The ground fell still. In the absence of groaning stone, an eerie silence settled over Rynthos. Dust clouded the air, swirling with the steady flutter of wings. Fissures snaked across the cavern ceiling. Two of the library columns had crumbled to the ground, leaving vast piles of rubble and books scattered across the streets. Soft cries grew louder, becoming shouts and screams as the shock wore off.
That was bad, Xander thought as he studied the aftermath. That was far worse than it should have been this early on.
“King Lysander!”
He spun to find a messenger hovering behind him, garbed in the amber silks of the royal house. Though her speckled brown wings beat steadily, the wringing of her hands gave her anxiousness away.
It’s about time, he thought wryly. He’d been in the city for two weeks and King Sylas had yet to summon him. Oh, they’d spoken, of course, but only when Xander managed to chase the man down the halls demanding an audience. If the king was finally calling on him, maybe he’d begun to see reason, and none too soon. Xander had been planning to leave come morning. The ravens needed him alive, and even the promise of so many untapped books had done little to assuage his claustrophobia. This visit to the House of Wisdom had been nothing like his last one, lacking all the previous marvel and awe, leaving an emptiness behind. He couldn’t help but wonder if the absence of a certain person by his side made all the difference.
“King Sylas requests your presence in the throne room immed…” The messenger’s voice trailed off as her jaw fell open, a look of wonder in her eyes. Gasps rose from the ground below, followed by cheers. The single awe-filled word that fell from her lips made his heart stop beating. “Meteria.”
Xander spun.
A being as bright as the sun emerged from the rubble. The light emanating from its pores was nearly blinding. All Xander could decipher was the subtle movement of wings within the glow before he had to look away. Dark spots danced across his vision as a sinking feeling twisted his gut. No.
It was too soon.
They weren’t ready. He wasn’t ready.
“Meteria!” The shouts rose. “Meteria will save us!”
No, she won’t. Nothing can save us now.
“Get out!” he shouted as loudly as he could, refusing to let the despair blackening his soul win. He wouldn’t stop fighting. He couldn’t. “Get out while you still can!”
No one listened.
No one heard.
Every face in Rynthos was turned toward the radiant figure slowly rising higher and higher over the city, pulled like moths to a flame, trapped by their reverence. If he didn’t know better, he would have been sucked in too, but all Xander saw in that pure, pulsing ivory was their doom. He turned toward the exit, shouting as he soared above the streets.
“Get out! Get out!”
The seconds ticked on, stretching like a bowstring, the tension mounting in the air as he watched them, and they watched it, and it hovered in place, waiting like a notched arrow for a target.
“Get out!”
Snap!
The creature flew across the air with the speed of a shooting star and disappeared into the entrance of the tunnel leading to the open skies above. Xander chased after it, but he already knew he would be too late. Before he even made it halfway across the city, the House of Wisdom plummeted. He dove with it, all too aware of the yawning ceiling overhead even with his focus securely latched on the dark opening of the exit. The isle fell still. He couldn’t gauge how far they’d dropped, but it didn’t matter. This was only the beginning.
“Get out,” he shouted. “Get to the sky!”
Once more, the city dropped.
Xander plunged, nearly slamming into a building as the isle suddenly steadied. Screams reverberated off the walls, echoing eerily across the cavern. The air turned to chaos, nothing but a mass of beating wings as the owls took flight. But there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. As one, they raced for the tunnel. Feathers slapped his legs. A foot slammed into his head. Wings muddied his view, mixing with the dusty air until he could neither see nor breathe. Owls were solitary creatures. They were hunters. They didn’t think like a flock. They fought for themselves, pushing and shoving to get one extra inch closer. They were more broadly built and faster flyers. Xander quickly fell behind.
No. He pushed his way through the throng. I need to see Rafe. I need to make sure he knows I love him. And I need to see Cassi. I need to tell her all the things I never got to say. I need to tell Lyana the people believe in her. I need to lead the ravens through the coming war. I need to get out. I need— I need—
The isle fell.
In the mess, Xander didn’t notice until it was too late. He collapsed his wings to his back, colliding with feathers and limbs as he dropped. It wasn’t fast enough. Something hard struck the back of his skull. Stars burst across his vision, and he vanished into darkness.