Far away on the slopes of Mount Luciare, the folk of the city fled through fields, the golden sunlight all around. Wildflowers grew in abundance in the fields, huge white daisies rising up from the golden wheat, while flowering thistles dotted the hill with purple.
Few of the folk had been injured in the mad stampede to escape the city. By rough estimate, some forty thousand inhabitants still lived.
But Rhianna knew that they were in trouble.
She now glided above the people on leathery wings, riding the morning thermals. She used her height to keep watch both ahead of the group and behind. The wyrmlings did not give chase. They were hidden now within Caer Luciare.
But there was panic on the peoples’ faces. They could run, but how far, and for how long? Women and children would not be able to outrace wyrmling troops. Moreover, they only had one direction that they could go to escape-toward Cantular. The lands elsewhere were all flooded, and if the Wizard Sisel was right, Luciare was quickly becoming an island in an endless sea.
A hundred miles they would need to run in a day.
Rhianna wondered, And even if they make it, where will they find refuge?
After the better part of an hour, the Emir of Dalharristan called the people to a halt. Not all of the people were warriors, bred to battle, and many of them were already gasping for breath. Some of the wounded had to be carried. Among that number was Talon, who still lay in a swoon.
Rhianna looked around and realized that she could see no way to save them.
During the brief halt, Rhianna dropped to the ground, giving her wings a rest.
The Wizard Sisel, the Emir, and Daylan Hammer held a brief counsel, speaking rapidly. Rhianna could not understand what they said, and no one bothered to translate.
Daylan Hammer explained to Rhianna, “We are trapped. The women and children will not be able to outrun the wyrmling hordes. But there is still a chance that we can save them-a small chance.”
“What chance?” Rhianna asked.
“I will open a door through fire and air…”
Instantly, she knew what he was planning. And she knew the dangers. “Into the netherworld? You can’t! These poor folk, they won’t know what they are getting into.”
Rhianna had been there as a child, for a few months. Daylan had managed to keep them hidden, but the magics in that land were strong and strange. To Rhianna’s mind, she’d rather face the wyrmlings.
“I must risk it-an uncertain future over certain death.”
“Your own people will not accept them,” Rhianna argued. “The White Council-”
“Is broken. My people are destroyed. Those who survive are hunted and helpless. If any of them find us, perhaps they will rejoice to discover allies.”
Rhianna bit her lip, in doubt. Daylan’s people would not rejoice, she knew. People from her world were scorned. “Shadow men” they were called.
“I will help you all that I can,” Rhianna said.
But Daylan shook his head. “This task is not for you. Your people need you. They need to be warned. They need to prepare for the wyrmling attacks that will surely come. And now that you wear wings, there is no one better than you to warn them.”
Rhianna stood for a moment, torn. She had thought of Daylan as her uncle when she was a child, and she loved him still. But she knew that he was right. Millions of people were depending upon her.
Fallion was depending upon her.
“The Emir will help,” Daylan said. “He and his men have brought blood metal, to make forcibles. They plan to strike out ahead, with the hopes of attacking Rugassa and freeing its prisoners. But they will need to take endowments if they are to win through. You will need to find Dedicates for them, and convince them to aid in the quest.”
Rhianna looked to the Emir. He stood beside his daughter Siyaddah, holding her close, comforting her. He was a tall man, with a gladiator’s build and a hawkish face. With his over-sized canines and the bony plate in his forehead, he looked like some evil beast. In another life, on another world, he had been her enemy. Even now, she did not know if she could trust him.
How will I persuade people to give their endowments to this monster? she wondered.
Tell them that they are doing it to save the Earth King, she realized. And Fallion, whom I love. Tell them the truth.
Rhianna flew so high that the morning sun touched her wings, so that they sparkled like rubies in the sky.
