“All right,” Navid said, handing the girls a bag full of coin he’d saved over time. “That is enough to get you to Mahala. Do not waste time, stick together, and stay in Mahala once you’ve found them, understand?”
The girls both nodded, identical faces regarding him with worry. They had a plan, a rough one, but one Navid hoped would work. He would go to Aeron and the girls to Mahala where Kaleo and their uncle were. If the letter was to be believed, the man recalled nothing of his life prior to the Fall of the Phoenix Empire but had Azure with him and another very Powerful woman that might be able to help. If that failed, they still had Kaleo who was Powerful in his own right. Navid did not want to put any of them at risk, but there would only be so much he could do once he found Aeron. In truth, the girls had the harder job.
“I won’t fail,” Navid said. “Not this time.”
“Good,” Eila said, sticking out her pinky. “Then swear you’ll come back.”
Rielle did the same, her pinky extended like her sister’s. “Swear it, guardian. Swear you’ll return.”
Navid swallowed hard, feeling his throat clench. He grit his teeth and hooked both his own pinkies with theirs. An unbreakable oath.
“I swear it,” he said gruffly. They nodded, darting off into the city toward the Port Circle located near the shore. He lost sight of them quickly, praying for the safety. He waited several long, tormented minutes before returning to the depths of the evergreens. He looked at the stone that belonged to Aeron, the rune etched into the smooth stone with a rough hand. The edges were sharp, needing only a droplet of blood to activate the rune. Navid held it in his palm, squeezing until he felt the sharp edges dig into his flesh and the distinct tug of teleportation behind his navel.
***
The sounds of battle echoed across the fountain courtyard to Aeron’s bloodied ears. Too many concussive blasts left him damaged and partially deaf with constant waves of vertigo plaguing his pounding skull. Still, he heard the sound. Or, rather, felt the vibrations of it. He remembered the sensations from before. It did not take the demons long to find them after his dream - a day, maybe two. It was difficult to tell time as the Hex Storm left everything dark and made casting difficult. Sometimes spells went of as expected, other times what should have been a ball of fire became a swarm of gnats. It did not seem to hinder the demons as much as Aeron or Nadya, but it altered their Power as well. He shut his eyes briefly, tilting his head to listen through the damage done to his ear drums, to feel the ground beneath his sore feet or the vibrations of the splintered wall at his hands. Power. Those were not cannons or guns he heard, but the sound and feel of Power being flung about. The citizens of the town they took refuge in still had soldiers, all of them rallying to the king with weapons and more Power than Aeron realized. The Kormandi held great pride in their casters, purposely breeding for them much like the tirsai once tried to do. The difference was, the Kormandi succeeded. What Aeron saw put the tirsai to shame.
“What’s wrong?” Nadya asked. She hid with him. They were separated from the others. Aeron did not know where Demyan was, but last he saw the king, the young ruler was not moving, face down in a pile of rancid ash where they could not reach him.
“Nothing,” Aeron said slowly, peeking around the shelter they hid behind. No one stood near them, everything hidden by clouds of ash or billows of smoke. Soldiers ran toward the demons or carried their wounded away. Nothing at all was familiar to Aeron but hiding was no longer an option. “C’mon, this way.”
Aeron took Nadya by the hand, moving quickly from one charred piece of building to another in a low crouch. He didn’t think crouching would help against the hell hounds but it made Aeron feel better about leaving their hiding spot. They made it halfway across a large open air market to an abandoned canon at the center before hearing the snarls of a demon above them.
“MOVE!” Aeron shouted, shoving Nadya ahead of him as the demon pounced. Aeron felt the weight of the beast on his back, crushing his ribs and robbing the breath from his lungs.
“AERON!” Nadya squealed. There was nothing he could do, no way to retaliate. Even if Nadya could hit the thing, the chances of hitting him were too great, especially with the Hex Storm above. He knew it and, moreover, she knew it too. The pack on his back prevented the claws from reaching his flesh, the cloak acting as buffer for the creature’s maw. It did not stop the beast from shaking Aeron like a rag doll, tearing the cloak in the process. He shut his eyes, bringing his arms above his neck in vain attempt to protect himself, filling with Power until the stupid creature flew off him. He lay there for a moment, wind and stone, ash and dirt swirling in a vortex that kept the animal away from him. He felt the Power surge through him,
