Chapter Fifty-Nine
Daybreak
Aroha, Magnus, Carter and Sarah spun and twisted in a maddened swirl of shadow and light. Gravity pulled at them every which way as they tumbled through the arcane doorway, both weightless and somehow hurtling. Then light painted their faces as they slammed into the ground on the other side of the portal.
Carter squinted through the glaring brightness, feeling the sun on his skin and nausea in his gut. He slowly opened his eyes.
In one direction, sprawling on for leagues was arid desert plain. Behind them was a hundred feet of dry, dead ground leading up to a sharp cliff’s edge. Above them was a clean blue sky, and far in the distance, eventually the sand turned into tundra and hills before a set of foreign mountains which crowned the horizon.
Rose lifted her head off the desert soil and dusted her clothes. “What in Enthall? Did we get taken to Ahuralend?”
Magnus inhaled deeply, tasting the very air and opened his crimson eyes. “Actually you had it the first time. We’re in Old Lighila... West Olympium.”
Sarah coughed out a dry breath and looked back to the portal, only to find it no longer blood-red or cleanly flat, but a great, swirling shadow, hanging in the open desert air. Every so often black lighting was cast off its edges into the soil, as though it were overflowing with Creation Magic. She glanced to her companions and shuddered as a cold wind blew down from the mountains. “We’re in the Dark Lands?”
The statement lingered in the chilly air for a moment when a Mountain Wolf came ripping out of the portal, hitting the ground in a spray of sand.
The Legacies scrambled to their feet, shouting in panic as the moss-covered beast tore toward them, wincing under the light of the sun, but far from stopping.
Sarah tried to summon her Arcancy but the last few hours had been so exhaustive that the veins in her knuckles merely tickled. She cursed and sprinted, looking ahead to the only distinct feature of the desert that was close to them. The cliff’s edge.
Aroha reached for another arrow to find her hand swiping for nothing. Her blood chilled. “Anybody got a plan?” She dipped down, scooped up a stone and whipped it behind herself, striking the hulking beast in its jagged front tooth. It buckled in its pursuit, shrieking in pain for a moment before running them down again.
Carter drew one of his larger daggers from his deep-pocketed cloak and handed it to her. “We could find a way to scale the cliff!”
Magnus made it to the cliff’s edge first, skidding to a stop. He looked down at the waves crashing against a set of rocks far below. “I don’t think that will improve our situation.”
Aroha, Carter, and Sarah ran to his side and all began swearing up a storm when the snarls of the Mountain Wolf brought them back to the present.
Another Yiraa leapt from the dark portal, growling at the piercing light before snapping its head toward the group and hurtling toward them.
The Legacies were backed up to the cliff’s edge as the nearer Mountain Wolf prowled forward. The dangling moss, growing out from the crevices in its stone hide shuddered with every step, and its hollow, blank eyes followed their every movement.
Carter glanced at his companions. He looked to Sarah and fought to keep his composure. “I’m sorry.”
Sarah gripped her curving sword, loose strands of her hair falling around her tired face as she flourished her blade into a fighting stance. She wanted to say something brave and loud but the look on Carter’s face stilled her. “I’m with you.”
The second Mountain Wolf joined the first and both began pressing forward. The Legacies could move no further back.
Aroha raised her borrowed dagger, the wolves both leapt forward when suddenly a flash of green lighting blinded everyone on the cliffside.
Aroha fought to get her eyes open again and saw monster essence raining from the sky. Sarah, Carter, and Magnus were on the ground, and Raeken the dragon was wrestling the other Mountain Wolf to the desert floor, but the stone beast rolled and muscled on top of him, managing to avoid his poisonous gaze.
Raeken wildly sprayed acid into the Yiraa’s face and it shrieked, stumbling backward, toward Aroha. The huntress tried to side-step, but the monster’s leg buckled and it rolled straight into her, slamming her off her feet.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Sarah turned just in time to see Aroha pushed over the cliff’s edge. “Ari!"
Raeken saw Aroha fall and leapt for the cliff’s edge, but the Mountain Wolf snapped out, clamping its stone teeth down on his left wing. Raeken screeched out as he was pulled to a stop.
Magnus, Carter, and Sarah bolted in, swiping and stabbing at the Mountain Wolf, but it only slammed Raeken to the ground by his wing and swiped at all three of them, forcing them back against the cliff’s edge. A chuck of sandstone came loose under Carter’s foot and he went pale as he watched it fall into the sea far below.
Magnus tried to leap in again, hacking the Yiraa across its face with his scythe, and the beast barely flinched. In response, it slammed its great stone paw across Magnus’ skull and he crumpled to the ground like wet tissue.
In the distance, the black portal swirled and sparked again, and Sarah watched in disbelief as Michael, James, Oliver and Nichole came tumbling through.
Michael saw them through the glaring light and his heart sank. He grabbed for an arrow, shouting, “No!” but knew no arrow wouldn’t sail the distance.
It didn’t matter.
Without another beat, the Mountain Wolf lunged at Carter and Sarah and they could barely get their weapons up, let alone swing them.
The Yiraa, with no regard for itself, slammed them both over the cliff’s edge and they disappeared from sight, leaving Magnus unconscious on the ground.
Raeken tried to flap his wings but only cried out in a piercing wail, unable to get lift. He sped over to the lip and looked down to the sea. A raging look was set deep in his yellow slitted eyes as he lowered his head to the ground.
Michael and his companions sprinted to the dragon’s side and fell to their knees wheezing and dry coughing from ten minutes sprinting as fast as they could. Michael looked over to Magnus and despite his distaste, slouched to his side and jostled him.
“You dead, Andevār?”
Magnus didn’t move.
Michael’s face fell a touch. He jostled him harder. “Magnus?”
The pale boy’s eyes flashed open and he immediately winced, bringing a hand to his clubbed temple.
Oliver was knelt on the cliff’s edge, looking at the mess of white water and rocks below. He met eyes with James and they both immediately began shedding their cloaks and stuffing them into their packs.
Nichole wiped her eyes and followed suit.
Michael nodded. There might’ve been a case for going back when they were all together. But there was no question if it meant leaving any of them behind.
“We don’t even know if they survived,” Magnus groaned, pushing himself up to his knees.
Nichole turned to snap when she saw the portal expand and waver and pulse with black lightning.
Magnus scowled. “Fuck’s sake.”
A dozen Soiltorn began to pour through the portal. Unlike the Legacies they managed to do so without landing in a heap. Before the Legacies could rise, there was twenty. By the time they were shoulder to shoulder there was thirty.
Oliver stowed his sword and said, “I was getting sick of this place anyway.”
Three Mountain Wolves erupted through the breech too, and as they began to charge toward the Legacies, the platoon broke out in a ravenous sprint.
Nichole took a hard breath and mumbled to James, “You wanted a beach day, right?”
James cracked a small smile and took her arm softly. “We’ll find ‘em.”
Nichole nodded and turned to Raeken who was already trying to bare his teeth menacingly. “Raeken, get out of here. We’ll bring her home safe. I promise.”
The green scaled Drakonian croaked hesitantly but Nichole nodded firmly. He nuzzled her leg, turned and tore along the cliff line. A handful of a Soiltorn tried to pursue but he quickly outpaced them.
The Legacies looked over the edge, down to the thrashing waters below. Great spines of pale rock shined with white water, staring ominously up at them. Behind them battalion of Shanii shook the ground as they closed in.
Michael placed his foot on the lip and the wind tugged at him. His stomached tightened and he took a step back.
James took Michael by the shoulders. “I’ve got you.”
“I know.” Michael nodded but the fear didn’t leave him.
Oliver and Nichole linked hands. The swordsman gritted his teeth and looked to his friends softly. “Good luck. We’ll see you down there.”
They jumped together and whistled toward the white water.
Pitched shrieks stole Michael’s attention before he saw whether they hit the spikes or not. He felt his legs shaking. James steered him away from the madness and forced him to focus. “Look at me.” His eyes were pale as old oak wood, tired but strong.
“Don’t take too long,” Magnus said, before stepping over the edge like something would catch him, and he pushed off, twisting gracefully through the air in a winding spiral.
Michael tried to breathe but the noise of the army and the roar of the waves and the beat of his heart was too much. He looked up to James and held him tight.
And then he remembered.
The cliff. The desert. The blinding sun. The people.
Not all of it was right. Some details were wrong. Michael was swamped with conflicting disbelief. He looked at James again and James frowned.
Michael simply blustered. “We don’t have time for that. And I can’t do it. Throw me.”
James nodded and with hard eyes said, “I love you.”
“I love you,” Michael said back, wishing there was a way to say more.
Then one of Michael’s closest and oldest friends threw him off the cliff.