Chapter 88
Torin
All sense of survival was gone.
I needed to reach Ellowyn first. Before my rebel army, before the gods’ sycophants, and certainly before the gods themselves.
But I was already ten steps behind and completely unaware of her plans.
None of this would have happened if she had just left with me.
I shoved a few cowering cadets out of my path as I sprinted through the main hall of the Academy.
None paid me a second glance, too absorbed in their own fight.
Clearly a few task leaders felt it would be best for their unAwakened cadets to remain inside the Academy while the battle raged outside.
Hopefully the Academy doesn’t fall on top of them. As if the building heard my thoughts, it shook and groaned before a few glittering obsidian bricks joined the thick layer of dust coating the floors. I heard squeals of fright before the cadets barricaded themselves in one of the empty classrooms.
I should go back and direct them to sit underneath a supporting arch so the ceiling would not fall on their heads, but my feet refused to halt my mad dash for the Academy’s front doors, Ellowyn’s name an echoing chant as I ran.
Ellowyn. Ellowyn. Ellowyn.
The sounds of clashing magic, bellowed calls, and pained screams echoed through the empty hall, only growing louder the closer I drew to the door. Without any thought of my own safety or what lay beyond the door, I pushed through and nearly fell down the exterior stairs.
A blast of ice nearly froze me in place, but my momentum luckily carried me past.
Who threw that?
My eyes searched wildly as I rolled off the platform and onto the street below, narrowly dodging a minor fireball, and hastily threw up an Air Shield just in time to repel yet another ice attack.
For the love of the gods, who is attacking me?
There was a group of Academy Mages to my right, openly battling three of my rebels, but none of them had the ability to manipulate water.
A second fireball fizzled as it touched my Air Shield, and I whipped my head to the left to see Eira and Heco—two of the more proficient fighters we absorbed in Lishahl—tossing a reckless stream of magic at me.
Idiots! They were under strict orders not to engage the Academy soldiers—just the Academy itself; especially now with the gods in Vespera, they’d need to save their crystals for that inevitable fight.
The Air Shield protecting Vespera was nearly translucent in spots, the gods’ army directing their barrage of magic to those weakened points.
Fuck, this is going to be over before it begins.
There was no way we could take on that army and win, even if the Academy soldiers decided to work with us. The best outcome would be for us to chase them out of Vespera—but how we would do that remained a mystery.
Ellowyn. Ellowyn. Ellowyn.
An ice spear cracked against my shield, thrusting me from my observations of the battle.
With a growl, I conjured vines from beneath the cobblestones, the stone cracking and giving way to my magic.
With little effort, I commanded them to wrap around the arms and legs of Eira and Heco, securing them to the spot.
Satisfied they couldn’t access their magic, I dropped my Air Shield before dashing over to them.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I roared and felt a moment of satisfaction at their wide-eyed expressions.
“We thought you were one of them, sir! You’re dressed like them! Came running through those doors like your ass was on fire, too!”
“I told you not to attack the Academy soldiers! Do. Not. Engage. Those were your orders!” I fumed.
“They attacked us first!” Eira whined, wriggling against the vines that held her still. Folami felt this one had the most potential of the group of men and women that joined the rebellion in Lishahl. After today, I begged to differ.
“How many are dead because of you? Because of the orders you betrayed?”
The girl opened and closed her mouth like a gaping fish, and I turned my thunderous expression on her brother. His face blanched under my stare, and I smelled the acrid stench of piss.
Great.
“Three!” he yelped as my vines unwittingly tightened around his arms and legs.
Just as I was about to rip into them again, I heard a faint whistling sound before turning and throwing an Air Shield around the three of us. The shield was peppered with sharpened wooden missiles, clearly crafted by an Earth Mage before being sent with alarming speed and accuracy by an Air Mage.
Abruptly, I released my two soldiers from the hold of my vines. Without prompt, they came to stand at my side, magic at the ready.
The whistling sounded again, and this time, I was able to pinpoint the direction of the assault. The kids were right, the Academy soldiers were trying to kill us.
Can I really blame them? Did we give them much of a choice or reason to think otherwise?
I couldn’t retaliate without dropping my Air Shield—it was the one caveat to my seemingly unending power—and I growled in frustration.
“What do you need, Lord d’Eshu?” Eira asked, her tone steely yet deferential.
Maybe there was hope for her yet.
“Freeze their hands and secure their feet to the ground. Once they’re immobilized, we’ll run together and explain the situation.”
Heco snorted.
“You think that type of diplomacy is going to work in this situation? Really? They’ll try and kill us before we get close.”
I gritted my teeth. “Then we continue this until they listen. You”—I gestured to the boy—“will inform as many of our outfit as you can that my orders are to incapacitate only. Do not maim, do not kill. That is not why we are here. I don’t care who tells you otherwise.
Anyone else who directly disobeys my orders and hurts—or gods’ forbid, kills—another Academy soldier will pay for it when we return to Lishahl. Are we clear?”
They nodded their heads, faces grim and slightly green.
“Our orders came from General Folami,” the girl admitted as another barrage of arrows hit my shield. I felt the impact of them that time, my focus and strength wavering. I may be a godling, but even I didn’t have infinite power.
“Is she here?” I ground out, indicating with my head for Eira to freeze the two Mages across the courtyard.
She shook her head as she dropped the temperature on her Water Magic before hurling small balls in quick succession at the Mages.
The first two missed their mark, skittering harmlessly along the stones, but the third encased the massive Earth Mage’s legs in ice, forcing him to wobble and fall.
The fourth was aimed at his hands but missed as he fell.
His Vessel fell to her knees, her flame-red hair blowing in the wind, trying to help him channel enough Earth Magic to break apart the ice shackles.
“Go!” I shouted, dropping my Air Shield so we could dash across the courtyard.
Even though the Earth Mage was incapacitated, we were still open and vulnerable to the Air Mage’s attack.
She began creating a small windstorm in her palms, intent on wrapping the three of us in its clutches, but I quickly reached out and pulled her magic toward me.
Instantly, her command on the windstorm died, and she was temporarily unable to access her power.
Panic flooded her face as we drew closer, and she shouted something to the red-haired Vessel who stood quickly, a silver dagger flashing in her hand.
I held up my palms as we slowed our approach, showing we meant no harm. As a gesture of goodwill, I quickly encased our now much bigger group in an Air Shield.
“Torin?” the red-haired female asked, confusion marring her brow as she slowly dropped the dagger. “Ellowyn said you left.”
I nodded slightly. “I did.”
“Then . . . how, why are you here?” She studied me for a moment before realization dawned, and she hissed. “You’re one of them?”
“He is us, Vessel,” Heco said derisively, and I closed my eyes in exasperation.
“Don’t speak to my Life Bond that way,” the Earth Mage growled from his prone position on the stone, still desperately trying to hack away at the ice with a conjured wood pick. I sighed and melted the ice with a quick blast of fire before re-engaging my Air Magic.
The Earth Mage slowly climbed to his feet, pulling the redhead into his side possessively once he reached his full height. The man was a giant. Well above six feet and built like a brick wall.
“Thank you?” he said, unsure how to feel about my actions.
“We’re running out of time,” I said as a tendril of Destruction Magic worked its way around my Air Shield as if looking for a way inside. I shuddered involuntarily. I didn’t recognize the signature, which meant it wasn’t one of mine, and it wasn’t Ellowyn.
Was the General here to play?
“You’re telling us. Look at what’s waiting for us once you all figure out what the hell is going on,” the Earth Mage ground out with a nod to the prowling forms of the gods’ army. His Vessel shivered in his arms, and he pushed her closer to his side.
“What is the meaning of this?” The Air Mage finally spoke, her Vessel a dark, silent sentinel at her back.
“We’re not here to kill you,” I rushed out as the Destruction Magic tried winding around my shield again. The two Mages and Vessel raised their eyebrows comically high.
“You could’ve fooled us. I saw at least a dozen unAwakened cadets killed by your Mages and at least ten of our trained soldiers. Not that you haven’t gone down in equal numbers,” the Earth Mage sneered, and I sighed, pulling a hand down my face.
This was going to be harder than I thought.
“I know what it looks like, but those weren’t my orders.
Now you can choose to trust me and work with me to make sure that when we meet that”—I pointed to the gods’ army, a few of which were now howling in anticipation—“we are working together. Or we can both die here today and let the gods control Elyria and whoever else is left alive.”