Page 8 of An Archer's Redemption

A mound of rubble two stories tall rises before me. Only a door stands. It mocks us.

Captain Whitman lies interred, forever a Ranger, forever at his command.

He is one of many who will never rise again.

My skill with Illusion had grown since my first time on the island. I could almost smell the death in my images.

My illusion shifted to Saltstone.

The proud city’s growing fortifications rise before us, defenses erected prior to the Kingdom’s troops’ arrival. People, horses, and carts bustle through the crowded streets in preparation. Soldiers are everywhere.

Then we are surrounded.

The sounds of war boom throughout the night.

Tens of thousands of men, many on horseback, watch as stone after stone are hurled against the invisible barrier of my magical shield. The view through Órla’s eyes is dizzying, but the inevitable outcome of the scene below is clear.

The city cannot stand.

I could only recall snippets of the battle between Irina and Arch Mage Quin, as I was tumbling down the tower stairs when most of it occurred, but I was in position to remember the blinding light of Irina’s fires as she blasted the city’s dwellings,killing indiscriminately, exacting a millennium’s worth of pent-up rage on innocent people.

There is a grinding of stone against stone as the tower cracks and begins to break apart.

Arch Mage Quin falls, then Isabel’s body crumples.

The Phoenix streaks down and wrenches Irina’s crown from her head.

Kelså clapped a hand over her mouth and emitted a gasp.

The Empress’s spirit evaporates into the sky, and the Phoenix sails out over the Silver Mountains, trailing plumes of magical smoke from her massive chest.

Then the Phoenix, many leagues away, hurtles from the sky into the Kingdom’s army. Brilliant light flares across the land as magic’s guardian sacrifices herself a second time so innocents might live.

The images vanished.

Only then did I realize Ayden was sitting back, staring, while Kelså gripped my hand.

She released me and sat back, her eyes brimming with tears.

“We survived, as did most of the civilian people of Saltstone. Our army lost almost everyone, but the Guard remained intact. We’ve had to recall the Rangers from the eastern border to begin rebuilding. The new Triad invested in a navy, since most of our fleet consisted of unarmed merchant ships.” I rubbed my temples and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to make the images flee my mind. “I don’t think the Kingdom fared much better, but we’ll be prepared if they try anything again.”

“What about Irina? What about her crown?” Kelså asked.

I looked up. “Irina? She died when Isabel was killed, when the tower fell. No one’s seen the crown since the Phoenix took it.”

Kelså shook her head. “She isnotdead, Declan. Her spirit was not contained.”

Ayden crossed his arms but remained silent. Tension tightened about his eyes.

“How could you know that?”

“The currents never calmed after the battle. I can still sense great turmoil. And in the images, I saw Irina’s spiritfleeIsabel’s body. If she had been taken beyond the veil, I would not have seen her spirit. She is still out there.”

“Her spirit roams the continent?” Ayden whispered my thought.

I sat back, struggling to grasp the implications of such a thing. “When you taught me about spirit communication, you said spirits could cause great harm if not contained by a circle. You were insistent I learn to draw the circle perfectly with no breaks. When the tower fell, that broke the circle containing Irina, didn’t it?”

She nodded.

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