Wiping away fresh tears, Star led Windracer back to the canyon’s ledge. The smoke had surpassed them when they were in the cave, and she couldn’t see anything beyond the extension of her forearm. With a rush of panic, Star jumped back on Windracer and they hurried up the steep cliff face as fast as they could without losing balance or footing. A chain of explosions shattered her eardrums and she knew the machine’s orb had pulsed its last throb, taking everything in the canyon along with it. Tears streaked her ash-stained face. She felt as though she’d left a part of her heart behind.
Star reached the top of the canyon and paused, looking down into the havoc she’d help create. Flames the size of buildings licked the air, and the smoke rose in a haystack tunnel, polluting the horizon for miles before it tapered away beyond the clouds. She was certain all the Elyndra were burnt to cinders, their fragile wings incinerated instantly. They no longer threatened the air above her head.
Star searched the rim of the canyon for the rest of the day and into the night, calling out Leer’s name. To her horror, she could find no other way down, which meant there was no alternate exit. Consumed with an immense sense of loss, it took Star long moments before she accepted the fact she would not find him that day and settled into a makeshift camp. Only after she released her grief, the feelings washing over her in tidal waves, that she noticed the mist was gone.
Savior
Valen broke the last crust of stale bread in his hands, breaking it into fourteen even pieces. Holding back tears, he walked around the room, handing the crumbs to each survivor as if it was their last meal.
“What about you, Your Highness?” John pushed his own ration away. “You haven’t eaten in days.”
“I’ll eat when those blasted beasts are dead and gone.” Valen looked back at John, who kept watch by the boarded window. “You’ll need nourishment if you want to keep your aim sharp.”
John sighed. “What does it matter? We’re stuck here like rats in a cage.”
Valen leaned forward, drawing near to whisper in his ear. “I mean to make a run for it. Take our best fighters and, under your cover, run to the nearest shop to retrieve more food for the others.”
John looked horrified. “That’s suicide. You’ll never make it there, never mind make it back again.”
“We have to do something. We’re out of supplies.”
“They know that we’re in here. Those beasts are not dumb. They’re biding their time, waiting patiently for one of us to come out. I won’t let you kill yourself. You are the king and we need your leadership.”
“What we need is food.” Valen turned to the others huddling against each other in the shadows of the supply hall. They dared not light anything more than a single candle for fear any light or warmth would attract the beasts. There were too many out there to kill with the amount of flames they could produce.
“I’m going out in search of more food and supplies. I will go by myself if I have to, but I’m looking for volunteers to run with me.”
Valen watched as the soldiers looked from him to one another, weighing in the possibilities and likelihood they could make it there and back unharmed. Although higher numbers would secure a better chance of transporting food, he didn’t want to pressure anyone to make a decision concerning life or death. It was their choice and theirs alone.
“I’ll go.” Allyn held up his sword. Sadness hit Valen at the sight of this young man’s bravery in the absence of his father. Commander Rile would be proud of his son.
“Count me in.” John clapped Allyn on the back. “Like I said, I won’t let you kill yourself. If it’s up to me, King Valen, then you’ll be well protected.”
Valen felt a bolt of shock with the word
king
. He felt as if they handed him a sword too big to wield. Looking at the fear and hope in each soldier’s face made him straighten up and realize that he was all they had. Silently he promised them he would be the best ruler he could be.
One soldier after another got up slowly from the makeshift bedding on the floor, dusting off their armor to be used once again. Valen watched and nodded to each solider in turn. A sense of camaraderie washed over him along with an overwhelming feeling of the vast responsibility set upon his shoulders. They were his subjects now, and they put their faith in his tactics and depended on his decisions as king. He only hoped he didn’t lead them all to their untimely deaths.
In all, Valen chose only two soldiers to go with him. The remaining volunteers were too old, too burly or too injured to be able to run fast enough, hide underneath wagons and dodge the incoming attacks. Valen would lead the way, followed by Allyn and John in the rear. Valen’s strength lay in his sword, Allyn was agile, and John had excellent aim. He could cover them the entire way, following a step behind to watch over their heads.
“Close the door behind us,” Valen said to the healer who huddled underneath her robes. “If all goes as planned, we’ll be back before nightfall with food and supplies.”
Silence fell as Valen opened the main door. The mist flowed in an ominous tide, insidious tendrils unfurling to caress the stockroom floor. John cocked an arrow, pointing into the sky. A brief movement fluttered overhead then all was silent. Valen couldn’t tell if it was a trap.
“Come on.” Valen waved to Allyn and dashed into the mist. The young man held his breath and went after him. Grasping his bow, John followed, close behind.
Valen heard the door shut tightly as he veered in and out of the debris on the street, searching for the next place to hide. There were overturned wagons, bags of merchandise littering the cobblestone and, worst of all, blood stains. Valen felt like a wandering spirit in an ethereal ghost town. Being out in the open felt strange after having huddled in the dark for two days.
They ran fifty paces before he felt a swish over his head and ducked, somersaulting onto his back. “Watch out! They know we’re here.”
He heard another arrow fly as John fought them off. Valen jumped into an abandoned carriage and put out his hand for Allyn. The young man reached out and allowed himself to be pulled up, but Valen refused to close the door.
“John!” he yelled into the misty void. “We’re over here.”
John released two more arrows and made his way to the carriage. Valen hefted him up and they closed the door behind them, peering out the glass panel like weary travelers on the road to the underworld.
Suddenly an Elyndra landed on the carriage top, sending the entire box shaking. Valen was relieved this particular carriage was an upscale model, with a roof of wood instead of linen. There was no way it could get through.
“Don’t move.” Valen held up a hand in warning. “It may not have seen us go in. In fact, it’s probably just probing around.”
John held his bow against his chest and closed his eyes. Allyn kept his face glued to the glass, breath fogging on the pane. Valen could see nothing through the mist, but if it made Allyn feel better to watch, then so be it. Valen felt safe as long as none of them moved.
A few minutes later, the Elyndra took off, shaking the carriage once again.
“Do you think it’s safe to go outside?” Allyn’s hand rested on the door lock.
Valen didn’t want to keep the hungry soldiers waiting any longer, but if anything happened to them, they’d be waiting forever. “What do you think, John?”
The archer shrugged. “What’s fifteen more minutes going to do?”
Valen placed a hand on Allyn’s shoulder. “For now we wait.”
He searched the carriage for anything that might help them. A pair of discarded velvet gloves, an embroidered cushion and a crushed sunhat lay scattered on the floor. It wasn’t like the citizens carried extravagant weapons with them through the city. Their suitcases would be fastened to the top, but most likely they would be packed with clothes and toiletries.
Valen sat back in the velvet-cushioned seat, Allyn on one side and John on the other. In any other circumstance, it would be quite hilarious—a prince cum king, an archer and a foot soldier, riding together in finery.
Several moments later, Valen chanced opening the carriage door. Allyn cringed as Valen threw out the sunhat as bait. They watched and waited, but nothing descended to investigate.
Valen released a long breath of relief. “Our best bet is to run down Ravennest Alley, right to Harry’s General Shop. That’s the closest store I can think of.”
John nodded. “Hopefully he’ll have a sale on arrows.”
Allyn’s eyes widened. “How many do you have left?”
“Including this one, five.”
“Don’t worry.” Valen winked at Allyn. “That’s enough to cover us. John is an excellent shot.”
“I certainly hope so,” the young man replied.
Valen jumped to the ground. After taking a few hesitant steps, he signaled for Allyn and John to follow. “Stay close behind me.” He turned and disappeared into the wall of mist.
Ravennest Alley had a series of overhangings meant to keep the citizens protected from the rain. The trio ran underneath them, shuffling past breaks in the awnings as fast as they could.
When they got to the store, the front door was locked.
“Damn it!” Valen pounded his fist on the thick wood. “Let us in!”
But the store was a large room, and Harry himself lived upstairs. If he was in the backroom hiding from the apparent apocalypse, there was no way of getting his attention.
The awnings behind them moved in an unnatural breeze and Valen knew the beasts had tracked them.
“What do we do?” Panic edged Allyn’s voice.
John cocked an arrow in the direction of the movement. “Just keep pounding on the door.”
Valen smacked the wood desperately, but it would not budge. Harry had probably boarded all the openings by now. “It’s useless.”
Allyn’s gaze kept darting up to the awnings fluttering above their heads. “Can we find another place to hide?”
Valen scoured the alley, but the street was empty. There weren’t even any barrels or stalls set up for passersby. In resignation, he took out his sword. He looked at the fallen commander’s son with pity. He was so young and so brave. “Allyn, you’re going to have to fight.”
A rush of wind distracted Valen, blowing his hair out of his eyes. The mist swirled and blew past them, and they heard large thumps as the beasts hit the ground. Valen thought the Elyndra would all die right then, that they landed to battle them head to head.
Then the white wisps flowed around them and cleared. The mist had run out.
“What’s going on?” Allyn squinted against the cold northern wind.
“The Elyndra.” John lowered his bow in shock. “They are dying.”
Before Valen could warn him, Allyn ran back down the alley. Valen ran after him, followed by John. When they caught up, the young man kicked an Elyndra in the left wing as it disintegrated in the dry air.
“Would you look at that!” Allyn’s laughter bordered on hysteria. “We are saved.”
John crouched beside the exoskeleton. He pulled on a talon and the entire leg crumbled to the ground in dust. “But how can this be? For as long as we ever lived, the mist has only grown stronger. It never relented.”
“Star.” Valen’s chest burned with pride. “She made it. She’s saved us all.”
Hero’s Return
Star rode through a graveyard littered with winged exoskeletons. To either side of her lay a vast expanse of open land. The mountains that had harbored her and Leer on their journey there protruded on the horizon to the west, and in front of her sprawled the dark forest. Direction was no longer an issue. She had a clear sight of her path. Although it made for easier riding, Star craved the trees’ dense canopy, feeling naked in the stark plains without the mist to cover her tracks.
She had to remind herself her instincts for cover were no longer necessary, there was no need to fear. The monsters were only a lingering memory. Their bodies lay dead before her like a garden of poisoned weeds. Windracer wove in and out of the fallen corpses as they plowed their way back to Ravencliff.
She’d stayed at the ravine’s edge for three days and still the fires burned bright like the gates to Hell. Leer was nowhere to be found and her supplies diminished. She felt a growing need to return to Ravencliff, fearing all her efforts were too late. Leaving empty handed broke her heart and Star cried each minute Windracer took her away, but she had to move on in body if not in spirit.
Star reached the forest by nightfall and camped underneath the canopy. Her small fire was a faint radiance compared to the brightness of the full moon as it filtered through the leaves to touch the forest floor for the first time in ages. Star reached out to the diaphanous glow, her palm illuminated as she cradled the light. It seemed to shine only for her, a beacon from heaven to soothe a restless soul.
The giant caterpillars were gone. She wondered if they writhed on the heels of the last breath of mist, too slow to catch it as it abandoned the land like a defeated army. They, too, would drown in the dry air, dehydrated by parched wind as it burned and cracked their skin. Part of her felt sorry for the beasts that would never reach their full potential and fly in the sky, but a greater part of her finally felt safe for the first time in her life.
She broke through the forest the next day. Without the mist, the journey seemed effortless, the riding all too easy. She would be back at Ravencliff within the next day. Anxiety overshadowed her sadness as she remembered just how far the mist had risen and wondered if anyone was still alive within those walls. A thousand gruesome images plagued her imagination as she thought of all the possible scenes awaiting her when she returned.
Star got her answer miles before she reached Ravencliff’s walls. Tiny dots moved on the horizon. As Windracer brought Star closer, she could make out people, without protection, roaming the countryside. The freedom brought more tears to her eyes. As she grew closer, she saw they were building, expanding Ravencliff’s territories beyond the fortress.
Windracer picked up pace, riding in their direction, as if the horse were eager for the company of others. Star smoothed her horse’s mane as if to say she felt the excitement as well.