“Your efforts are infantile, failed king,” Horix called.“Your people will fall, and you alongside them. This vainglorious effort is of no consequence. Discipline will always outstrip your untamed powers.”
He brought his hands together and pressed them forward. A new layer of dark, sickly green fog appeared above the remnants of Beqai’s mist.
“Toxic Blizzard technique!” Beqai yelled. “Take cover!”
Acidic knives of ice hailed down on the Qihin forces streaming through the gate and into the courtyard. They screamed in alarm as the acid burned their skin. A stray shard brushed against my Frozen Armor, melted the ice plates, and blistered the skin beneath. Even Beqai flinched as the growing Toxic Blizzard hit him.
“Move!” I bellowed. “Push inside!”
The guild warriors fell back and tried to reform a defensive line in the doorway before we could get through. But we were strong, determined, and desperate to get out of the guildmaster’s burning rain. The Qihin host charged with a fresh surge of energy.
I crashed into the enemy as they struggled to hold their line with Vesma and Kumi at my back. I cut one guard’s leg out from under him and blasted another with Untamed Torch to create a gap in their defenses. I sent a Burning Wheel into the enemies blocking the doorway, and it took all of a few seconds for the burning soldiers to scream and break rank. My companions rushed in after me and widened the gap I’d created.
We were inside the guild house now. Horix didn’t have the Depthless Dream. But it was here somewhere. I just had to find it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Weapons clashed, and warriors cried out in anger and pain. The din filled the cavernous chamber of the guild house. The cacophony reverberated off walls of marble and high ceilings of magically preserved ice. Every sound we made echoed around us and reflected back from high, embossed ceilings and murals that depicted the glory of Horix’s “pure” guild members triumphing over monsters and outsiders.
Qihin and Resplendent Tears warriors fought each other in a confused melee. I used my Augmentation in small bursts, both to conserve my Vigor and to avoid collateral damage to my allies.
There were no battle lines, no formations, and no orderly squads or officers to take control. The fight was just a tangled mess of bodies and blades.
Guild troops streamed in from corridors and staircases while the Qihin poured in through the great doors from the courtyard. The forces crashed into each other like storm waves against a cliff and carried with it all the same noise and destructive power.
A towering guild soldier slammed into Vesma and knocked her away from my side. I caught him with a spray of thorns across his face, then knocked him down with a kick to the belly. By then, Vesma was out of sight in the mass of battling warriors.
A whirlwind of leaves battered a guild warrior to my left and knocked her about until she fell on the floor to retch with dizziness. Faryn stepped over her to join me and Kumi.
“We need to get to Horix,” I said. “Cut the head off the snake and finish this.”
“And I presume you would be the person to do that?” Faryn asked.
“I’ve got a pretty good track record with snakes,” I said as I kicked out an initiate’s feet from under him and spilled his guts on the marble floor.
“The back of the hall,” Kumi said. “I think those stairs to our right will take us to the upper levels.”
“Wouldn’t the trident be in Horix’s office underground?” Faryn asked.
“I doubt he’d keep it far from his person, even if he can’t use it,” I said. “We’ll head to the balcony he was standing on. Come; let’s push on.”
Faryn summoned another swirling whirlwind of Smothering Leaves, then launched toward the stairs through the ranks of guild members. I tossed a fireball into the mass of greenery and set it alight. Soldiers were thrown aside and left us with a clear route.
Faryn led the way through the gap and cut down a guardsman as Kumi and I followed. A Resplendent Tears initiate staggered into our way five feet from the staircase with a face scratched and bloody from Faryn’s attack. He swung an Ice Spear at her, but she ducked out of the way as I hit the spear with the Sundered Heart and melted straight through the ice. The initiate backed out of the way as his eyes filled with alarm.
We headed up the staircase, taking the steps two at a time.
“The fighting will be rough here, Faryn,” I said. “You sure you don’t want to pull back and help the others?”
“It’s not peaceful there either,” she said. “I’ll take a hallway of insane students over chaos any day. And I don’t want you to face Horix alone.”
“Glad to see you’re onboard,” I said with a fierce grin.
The staircase curved to the right and carried us up into a wide corridor. Overlooking the stairs stood an ice sculpture of Horix, his hand held out to offer a gift to his followers. Tapestries filled with illustrations of the guild’s achievements blurred past us as we ran.
We rounded a corner and found a group of guild disciples with full sets of detailed Frozen Armor. They hid their faces behind fully enclosed helmets as they advanced with metal shields covered in frost and a variety of swords and spears. Acid Vigor hissed to my fingertips as I prepared to rip straight through them. The leader held up his hand, and the warriors behind him halted. Faryn caught my arm as I raised it to cast an Acidic Cloud. The leader pulled away the ice that formed the front of his helmet to reveal the face beneath.
“Labu,” Kumi whispered.
“Kumi.” He stared at her. “Why are you here?”
“I’ve come to bring you home.” The princess slid her knives into the sheaths on her back and walked toward her brother with arms held wide. “Please, Labu; it’s not too late.
