“We’re going to get them, and then we’re leaving,” she declared.
“Eira…” Alyss said softly. Sweat poured down her face. It ran down Eira’s as well, melting instantly through the ice Eira would usually keep under her skin. But she didn’t expend her power on keeping herself comfortable, not now. “It’s becoming too unstable for me to move too much rock. I’m doing all I can but?—”
“They’re almost here, Alyss. A little bit longer. You can do it. I know you can.”
Alyss nodded and set her jaw in determination. Her magic continued to surge. But it was beginning to waver, even as Eira tried to dredge up more.
Cullen and Noelle were over halfway up. They were racing as fast as they could. But the ground underneath them was giving way with almost every step. The mine was being consumed by magic fire—waves of power stronger than any Eira had ever felt before battered her with every burst of flame.
A fiery blast had Noelle tackling Cullen to the ground, her hand held out, elbow locked. Fending off the flames with a burst of her own magic. The explosion from the flash shale nearly won.
“Noelle!” Ducot shouted. “Hurry!”
She looked up, finally able to hear his voice. Awash in the bright red and orange glow, a smile crossed her lips. One of confidence, arrogance, of blind faith—everything that made Noelleher. She helped Cullen up and they began running again, magic flickering.
“Olivin, take Ducot and Yonlin, go for the woods,” Eira commanded. “We’ll have a better chance of losing the knights there.”
“I’m not leaving!” Ducot snapped at her.
“This whole place is going down. We need to get clear. Go ahead,” she snapped back. Then, softer, “Noelle and Cullen aren’t far. We’ll all be right behind.”
Eira’s eyes met Olivin’s, focusing on him instead of Ducot. He gave a slight nod. But his expression was just as worried as Ducot’s—except, he was worried forher. Not that she blamed him. Everything was crumbling beneath them and they were a breath away from it all tumbling down.
She gave him a slight nod, one he returned. Then, he started to move. She’d asked him because she knew he would. If there was one thing she’d learned, it was that he’d protect his brother at all costs.
“They’re almost here,” Eira encouraged, even though Alyss could see their status. Her friend’s strength was nearly depleted.
“Eira, I can’t…”
“You’re doing amazing. A little bit longer.” Eira placed her hand on Alyss’s shoulder and squeezed, the contact deepening Eira’s powers.
Between Alyss making a pathway, Noelle and Cullen fending off the flames, and sheer luck…
Cullen and Noelle crested the top of the mines.
Eira let out a squeak of relief as her hand slid from Alyss’s shoulder. Every muscle in her body relaxed. Tears ran sooty rivulets over her cheeks. Cullen’s gaze turned toward her and, in him, she saw the man that had hoisted her from the snow after her brother’s death. The man who had been there in a night of chaos in the Court of Shadows. As the man he was now and could still become. He’d made it.
“We have to go.” Alyss panted softly. “Now!”
They all began to run for the distant line of trees, following after Olivin, Ducot, and Yonlin. The knights were still slowed by Alyss’s upturned earth—going around it would take them just as long. Hopefully the woods were close enough to escape into.Hopefully where the trees were meant the ground was too soft for the shale since their roots could penetrated. Hopefully they could lose the still-mounted knights in the dense and uneven woods. They’d find a place to hide.
Hopefully.
Blind hope had them all pumping their feet away from the upper rim, racing away from the still-blazing mines that battered their backs with heat and smoke. Behind them, explosions continued to ring out. The earth groaned and cracked; Alyss’s magic wobbled, flickered, and then gave out. Eira looked over her shoulder when a spiderweb fracture shot between her feet. Geysers of flame erupted.
They’d done it. The mines of Carsovia were going to be no more…it’d take years for the empress to recover from this, and that would give them all time to prepare. She’d tell Vi what she found here—the princess was still alive, Eira refused to believe anything else. If Noelle could’ve survived this, then Vi and Aldrik, as the greatest Firebearers to live, had survived the explosion in the coliseum. Ulvarth would lose all access to flash beads. He’d run through whatever meager stock he’d have and that’d be it. They’d annihilate him, too.
Olivin turned back to face them. His eyes widened with sheer horror. “Look—” He didn’t get more than a word in.
Everything happened almost at the same time.
All at once.
Painfully slowly.
Eira’s head swiveled back around. There were three more knights emerging from the forest they were running toward, charging for them, still mounted. The group that had gone into the forest to chase the prisoners must’ve split once more and they’d gained the element of surprise. They’d hedged their bets, taking chances both on the wide path around Alyss’s upturned terrain and on the terrain itself.
One knight struck Yonlin across the face as he rode by. An arc of blood streaked through the air as he spun and fell. Olivin swung with a scream, launching himself into a crazed frenzy.
