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    THIRTY-FIVE


    <h2 style="text-transform: uppercase">LANA</h2>


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    The healers were overwhelmed. Three buildings in Fyrie were set up as hospitals, rows of beds filling every room until they spilled out into the street.


    One of the hospitals was near the main gate of the inner wall. Lana and Thys arrived barely in time. Lana fought to stay conscious.


    “I have other matters to attend to,” Emiril said, once he’d deposited them with the healers. “Don’t die.”


    Lana breathed in with a groan, trying to sit down in a way that didn’t make it feel like a hundred knives were digging into her side. “We’ll do our best.”


    Three women and one man bustled back and forth, examining each new arrival. Injured soldiers lined the hall and the line to see a healer was long.


    Finally, one of the women waved them into the next chamber, where they performed their examinations and administered healing when deemed necessary. The Vatner was older, perhaps as old as fifty, and looked like a wrung-out rag with her iron gray hair in disarray. Strands of hair fell loose from her bun, which was tied up with a piece of bloodied cloth. Her shoulders slumped and she took each step with the utmost care.


    “Thys, we’re up,” Lana said, struggling to her feet to follow. “Thys?”


    Her rhinn companion eyes were closed and his breathing shallow. Sweat covered his face and his lips were pale. “Thys?”


    No response.


    Lana slapped him. “Thys!”


    His eyes flickered open, and he gave her a weak smile. “What? Need me to save you again?”


    He leaned forward, as if to stand, but was unable to get up. Two aides hurried over and grabbed his arms on Lana’s command and half-carried him into the examination room. Lana hobbled after. Pain lanced through her with each step.


    Water. She needed water to get the taste of blood out of her mouth. Lana shuddered and pushed away the memories of herself as that monster. She remembered every moment. Each four-legged leap was etched into her mind, every snap of her wolf-like jaw a memory she’d never forget. She was certain that it would haunt her in her sleep.


    By the time she stumbled into the room, Thys was up on a cloth-covered table with his shirt off. Lana gasped at the sight of him. Long gashes raked diagonally across his chest, deep and wide and gushing with blood. His body was mottled with several dark bruises, an indicator that he was bleeding from within.


    “How are you still alive?” Lana murmured, hobbling over to the table.


    The healer woman placed the palm of her hands on his bare skin, closed her eyes and set her jaw. “He’s unconscious again.”


    “Please help him.”


    “Quiet you, I’m doing what I can.”


    Lana slumped back into a chair and watched in awe as the wounds began to close upon themselves before her eyes. The healer groaned and coughed but kept pushing as the sound of bones snapped back into place. An unpleasant sound, Lana decided.


    The warmth and relative safety of the makeshift hospital made her drowsy, and she found herself relaxing now that Thys was getting the help he needed. Her eyelids fluttered and then closed. She just needed a few minutes of rest. That was all.


    A powerful chill ran through her body, and she sat up with a gasp.


    “Easy, easy,” a gentle voice said, holding her down. A young woman in a white apron, a healer’s aide, Lana thought.


    Lana blinked and looked down at her spear wound. It was no longer bleeding but was still far from being fully healed. She looked past the aide and saw that Thys still lay on the table. An aide was working on him too, stitching up the gashes.


    “You’ll need stitches,” the aide said, her voice soft, comforting.


    Lana tried to stand but was unceremoniously shoved back down.


    “I’m fine,” she argued.


    “You were as close to knocking on death’s door as your friend on the table. If you leave now, the wound will open again, become infected, and you will die a painful death. It is a certainty.”


    “Fine,” Lana grumbled.


    The aide sat down next to Lana and began preparing the needle and thread. “Thank you for allowing me to keep you alive a little longer,” she said, shaking her head.


    “You’re a knucklehead,” Thys said, his voice hoarse.


    “If you had died, I would never have forgiven you,” Lana said, wiping at her eyes. She must’ve gotten some dirt in them, because they were suddenly watering like crazy.


    “I’m too amazing to die,” Thys said, before groaning when the aide working on him pulled on the thread to close the wound.


    “Guess I owe you one now, huh?” Lana asked.


    “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunity to pay me back. Where’s the shadow man?”


    “Said he had something to do.”


    “Frightening ability that,” Thys mused. “We better not get on his bad side.”


    “The ritual is broken?” Lana asked.


    “It is.”


    <div>


    * * *


    The stitching pulled on Lana’s side as they made their way into the keep. Though soldiers were posted around the nearest gate, the situation was quickly getting out of control. No one looked to Lana for guidance and for that, she was thankful. Her expertise lent itself better to specific problems that mostly dealt with quick elimination.


    “You don’t want to find Goslin again?” Thys asked.


    She nodded to a passing soldier. They all knew her by sight at this point. “No. There’s no telling where he’ll be in this chaos.”


    “And you believe that the priests will go after the travelers now that the ritual is interrupted?”


    Stolen story; please report.


    “Going after the travelers is what I would do. With gateways opening up all over the city, there’s no way they won’t make an attempt at your brethren as well.”


    “Fair enough.”


    Lana grimaced and slowed, her knees a little too wobbly for her liking. “Let’s just hope we’re not too late.”


    “Want me to take us there directly?”


    She ran her hand down her face, embarrassed. “Yes. I obviously want you to take us there directly. You’ve recovered enough?”


    “I’m good,” he answered, holding out his hand.


    Lana took it. “Then let’s get going.”


    They blinked together into pandemonium. The few guards stationed to protect the travelers were outnumbered and outmatched. A gateway stood open and a small group of monsters engaged the Eldian guards.


    Several men and women exited the gateway just as Lana and Thys arrived, most wearing robes of either white or black. Two of them differed from the others in their red robes. Pyromancers.


    All their gazes were set on the rhinn travelers and Eldian guards, which gave Lana an opening. She took it.


    A veritable storm of conjured daggers flew toward the gate. One of them took a black-robed man in the neck. Another struck a white-robed woman in the chest, and a third dagger burrowed deep into the thigh of one of the pyromancers. Many of her daggers struck true, felling opponents as she circled around to draw their attention from their primary targets.


    Screaming, flames erupted from an injured pyromancer. Lana threw up a shield to protect herself.


    One of the rhinn travelers was struck down by a human-like monster in the shape of a centipede. It skittered along on many legs and arms with its mouth gaping wide open revealing rows of sharp teeth.


    Thys appeared by the creature’s side, driving his short sword into its neck. Yellow pus leaked from its wound and every limb curled in on itself as it died.


    Darkness flew through the air at Thys, but the rhinn blinked away.


    Lana’s shield cracked under the pyromancer’s assault, and she instantly conjured another. An onslaught of different magical abilities leapt for her, and she threw herself to the side with a gust of wind to escape them. The ground where she’d been standing exploded, throwing dirt up into the air.


    She breathed a sigh of relief before realizing the specks of dirt hovered in the air. They shot out at her in a geomantic attack. Swearing, she quickly blocked the attack with another shield. She knew she could not keep this up for much longer.


    Thys appeared by the pyromancer’s side. He thrust into the injured man’s side before disappearing again, only to reappear by a woman in white. When her severed head thudded to the ground, it elicited a scream of terror from her companions.


    Thys was gone before they had a chance to respond, and Lana took advantage of their crumbling confidence. Two more died before they fled back through the gate. After that, cleaning up the remaining monsters was an easy task.


    “Those weren’t as skilled as the ones guarding the siege equipment,” Thys panted. His jerkin was bloodied, though Lana did not know if it was from his old wounds or new ones.


    “Thank the wind for that,” Lana agreed. “That black stuff must be the same as Sarien’s. If it touches you, you’re as good as dead.”


    “Noted.”


    Three rhinn travelers were dead, and the rest were in disarray. Many were on the edge of consciousness.


    “Focus!” Lana shouted.


    Thys stood tall next to her. “The ritual is over. Now, it is up to you whether or not all is lost! Show our hosts the rhinn are steadfast. That the rhinn are tenacious!”


    His words rallied the exhausted rhinn. Many returned to their task, while others shook their unconscious friends awake.


    Something made Lana’s back itch, and she narrowed her eyes.


    “Thys?”


    “What is it?”


    “Shouldn’t the gateway have closed by now?”


    Just as the words left her mouth, more monsters started pouring through.


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    * * *


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    Goslin


    After struggling for most of the day and well into the night, the enemy forces within Fyrie were finally put to the sword and the spear. No new gateways appeared. The outer protective walls remained standing. Goslin knew that it was only a matter of time before the enemy regrouped and returned to their assault. But he did not care. They won the day.


    Collapsing into bed, he let sleep take him. It was long overdue.


    Darkness still held daybreak at bay when the next assault on Fyrie began. Roused by an unnamed soldier, Goslin washed the dried blood off his face. Even before grabbing his sword, his arms felt numb, stiff, and unresponsive.


    Soldiers woke all around him as the alarm sounded again and again, urging all who could hold a weapon or wield even the smallest sliver of magic to report for battle. Sarien would return soon, Goslin told himself. It was the only way to end the battle. With every resource drained, the Eldians and their allies could not hold out much longer. Either they would be slaughtered by their enemy, or they would starve to death.


    “Soldiers! Friends! Let us go show these invading bastards what we are made out of!” Goslin shouted, sliding on a mask of confidence. He learned early that a commander did not show weakness in front of his men.


    Throwing the barrack doors open, Goslin stepped into the new day. It was still dark, but Myn’s lights brightened the sky. Her power alone saved hundreds as it allowed the soldiers to fight back against monster attacks during the night.


    Myn, that glorious woman, spent every night on top of one of the tallest towers in Fyrie, working her magic to give them a steady, warm light to see by. How she kept it up for so long, Goslin didn’t know, but he was thankful for her all the same. Especially now when morale was at an all-time low. Seeing that light at their backs gave the soldiers a little push to keep going. Sometimes, it made all the difference.


    Horns blared from all directions as flags waved animatedly on top of the wall. Goslin was about to direct his men when a boy appeared out of thin air.


    “Reze?” Goslin asked.


    “Finally, I’ve been looking all over for you!”


    “What are you doing here?”


    “Your friends sent me here to help!”


    “Sarien?”


    Reze nodded. “Sure, and the short, angry monster. Also, the tall one with the beard. I can never remember old people’s names.”


    Goslin glanced toward the one of the walls in the distance. The soldiers were milling around in a frenzy. He couldn’t stand around talking for long. “They’re here?”


    “Nah. They were, but that was a while ago,” the boy said, pointing southward. “They helped destroy a bunch of monsters over there, but then had to go.”


    Goslin was relieved to hear that they were alive and well, though disappointed that Sarien hadn’t found a solution yet to end the fighting.


    “So, what can I do to help?” Reze asked.


    “Help? You should go to the other refugees, so you don’t get hurt.”


    Reze shook his head so hard that his entire body jerked back and forth. “I’m strong. The priests are horrible, but they at least showed me how strong I can be.”


    “What do you mean?”


    A soldier stood waiting beside him, shifting his weight from foot to foot.


    Reze ignored the man and punched the ground. The cobblestones shattered, leaving a massive dent in the road.


    “See?” Reze said, standing back up. Then he disappeared and reappeared a few strides away. “I can also do,” he disappeared and reappeared behind Goslin, “this.”


    Goslin turned. “Very well. Can you go to the different walls and see which one is in the direst need of our help?”


    Reze straightened and made a mock salute before disappearing again. A juvenile to the core, just like any human boy, whatever else he might be. Goslin obviously didn’t know where he got that strength and speed from, but it didn’t matter. Goslin would use him. This was no time to be squeamish about putting the meager resources you had to work.


    “Yes?” he asked the antsy soldier.


    “Lana of House Asengian wanted me to notify you that the rhinn travelers have been attacked but the attempt was thwarted. She also wanted you to know that she ended some sort of ritual.”


    “Thank you, soldier,” Goslin said. This was excellent news. He hoped that meant that the rhinn travelers would find their burden lightened.


    Goslin was about to head down to the council to discuss strategy when he realized that he was a fugitive. It was no longer his responsibility to persuade the council members into acting. It was someone else’s headache now.


    All he could do now was fight. It would have to be enough.


    Reze returned. “The one with the giant arm.”


    “Expected as much,” Goslin said, turning to the soldiers massing around him. “We’re needed at the eastern wall. Let’s go!”


    Turning to Reze, he considered the boy closely. “You’re strong. The rhinn travelers are vital in keeping Wyndemir at bay. If something befalls them, all is lost. Can you protect them?”


    Reze adopted a solemn expression. “I can.”


    Goslin patted the boy’s shoulder, told him where to go, then turned and marched east with his soldiers behind him.