Page 87 of Sun Elves of Ardani

Thunder and lightning split the air. The rain continued to fall in sheets so thick that they were difficult to see through, and the sky, rather than growing lighter with the coming dawn, only seemed to darken unnaturally.

Without warning, something exploded in the air beside them. Kadaki leapt to her feet to face their unknown attacker. Neiryn squinted into the darkness. There was no one there.

In the distance, there was another explosion, and then another. Fire arced through the air, lacing through the rain in strange patterns, like panicked serpents.

It had no source. No one had cast it. It was an anomaly. Spontaneous fire.

“I don’t suppose this is a common type of weather in Ardani?” Neiryn said.

“Fire lightning? No, it isn’t.” She wiped rivulets of rain away from her eyes. “I need to find Eliyr. We’ve got to stop this. The rebellion will have to wait.”

“I don’t know if the rebels will agree with you on that. They seem quite determined.”

She was already heading back toward the center of town, where most of the fighting had been taking place. Neiryn followed, his long strides catching her easily.

Rain and wind buffeted them as they stopped in front of the lounge. Flashes of flame illuminated the unnatural darkness. Ysurans in and out of uniform lay on the ground, dead by sword wounds. There were more humans than sun elves on the street now. Neiryn’s foot hit something as he walked. He looked down and found Gwynna’s unseeing eyes staring up at him.

He realized with astonishment that the Ysurans were losing. And he had just freed a powerful Ardanian mage, to make things worse.

His people were dying. Had he done right by them by uncollaring Kadaki? Or had he just committed treason of the worst sort?

“Kadaki?”

She turned to him. Anomalous flame sparked beside her, nearly hitting her, but with an impatient flick of her hand, she snuffed out the flame. The wind was in her hair and rain streamed down her face, and as another flash of lighting lit her dark eyes aflame, she looked like a goddess of magic, overflowing with power.

“Can you stop this?” he asked.

“I’ll need Eliyr’s help.”

“I don’t just mean the anomaly. The fighting.”

She looked out at the people in the street and slowly shook her head. “I’m only one person, Neiryn.”

“But you have the heart and the strength of ten,” he said, taking her hand. “For a long time now, I’ve sensed that you will be an enormous force of change in the world. I only ask that you treat my people with mercy when you finally reach your true potential.”

Her eyes widened.

He bent to kiss her, feeling a bit like a thief as he did so, because surely he wasn’t worthy of stealing a kiss from a goddess. But her hand came to his cheek, urging him on.

And then another flash of spontaneous fire roared past, just missing their heads. It struck an overflowing rain barrel, which exploded. Kadaki turned to a spot where many of the flames seemed to be coming from and raised her hands to attempt to untangle the anomaly.

It was so dark now that Neiryn was nearly blind. The only light came from flashes of fire in the pitch-blackness.

He turned at the sound of familiar voices shouting nearby. On the next street over, Felmai and Tanwyn had been surrounded by a group of Ardanians, and Tanwyn was on the ground, injured. Felmai was doing her best to defend him, but her strength was clearly waning.

Neiryn cast another glance back at Kadaki, who was busy with the anomaly, then ran toward Felmai and Tanwyn, drawing his sword as he ran.

As Felmai went sword-to-sword against one of the Ardanians, Neiryn cast a fan of fire at the humans’ feet, stopping three of them in their tracks. A fourth tried to stab Felmai while her back was turned, and Neiryn quickly moved to defend her. His sword slid cleanly between the man’s ribs before the attack could land.

He sensed someone else approaching from his other side, and he whirled to parry another attack from a fifth Ardanian. The man was strong. It knocked him off-balance, but before the human could land another blow, he raised a hand and shot a spear of fire straight through the man’s heart.

Felmai dispatched two more, and the street grew quiet. Neiryn spun, sword raised, and found only two Ardanians remaining. One of them was armed only with what appeared to be a walking stick. They both flinched as Neiryn turned toward them.

“Drop your weapons,” he snarled, holding his flame steady at his side.

They complied immediately. The one who’d been holding the stick held up his hands. “Please, sair—”

“Leave,” he commanded. “Go back to your homes. If I see your faces again tonight, I’ll kill you.”

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