I looked over to see Reginald, Fress's best baker. Holy fuck, two of the men on the wall were from Fress. Reginald and Harcut. And they both had kids.
“Prue?” Reginald cried and ran to the little girl.
Meanwhile, Harcut searched the group for his four boys. They ran to each other and embraced.
“Where'smydaddy?” one of the kids cried.
“We're going to find him,” I said hurriedly. “Come on, children. We've got to go. The quicker we leave, the faster you get home!”
Harcut and Reginald looked over at me, registered who I was with wide eyes, and then pulled themselves together as only parents could. The other freed Corrupted joined us, confused, but rational enough to recognize salvation when they saw it. They helped us hustle the children along. Questions could wait.
“Hurry, children!” Reginald said as he scooped his little girl up and then a young boy as well. “Hurry now.”
Kel fell back to help with the little ones too, and then we were dashing from the keep, heading across what seemed like miles of open land. My heart pounded in fear, but I smiled brightly at the little girls I held, one of them Sally. She giggled as she bounced in my arms and clung to my neck. I herded the rest of them as best I could, stopping whenever one fell.
Aranren knows! He's coming!Death shouted in my head.
“Damn it,” I muttered and set the girls down. “Hurry! Go with the rest. Uncle Ember has to do something.”
“I'll wait with you, Uncle Ember,” Sally offered.
“No, Sally,” I said firmly. “Run! Go now!”
Her big eyes blinked, then she finally processed what was happening. A tear formed and fell down her cheek, and I thought she might start bawling. But then Sally nodded, grabbed the hand of Becky, the other little girl I'd been carrying, and hauled her off after the others. They ran as if a monster was chasing them. Because it was.
“Run!” I shouted after them anyway. “Run as fast as you can!”
I saw Kel covered in kids, two in his arms, clinging to his horns, and one racing behind him, latched onto his tail. He was safe. Or he would be soon. I just had to ensure it.
Turning around, I sensed him. Aranren, the Corrupter. I couldn't see the keep's doors, but I knew he had reached them. He would soon be at the gate. And once he had us in his sight, he could attack. I lifted my hands, not sure what I was doing but certain I had to do it.
Repeat after me,Death said. Then he poured words into my mind, and I spoke them. I didn't understand their meaning, they were of an ancient language, but I knew what they'd do. I saw it in my mind and directed the magic with my intention.
Darkness poured out of my palms, surging up and out to either side of me. Frothing, bubbling darkness. Death made solid. I was casting my first spell.
Keep going,Death said.A little more, Ember. Almost there. You are doing amazingly well. Far better than I expected. That's it, my boy!
I pushed past the quaking in my arms. Pushed past the pain in my head. Pushed and pushed as I chanted the incantation, sending the ward out faster than any that had ever been cast. Not that I'd ever cast a ward before. But I knew it took several mages to create one. Unless, apparently, you used Death Magic.
The wall rose higher and higher. Forty feet. Fifty. It spread far enough to meet the Corrupter's wall. Then a scream of rage rolled over the top.
It is done, Death said.You've barred the way. Now, run, Ember!
“No,” I said.
What?!
“I have Death Magic now. I'm going to kill him.” I started to step through the wall. “I'm going to fucking end this war.”
No!Death shrieked.
I paused. “Why not?”
Aranren has had Death Magic for centuries. You have had it for a day and you have just drained most of your energy by casting your first spell. That was remarkable, even for you, but you cannot face him when you are this depleted. He will kill you. Do not be a fool twice today, Ember.
“That was a low blow,” I muttered, but I turned around. I knew he was right because my hands were shaking.
The kids were almost to the Corrupter's ward, and if they were going to get through, they'd need me to escort them. That wall was pure Death.
