Page 18 of The Dragonrider and the Void
Yarla fell forward. Venrick caught her, his sword clattering to the ground. Her body was cold, so cold, but she was alive. The dark fluid in her veins retreated slightly as the corruptionaround them pulsed once more, then disappeared. The quaking ground stilled for a moment and Venrick thought or wished that the giant dragon that was stirring might’ve gone dormant again. Then, stones began to shake loose of their mortar again.
“This whole network of cellars is going to fill with rubble,” Cheyanne’s voice carried through to him.
When he saw her there in the archway, her bow was gone, replaced by a bloodied elven sword. “The rimeshade?” he asked, stooping to pick up his sword and adjusting a weakened Yarla draped over his shoulders.
“Fleeing,” a Morsythian reported, as he emerged from behind the elf. “But that’s not what we should be concerned with now. There’s a dragon under the foundation that is waking up. If we don’t get out now, we’ll all die down here.”
“Right, we ask questions later,” Cheyanne said, helping Venrick back out into the tunnel. “Right now, we run.”
They raced through the collapsing underground network. The widening cracks in the mortar proved challenging for Venrick while carrying the limp elf on his back. Whole sections of the cobblestone street above collapsed in ahead them, providing daylight overhead as they dodged the refuse. Humans at street level fled from Nordraven orcs.
“The surface exit is ahead,” Cheyanne called, dispatching an enemy orc blocking their path.
A thunderous crack split the air. The ceiling buckled, forcing Venrick to dodge falling debris. Through a gaping hole above, he caught a glimpse of something large rising from one section of the town. Buildings shifted and collapsed as their foundations were pulled apart to reveal the resurrected dragon. A massive paw broke free of the earth, destroying the marketplace Venrick had recently walked.
“They’ve been syphoning the dragon’s blood,” Yarla managed, her voice now just strong enough for Venrick to hearover the sounds of collapsing buildings. “Years of deception, syphoning off the dragon’s blood to create a connection with?—”
Another violent tremor shook the passage. The walls groaned, stones grinding together.
They reached the cellar steps just as the building over the workshop behind them collapsed.
“Move!” Cheyanne shouted as they emerged into chaos.
The blizzard that had been held at bay by the magical barriers now raged in town. Snow began to pile up in the streets. Screams filled the air as people fled, real townspeople mixed with the once-disguised orcs, all sense of deception abandoned in the panic. Through the swirling snow, Venrick spotted Lady Sanj emerging from the cellar of a collapsed building. Her tattoos blazed bright blue as she iced over sections of the rising foundation in an attempt to contain the creature they’d unleashed.
“The gates!” a Morsythian shouted.
“Ash, they’re sealing them off,” Cheyanne cursed. “And the rubble piled up around the edges is too tall to pass through easily.”
The town gates were being held by black and silver streaks of magic and were closing quickly. Beyond them, Venrick could see more refugees fleeing into the storm.
“We won’t make it,” Yarla said as Venrick measured the distance to the gates.
“Yes, we will.” Cheyanne countered. She took up her bow, selecting an arrow from the quiver on her hip and nocked the arrow. “We’re not the only ones who came prepared,” she said with a cruel smile.
A horn blast cut through the chaos. From the shadows of a nearby alley, an elf and dwarf emerged. Both carried powder kegs with several Yogo Sapphires fixed to the lids.
“Breaching charges,” Venrick gasped.
“Courtesy of your friend Ezra,” Cheyanne said. “Now run!”
They sprinted for the gates as Haven’s Edge continued to tear apart around them. Behind them, the rimeshade’s voice rose with a command that shook the air. Whether she was trying to stop the awakening dragon or control it, Venrick couldn’t tell.
When they reached the gates, they were nearly closed and sealed from the outside. Cheyanne’s Morsythian companions moved rubble, quickly wedging the explosive kegs into the frosted-over hinges.
“Fire in the hole!” Cheyanne shouted. As she drew the arrow, Venrick saw her whisper a spell. The Yogos on the kegs drained at her words and she let loose the arrow.
Venrick turned, shielding Yarla as the charges detonated. The explosion was deafening, but Ezra’s kegs did their work. One section of the gate blew off its ice-coated hinges.
“Go!” Cheyanne commanded, raising her bow to cover their escape. “We’ll hold them here!”
Venrick hesitated for a heartbeat, but Yarla’s cold weight in his arms helped him decide his next move. He ran through the gap, into the howling snowstorm beyond. Behind them, Haven’s Edge crumbled under a fully exposed dragon. Ice glittered off its metallic gray scales as it roared. The ear-splitting sound shook the ground. The giant spread its wings, creating a shadow over all of them.
Beneath the gargantuan creature, Venrick spotted a trail of dark-veined frost darting out away from the rubble. Lady Sanj fled into the storm. Just before she disappeared into the white-out, she paused to stare back at Venrick. In that look he knew he’d just become an enemy for life of this rimeshade from the North. And though he had his suspicions, Venrick hadn’t been able to confirm which magus of the Magi Order Lady Sanj was working with. A final tremor shook the ground as the freed dragon launched off the ground and disappeared into the storm.The rimeshade was gone, leaving behind questions that burned in Venrick’s mind.
Still uneasy about letting the creature escape, Venrick adjusted his grip on Yarla. They’d made it out safely with Cheyanne and her troop of allied Morsythians. He breathed a little easier knowing he was no longer alone.
7
