CHAPTER

31

Seraphim of all islands flew to Center’s aid, a frantic surge frighteningly similar to the swarm that had raced toward Galen before its fall. Shadow swarmed about the three Founts in a mammoth upward curve, flowing up through the water toward the surface. Bree could hardly believe the sheer size of the crawling darkness. Miles upon miles of it, a veritable flood. Knights lashed at the great pillar beneath the island with their elements, each attack a paltry blip upon a nightmarish landscape. Already she saw many of the knights retreating back to the surface.

Objective? Bree signaled with her hand to the others.

Neither had an answer.

Scattered groups of Weshern Seraphim flew ahead of them. Bree followed the majority toward one of the many docks at Center’s edge. The crawling darkness rolled along the underside of Center, clinging to the earth as if it were made of webbing. Its movements were so controlled; the shadow gave a chilling impression of sentience. Its destination was one of those docks, a squad of nine knights hovering unsure above. Bree joined them in the skies, the men and women of the two islands sharing awkward glances. Clara drifted closer, searching for the highest-ranked member among them.

“Center came to our aid so now we come to yours,” she said. “Where is it we are needed?”

“To be honest, little Archoness,” said one of the knights, “we haven’t a clue.”

“We’ve ordered the townsfolk to abandon their homes and flee toward the holy mountain,” another added. “Beyond that, we wait for the shadowborn’s presence.”

It wouldn’t be long; Bree knew that from their approach. She looked to the gathered Seraphim and knights of all nations and knew their forces were a pitiful semblance of the defense they once could have mustered. Johan had achieved his desired war. They had done half the work for him, killing and slaughtering each other, and now he climbed toward the remnants of their civilization to swallow what remained of the world.

Olivia joined Clara’s side. Her face was scarred with a long burn across the left half, but despite the amount of pain it surely caused she spoke calmly and controlled.

“When the shadow crawls over the edge, our elements will be ready,” she told the knights. “Trust in us, as we shall trust in you.”

They saluted one another, a small act of friendship on a cold, exhausting day. Each began issuing orders, scattering defenders into a long line above the edge.

Bree waited with Clara after receiving her orders to spread out along the edge. Kael was rushing from Seraph to Seraph, asking them something, though she could not imagine what.

“What’s he doing?” Bree asked.

“He’s looking for another light prism,” Clara answered.

“Why not use his blood to refresh the ones he has?” Bree asked.

In answer, she shrugged.

Kael obtained a spare from one of the other Weshern Seraphim and jogged back over, the shimmering white prism clutched in his hand.

“We don’t have much time,” Bree said. “The shadow will curl over the edge soon. Did you get what you need?”

“I think so,” Kael said. He popped open the prism in his gauntlet and removed the ice element within, further adding to Bree’s confusion.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I noticed something during our fight with Johan in the throne room,” Kael said as he slid his light element into the gauntlet instead and pocketed the ice prism. “My shield charge injured him terribly, but it wasn’t the shield itself. It was the light that did it.”

He slammed the compartment shut and then flexed his fingers. Wisps of light trickled from the focal prism. Kael grinned at it, his hope infectious amid the dire atmosphere.

“Do you think it’ll work?” Clara asked.

“Bree’s blood is fire,” Kael said, “but my blood is light, and I’m hoping that’s exactly what we need against the shadowborn.”

“We’re to split up along the edge,” Bree said, snapping her fingers in front of Kael to grab his attention. “Keep your ice element ready just in case it doesn’t work, all right?”

“It’ll work,” Kael said, and he winked. “Light’s always easier to control than fire.”

“Overconfident ass.”

The three flew two miles to the south, taking up the position Olivia had given them. Bree took the middle, with Kael and Clara several hundred yards to either side of her. Seraphim of the other islands fanned out into lines that stretched for dozens more miles. So many defenders, yet Bree knew vast stretches of the edge would go undefended. Center’s landmass was just too huge to properly defend when their foe could strike everywhere at once.

The three hovered in the air above the edge, waiting. Watching. Bree kept her head on a swivel, watching to see if L’adim chose to swarm a particular stretch instead of the entirety of the edge. A flash of light caught her attention, Kael testing out his newly weaponized version of his element. It seemed little more than a powerful torch shining light in a thick beam across the grass. Useless in normal combat, she knew, little better than a potential distraction or blinding against other airborne foes. There was a reason those with light affinity usually became ferrymen instead of Seraphim. Except against this foe, whose essence was made of darkness, the light might be a far greater weapon.

The shadow curled over the edge without a sound. Little fingers grasped the dirt. Rivulets trickled like black veins into the earth. The tall grass withered away, all its color draining to an ashen gray. Bree sheathed her swords upon realizing how useless they would be against such a menace. Elemental attacks would carry the day here, severely limiting her usefulness. No signal began the defense, just a scattered few attacks growing into a tremendous barrage of elements that filled the sky for miles.

Stone and ice layered Center’s edge into walls several feet high. The shadow pooled against it, building, rising. Long rings of flame proved most effective, the shadow burning like the now-ended midnight fire. Bree strafed the land, one long burst of fire projecting from her gauntlet. When it ended, she pulled up, needing a moment to recover. The crawling darkness twisted and curled, recoiling from the barrier of flame she’d created, then simply flowed to either side, bypassing it entirely. The sign of intelligent control only heightened her already growing terror. Bree moved to extend the barrier and cut off the flow but a brilliant flash of white light pulled her attention away.

Kael streaked along the edge, his wings shining bright even against the sun’s glow. His gauntlet hung low, arm braced with the other hand, as its center streamed out a steady beam of light. It shone upon the crawling darkness, and at its mere contact the shadow recoiled and shriveled. Large swaths sparked orange and red like paper curling into ash. Not even the walls of flame performed such damage against L’adim’s flood.

Bree pumped a fist into the air as Kael flew overhead, his back arching him into a U-turn. He waved in greeting as he raced in the other direction, another pass of his element searing the shadow and curling it back toward the edge. Bree turned her attention to her own responsibilities, her strength recovered and her prism recharged by her blood.

Walls of ice, flame, and stone lined the landscape, but it seemed only Kael’s passes accomplished any real damage. Knights and Seraphim burned through their prisms, but they built minuscule barriers against an unstoppable flood. The shadow kept coming. New paths were always available to it. The best they could do was stall the flow, but to what end? For twenty minutes they slowed its spread, new walls replacing broken ones, the initial barriers rising higher and higher to combat the growing size of the shadowborn’s presence. Bree prayed those twenty minutes were enough for the people to evacuate to safety … if there was anywhere safe left on Center.

Olivia fired three bolts of lightning straight into the air, signaling for the rest of the Weshern Seraphim to join her. Bree thought to stay, solidifying her section of wall, but it was clearly a hopeless task. No matter how much she burned, more flowed around it, testing the other walls and slipping through the cracks. Bree flew to join their commander, and as she flew over the defenses she could not see a single stretch of grass or rock. Despite all their efforts, the island’s edge was overwhelmed with the crawling darkness.

“We can’t hold such a wide area,” Olivia shouted to the gathered mass of Weshern Seraphs. “We’ll have to retreat inward. Save who you can, but do not tarry. We’ll form up a second defense along the inner cities. We’ll try again with a smaller defense line.”

“You’re dooming everyone along the edges,” Kael protested.

“They’re already doomed,” Olivia snapped. “I’m saving what lives I can. Now obey your orders, Seraph, or I’ll cut you down for insubordination.”

She waited to see if Kael would challenge her. He did not.

“Very well,” she said. “Stall the shadow if you wish, but do not cease moving toward the center. Our final stand is yet to come.”

The rest scattered, joining the other islands in a massive exodus toward Heavenstone. Only Kael, Bree, and Clara hesitated behind.

“You were right about your prism,” Bree said, forcing a smile to her face. It didn’t last long. No amount of hope or humor could endure the tragedy unfolding below.

“Yeah,” Kael said. “Not that it’s helped any. The shadow keeps coming. It swallowed the world, remember? What’s my little beam going to accomplish?”

Clara jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

“You, of all people, don’t get to talk that way,” she said. “People are still in danger, and no matter what Olivia says, we should still save who we can as we fly toward Center’s inner cities.”

Bree looked to the flood of darkness covering the landscape below.

“I’m not sure there’s saving anyone from this,” she said.

“Maybe,” Clara said. “But if we think like that we’re already dead.”

She waved good-bye to Bree and her brother, taking up a path toward one of the distant villages. Kael popped the prism in his gauntlet free, cut across the top of his hand with his sword, and used his blood to refresh the cloudy gray prism to its full shine.

“See you soon, sis,” Kael said as he slid the prism back into the compartment. “And stay safe, all right?”

He flew a similar path to Clara, only steeper to the east, another distant village his goal. Despite her aching back, Bree tilted forward and gently increased the throttle. With numb heart and broken spirit she flew over the sprawling shadow. It was Galen all over again. Men, women, and children ran through the streets toward the heart of Center. The faster among them could outrun the steady flow, but the elderly? The children? Bree saw a woman with a babe trip mere feet ahead of the flood. The crawling darkness washed over them both. Bree prayed their death was quick.

A group of nine rushed farther ahead, two of them carrying little children. An older man lagged behind with a limp. One of the family ahead turned away despite the cries of those with him, running back to the limping man and flinging an arm around his shoulder. Bree knew neither would escape in time, nor would the little group holding the children. She dropped from the sky, refusing to watch them all be buried by the flood. Fire roared from her gauntlet, and a wall of flame stretched dozens of yards to either side, blocking off the road as well as several buildings. The shadow touched the flames and curled away.

“Run!” Bree screamed at nine. “Run, and never stop!”

Two knights flew overhead, ice lashing the ground from their gauntlets to secure other parts of the town. Bree rested a moment. Already that day she’d used more flame than she ever had before. Was her strength growing, or was she merely learning her limits were greater than she believed? It didn’t matter, not really. Bree would continue bathing the land in flame no matter how terrible the cost. Breath regained, she took to the air and continued on.

Bree crossed over a deep forest. So far the darkness had only reached the very edge of the tree line. The thin pine needles of the touched trees withered and fell, their green sapped away and replaced with a sickly white. Stories told of the entire world swallowed by that shadow. Bree didn’t want to imagine what it looked like.

Beyond the forest was a massive city with population surpassing anything she’d ever seen on Weshern. The roads were thick with people fleeing toward Heavenstone. Bree took up position at the forest’s edge and waited. First came the animals, deer and hounds, little squirrels and puffy-chested birds. After them came the people, slower, weighted down by loved ones and the last vestiges of their homes. They were tired despite their panic, the miles they were forced to cover too much for many. The trickle of humans slowed. The dying trees neared.

“God damn you, Johan,” Bree hissed.

She flew to the far edge of the forest, drawing one of her swords on the way. She had to control her flame somehow. If not, she’d be exhausted before ever reaching the other side. Fire wreathed the blade. Bree imagined it in her mind, demanded it obey her control. Dropping low, she extended the sword and released her flame. A thin jet dripped off the tip of her sword and lashed the tree line. Bree didn’t need to stop it if she could only control it. The prism burned out slowly as the stream flowed from her blade. The strain was terrible on her mind but she endured. Five minutes later the entire tree line burned red and yellow.

The blazing forest delayed the spread for another twenty minutes. Smoke billowed from distant fires to the north and south. It seemed other Seraphs had come up with the same idea. The forest, though, could be bypassed. The first thin rivers of darkness spilled around the sides, rapidly growing in thickness. Bree wished to halt it, but how? She could block a street or two, but what did that compare to a city of a dozen roads? Already the shadow was curling around the buildings on the outer edges of the city, trapping people in like a hunting pack of dogs. Her only hope was that she’d bought the people enough time.

It seemed the theotechs were not content to hope.

The shaking of the land turned Bree to the west. She recognized that terrible explosion. She knew that darkening of the skies. Whatever weapon had leveled Glensbee had now been unleashed upon the very heart of the crawling shadow in the fields beyond the city. Fire enveloped it. Stone smashed it. Lightning struck from hellish clouds. It was like a hammer smashing a puddle. The darkness splashed in all directions, only a small portion of it burned away completely. From such a high vantage point Bree could see the shadow retreating, like the receding tides of an ocean. Fresh waves from the island’s edge surged forward to replace it, but at least it offered more time for the fleeing crowds. Bree watched the recession, noting something curious. The darkness moved like water, and when it retreated she saw there was a distinct point it retreated toward.

“Is that you, L’adim?” Bree asked.

A fresh surge of shadow crossed the emptied field, thin and narrow like a spear instead of the wide wave it normally spread. It smashed into a neighborhood near the outer edge of the city. The location of the weapon, Bree surmised. Knights hovered overhead, their frantic work not enough to spare the theotechs below. Fear wormed its way deep into her mind. The greatest weapon she’d ever witnessed had still meant nothing to the shadowborn. Could there be victory? Was it even possible, or would the crawling darkness eventually swallow them all like it had the rest of the world?

Eyes locked on that center point, Bree kicked her wings back to full strength and soared over the graying Center landscape. After those first few waves it seemed like the shadow was completely retreating. Bree didn’t dare allow herself to hope. She raced overhead, careful not to lose sight of her goal. The receding waves of shadow seemed to lead toward that same point. Her gut tightened. L’adim. That’s where he had to be.

The landscape turned bleaker and darker the closer she neared her objective. No tree survived. No building stood tall and proud. Everything had rotted and broken. The shadowborn did not create. He did not build. He only ruined what was once good.

Not far now. The shadow roared beneath at a terrific pace, making a mockery of even the speed of her wings. It all pooled toward one area, amassing in size with frightening speed. Bree saw a faint ghost light ahead shining in the center of a swirling maelstrom of darkness and shadow. Johan stood in its center, and he smiled up at Bree as if she were a welcome guest.

“Breanna!” he called to her as she slowed to a hover. “How great to see you’ve made it this far. I’d have been disappointed if you fell before my arrival.”

Bree pointed her gauntlet at him. Johan tsked at her as he wagged his finger.

“Do not insult me,” he said. “I have endured the wrath of nations. What are you compared to that?”

The shadow pooled beneath him, lifting him higher and higher into the air. The crawling slowed, the substance solidifying. Rivers built about him, encasing him up to the waist. Bree felt her skin crawl at the sight. She wanted to release her flame, but what might she hope for when he was so protected by the shadow? Giant hands rose and fell in the darkness, each one reaching toward her before sinking back down into the murk.

Johan melted into the darkness. His laughter faded to a haunting memory. The rivers rushed together, forming arms, legs, and hands. She could stay and fight. She could die like all the others in a futile gesture to halt the unstoppable.

Bree turned and fled.