They emerged from a wall in the palace atrium, in the columned expanse that separated the interior from the great steps and the Citadel plaza. The night was unusually humid, and the hot wind whipping through the columns carried more than the promise of rain. In the aftermath of a battle, the air reeked of ash and blood. Rubble and bodies littered the ground, sprays of crimson staining the palestone. Down in the plaza, the atmosphere hung thick as hot lava, smoke rising in all directions.
Such was the chaos there, it ripped Jacen from his body. He sensed each consciousness in the plaza, clear as if they stood beside him. It was as though cyclones had torn through the streets, kicking up homes and markets and casting hundreds adrift. Some cradled the bodies of their parents, children, siblings, neighbors. Others shoved one another in blind panic with only one objective:Flee.But where could they go? There was no refuge from this. Some chose the wasteland. Most clustered near the Cathedral, a monolith of terrible calm amidst the storm, even as its doors stayed shut.
Jacen tried to distance himself, but it proved as impractical as closing his eyes. Had he been drunk for so long, he’d forgotten how to control his own mind? Or had it always been this way before? The clarity was too much to bear. The mob surged. He slipped on blood and almost went down. His chin knocked against the back of someone’s foot, making him bite down hard and taste metal.
Seth took him by the shoulder, bringing him back to himself. He muttered, “Careful.”
Nines, too, looked like she might faint. She drew slow, rhythmic breaths, hands pressed against her eyes, attempting to steady herself from the shock of it.
“What are they running from?” Jacen started to ask, but Seth’s grip tightened. He pulled Jacen back toward the wall, away from the plaza. A massive octahedron floated there, still as the moons in the sky.
“Here’s the part that’s hard to explain,” Seth said quietly, as if the thing might overhear him. “They’ve got us boxed in.”
No sooner had he spoken than a blazing spear of green pierced the night. It exploded out of the octahedron and hit a structure opposite the palace.
Jacen watched, stunned, as the palestone façade broke apart like cheap pottery. Shouts and screams erupted from below. The octahedron rotated and loosed another blast.
Now Seth practically shoved Jacen around the corner, where Nines already had the sense to hide. The columns had been damaged—great pieces of them on the ground, some pulverized beyond recognition. Near the entrance to the High Lord’s audience chamber, a section of ceiling had crumbled.
“I think the polyhedra need to . . . er . . . see us.” Seth shook his head at the absurdity of his own words. “They respond to movement.”
“I didn’t know they could do that,” Jacen said uselessly. “No one did. One of the many factors Ged didn’t predict.” Jacen stared at him, unsure what to ask. Where to begin.
“It started after we took the Guard headquarters,” said Seth. “Ged planned to launch attacks from there and from Sloane Ancarath’s storage buildings, so we’d take the palace and the Cathedral. I thought it was odd we met so little resistance, but then the polyhedra moved in and . . .” He trailed off. “Blastedevery one of our bases to rubble. There’s nothing left. It’s indiscriminate. I watched one disintegrate an old man, who’d just opened his door to see what the Source-spawnedfuckwas going on. But when the building’s coming down around you, most people aren’t going to wait quietly indoors.” He looked like he might be sick. “The only place they won’t target is the Cathedral. The priests aren’t letting anyone inside, but theimmediate vicinityseems safe enough. Once I figured out we were going to lose, I did my best to get the word out. Then I came for you.”
“What about the others?” Jacen asked. “Saraida? Ged?”
“Alive, as far as I know. Saraida was leading a team to the docks. I’m meant to be with her. Ged . . . If he’s smart, he’ll have run for the deepriver to regroup what’s left of our forces. But?—”
“He’s Ged,” Jacen finished for him, and Seth nodded with a grimace. Before the audience chamber, they faced the door carved with the frieze of the Six. It was cracked across the top, and this seemed to have destroyed whatever mechanism held it shut.
Jacen searched beyond the door. Only an amorphous picture materialized, but he detected at least four presences.
“Several people inside,” Nines said, as she did the same. “I can’t say exactly. They’re trained for defense. Could be a telepath.”
“Oh, good.” Seth drew his sword. “Stay back until we’ve cleared the room.” To Jacen, he offered a lopsided grin. “I’ll go ahead. You keep them off me. Just like back at school, right?”
Jacen tried to laugh. He managed a cough. “I’ve got you.”
With a nervous glance upward, Seth kicked the right side of the door open. He stepped back, arm at his side to keep Jacen from advancing until it was clear they wouldn’t be crushed.
Inside, half the ceiling was gone. It had begun to rain and the floor glistened with wetness. High Lord Avram Semira shelteredbelow what was left of his throne, with another figure cloaked in shadow.
Five knights of the City Guard met Jacen and Seth at a run.
Jacen targeted the woman with the lieutenant’s armband. He seized hold of her mind, and she froze, muscles rigid. Though she fought him, she could not put up nearly so much of a struggle as Lev. Blood trickled from her nose. She collapsed.
Seth’s thrown knife hit the knight to her left, embedding in his throat. Two more hands dropped to swords as he fell. The last knight stopped and raised a longbow. Jacen diverted his focus to her. The lieutenant, back in control of herself, scrambled up from the floor with a disoriented cry.
They proceeded in this manner. Each time a knight came too close to harming Seth, Jacen switched his target. When only two remained standing, the lieutenant ran at Jacen, forcing him to concentrate solely on her. Seth traded blows with the other.
Raindrops clung to Jacen’s lashes, blurred his vision. He didn’t dare move and risk losing focus, because the lieutenant was ready this time. She kept her feet as she threw up mental walls, pushing Jacen back to search for gaps in her defenses?—
—when another presence entered the fray. A sword rammed through the lieutenant from behind, splitting her unarmored throat. The pain was so sudden, so extreme, Jacen wrenched himself out of her mind with a yell. He landed flat on his back in a puddle, gasping, staring up at the falling rain. Another armored knight, massive and wearing a hooded cloak, loomed over him.
“You useless drunk. You gave me up, forced my hand, and now look where we are.” Ged Semira flicked his sword, shaking loose a spray of blood and water. He pointed it at Jacen. “Get up. I want to look you in the eye when I kill you.”
Slowly, Jacen climbed to his feet. By the throne, the High Lord and his companion hadn’t moved. There was no sign of Nines.
