Chapter 62
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Indon
Deep within me, the building power pulsating in the air rattled my bones and pounded through me until it vibrated throughout my soul. I banked to the left, swooping to avoid a cannonball as another arrow pierced my wing, making it so I had to readjust my balance to keep flying.
The battle had battered my poor wings; tattered pieces of them waved in the wind, but I’d stayed aloft. Some of my fellow gargoyles couldn’t say the same and had to land. They were fighting on the ground until their wings healed enough for them to fly again. That could take hours.
Tilting, I searched the sky and ground for the source of that strange, building power as the air buzzed like millions of bees were swarming us.
My attention shifted to the forest, but it was oddly quiet, even with the poltergeists and other creatures standing in the shadows, waiting to slaughter any soldiers who entered.
The fires had gone completely out as rain continued to pound the muddy, bloody earth. Tornadoes spun across the field, but their numbers had decreased with the increased number of bodies.
Cannon fire, screams, and the clashing of weapons continued to wage as tornadoes, sleet, hail, rain, and other elements hammered the battlefield. While the amsirah from the towns and villages weren’t as battle-ready, their higher numbers had started working in their favor.
They savagely fought against those trying to keep them oppressed. They were determined to save their loved ones and themselves from a fate worse than death.
Even if they perished in the fight, these amsirah sought freedom and a happier life for all those they loved. That was a far more powerful motivator than money or prestige.
I knew that feeling well, but I didn’t know the increasing thrum of power vibrating the air.
“Do you sense that?” I asked through the bond connecting me to the other gargoyles.
“Yes,” came the reply of not everyone, as we had lost a few and two remained unconscious, but most were still fighting.
I mourned the loss of my friends, but we didn’t have time to gather to celebrate our fallen. When this ended, we’d properly care for our dead.
“What is it?” the question came through our bond.
“I don’t know, but it’s powerful,” another responded.
“I think it’s Ellery,” I told them as the realization sank in and the power swelled. “We have no idea what that amsirah is capable of doing.”
“Should we fear her?”
I’d pondered that question many times since the young woman set us free. Could we trust her? Would she turn on us as the other amsirah had? But they’d taken us by surprise; we wouldn’t let that happen again.
Ellery might be able to take us by force, and there might be nothing we could do to stop her.
However, she had a good heart. It had taken me some time to truly believe that, but I did.
Ellery loved deeply and truly wanted the best for her kind. She’d resisted the allure of the Stone, something that would probably prove impossible for all other amsirah, but she hadn’t kept its power for herself.
She was strong, kind, and an anomaly the likes of which Tempest had never seen before. That could develop into something as bad for the future as it was good now.
“No,” I said. “Not yet. We’ll have to keep an eye on her if she survives this, but we have to keep an eye on all of Tempest.”
“It is what we do,” came the murmur of different voices in my head.
Twisting to avoid a cannonball and another barrage of arrows, I closed my wings before surging toward the earth. Soldiers screamed and scattered to get out of my way as I grasped the barrel of one of the canons, lifted it into the air, and flung it into a nearby lake.
I was rising back into the air when the blast of building power struck me. The impact spiraled me backward, flipped me over, and created an awkward dance as I struggled to regain control.
As I tumbled over and over again, a blast of light erupted through the top of the palace and tore out its sides. As it swept across the field, it knocked aside all those in its way.
The concussive force knocked everyone to the ground and slaughtered those closest to it, but as it spread across the field, it didn’t kill those further away. It just tossed us aside like we were toy soldiers on a child’s battlefield.
When I finally managed to right myself, I came to a stop over the Revenant Woods. Beneath me, the trees swayed as the explosive light billowed across them.
Even the creatures of the woods were affected as the corporeal ones regained their feet and rose beneath me. The blow didn’t impact the poltergeists, but they twisted and bobbed as they searched for the source.
“What was that?” someone demanded through our bond.
I flew back to the battlefield, my gaze focused on the blinding white light still emanating from the top and sides of the palace.
It was a beautiful, brilliant glow against the night.
It backlit the palace, turning it into something ethereal and haunting as its turrets stood starkly out against the black surrounding it.
And then, as swiftly as it came, the light vanished. It left nothing but darkness and confusion in its wake.
On the battlefield, many amsirah regained their feet, but the dead remained where they’d fallen across the land.
“What was that?” someone asked again.
“It was either an awakening… or death,” I replied.
“I think it was a combination of both,” Avex said.
I suspected my friend was right, but I had no idea what it meant for all of us.