“Tayum’s Wrath,” Rhianelle mutters in a voice so low I strain to hear it.
Rainer confirms with a nod. “It always comes in two. The first one weakens. Subsequent ones destroy.”
Fear crosses Rhianelle’s face. She must be remembering our visit to Kashran. Those water marks high in the mountains where no ocean should reach.
I remember too. If a wave that size hits...
Everyone will die.
Rhianelle forces herself to stand. “Then we keep evacuating. Everyone, move! Higher ground! Now!”
But people are traumatized and broken. They sink into the mud. Many just stare at where their homes used to be.
I force myself up. Shadow portals flicker weakly but I open them anyway, ignoring the agony splitting my skull. A few at a time. It’s all I can manage.
Red and Darstan start grabbing people. Warriors and knights of Völundr fan out through the ruins, pulling survivors from collapsed buildings.
“Move!” Eyepatch shouts. “If you stay here, you die. Move now!”
Rhianelle moves through the devastation. She pulls an elderly woman to her feet. “Come on. Up. We’re not done yet.”
I watch her, this queen covered in mud. She still refuses to break even as her city drowns around her.
A child’s cry echoes from a collapsed shop. Rhianelle is there instantly, digging through debris with her bare hands. Darstan helps her and they pull out a girl clutching a muddy cat.
“You’re safe now,” Rhianelle says gently. “Can you walk?”
The girl nods, still holding the cat.
“Good. Go with my knight. He’ll take you somewhere high.”
I’m not the only one watching.
The people of Völundr see her. They see their queen bleeding and exhausted but still fighting. Something shifts and people start moving again. They help each other, sharing what little strength they have left to head inland.
Then someone points toward the horizon.
I turn and my dead heart threatens to stop.
A white line appears on the horizon. It rises and rises, growing taller with each passing second.
Tayum’s Wrath.
The wave towers above the ocean like a mountain made of water, blocking out the sky completely. Debris from the first surge tumbles within it. Ships, trees, and entire pieces of buildings suspended in that impossible wall rushing toward shore.
People stop moving as they stare at what’s coming. There’s nowhere high enough to run. Nowhere safe remains in all of Völundr. I watch hope drain from their eyes, replaced by blank acceptance.
But Rhianelle isn’t looking at the wave. She’s staring out at the open water where our fleet scattered.
“No,” she breathes. Her hand grips my arm. “Kahedin. He’s still out there.”
I follow her gaze and spot the Silver Crown among the distant ships. The vessel is too far from shore to make it back. He’ll be caught between the wave and the coast.
Coinneach’s power is nearly spent. I’m not sure I have enough left to even reach her cousin’s ship, let alone bring him back.
We have to try,the Ysendral mutters.
Shadow explodes beneath my feet and I fall through darkness.
