Chapter 24 #2
Ahead, a crack in the mountainside let in a cool breeze that felt arctic in the unrelenting heat.
The badgers used their claws to widen it.
Fresh air hit us like a physical blow, and I gasped, not realizing how desperate I was.
There was shouting up ahead, dwarven and badger, as we exited on the side of the mountain.
The mountain was on fire. Trees burned, the smell of smoke thick in the air. When I looked up, tongues of lava jumped over the edge of the mountaintop, smoke and ash clouding the sky. They would see this in the Silver City and wonder what nation the Imperium was burning now.
The air still smelled of sulfur, but with the lake nearby, the air was so much cooler than inside the mountain.
Dwarves screamed, shoving past us, and I checked on the badger kits in my shirt.
One nuzzled close to my skin, the other mewled for its mother.
Irad?o balanced Na? in one arm, stepping closer to Tallu and me to avoid the panicked dwarves pushing their way down the mountain.
“We need to get to the bottom,” I yelled at the three badgers who had led us to freedom.
The bright daylight had turned hazy orange from the thick clouds of smoke.
Entire families of dwarves were coming down the mountain, children clutched in parents’ arms, possessions held on their backs.
I saw men and women wearing the markings of their guilds calling back and forth, eyes wide as they exchanged information.
I didn’t need to speak Krustavian to know that not everyone was going to make it off the mountain.
But it was too late. Only a few yards up the mountain, lava exploded out of one of the dwarven tunnels, setting fire to trees. I turned to run but found our way blocked by more flames.
Dwarves panicked, screaming, and I knew I should reach for ice, should at least try, even if it killed me—
A wall of stone and earth rose up in front of us, creating a dam against the oncoming lava and around us burning trees were sucked into the earth as though watching them grow in reverse. The ground flaming leaves lingering briefly on the surface before disappearing under the dirt.
For a moment there was silence, and I looked around. What had once been a mountainside forest was now an empty clearing in which dust hung thick in the air. In the center of the clearing stood Vostop, his hands extended and his face covered in ash.
Beside him, Koque cradled Hallu. She raised her chin and spoke in fluent Krustavian, the language sounding strange in her mouth.
Whatever she said, the dwarves murmured among themselves before moving en masse down the mountain, panic building once they hit the burning trees on the far side of the empty circle Vostop had created with his magic.
We made our limping way to Koque and Vostop. The badgers followed us, murmuring to themselves about the display of dwarven magic.
“Let’s go,” Koque said, tugging on Vostop’s shoulder. Pito and Topi had already fled, only visible in the mass of dwarves because of their height. “My love, we must go.”
Ash rained down around us, covering our skin with thick white flakes that looked like the frost I had covered Tallu and Irad?o in earlier.
Rivulets of lava burst from the tunnels the dwarves had opened into the mountainside farther up.
Some flowed down over the edge of the mountain, and I could hear a screeching hiss as it hit the water, a scream of sound almost as loud as the thundering explosion at the top.
“There are still more dwarves in the mountain,” Vostop said, his face creased deeply, the ash packing into his wrinkles. “I can help them.”
“And die trying. Koque already named you King of the Shadow Throne,” Tallu said.
With a start, I realized that Tallu spoke Krustavian, and he knew what Koque’s graceful phrases had meant.
Tallu pointed at the wall of stone and earth that was the only thing keeping the lava back.
“You have saved all who were here. You have saved the survivors of Mountain Thrown City. You have taken the crown your cousin betrayed. You are king of your people. Now, act like it!”
“How can my first act as king be to save my own skin at the expense of their lives?” Vostop pointed up at the mountain.
“Because to kill yourself now is to doom your people,” Tallu said sharply. “Be the king your cousin could not be. Know when you must sacrifice to save them. You wear a heavy crown. Can you bear it?”
Vostop spun on Tallu, and for a moment, he fisted his hand, and I was sure that he was going to strike Tallu. Then he shook his head, dropping his hands and looking at the badger kits still nestled inside Tallu’s shirt. “My first royal act is to leave all those still in the city to their deaths?”
“Your first royal act is to save those you could and, with them, the future of your people.” Tallu nodded. “King Vostop, what will you do?”
I could feel the heat growing as the lava pooled behind Vostop’s wall. Soon, it would flow around the wall or over it. We had so little time.
Vostop turned and led the way down the mountain. The forest parted in front of him, trees sliding into the earth as he made a path to safety for the survivors.
By the time we reached the bottom of the mountain, the badgers were stained pale gray. The oldest slowed, but I bent low, struggling to find the words.
“No slow. We have to…” Speaking in animal tongue felt awkward. I could feel the word I wanted, but I couldn’t force it out. Finally, I said lamely, “Go. Around the lake.”
The badger snuffled my face, her damp nose pressing against my cheek. “All right, little one. Take care of our kits. They may be the last of the mountain badgers that live.”
Then she followed me, her waddling pace slow compared to the panicked dwarves around us. I looked back, and Tallu had collapsed onto his knees, breathing harshly. I grabbed hold of his elbow, dragging him up. We couldn’t stop.
The Krustavians spread over the open plain, falling into the Imperium with no sense of borders, just a desperation to get away from their home. We looked up at the mountain, or at least what was left of it.
Even from a distance, the heat was unbearable, a staggering, relentless pressure that left me feeling breathless.
Around us, the dwarves had stopped as well, their eyes turned upward to where the mountain spewed lava and ash.
Mountain Thrown City was gone, along with anyone who hadn’t been able to get out.
A keening wail arose in Vostop’s throat, caught by those around him, a mourning sound that echoed between people, turning into a chorus.
It was almost like a song. No, it was a song.
I could imagine this layered melody of grief being sung in the tunnels, the narrow spaces up and down the mountain echoing with it.
“It is good here,” one of the badgers said. “Among the mountain people, we will be safe.”
“Come with us,” I said.
“And go where?” The badger snorted. “North? To live in your buildings and cities? No. We are here with the dwarves. They know our pain.”
I closed my eyes, feeling the warm bodies of the kits I held in my shirt, listening to the dwarven voices raised in a song of mourning.
Kneeling, I put down the badger kits and watched them waddle over to their parents, the older badgers nudging them beneath them, to keep them safe from the falling ash. As he bent to put down his own, Tallu nearly collapsed, but I grabbed hold of his elbow, helping him back to his feet.
“What will they do?” I asked Koque.
“It is a mountain range,” she said. “This is one mountain. There are other places they can live.”
Tallu coughed, and I tightened my grip on his elbow, feeling a helpless rage building in my chest. “We need to get back to the palace.”
Koque adjusted her grip on her son. She looked over the crowd of dwarves, watching as they circled Vostop, hands on shoulders, a mass of mourning people.
“He came back because we felt the explosion. We were free. We’d made it, and then he moved nearly the whole mountain so we could get here and save his people.” Her voice went softer, nearly a whisper. “He will not leave them now to come with me to live in the Imperial Capital.”
“Tallu needs to go,” I said sharply. “Are you coming?”
Koque looked again at her lover, then straightened her spine and turned to Tallu. “Are we at peace or at war with Krustau? They are weakened now. If the Imperium wants their tunnels of gold and riches, now is when they could be conquered.”
“We are at peace,” Tallu said, his russet eyes unwavering. “We have great affection for our dearest ally, who saved the dowager empress when assassins killed her husband.”
Koque nodded. She wove her way through the crowd of dwarves and bent to whisper in Vostop’s ear.
Then she turned, striding past us toward the Lakeshore Palace.
Tallu straightened, but I still worried he was about to keel over.
Irad?o, still carrying Nai, took his other side as we moved between people, using the lake to guide us.
I looked over my shoulder, seeing how the Krustavians grouped themselves by guild, children covered in blankets, their parents unable to look away from the mountain.
“How long do you think it will go on?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. How long does a fire dragon celebrate killing an animalia?” Tallu’s question was wry, and I smiled despite myself.
We continued our way around the lake, limping and leaning against one another.
The blood mages shadowed us. Irad?o tried to speak, but the smoke and ash had reduced her voice to a whisper.
I looked longingly at the lake water but knew that it would be foolish to drink it now, with ash and debris floating on the surface.
A dark shape glided in front of us then swooped upward, and my eyes caught on Terror. He landed in a tree nearby, cocking his head.
“You survived the mountain? Pah. I wish you had not. I had an agreement with Dawn. She said that you did survive, and I said that you had lost too much of your brain when they electrocuted you. You no longer had the intelligence to flee a volcano.” He croaked, the sound echoing.
“Now I will owe her some food of her choice. And knowing her, she would choose one of the baked goods from the kitchens. It will be too much trouble.”
“Sorry to have…” The word I wanted to say was “inconvenienced,” but it felt thick on my tongue, and I squeezed my eyes shut, finally forcing out, “trouble… bother?”
I could taste copper, gritty dust, and debris in the back of my mouth, and I swallowed it down.
“What? Can you speak now?” Terror swooped down from the tree, landing on my shoulder and rubbing his face against mine.
He gently tapped his beak against my scalp.
“You sound very foolish. Perhaps they did take away something of your intelligence. Don’t push yourself too hard.
I have learned the language of the Imperium. ”
I realized the bird was trying to be kind, and part of my heart clenched tightly. But I needed to practice. I could feel the gaps in my knowledge, and they were unacceptable.
“No. I can learn again.” Or at least I hoped I could. I hoped that with practice, it would come back.
“Well. Since we are practicing… If you are alive, let us agree that you will provide Dawn with the food of her choosing. After all, it was you who disobliged me by living. This other one from the north is too stingy. I do not like her as much as I like you.” The raven tapped his sharp beak once more against my temple.
“So we can agree that you will provide Dawn with her food, yes?”
I laughed, and beside me, Tallu stumbled. Grabbing hold of him, I locked my arm to keep him upright. Terror pushed off from my shoulder, flying ahead of us, narrating as he swooped from tree to tree.
“You always said that ravens were spying nuisances,” Irad?o whispered hoarsely.
“That was because you kept an aviary of them. I could barely wipe my own bottom without one of them informing you.” I kept tight hold of Tallu while Irad?o teased me, until she coughed and lost her voice entirely.
Koque was silent, not even smiling as she kept looking back over her shoulder.
The journey took until sunset, and when we reached the palace, armed guards lined the walls, more of them than I’d seen when we’d first arrived.
From atop the walls, someone called for us to stop. I tried shouting up, but I couldn’t even speak, my voice too damaged. I tried again, but all that came out was a squeaking noise.
“Tallu,” I whispered. An arrow shot from the wall, hitting directly in front of us, and we stopped.
Tallu had spent the past few hours leaning heavily on me, but he straightened, his face going grim. He swallowed, then spit, and the saliva was stained red where it landed on the ground.
His voice seemed to come from some deep place inside of him that wore the crown at all times, even when he was covered in soot from having barely made it out of a volcano.
“I am Emperor Tallu. Who from inside my own palace attempts to harm me?” Tallu was wrath, he was the very lava that spewed from the volcano on the other side of the lake.