Chapter 22

When Adhira let go of her wrist, Victoria let out a piercing cry as she made a pushing motion with both hands before collapsing into Asa’s arms. As if thrown by an invisible giant, the piece of Alya hanging over the bridge was tossed so far out to sea it was lost to sight. Similarly, the chunk hanging over the city soared through the air directly toward the largest swarm of Shedim. Their deaths came so quickly that none had time to move. It happened before Adhira had taken his second step toward Mordeth.

Even though they were enemies, the sight of so many living beings dying at one time, tens of thousands, unnerved Neviah, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. The canine creature was reaching down for his blade of power as Adhira approached with the Sword of Re’u ready.

When the piece of Alya struck the ground far to the east, it caused an earthquake beyond anything she could have imagined. Though it was hurled far away, when it impacted, the world around them was thrown into upheaval. The topsoil rippled as if it were an ocean wave, knocking everyone to the ground. With a thunderous crash, the walls of Uru came tumbling down. Many of the city’s buildings toppled.

An earsplitting crack ripped the bridge from its western supports, sending many enemy soldiers screaming into the widening gorge. Moriahn soldiers fled to the opposite side, though some fell through fishers created as the bridge began to crumble. After losing the northern abutment, the bridge buckled and twisted. Neviah tried to regain her feet, but the force of the falling bridge made standing impossible.

She saw Asa on the back of Rafal as they swooped in and snatched up Adhira, who was yelling for vengeance as the Chayya’s strong arms carried him off. The canine creature stood calmly on the buckling bridge, completely unconcerned about the imminent crash with the dried riverbed below. Siarl stared at Neviah as two Chayya paws wrapped around her waist. Enya lifted her in the air and deftly dodged the rubble raining from the canyon walls.

When Enya set her down near the few remaining refugees, she was able to see the full extent of the damage. The city lay in ruins, though amazingly, more than half the buildings still stood to some degree. The ground was completely distorted where mounds of earth had pushed up large trees and new valleys had been created. Far to the east, a new mountain range loomed, taller than any other. The remains of Alya.

Hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers occupied the opposite shore from her. They had suffered heavy casualties in the quake but were still an enormous force. She thought about sending over a few arrows, but it was no use. There were just too many. There were always too many.

Nearly all the refugees had entered the tunnels, which were miraculously intact, and the soldiers were mostly inside when Victoria regained her senses and spotted something on the horizon. “What’s that?”

It appeared as if the ocean was rising in the distance and was already engulfing a small island.

“Oh no,” Neviah breathed when she remembered the other piece of Alya. Thrown out to sea. “Hurry!” she yelled to the soldiers still filing in. She knew it was little use. Everyone was already moving as fast as they could. The ocean rose ever higher as it rushed toward Uru.

Enemy soldiers began fleeing to the other side of the city as seawater rose over the shores, ripping apart docks and traveling up the land, washing away everything in its path. The canyon was suddenly filled to overflowing, the water lapping up the hill toward the few remaining Moriahns. The rising river did not worry her as much as the accompanying wall of water hurtling toward them.

As it approached, it loomed higher and higher, rising to nearly two hundred feet. When it reached the former shore, it began to curve out and over the land. Asa and Victoria could have flown away on their companions, but they stayed and were part of the press trying to squeeze into the tunnels. The water blocked out the sun as it brought down thousands of tons of water on the countryside.

Neviah and Adhira were the last in the tunnel. They rushed in to stand shoulder to shoulder with Asa and Victoria, who had their shields ready. Without speaking, they all held up their shields, which connected and expanded to form a wall between the Moriahns and the crashing waves. The roar of water was deafening as it beat against the mountainside, causing the entire mountain to shake. Parts of the ceiling came down near them, showering down rock and debris.

They could hear the mouth of the cave collapse under the weight of the water but the rest of the tunnels, for the most part, miraculously held. They waited for several minutes, holding their shields in place.

“Do you think the entrance sealed itself when it collapsed?” Asa asked. “It could take a long time for the water to recede.”

“I’ll look,” Adhira said. Without moving, he nodded. “The entrance is sealed. No water is getting through.”

They let their shields shrink. The tunnel had turned completely dark except for the glow coming from their swords. The soldiers in front of them continued to push forward.

It was many miles later before they walked into sunshine. Adhira sat down on the first rock he saw and put his head in his hands. Neviah slumped to the ground beside him and stared at the ground. She felt numb, emotionally and physically.

“I don’t understand,” Adhira said at length, echoing the thoughts in her head. “We’re the good guys. We’re not supposed to lose. How did this happen? Why did Re’u even bring us here?”

No one had an answer for him.

“Who was that beast that killed Mordeth?” he asked, his voice breaking to betray the emotions he was trying to hold at bay.

“He is called the Imprisoned One,” Neviah said when she could trust herself to talk again. “His name is Siarl. Corban told me he was captured a long time ago and imprisoned in Alya.”

“Was the war started just to free him?” Adhira asked. “Tanas killed thousands of people to free one man? Why?”

“I don’t have those answers,” she said, putting a hand on his. He was seething with the same rage she’d felt only hours before. Now, she was numb. “In the end, we will win,” she said, though there was no weight to her words. “We just need a plan.”

“I hope the plan involves a way to kill Dog Boy,” Adhira said. “Mordeth was one of the greatest swordsmen in the world and the Imprisoned One killed him in moments. How can we beat something like that?”

“Maybe he died in the bridge collapse or the flood,” Asa offered.

Adhira was already shaking his head. “No way. I saw him fall from Alya hundreds of feet, and he landed as if he’d jumped from the back of a horse. He’s alive and he’s going to play a big part in whatever Tanas is planning. You can be sure of that.”

Rafal spoke next. “When I was younger, my grandfather used to tell me a story about Alya’s chain, but it may have just been a story.”

“Go on,” Adhira urged.

“It had three purposes. The first, which Neviah just told you, was to hold the Imprisoned One until the appointed day, whatever that means. The second reason for the chain was to hold Alya in place. The third…” He hesitated, but Adhira made a circle motion with his hand for the Chayya to continue. “The third purpose was to act as one of the seals to the Abyss.”

“The Abyss?” Neviah asked.

“Specifically, the place where the great beast Chemosh is kept. It is one of the most feared monsters in all creation, surpassed only by Iblis in his thirst for destruction.”

“This just keeps getting better,” Adhira said, throwing up his hands in defeat.

“He is not free yet,” Rafal assured him. “There are three seals to the Abyss. The first was the chain on Alya. The second is a silver crown that only the Sword of Re’u can destroy.”

“Oh no,” Asa said, closing his eyes.

Adhira actually laughed, though it was not his usual humorous tone but one that made Neviah question his sanity.

“What?” Rafal asked, looking between them.

“Did the crown belong to Ba’altose?” Neviah asked.

“It was believed to be somewhere in the north,” his words broke off when he realized what they were saying. “You destroyed the second seal?”

She nodded and said, “Please tell us about the third seal.”

It took him a moment to gather his thoughts again. “The third seal, yes. It is believed to be located somewhere out at sea. It is a gate that is so massive no one can move it and no one can pick the lock. To open the gate to the Abyss requires the Eternity Key, which is said to exist only half in this world.”

Neviah put her face in her hands and moaned. When she looked up, Adhira was hitting his head on the rock he’d been sitting on.

“Did you not see the key hanging from the Imprisoned One’s neck?” Neviah asked.

Rafal’s expression turned to shock as the memory spread across his face. “The Imprisoned One has the key!” he blurted.

“What are we going to do?” Asa asked. “We have to get that key!”

“You mean, we have to take a key from a creature that, in all appearances, is indestructible and is better with a sword than all of us combined?” Adhira said.

“What’s the plan, Neviah?” Asa asked, looking across the path at her. She wanted nothing more than to crawl under the rock she was sitting against and never come out again.

“For now,” she said, standing, “we keep walking.”

They continued down the path for a few more miles before it led to a ravine, which then led to a wide opening revealing open grassland. The Chayyoth were gathered in a valley with many Moriahns looking on.

“What’s going on?” Neviah asked.

Rafal hung his head, but Enya spoke up. “The Life Spring is destroyed,” she said. “We can’t stay here.”

“What?” Asa and Victoria said at the same time.

“We must leave these shores in search of our old homeland. The Chayyoth and our companions must part now. Otherwise, we die.”

Neviah was at King Hayrik’s briefing earlier and already knew they were headed for some unreachable land over the seas.

“You can’t go!” Asa said, resting a hand on his companion.

“If I don’t,” Rafal said slowly, “you will have to watch me slowly die of thirst.”

“I can heal you,” Asa said, hope clinging to his voice. “Both of you,” he added, looking over to where Enya and Victoria were hugging.

“Thirst isn’t something that can be healed, my friend.”

“We could go with you,” Asa said.

Rafal and Enya shook their heads. “Humans cannot make the trip,” Enya said.

“Why not?” Asa asked.

“There is said to be a strange force there that is harmful to humans but not Chayyoth.”

“A force?” Asa asked.

Rafal shrugged. “I don’t know my ancient history very well. I just know that our evacuation plan, should Alya be taken by the enemy, was to go across the sea. We were told our companions would have to stay behind.”

“Couldn’t we still go?” Asa said. “We can find out what the force is and find a way to get rid of it or something.”

“What if it’s radiation?” Neviah said to Asa. “Or something similar. There’s nothing we can do about that.”

Tears began to stream down Asa’s cheeks as he realized there was nothing he could say or do. Then everyone was crying; Adhira finally let his tears over Mordeth flow, Neviah for Corban, and the remaining companions for each other.

They were too far away to hear the order, but the king was calling all the Chayyoth close. Victoria and Asa reluctantly released their companions and watched as they gathered with their kin. The sick, elderly, and young Chayyoth were placed on hastily made gurneys so the able-bodied could carry them. The teens looked on for nearly an hour before the Chayyoth sprang into the air.

Wings carried them high into the sky until they were obscured by clouds. Enya and Rafal paused above the humans for a moment to give one last wave. Then they, too, were gone.

As the Moriahns moved on, the teens sat there, feeling completely alone even with each other’s company. Neviah couldn’t keep the desperation out of her thoughts. All the dead Moriahns and Chayyoth they were leaving behind. Their new home was destroyed, and the entire country was overrun. What was it all for? Why did Re’u bring them to that world if there was nothing they could do to stop all the death and destruction around them?

“Do you think they’ll find their old homeland?” Neviah asked.

“Yes,” Victoria said confidently, surprising them with her frankness.

“What do we do now?” Asa asked.

“I’ll try to find out,” Neviah said, wiping her sleeve across her cheeks and letting her sword turn back into her book of prophecies for the first time that day. The others pulled out theirs as well, and they sat for an hour reading. It was the only comfort they had left, looking for some kind of instruction from Re’u. Neviah eventually closed her book and stood. She knew what they had to do.