Caeden lifted the hatch door slightly and peeked into the dim room. It looked like they exited into a storehouse, possibly a cover to hide the illicit trade passing in and out of the mining town. It was filled with barrels and standing shelves half covered in large, tattered cloths. If the supplies stored here were anything like the stores they had discovered in the tavern below, the Marketplace’s ill-gotten gains might ease the food shortage the Empire will experience in the coming year. That is if they survive to see such tribulations.


    He could hear moans of the afflicted in the distance. They were close to the main road through town and very much at the heart of the horde. The place was silent and empty. The windows were boarded, judging by the linear light beams coming through between them. It smelled musty, likely to being shuddered off from the acrid and sulphuric air outside for a long time.


    There was little chance of the afflicted entering this place. But, according to a strongly worded note left at the base of the hatch, perception could be deceiving, and he needed to check regardless. He pushed the hatch higher, throwing out one of the granite stones that accompanied the note and pulled the hatch lower, enough for him to peer through.


    It skipped across the floor, ricocheted off a barrel, clinked against something metal and stopped.


    No grunts, no moans and no shuffling footsteps. Then, there was a rapid skittering across the stone floor.


    Caeden turned to the peculiar noise to find two massive rats bounding toward him. He flinched and backed away, covering his face with his arm. The rats shoved themselves through the hatch opening with panicked squeaks, and Caeden lifted it a little so they could fall through. Their bodies bounced against his arm and Oswin’s shoulder as they fell into the tunnels below.


    We are well and truly walking on cursed ground now.


    After a few moments of silence, Caeden pushed the hatch door back and climbed up. His body almost tingled with relief at being back on the surface. He scanned the room, searching out any potential hiding spots. Along with the windows, the storehouse’s doors were also boarded from the inside. A wise decision, but these smugglers must have had an alternative route to move through town.


    His suspicion was validated when they came upon a lone ladder leading up to a covered hole in the roof. He clambered up and pushed at the slate covering.


    “Steady me, Oswin,” he requested when it would not budge with one hand.


    The mage planted his hands on the back of Caeden''s thighs, holding him firm as Caeden used what leverage he had to push the heavy slate up and shove it to the side. He hoisted himself onto the roof and gazed at the wasted ruins of the mining town.


    It was truly a vision of the end times. Heavy ashfall and smoke obscured the area while fire rained down from a sky that could no longer be seen. The town consisted of grey, flat-roofed, stone buildings to minimize runaway fires. But even so, much of the town was in ruin. Whatever could burn was either scorched, on fire or burnt to ash. The scene was only worsened by the loud, discordant chorus of the horde, and the collections of stenches that assailed this place were utterly vile.


    The Red Mountain loomed just ahead, and rivers of lava poured from its maw. He could see the wyvern shifting in and out of the fiery spout, its movements looked desperate as it breathed fire down the side of the mountain.


    It cawed. A sound so loud that Caeden had to block his ears. The salamander raised its head, turning it in several directions and made a soft clicking sound.


    Caeden bent low to the ground, not sure what it was doing, and scouted the area. Finding any signs of Ava’s passage through this mess would not be easy. The smugglers managed to connect rooftop to rooftop with makeshift bridges. Not the safest way to pass through a town on fire, but a better option than running the afflicted-filled alleyways below.


    He tested the bridge by pressing down on it with his leg. Satisfied with its structural integrity, Caeden hopped onto it and shuffled slowly and carefully across. The salamander followed and repeated its clicking as Oswin crossed as well. They moved deeper through the interconnected bridges. With each new rooftop they landed on, the salamander clicked, and Caeden became convinced it was searching for a response signal. Perhaps Ava could hear and understand it. It was a hope that helped ease the worry.


    They stopped atop a shopkeep’s roof at the center of town. The bulk of the horde moved in mass through here, many charred and burnt, squeezed together with barely much room between them. Those who could not keep up the pace fell, tripping the ones directly behind, their bodies lost among the many legs of the horde. Some along the edges were pushed out but followed along through parallel alleyways. Ever forward, eyes unseeing, with not an individual thought between them. A roving beast formed from a mass of infected bodies. A cursed existence, one his people did not deserve.


    It was through this that they now needed to move. No bridge connected the shop to the Adept’s Practice across the road. Caeden scratched his jaw, unsure of how to proceed. Every strategy he could think of seemed unwise if they could not pin Ava’s location first. He doubted that her hybrid ears could even hear the salamander over the cacophony of the horde now.


    Not that it seemed to bother the fey creature as it stood stock-still, its head rotating in every direction, clicking furiously.


    Caeden’s gaze was drawn to a sudden frenzied movement of the horde. A few had broken off and banged their bodies against a boarded window of the Adept’s practice. He saw movement beyond the boards of the opposite window before another group of frenzied bodies blocked it.


    Beast! But no sign of Ava. Regardless, that practice was their goal, he would re-evaluate once they made it there. The strategy he had been idly mulling over formed a workable plan in his mind, and he grimaced. He rubbed his fingers against his mouth as if to wipe the distaste of his plan from it.


    “I take it that you have some ideas to get us across that horde, Your Grace,” Oswin whispered beside him.


    “A plan, yes, a despicable one,” he responded. “But it would create a window we could force our way through. A window you would need to keep open as long as we need it. Much of this plan relies on you and your capabilities, Oswin. You and that Salamander. However, creating a window would not matter if we cannot get off this roof to take advantage of it. Tell me you have something,” Caeden asked.


    “A runecraft,” Oswin said, digging into his robes and fishing out a thin, palm-sized sigil. Its silver runes shone on its wooden surface.


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    “Break it, and it will give you the ability to glide short distances. I had hoped to use it on the mountain to mitigate potential fall damage, but it could work just as well here. It is a low-potency spell, Your Grace, meaning it will wear off quickly. Once broken, get to the ground as fast as you can. Given our weight, I figured we would land in the middle of the road and would have to fight our way to the other side. Will this work with your plan?”


    “It does. Come, we will work on the details along the way back,” Caeden answered gravely.


    “The way back? What is this plan?” Oswin asked in alarm.


    Caeden sighed, “To create the window, we must cause the horde to frenzy.”


    <hr>


    Caeden had lost track of time as they hauled Bekker’s and the boy’s bodies across the rooftops. Night or day, everything around them was black smoke, red firelight and grey ashfall. He wondered how far his brother and the royal guard were as he pulled Bekker’s body carefully across with a rope while Oswin held the makeshift bridge steady on the far side.


    A needless thought. His brother would not come to his rescue. Once Kael had gotten the full measure of the horde, his order would change from attack to containment while he sent word to rally the full might of Casimir’s Army. It was an only idle hope to spare him from committing a reprehensible act. One that would not sit well on his conscious. It was Morley who ingrained it in his mind from an early age that such hard decisions came with the territory of his position and birthright. He would not only need the strength to carry the sins of his commands but take on the sins of those he commanded as well.


    He dragged Bekker’s lifeless body onto the shopkeep’s roof and stared at it with distaste. He knew his twinge of consciousness did not stem from feelings toward the smuggler. This was a predator who preyed on the innocent, he deserved no better end. It came from a dissonance for a deeply held principle he was going against. Nevertheless, this was a blight on his honour that he would have to learn to live with.


    A crack from the bridge broke his melancholic thought and he watched Oswin breaking into a run across the bridge. The mage lurched for the end of the roof as the bridge collapsed beneath his feet. Caeden launched forward, grabbing the mage''s sleeves to prevent him from falling, then readjusting his grip to hoist Oswin up and onto the roof. The bridge fell into a few afflicted, but it was not enough to give them a moment’s pause in their mindless shuffle.


    Oswin heaved a loud and relieved sigh and Caeden slapped him on the shoulder in comfort.


    “There now, you will not die this day,” he told him. “Take a moment while I drag them into position.”


    Caeden moved each body to the corners of the roof as far from the main road as possible. He looked down the alleyway they were supposed to herd some of the afflicted through and steeled his nerve. Now was the time to be decisive; any hesitation meant failure or a fate worse than death.


    Oswin summoned his second elemental, the female construct he knew, next to him. He readied the sigil in his shield arm and gave Oswin the signal to commence, and the Elemental floated down to the alleyway. It would be a distraction to lure a section of the horde through. Oswin would fling fireballs from the opposite end to attract another section down that alleyway.


    Caeden’s brows creased with worry when, instead of flinging its first fireball, the Elemental changed from red and orange flame to a golden one so bright he had to cover his eyes. The light invoked the memory of how he had seen Ava through Azael’s eyes. What in Holden’s name is Oswin doing?


    Caeden glanced at the mage, the question plaguing his mind. Oswin stared, brows furrowed, at a similar light shining from his alleyway.


    The horde surged toward the Elemental without a single fire spell thrown. Their speed and aggressive nature alarmed him. Caeden heaved Bekker’s body from the roof. It disappeared in the mass of frenzied corpses as they tumbled over themselves to get at it while Oswin’s elemental shifted into embers. It reappeared next to him as he rushed across the rooftop, broke the sigil and jumped.


    His momentum carried him a short distance forward before he drifted to the ground. Their plan had worked for the most part and had successfully split much of the horde. But they had to deal with the afflicted within the gap and get inside the practice before they became overwhelmed by a resurgence. This fall was taking far too long for his liking.


    Oswin summoned walls of fire across the road on cue, and they landed on the ground between them. Caeden immediately engaged the closest afflicted that rushed them. He saw Oswin’s fire engulf a few in flame. The salamander ran at his feet, a thin, pressured flame streaming from his maw, while the construct defended their rear.


    Yet, despite the effects of Ava''s sword and Oswin’s firepower, their movement was stalled by the sheer number of the afflicted. Caeden slashed and shoved, but as soon as he had one down or unresponsive, another launched onto his back, nipping and biting far too close to his ear. He saw the creature''s hand blacken and peel from the contact with Oswin’s barrier around him. Caeden threw it off, stepping on it to prevent it from getting up and thrusting the sword into its eye. He could see the horde turning beyond the flames.


    They surged through Oswin’s walls, and while the flames set them alight, they continued like it was nothing. Caeden desperately pushed forward, throwing an afflicted that jumped at him to the ground with his shield. He glanced at Oswin. The mage was holding his own with his salamander, but he could see the erratic pattern in his spells and the stiff way Oswin used his arms when casting. He was reaching his limit fast, and the horde had already smothered the Elemental at their backs.


    There were just too many. Caeden’s arms felt heavy, his breathing laboured, and his legs like lead. He knew what this was; they were not going to make it, and his body was telling him to give up, to lose heart in the face of such insurmountable odds.


    I refuse. Not again. Not ever. I will not die here this day, not until I take every one of these creatures down with me!


    He bellowed at the horde, resolute and rushed forward. He mowed each one down like a man possessed.


    A white ice wall obscured his vision of the horde beyond, replacing Oswin’s fire. It immediately started to steam and bubble in the heat. Caeden peered ahead and saw Ava amidst the frenzied bodies, arms outstretched. She looked weak, her eyes dim with dark circles, and her lips and skin were pale and colourless, accentuating the angry, red lines running down her face. Her arms fell limply to her side as Beast rushed out with a growl and pounced on an afflicted, his fanged maw closing around its head.


    His relief was short-lived, replaced by renewed purpose. He pushed forward with all the strength he had.


    He blocked one from lunging at him with his shield, but another grabbed his sword arm, pulling it towards its mouth. Caeden bashed the afflicted a short distance away before he pulled the one on his arm forward and freed himself from its grip. He slashed its neck as it stumbled forward before turning back to the afflicted near his shield.


    It fell, carried forward by the momentum of the arrow that struck it in the head. He searched for Ava, finding her nocking and releasing arrows into the afflicted around them with great difficulty. They ignored her presence, running by her as if she were not there. Until one collided with her in its frenzy. They both fell over from the impact.


    Ava was slow to recover; her face creased in pain and her eyes distant while the afflicted grabbed at the air around her. Searching.


    So close. Caeden pushed the afflicted out of his way with desperate grunts and screams. Reaching her just as the creature curled its fingers through her hair. He chopped the arm off in one, vicious, downward motion and then pulled her up against him. Dragging her along in his shield arm.


    “Beast! Oswin!” he yelled as he charged toward the practice.


    Both disengaged and bolted for the entrance, slipping in before him. He dropped Ava to the ground and joined Oswin at the door, bracing himself against the surge of the afflicted pushing against it.


    [Note from the Haelionthyne, the Original Author of The Hybrid: Chasing Destiny: This novel is only published and freely available to read on My Patreon</a> and Royal Road</a>. Support me directly with your readership there. No other websites or reading platforms have my permission, express or blanket, to publish my novel or distribute it further.]