The north gate of Pramas looked no different than the south gate had, except that this gate was closed and men defended it. They were still scrambling to get there and it was obvious even to Ezo’s inexperienced eyes that they weren’t used to being called to duty like this.
“I’m sorry I got us into this, Kammon,” Ezo said as they stared through the gaps in the crates left behind the baker’s stall where they were hiding.
Kammon looked at him and shook his head before he turned back to the gate. “Don’t be sorry. Just tell me how you think we can get out of this.”
“You said it, before. If we want out, they can’t keep us.”
“Yeah, but I’d prefer not to do it with the blood of innocent men.”
“What?”
“The men on that wall. Do you really think we can take that down without hurting them?”
“There must be a way. What if we tunneled under?” He was strong in earth. He could dig a tunnel quick enough. If they were combined, it would be much quicker.
“Then you leave the entire city’s defenses compromised if something really did attack them,” Kammon said.
“Do you care? Lestan is an ass.”
“And I’m not fond of the people of this city in general,” Kammon said, “but I won’t have more blood on my hands, no matter how willfully ignorant I find them.”
“Hide in a passing trader’s wagon?”
“They won’t wait that long to search for us.”
“Knock out a guard and disguise ourselves as them and run out when no one is looking?”
Kammon laughed at that as he looked at Ezo. “Jacob taught you the strangest way of thinking.”
Ezo smiled. Even if they were in a bind, he felt if they were in this together they’d manage to get out of it. “Then what would you suggest?”
“I don’t mind pulling the gate down. Just not the wall.”
“And doing that without killing anyone?”
“Where are you strongest, Raven?” Kammon asked. “What do you use most comfortably?”
“Earth and air.”
Kammon nodded. “Air it is then. Can you project a wall around us and shield us?”
“I can do that.”
“From their arrows? And any magic that might come at us?”
“Are we combining powers?”
Kammon closed his eyes and nodded. He looked incredibly sad when he opened them again. “I don’t think we have a choice in that anymore.”
“Then yes, I can. What are you going to do?”
“You keep us safe. And I’m going to take the damn gate down.”
“I thought you didn’t want to leave them compromised?”
“They’ll have time to build a new gate. If we undermined the walls with a tunnel they’d never know it.”
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Ezo nodded. He reached for the elements and felt the bond between himself and Kammon as soon as his magic came to him. He watched Kammon as the bond expanded and felt whatever it was he’d seen behind his eyes. He didn’t know what caused such pain in the man, but he could feel it like his own. Tears welled up in his eyes but Kammon gripped his shoulder and shook him slightly.
“Ezo, can you do this?”
He nodded. The bond had never felt so secure or so full before. He could feel so much more of Kammon now. He felt beyond the overall exhaustion and daily aches and pains. He could feel the emotional turmoil that was the man. War-Sworn. The Calamity. The first and last defense of Distria. A good man, buried under a mountain of ash and gravestones.
He steadied himself by thinking of Jacob and his teachings, of Alvrey. Of the pure white flow of healing and the calm and patience of her magic. He felt ready then. “I’m good.”
When Kammon stood, he came around the baker’s stall with Ezo beside him. Ezo pulled a wall of air around them and above them. When they stopped before the gate the men on top targeted them with arrows but didn’t shoot. The men that stood on the ground before it watched with swords drawn.
From behind the arrows four men came to the front. Ezo could feel the strength in their magic from above him.
“You will not leave this city, Kammon Harbinger.”
“Do you plan to stop me, Salinger?”
The man laughed and Ezo could feel the anger burning in Kammon.
“Oh, you’re good, Kammon, but not even one of the Disavowed would take this many lives so selfishly.”
“You think he’s good,” Ezo said as he looked around them. He could hear something in the distance and felt Kammon stiffen slightly. He felt something coming as well. They had to get this done. “But wait until you see what we can do together.”
There was no warning when Kammon unleashed flames at the gate. There was no showy throwing of balls of flame, just the ignition of wooden gates that fed Kammon’s fire. Ezo’s wall held back a barrage of arrows from above. As he watched, the soldiers on the ground began to move forward. He pushed a wall of earth up around them for protection.
“Keep it up. I’m going to move it,” Kammon said.
Ezo could feel the power moving around him and through him. As he kept the wall up, Kammon slowly moved the configuration forward toward the burning gates. Screams filled the air around them but he could hear the anger in it. It wasn’t the pain of dying. He sensed the attack a moment before it hit, a stream of water trying to drown them in their earthen shelter. It slid off Ezo’s wall and out around them. He felt the earth outside their mound turning to mud and realized Kammon was copying the trick he’d used against the raiders to keep the soldiers outside their barricade off balance.
“The gate is ready,” Kammon said.
He wasn’t sure what his companion planned next, but Ezo pulled on the magic between them and strengthened his protections. Kammon stopped their motion and even through walls of earth and air, he could feel the heat of the flames. Kammon looked at him and pulled both arms up to his chest and pushed them out toward the gate. The earthen wall exploded before them, destroying the flame-eaten gate.
Kammon pulled Ezo into a run as they left the city. Ezo kept the wall of air up around them to stop the arrows and he watched as earth spun around Kammon before it shored up the hole where the gate had just been.
“We need to get out of here before they send men through the other gates,” Kammon said. “We’re not far from some woods that should give us cover until we can meet up with your friends.”
Ezo nodded, letting go of his magic. He felt magic stirring as soon as he released his hold on it though. A single strike. A blade of ice. Ezo grabbed the men behind them, surprised that all four elementalists dangled from bands of air in front of him. Kammon was on his knees, ice struck through his shoulder.
Salinger glared at Ezo as he realized he was the one holding them.
“Are you cowards?” he yelled.
“There is no such thing as a coward in war,” Salinger said. “There is only winning.”
“This isn’t war! We just wanted to leave!”
Salinger laughed and Ezo had never wanted to punch anyone more. “War never ends, Boy, and violence loves its harbinger. If you wanted days of peace, you’d have found it easier with the eques.”
“Lestan wants war,” Kammon grunted out.
Salinger smiled. “Yes, but war follows you. He’ll die in your wake, like all the others.”
Before Ezo could answer that, a blast of air barreled into the other men, knocking them unconscious.
Ezo glared at Kammon but dropped it when he watched the other man rise to his feet. He released the air holding the elementalists and wrapped an arm around his waist, helping him. “You could have warned me.”
“Sorry,” was all Kammon said.
Ezo created a new wall around them, just in case, but there was no fresh danger. Ember appeared briefly, landing on Kammon, and pecking at his shoulder briefly before flying off. Ezo could see her every so often, circling over them, keeping watch. They reached the woods and a slow-flowing river. A couple fallen logs bound together with air gave them enough space to sit and they rode away from their pursuers, safe for the moment.