105: THE UNINVITED GUESTS

(Janel’s story)

Taja shouted, “Stop the ritual! We’ll take care of the others!”

Janel didn’t need to be told twice. She grabbed Kihrin’s hand and started running. Out of the corner of her eye, Janel saw Thurvishar and Senera break off from the main group and follow.

The ground heaved under their feet as a giant obelisk of stone punched up from the ground in front of them and began falling in their direction. Just as quickly, the stone shattered and fell to pieces, giant shards missing them by minuscule, lucky inches. Janel glanced over her shoulder to see Khored pointing his glass sword in their direction before returning his attention to the stone figure that had suddenly appeared in front of the god: Ompher.

A roar shook the field of battle as an opal-colored white dragon slammed into Thaena, teeth clenched around her throat. They both rolled, knocking over entire trees and crushing at least three elephants.

“Damn,” Kihrin said, and Janel knew he’d seen that too.

Janel thought turning into a dragon was a tactical mistake on Thaena’s part, but in all likelihood, Thaena hadn’t expected Relos Var to show up to this fight. So now she was fighting someone every bit as powerful in a form he was far more comfortable with than she probably was. It wasn’t playing to her strengths, whereas Relos Var couldn’t say the same.

Janel made herself focus; as tempting as it was to watch that sort of battle, they had slightly more pressing concerns. Like saving Teraeth’s life. As well as that of every vané and half of Quur.

Janel heard a closer roar and realized that one of the thriss lizards—vaguely like a drake, only much, much larger—was rushing at them with a mouthful of daggerlike teeth. Thurvishar held up the gem in his hand, and a giant stomping tree tripped, flailed, and fell on top of the animal. A hail of arrows from Thaena’s holy hunters loosed in their direction, impacting harmlessly against walls of magical energy Senera summoned.

“We have to keep going!” Kihrin shouted as he pulled his sword from a Black Brotherhood assassin. Two more replaced the dead man, and he was clearly feeling the frustration of having their way blocked.

Janel twisted to the side as another Black Brotherhood assassin lunged at her. “I’m sure if we just explain that we can’t stop and play, they’ll”—she shoved the man’s dagger out of the way and slammed her sword through his torso—“be happy”—Janel spun and ripped her sword up and through the spine of someone trying to approach Kihrin from the side—“to let us go!”

Kihrin moved so gracefully, it almost didn’t seem like he was even trying. He ducked under the swing of a thriss curved sword, danced to the side, disarmed the man, and slit his throat in the same motion. “Wait until they start standing back up again.”

Janel exhaled. He was right. She’d forgotten that the enemies they fought were Black Brotherhood. Did Thaena have to be paying attention to Return them back to life? “You know what would be helpful right now? Horses!”

“Hey, Senera!” Kihrin shouted. “Any chance you know that smoke horse trick Relos Var used in Atrine?”

Senera looked back from where she had just finished firing a volley of hunter arrows back at their targets. “What? No!”

“Damn.”

To the side, a gryphon swooped down and picked up a struggling vané man before flying him up into the sky and releasing him. The man dropped a few feet and then flew up, gesturing with his arms. The gryphon screeched in panic as its feathers burst into flame.

At least five giants of one kind or another were on the field, along with pillars of fire or ice. Lightning bolts slammed out of the heavens. Some of it was probably an illusion, but Janel had no way to tell what was real and what wasn’t.

A wall of thorns rose up in front of them, and just as quickly withered and died. More stones erupted from the ground and tried to smash them.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone,” Kihrin said, “but I think Ompher and Galava have noticed us!”

“Fortunately, so have the gods on our side!” Senera said and then seemed to catch herself. She grumbled something under her breath.¹

Cracks began appearing in the air in front of them, and Janel’s heart froze as she recognized the signs.

“No,” she cursed. “Damn it all, no!”

Demons poured out of the cracks, laughing maniacally.

In the distance, a familiar form emerged through the Veil. Xaltorath didn’t look in her direction. The demon had her eyes focused on a different target. Grinning widely, she started running toward where Thaena and Relos Var battled. The two dragons seemed quite oblivious to anything but each other.

“Kihrin! Xaltorath’s here. If she was ever going to have a chance to eat an immortal’s soul, this is the place!”

Kihrin stopped and turned in the direction Janel was pointing. “Shit.” He grimaced. “I can’t. Go! Keep that bastard from making this worse.” Kihrin gestured toward Senera and Thurvishar. “You two go with her.”

“No,” Thurvishar protested. “We’re the only thing keeping you alive!”

A giant column of stone took that moment to fall an inch to Kihrin’s right. He looked down at the rock, then back up at Thurvishar.

“Right,” Thurvishar said, “you’ll be fine.” He tapped Senera on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Janel was already running.