Maw of the Devourer, page 45
Squall stumbled back and almost slipped in the mud. Lyrria echoed his movements as a man pushed the lid off. The man sat up. Though he wore different clothes and there were some obvious differences, the man’s resemblance to Ceptin was uncanny. They shared the same black hair, but this man kept it cut short. Instead of Ceptin’s goatee, this man kept a close-cropped beard that couldn’t hide the scars that ran up the length of the right side of his neck from his shoulder. It was his eyes—those same grey eyes that knew too much—that reminded him of Ceptin most of all.
The man climbed out of the box with a soft groan. He looked to be the same height as Ceptin and they both had similar stocky builds. But he must have been a brother, given how he looked a few years younger than Ceptin. Yet, he looked more worn than Ceptin, too.
Squall gaped at the man; he had been in the box the entire time. Why had he been in the box? What had Ceptin been doing with him? And how had he survived in the box for so long? “What?”
The man held up a hand and shook his head. “Squall, this is hardly the time for questions.” The man gestured toward the fighting. “Lyrria, keep watch.”
Through her confusion, Lyrria bristled at the command. But when a scream rang out, Lyrria turned to the battle and held her shield at the ready. Squall shook his head and frowned at the strange man. “Who are you?”
Despite the surrounding chaos, a look of amusement passed over the man’s face and his mouth quirked in a smile that was reminiscent of Ceptin’s. “It will be simpler, Squall, if you just call me Ceptin like always. No need to complicate things, right?”
Squall froze, and his mind refused to accept what he had just heard. This man claimed to be Ceptin, not his brother or some other relative. He had just watched Ceptin die moments ago. That was impossible… No…
“Just accept it for now,” the man—Ceptin—said. “We don’t have time for you to work through this, nor for me to explain. So, just call me Ceptin, okay? For now, abandon trying to control the Storm.”
“What?” Squall stared at the man; What he had just said directly opposed what the other Ceptin had told him before he died.
“Shut up and listen! Don’t bother trying to control it unless you are confident you can drag it away and send it back to the southern coast, otherwise you’ll just be wasting your time and effort.”
“But I can still—”
“You’ve done all you need to do with the Storm. You should be happy with the bare minimum, considering how monumental a task controlling that thing is!” Ceptin sighed at the look on Squall’s face and softened his voice. “Can you call the Storm away for me right now?”
Squall nodded slowly, but kept his eyes on the suspicious Ceptin. He reached for his Senses and almost grasped the ability, but it evaded him at the last moment. “Why isn’t it working? I can’t do it!”
“You can. Trust me, you can.”
Ceptin’s confidence warmed Squall’s heart, and he cursed under his breath when he realised he wanted to try again. Though it grated on his pride, Squall reached for his Senses. And found them. With a start, he turned his attention to the Storm. Though grasping his Senses had proved difficult, he connected with the Storm effortlessly.
But wrestling control of the Storm proved difficult. Squall felt like he leapt onto a galloping horse and Ceptin told him to rein it in—and he’d never been good with the storming beasts to begin with! With a grimace, Squall concentrated and spread his Senses through the Storm. The effort nearly tore his mind in half, but he managed it. Somehow.
Go back the way you came, Squall thought. The Storm resisted the order and Squall pulled at it. Slowly, the Storm gave in and it dragged its feet south like a petulant child.
Squall opened his eyes and sighed in relief. “I did it.”
“Good,” Ceptin said. “We need—”
“Look out!” Lyrria said.
A line of heat spread across Squall’s left cheek and past his ear. With wide eyes, Squall stared at the spear thrust past his face and watched as blood dripped from the spearhead. He stumbled back and his legs gave out. When he hit the ground, Squall stared up at the woman holding the spear. He recognised her.
She had attacked him and the others back in Monden.
And a large grey bird made of clouds hovered behind her. The bird stared down at Squall like he was its prey.
***
“Rrgh!” Azure gripped her spear tightly and stared down at the trembling boy. She had survived the entire flight over the Dracalian army in Stratos’ talons, but the blasted boy had dodged at the last second!
She had flown—well, Stratos had carried her, but it was as close as she’d ever come to flying.
If only it hadn’t ended with Stratos dropping her in the middle of the Dracalian army with orders to kill Stormrider’s Chosen. Azure scanned her surroundings and took in a deep breath to settle the emotions raging in her chest. The boy had fallen on his arse; at least he hadn’t run from her. He stared at her like she was a monster, and he shivered like a frightened child. A young woman jumped between Azure and the boy. She looked vaguely familiar. It took a moment, but she recognised the girl from Monden’s palace.
The young woman drew her sword and held up her shield. “Squall, get up! Quickly!”
The boy, Squall, shook at his name and stared at the young woman. Azure shook her head at the girl; she had courage, but she didn’t stand a chance. No normal person could match her when she was Untethered, and the girl didn’t look wrong like a monstrous Follower. Azure could admire the young woman’s courage, but she had only offered to die with the boy.
“Slay him now!” Stratos circled around Azure and his irritating voice cut through the din of battle. “Stop the Storm!”
Azure stepped forward. The young woman’s expression hardened, but fear cracked through her mask. The boy climbed to his feet without tearing his eyes away from Azure. He stared at her with swirling eyes and his terror cut deep into Azure. She needed to stop him, but he was just a boy. It was almost too much.
Almost.
“Get back, Lyrria!” The boy tried to push the girl back, but she stood resolute. “Please!”
“Run, Squall!” Lyrria’s attention wavered for a second and her eyes flickered to Squall.
Azure lunged at the young woman with a flurry of thrusts and swipes. Lyrria lifted her shield in time to defend against the first pair of blows, but she didn’t last long. Azure slammed her shield to the side with a brutal swing and followed it with a swipe to her head. The blow stunned the young woman, and Azure thrust her spear into Lyrria’s gut.
A violent tempest slammed into Azure. She stumbled at the force, but tensed her Untethered muscles and thrust her spear at Lyrria again.
“NO!” Squall reached for Lyrria, but he was too slow.
Azure’s spear hurtled toward Lyrria, only to stop when a hand caught it below the spearhead. With a snarl, Azure turned to the bearded man holding the spear and froze.
“Azure!” the bearded man said. “Stop this!” Azure stared at him, unable to comprehend what she saw, and the bearded man hurriedly turned her spear away from Lyrria.
Scars ran partway up the right side of his neck. Though she couldn’t see them underneath his shirt, they would run down his shoulder, too. The familiar beard hid his ever-teasing mouth and those eyes. Grey eyes that knew too much. They stared at her with a gentle warmth that echoed peaceful times spent lazing around a campfire years ago.
Veyor stared at Azure, his face twisted into a poor attempt at a grin as he strained to hold her spear. Azure stumbled back and Veyor sighed as he released her weapon. “You… Why…? How…?”
“It’s good to see you again, Azure.”
“But… How…?” Azure stared at Veyor and waited for him to disappear. But he wasn’t an apparition. He stood in front of her. Alive!
“Finish the boy!” Stratos soared in front of Azure and twisted his haughty gaze at Squall. “Do it now, Azure!”
“B-but…”
Veyor protected them, Azure thought. If I attack the boy, Veyor will fight back. I can’t. And is it the right thing to do?
But Stratos wanted her to kill Squall, so she should do that!
“Get away from the bird, Azure!” Veyor shielded the youngsters and pushed them away from her. “He’s manipulating you!”
“Liar! This no-good snake is tempting you down the wrong path, Azure!”
Azure glanced between Stratos and Veyor. In a heartbeat, she knew what to do. Azure leapt away from Stratos and landed beside Veyor. She shifted her grip on her spear and turned it on the bird. Azure grinned at Veyor and filled the gesture with a warmth she hadn’t felt in so long. He was her family, the last of them, and she wouldn’t abandon him. Veyor returned the smile, but a sadness flickered across his face. It disappeared immediately, and she wouldn’t have noticed it if she hadn’t known him for so long.
“AZURE, YOU TRAITOR!” Stratos’ voice boomed deeper than the thunder of the storm. He twisted his avian body and bared his talons at Veyor. “I will end this treacherous snake and you will learn your place!”
As Stratos raged, Veyor shifted his hands behind his back. He lifted his shirt and drew a white-grey dagger from the sheathe hidden underneath. The dagger held a strange beauty, even if it looked creepy. Graceful curves and intricate etchings caught the light despite the dark rain clouds of the Storm. A look of recognition flitted across Squall’s face when the boy spotted the dagger, but it contorted to horror instantly. Azure frowned, and Veyor shifted his hand to hold the dagger at his side.
Stratos shifted his gaze as Veyor moved and a rumbling sound emanated from the bird. “Ha! You think you can defend yourself against me? A god? Haha! How foolish.”
“Shut up!” Azure snapped her head in Stratos’ direction and held up her spear.
“Oh, Azure. Kill the boy now and I shall forgive this… lapse… in judgement.”
A weight pressed on Azure’s mind, and she froze. I want to obey him. But do I? No, I won’t let him manipulate me!
Azure stepped closer to the boy and Veyor tensed, but she stood protectively between Squall and Stratos. “I won’t do what you want blindly!” Azure glanced back at the boy and grimaced. “Sorry about your face. But could you call off the Storm? It’s only going to cause more death. Please.”
“I-I did!” Squall met Azure’s eyes for a second before he glanced back at the dagger. “Ceptin told me to call it away already.”
“Good.” Azure turned to Stratos and glared at the bird. “See? There’s no need to kill the boy anymore! We can just let him go!”
“How could you defend a pathetic mortal aiding those vile cultists?” Stratos loomed over Azure and Squall. The clouds comprising his body darkened into mirrors of the storm clouds above.
“You know…” a smile pulled at the corners of Azure’s mouth, “it’s your fault. You reminded me how I once believed in doing good.”
“Enough. I shall punish you for your betrayal!” Stratos’ body puffed into insubstantial storm clouds and he shot toward Veyor. He sped up as fast as a bird diving for prey and Azure leapt at the bird.
But Veyor reacted faster. He stepped into Stratos’ charge and let the god’s talons dig into his left arm. With his right, he stabbed the bird’s cloudy form with the white-grey dagger. When the dagger pierced Stratos, the god froze.
“SHREE!”
The pained sound stabbed into Azure’s ears, and she stumbled back. Stratos’ cloudy body faded to a dull grey and folded in on itself. Stratos crumbled until only a cloudy orb remained.
A second later, Azure fell to the ground and screamed.
***
Lyon’s arms were tired from swinging his sword. It was a fatigue he was used to, after long hours of drills when he was younger, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. He stumbled to a halt, given a brief respite from the battle that still raged on fiercely around him as a fresh squad of troops filled the void he left.
The Dracalians had secured two footholds on the wall; one on the northern end and the other on the southern end. That pushed the fight between two fronts, while keeping the Dracalians from setting up any more ladders. Soldiers reinforced the gates to keep the Dracalians from opening them, but they needed to push the enemy off the wall as soon as possible.
Lyon stared at the southern foothold and caught his breath. Lithyan soldiers fought valiantly, and they pushed the Dracalians back. Each hard-earned step brought them closer to the six ladders the Dracalians had set up. Even without him acting as the vanguard, they fought so bravely that courage swelled in Lyon’s chest. As soon as he had rested enough, he would be among them and they would push the invaders from the wall!
The soldiers gave everything to buy time for him and Vord to recover, and Lyon wouldn’t waste that. Ilmeda had joined them at Solalyn’s behest, while the rest of the guard fought to keep any more ladders from gaining ground behind them. Luckily, the Storm had not struck the fort for some time. Even if it was because the Dracalians had secured their footholds, it provided much needed relief from the natural disaster.
Lyon took a deep breath and, despite how his body protested, he stepped up to the vanguard. He pushed his way through the soldiers and took the place of a poor man who fell to a Dracalian sword just as he reached him. Lyon Illuminated and his sword burst alight. Fear spread through the Dracalian soldiers’ eyes when they saw the glowing sword. But hatred equalled that fear and the soldiers angled toward him.
The foothold waited behind the enemy soldiers. They just needed one more push to reach it. Lyon brightened his Illumination, and the world slowed down—but only barely. Fatigue inhibited the Blessing, but Lyon charged regardless. He became a whirlwind of steel, maiming and felling Dracalians with nearly every swing. The brutal efficiency with which he worked should have been impossible, but Lyon drove the Dracalians back.
He didn’t slow when a Dracalian scored a deep slash on his right thigh. Ilmeda finished the offending soldier with a glowing sword of her own; she had surprised him by earning her Moon Mark mid-battle. The swiftness with which she mastered Illumination was nothing short of prodigal. To his left, Vord fought off three Dracalians at once and took a spear to the gut. Lyon rushed in Vord’s direction, but a soldier stepped in his way. The man’s blade sliced into the left side of Lyon’s torso and carved down its length. Lyon cursed through the pain and fended off the soldier. More Dracalians followed, eager to take him down, and Lyon answered with deadly skill.
By the time he reached Vord, the man stared up at the dark sky with lifeless eyes. A flash of rage clouded Lyon’s mind, and he stepped closer to the Dracalians, only to stumble when the movement pulled on his wounds. Lithyan soldiers flooded past Lyon and bought him time to breathe. But he couldn’t wait, not when they were so close.
Lyon forced his body back to the front lines and to Ilmeda’s side. He parried a swing that would have taken her head off, and she ended the offending soldier. As one, they fell upon the Dracalians and pushed them right back to the foothold. Rain pelted the stones of the wall and more Dracalian soldiers crested the ladders—but they wouldn’t be enough.
Lyon stepped forward.
And the world rumbled.
Another tremor, Lyon thought. It couldn’t have picked a worse time! No, this isn’t normal. It’s getting stronger!
Fort Serve shook, and dust flew free from the wall. Dracalian and Lithyan soldiers alike stumbled and screams echoed as some fell from the wall. Lyon slipped, but a hand grabbed his arm. Ilmeda clung to the battlements and pulled him beside her. Just as he let out a relieved sigh, the shaking grew worse.
When will this end? Lyon thought. It can’t get any worse!
A crack formed along the wall just north of Lyon. It separated the vanguard from the other Lithyan soldiers. A second passed, and the crack widened. Then the wall crumbled. Stone grated against stone and gave way to a massive sinkhole to the south. Lyon watched as the Dracalian foothold collapsed into the pit along with the southern end of the fort. The terrified screams of Dracalians cut off one by one as they fell into the pit and debris crushed them.
The sinkhole expanded toward Lyon at a frightening pace.
Lyon stumbled back and clung to the wall as the world rocked. He hurried away, Ilmeda close behind, but he moved too slow. Despite the danger, Lyon let go of the wall and ran. All around him, soldiers stumbled off the wall and their screams cut rumbling.
“AH!”
Lyon stopped and turned in Ilmeda’s direction. She stumbled backwards as the wall crumbled into the sinkhole beneath her. Lyon reached out, and she grabbed at him. But as their fingers brushed, Ilmeda slipped backwards. Lyon brightened his Illumination, and the world slowed down a little. It had to be enough to save her! Lyon stretched out and reached for Ilmeda once again.
The ground underneath him slipped away.
Lyon’s stomach fell as his Illumination winked out. He watched Ilmeda fall into the dark sinkhole and scrambled backward. The wall gave way with each step and he couldn’t escape the crumbling stone.
“LYON!”
Without thinking, Lyon reached for the voice, and two pairs of hands grabbed his arms. They pulled him up and out of the sinkhole before dragging him a few steps from the edge. Solalyn and Sulaine heaved deep breaths as they stared down at him.
“Am I glad to see you?” Lyon collapsed and let out a long breath. Then he frowned. “Wait… has it stopped shaking?”
Lyon sat up and stared at the sinkhole. It had stopped expanding, and he sighed. With a groan, Lyon climbed to his feet and inspected Solalyn. Dried blood stuck to the left side of her face from a cut that ran down from her eyebrow to below the eye. It would leave a scar, but the wound didn’t look life-threatening. Apart from her face, cuts spread across Solalyn’s arms and legs, and she favoured her right leg.
Thank you, Lith, Lyon thought. For protecting her. If only I had saved Ilmeda. Or Vord.
The world quaked again.
The shaking intensified and grew worse than before. Lyon spun to the sinkhole and waited for the wall to crumble further. Instead, an impossible sight greeted him. Something came out of the hole.
