hollow… the Warlock King used to set them loose and have Azazel hunt them for fun.”
Evanna didn’t specify, but the gleam in her eyes said it was something unspeakable. Her words stirred a memory of Raithian telling me it had been a while since he’d given Azazel a “snack”.
“Maybe there is a back door,” I countered, not wanting to dwell on that thought.
“A back entrance seems unlikely,” she continued. “This fortress is ion clad. Our people built it that way, and building is our master skill.”
No. I couldn’t accept that. There had to be another way. “Come on, if our people built this, we might find something.” Joining hands, we ran along the moat, seeing the lava swell and burst as it flowed along the palace.
My steps halted when something over the molten river called my attention.
“What is it? What do you see?” Evanna asked beside me, but I just shook my head, not entirely sure.
The formation of rocks that jutted from the moat, seeming almost unnatural, gripped my attention. Unlike the rest, they didn’t float along with the lava, or sparkled with fire from the inside out. No. These were static.
My eyes suddenly widened, finally recognizing the formation. “Holy shit,” I gasped. “Dad left me a way in.”
“The Harbinger? But how?”
“The floor is lava,” I whispered simply.
37
Memories of my childhood slammed against reality, and I saw my dad and I jumping from a cushion on the floor to the sofa, then to the coffee table and chair, on our way to “the castle” to rescue the princess. When the images faded, the rocks before us replaced each piece of furniture.
Renewed appreciation for everything my dad had done sent a wave of powerful emotion through me. “Do exactly as I do.”
With Evanna’s firm nod, we ran full force to the edge and jumped. We landed on each step like Dad and I had when I was a kid, finally reaching the other side. My hand lifted to what had been the window above my head, and I pushed my hand into the stone, hearing a loud, rotating sound begin once the gears engaged.
A stone door built into the wall opened, and we rushed through it. We crossed the courtyard from the back, seeing our warriors slay sentries left and right before we burst through the double doors of the palace.
Evanna and I took the stairs two at a time, hopping over the missing steps and collapsed walls. The state of the Hollow now reminded me of the ruins of the Castle of Dragons, but those had been caused by the start of an evil empire while these marked its end.
Part of me hoped Tharion was okay, but yet again, I pushed the thought aside with everything else before we reached the last floor.
Raithian’s tower.
Swells of green magic swayed along the entire hall, coming out through the throne room’s closed doors, and expanding before circling back inside it. Raithian’s energy was growing, intensifying with whatever dark ritual he was doing. I could feel the raw power almost scorching my skin even from where I stood.
The tiny hairs stood on end along my neck, and Evanna and I exchanged a dread-filled glance. This fight was going to be worse than anything we had experienced with him, unless…