Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (39 page)

“Their last known location was near the volcano. I hope the fact she lost control of it and isn’t answering now doesn’t mean what I fear.”

He started to answer but doubled over with hacking coughs, bringing up everything that had coated his lungs. When he was done, Mckale straightened and took a few deep breaths before saying, “Let’s see if we can find our missing sister.”

Pushing aside the weariness that threatened to drag her under, Maleena nodded and walked toward Nydara.

K
irynn blinked against the grit in the air as Varnen and Jocelynn worked to clear away the rubble of the keep. Though Marden had barely survived the battle, it was on shaky ground. The dragons circled high keeping watch. It wouldn’t be long before the next wave of attack came. With Calladar and New Sharren destroyed, it was only a matter of time before they returned to finish off Shadereen. On the ground, the three Ke’han who survived the battle and their red-maned, blue Nagas walked the streets in search of any enemy survivors.

If it weren’t for Namir still flying strong, they wouldn’t be carefully moving tons of stone. Somewhere in the collapsed keep, Vaddoc still lived. Thankfully, Jocelynn had managed to convince Namir that it was best if he didn’t start tearing through the ruined keep in search of his rider.

Now Jocelynn sat perfectly still on the ground, her hands on the rubble, searching out the spots most likely to give way when they moved certain stones. After melding the weak areas together to keep it from crushing anyone underneath, Varnen lifted it away with air. It was slow going. Not that they could leave now anyway. Only an hour after the battle ended, evacuations were still underway.

The ground trembled under Kirynn’s feet, and she reached for Syrakynn,
“The next attack?”

“No,”
the red returned.
“The results of the eruption in Calladar are reaching us.”

Through her connection with the dragon, Kirynn saw the Blood River choked with floodwater, mud, and debris raging out of control.
“Is Welan, or any of the other western villages, in the path of the flood waters?”

“No, they appear to be far enough back. It helps that the river widens here before it enters the bay.”

Kirynn breathed a sigh of relief. It would be a little longer before they could move the people of the western villages. She turned her attention back to the work in front of her. A few paces away Vaddoc’s mother, Setsie, stood tall and watched. The woman had refused to evacuate though she sent her daughters over their protests. Kirynn’s attempts to reassure her fell on deaf ears. Setsie told her she would evacuate once she knew what had become of her only remaining son.

Time crawled yet neither Varnen nor Jocelynn stopped the tedious task of digging with magic. Finally, Jocelynn glanced over at Kirynn. “Be ready. When Varnen moves this next group of stones, he will uncover the open space I sense inside.”

“Is it safe to walk across?”

Jocelynn nodded. “I won’t let it fall.”

Kirynn stepped gingerly onto the rubble and began climbing to where a section of fallen wall was being moved. Marcaius, Loki, and Nira followed. As she hauled herself up the last bit, she caught sight of the top of a light shield and breathed a sigh of relief.

Crouching at the lip of the opening, she peered down into the dusty darkness. “Vaddoc?”

“We are here.” His voice sounded weary.

“How many?”

“The Council, Apiatan, and a handful of servants,” he called up.

Even with her dragon-enhanced sight it was difficult to see the people who stood at the bottom of fifty paces of collapsed stone. “Can’t you light it up down there?”

“I do not have the energy. I’ve been keeping all of this from crushing us for…how long have we been down here?”

“A while. You can let the shield go. Jocelynn has reinforced everything around you. It won’t fall now.”

The shimmering dome disappeared, and she thought she saw a shape slump to the floor. “Hang on a moment, Namir and Merru are coming. With some rope we should have you out in no time.” Kirynn waved her hand in signal. The two gold dragons landed and several people rushed forward to tie long coils of rope to the saddles.

“Sounds good. We have several injured down here. One man took a pretty good blow to the head before I could get him under the shield. He is not doing well.”

“Nira’s here.” Kirynn thought she heard something along the lines of thanking the Fates.

Beside her, Nira stood and brushed some of the dust and grime from arms. “I need to get down there.”

“Nira,” Marcaius glanced at her. “We’re trying to get people
out
of the hole, not put them in there.”

Her brows drew down over her golden eyes as she shoved several black ringlets of hair out of her face. “I’m aware of this. However, I won’t stand here waiting while people are dying.”

Marcaius stood and matched her frown. “It won’t be long before they’re lifted out.”

“And how well do you think the injured will fare being hauled up out of that?” she pointed at the hole for emphasis.

Kirynn growled under her breath and got to her feet, then stepped between them. Marcaius was one of those rare reds who got attached to a partner. “Marcaius, we don’t have time for this. I know you feel deeply for Nira; however, you are going to have to set that aside for now.”

Namir and Merru lowered themselves from the sky until they hovered above the hole, their beating wings kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Kirynn sneezed. Great, just what they needed, more dust. It already coated them so much that Nira’s dark skin and Marcaius’ light were the same odd shade of grayish brown.

Nira turned without another word to Marcaius and reached for a rope. As soon as she had it hanging down through the opening, she slid down it.

Kirynn grabbed another rope and started hauling it over the mound of stone. Loki and Marcaius did the same. In short order, all four ropes dangled down into the darkness. After several moments, Namir began to ascend with Merru right behind him.

Councilman Owen and three servants came up. Both had injuries, though nothing that couldn’t wait. The dragons flew slowly to solid ground and set them down gently. Mages in yellow robes helped untie them, and the dragons again maneuvered until they hovered above the opening. After several trips the last four came up; Vaddoc with Cat held securely in one arm, Apiatan, the last Council member, and Nira.

Setsie walked slowly toward her son as he set Cat down. Though she had expressed very little emotion during the extraction, tears now shimmered in her eyes as she embraced Vaddoc. Kirynn gave him a quick nod then turned toward the landing Syrakynn.

Cat dashed across the rubble to Namir with a delighted meow and rubbed against the dragon’s leg while the gold turned affectionate eyes on the orange feline. He crooned deep in his throat and lowered his massive head so Cat could rub his face on Namir’s.

With a smile, Vaddoc walked over to the two and scooped Cat up. After helping the feline up onto Namir’s back, he climbed into the saddle. Kirynn knew without a doubt the orange tabby would be among the evacuees.

The next few hours were spent working their way quickly west toward the Blood River as they evacuated Shadereen. Between the five dragons it didn’t take long to move them, but getting them gathered and ready was time consuming. Considering all the wreckage from the earthquake, the evacuation of Shadereen was moving in an orderly fashion.

After Sliding their last large group of Shaderians from Marden and the small villages close to the capitol, Syrakynn opened a Slide over Welan. All that remained to move was Welan and the four other villages now perched just out of reach of the Blood River. Though it no longer raged like an angry water spirit, the fast-moving muddy river was still well above its normal flood plain.

Loki and Merru came out of a Slide to her left. The pair banked to land, the sun rippling along Merru’s scales like golden fire. Below them the villagers were already gathered in preparation. A mix of Border Guards, Boromari Defenders, Kantherian soldiers, Ke’han, and Galdrilene mages ranged in a line to the east of the village. Syrakynn angled her wings to land. Once Kirynn made sure everyone was accounted for, she could get them through a Slide. It wouldn’t take long to move them to safety, or what passed for safety.

Several dark Jumps opened in the sky, spewing Kojen and mages across the plain. Shadow Dragons burst into the air all around them. Syrakynn changed course, yanking herself higher into the sky with powerful strokes of her wings.

A massive black dragon hovered just above the ground not far from the village. A cloud of oily shadows flowed from the dark-haired woman and raced toward the village in a wave.

“Loki!” Kirynn shouted across the distance between them. Loki took his eyes off the emerging Shadow Dragons and glanced at her. Kirynn pointed toward the cloud. Merru disappeared into a light-bending weave at the same time a shield sprang up between the cloud and the village. The big black rose higher into the air, the shadows rising with her. Suddenly the black was knocked sideways in the sky. She turned to fight the invisible pair that had hit her but found only empty air.

Loki held tight to the saddle and both of his weaves when Merru twisted in the air. To those outside the weave, it would look like a part of Ranit’s wing disappeared as the edge of the weave passed over it before Merru sank his teeth through the dark membrane and yanked with all of his strength. He slung the Shadow Dragon around and let go, sending her crashing to the ground. It didn’t take long for her to recover and launch herself back into the air. By then Merru was already well out of her way.

Almost as fast as Keta, he made a sharp flip and grabbed the top of her neck just behind her head. Ranit screeched and thrashed, her greater strength able to shake him loose. Dark scales, ripped free by Merru’s teeth, flew through the air.

A weave hit Loki. He clenched his jaw against the searing pain as the oily shadows burrowed beneath the skin of his shoulder and another, thin tendril climbed up the side of his face. His shield weave around the village faltered and dropped, and the light-bending weave flickered.

Merru roared, twisted, and shot a mouthful of flame straight at the black and her rider. The shadow weave dropped as Sadira screamed, flailing at the flames eating at her clothes and hair. Ranit shot a return of green flame that scored the underside of Merru’s wing before she Jumped.