It was a longshot, Finn thought as his eyes flickered to Rosa and Tobias, who were standing with him in the main council chamber of Malvas, but they had to try.
“Ready?” Finn whispered, reaching into his tunic for the small token that still hung on its braided cord. It looked like nothing more than a small piece of gray slate crafted into the shape of a kite shield, but it had a stylized whip of flame carved on it. Rosa’s had the symbol for wind, and Tobias’s had the square of Earth. Each token possessed the ability to return them to the Order of Celestial Grace whenever they chose.
“I’m all good.” Rosa nodded, although she looked very tired. So did Tobias, his usual grin now replaced with a flat line. Finn always forgot that the small Verdainian and prince of his people had much to lose too. It wasn’t just his adopted home of Blackwood but also that of his tribe who had made their home there.
If Malvas fell, how long would it be before Durzog moved on to Blackwood?
“A stone in the ground,” Tobias whispered. Finn assumed that was a Verdainian saying for ‘yes.’
Outside, he could hear the distant sounds of a city at war. People hauled carts up to the front, laden with barricade materials, food, and medical supplies. Chief Diane, who was standing in an outer circle around the three Defenders alongside Sister Alharrow and several of the captains of Malvas, was trying to keep the inferno blazing for as long as possible. Finn knew the city only had about two days’ worth of material left to burn.
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It was clear what they had to do. Finn stepped back, as did Rosa and Tobias, and each held up their tokens. At their feet, the checkered floor stretched around them to the amphitheater of wooden benches that would normally have been filled with the many managers of the city. At the moment, they were all busy fighting and preparing.
Over their heads hung the Hearthstone of Malvas, a large crystal that was longer at the top and bottom than the sides, just like Finn’s smaller Hearthstone that he kept in his inventory. It spilled a shifting, eldritch light over their faces, and Finn was sure that it was smaller than it had been before the war.
Two days to find an army of Celestial Defenders and bring them back before some four thousand hungry trolls descend on the city.
Two days before Diane had to start pumping out Mana from the Malvas Hearthstone to keep them defended. Finn knew that wouldn’t even be close to enough to save the city.
He focused on the token in his hand.
>
>
> Defender Token. Cost: 1 Mana.
>
>
Finn pushed just a drop of Mana into the item, and the swirl of carved flame flared with red light. Rosa and Tobias did the same, their token sigils glowing blue and green respectively.
The light brightened until the tokens became colored stars in their hands, and then—a moment later—he wasn’t in Malvas.
The trio suddenly stood along a deeply wooded ridge lined with ancient trees and twisting branches dripping moss all around them. Through the gap in the trees, Finn could see the thin stone bridge leaping up through the sky to meet the giant floating mountain topped with the citadel of the order.
Only now, it was smoking.
“What happened?!” Finn whispered in shock.