Suddenly the floor of the fortress began to shake violently. The tremor was no more than three seconds in duration but very strong; blocks of the fortress walls began to shift and separate slightly, and long cracks split the floor of the gateroom. A large section of the balcony crumbled and fell away, and the gemstone dragons were forced to spread their wings and leap aside. The brief tremor was enough to shatter the outer wall of the fortress. The massive blocks of stone were too large and solid to collapse easily, but they were split by deep cracks, and the doors of the main gate shifted on bent hinges.
But the dragons had not escaped yet. Although the crossbars were broken, the doors remained shut and were now jammed together. Their enemies were disoriented, but Thelvyn knew he wouldn't have the time to try to force the damaged gate open before he was attacked. Looking quickly over his shoulder to see that Kharendaen was safe, he drew a deep breath and released the full fury of his breath weapon. A jet of blue flames that materialized into crackling bolts of lighting leapt and danced over the floor, ripping apart the stones as if they were dried mud. The Veydran warriors were chased down by the branching spears of lighting, their broken and smoking bodies hurled across the chamber. The gemstone dragons who were not immediately slain fled from the merciless destruction.
Kharendaen was alarmed by the ferocity of the attack, and as they flew, she kept herself slightly behind and above Thelvyn so that her mate was free to release his terrible destruction without fear for her safety. At last he turned and headed toward the gate, directing a full blast of lightning against the jammed doors until they exploded outward. Free at last, the dragons darted forward through the gate just as the stones began to collapse in a cloud of dust and rubble.
Thelvyn continued to lead the way, staying low as he followed the streets between the maze of fortresses. The sky above was tilled with the winged forms of the Masters and the smaller Veydran warriors, and soldiers of many other races hurried through the streets, but they seemed uncertain of what they were expected to fight. The confusion gave the two dragons enough time to search through the streets for the route to escape.
Following the larger streets, Thelvyn quickly found what he was looking for. Emerging between the long rows of strongholds, the dragons suddenly found themselves in the milling confusion of the central square. Companies of soldiers scattered and heavy freight wagons careened out of their path, but the dragons were too late. The immense worldgate had already been closed.
Seeing that he had no choice, Thelvyn turned and led the way out of the central square, staying low in the streets between the buildings to remain hidden as long as possible. The Masters and whole companies of Veydran had already seen them and were now in hot pursuit. Their only hope now was to avoid having to fight until they were away from the stronghold and able to disappear into the dusty twilight wilderness of that cold, dry world.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
If Thelvyn had still wanted to learn more about the strength of the Masters and their armies, this was certainly the time. He could see at least two hundred gemstone dragons darting back and forth over the stronghold, although in their alarm and confusion, they didn't seem to know what they were looking for. He hoped to take advantage of their uncertainty, remaining half hidden in the streets between the imposing, massive forms of the fortresses until he and Kharendaen were able to escape into the wild.
But he had never dared to hope that they would be able to get away entirely unobserved. Even as the two dragons weaved an elusive path through the streets, still more gemstone dragons began to fall in behind them, taking up the pursuit. That was no immediate concern in itself; Thelvyn knew that gold dragons were faster than the Masters, but when he glanced back, he saw that Veydran warriors were taking up the chase as well. That was a matter of some concern, since he had no idea of their speed and endurance.
Suddenly the street they were following ended, and the
dragons came out from among the great hulks of the fortresses. Now they had to make a desperate dash across the open ground and into the southwestern pass through the mountains that surrounded the stronghold. They entered the pass as quickly as they could fly, passing right over the heads of countless companies of soldiers waiting to be moved forward through the worldgate. Thelvyn waited for the rattle of arrows against his armor and hoped that nothing worse would be brought to bear against them, but it seemed that their enemy was still taken by surprise, unprepared to fight back. Moments later, the dragons were beyond the pass, turning sharply to head west across the fields toward the seclusion of distant mountains.
Thelvyn glanced back after a moment to check on their pursuers. The gemstone dragons were already beginning to fall well behind them, unable to match the furious pace of the gold dragons. But he saw at least twoscore Veydran warriors in pursuit, strung out over more than a quarter of a mile, the nearest only a few dozen yards behind Kharendaen. And as he watched, he saw that they were neither gaining on them nor losing distance. He had no desire to fight so many of the small, powerful warriors, but he realized that if they didn't begin to tire or fall behind soon, he would have to do something.
'How are you holding up?' Kharendaen asked.
'I'm not at my best,' he said, surprised at how much he was forced to pant when he tried to talk. 'I can't keep up this pace for long.'
She bent her head to look at him. 'If you want to avoid a light, would you mind a suggestion?'
'Of course not.'
'Then let's begin to climb, as high and as fast as we can,' she said. 'If my guess is correct, the Veydran are not equipped to fly in high, thin air.'
Thelvyn didn't have the breath to reply, but he was grateful tor the idea. Because his own experience with flight was limited, he would never have thought of such a thing. The two dragons began to climb at once, rising as steeply as they could with long, powerful sweeps of their wings, even though climbing sacrificed some speed. Thelvyn knew he couldn't endure much more of this, but he was encouraged to see that the Veydran were steadily falling farther behind. Obviously the Veydran were tiring even more quickly than the dragons, and that might put an end to the chase.
Every advantage now seemed to belong to the dragons. There was a high but solid blanket of pale, light clouds above them, and the brisk wind felt cold and curiously wet for such an arid place. If they could only climb into those high clouds, their escape was certain. More than that, the sun was already setting, and night came quickly to this desolate land. Thelvyn desperately needed a chance to rest and recover from his injuries, and he realized that he hadn't eaten or drank in at least three days. He didn't expect to find food or water in this place, but he had to have some rest before he could find a way to escape the world of their enemies.
The miles and miles of neatly laid fields and pastures were falling away below them steadily, but Thelvyn thought the ceiling of clouds overhead remained as remote and unreachable as ever. He began to fear that the clouds were too high, beyond the reach of even dragons. He desperately needed to reach those clouds, which would conceal their escape into the wild, losing their pursuers and giving him some time to rest. The shoulders of his wings were weak and numb, and the damaged muscles all along his back were burning in pain. He had to constantly remind himself to hold his tail erect so his rear sails wouldn't drop down to catch the air and slow him.
The Veydran were no longer falling behind, expending every last bit of their strength to catch the dragons before they disappeared into the clouds. Thelvyn was beginning to doubt that he would make it to safety, but then he noticed that, by some trick of the fading light of day, the clouds had looked farther away than they were. A thousand yards or more remained, but he was beginning to hope that he could last that long. Even so, the last few minutes became a desperate race. The Veydran began to close once again as Thelvyn's strength began to fail and the dragons were forced to slow their steep climb.
Kharendaen dropped back behind her mate. If necessary, she intended to hold off the pursuing Veydrans with her flames long enough for them to escape, but then they moved up into the clouds, and the mists and the gathering night closed about them. They turned immediately to the south, not daring to level off until they were well inside the clouds. Then rhey turned once again, back toward the west, locking their wings to rest briefly while they rode the winds.
