The Hollow: At The Edge (33 page)

“You know... Explode,”
Mouse said impatiently.

“Sublimate,” corrected
Dhulrael.

“Whatever, elf,”
snapped Caellix. “Fix it!”

“I do not even know
what they have done!” replied Dhulrael.

“You had better figure
it out, because at the moment we’re only fighting a few Ferine. The
ones on the walls, and guarding the gates are going to be joining
in any moment. We can’t hold them off forever.”

“Well, technically with
this thing, I probably could,” said Serrel. He had pumped so much
energy into his shield it was visible as a transparent red wall
encircling them. Arcs of energy crackled through the air and seared
the flesh of any Ferine who got too close.

“Sitting here until
help arrives is not a plan, Fresh Meat.”

“Make way!” Annabella
was screaming at them suddenly.

She and Victor each had
a hold on one of Jurgen’s arms and were dragging him towards the
Illudin. Serrel dispelled his shield, and then dropped it back into
place behind them.

“Jurgen? You still
alive?” Caellix asked.

“I’m getting too old
for this,” Jurgen groaned.

“Mouse, can you heal
him?” Victor asked. “I can’t do healing spells worth a damn.”

“I’ll try,” said Mouse.
She pressed her hand against the Illudin, and focused on fixing the
damage done to Jurgen.

Jurgen shook his head.
“No time,” he winced. “I can’t feel my legs. Whatever damage is
done, you can’t fix it magically. As soon as the energy dissipates,
my spine going to come apart again.”

“I have a lot of
energy.”

“And I am not going to
be dependant on the gods damn ether for the rest of my life!”
Jurgen snapped. “Just dull the pain. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Annabella? Blackwood?”
Jurgen grabbed Victor by the collar and pulled him down. “This is
the last order I am going to give you two idiots. Listen closely.
Vharaes cannot get away. This does not go on. So the first chance
you get, you take the Patrician, and you make him show you a way
into the fortress. You find Vharaes, and you end that warmongering
piece of shit’s life. Am I clear?”

“Sir,” Annabella tried.
“The General told us-”

“To hell with Dillaini.
I have a writ of death signed by the Empress herself. I don’t care
what her reasons are, you follow my orders not hers. You take that
elven bastard’s head.”

“We’ll do it, Captain,”
said Victor.

“Good. Now what the
hell is taking so long with this damn rock?”

“
Patrician
?”
Caellix asked with clear threat in her voice.

“I think I have it,”
said Dhulrael. He twisted one of the metal rings at the Illudin’s
base and clicked it into a new position.

A heavy shudder
vibrated visibly through the crystal, and under his hand, Serrel
felt a tiny crack appear on its smooth surface. He shot Dhulrael a
look.

“Don’t do that again,”
he warned.

“Sorry.” Dhulrael
turned another ring a few notches. “I think this should do it.
Watch your shield.”

Serrel dispelled his
shield, just as the Illudin began discharging energy into the sky.
Where the beam of light hit the clouds, huge arcs of electricity
danced outwards. There was a near constant boom and crash of
thunder as the magical lightning spread outwards in a circle from
the Illudin.

“Just in time,” said
Caellix, shouting to be heard over the erupting sky. “We have
company.”

More Ferine were
amassing at the last two streets, waiting to storm the market
square. Serrel took his hand from the Illudin, and cut the
connection. The Illudin fell silent.

“Tell everyone to fall
back to us,” he said.

Caellix looked at him,
then at Mouse who lifted her staff meaningfully.

“
To us
!” she
screamed as loud as she could. “
Fall back to our position, you
dogs! Move it, or you’re going to be left behind
!”

“You heard the
sergeant!” joined Snow. “Hop to it!”

The Hounds retreated
into the center of the square. The Ferine all hesitated, and stood
in place. They stared at the Illudin and the two mages beside it as
the Hounds gathered around them. Vost was the last one to fall into
place, running up to Caellix with tail wagging, holding what
appeared to be a dismembered Ferine arm in his mouth.

“What now?” Caellix
asked.

Mouse stepped onto the
lip of the fountain for added height. “You should all probably
duck,” she advised calmly. She stretched out her hand, and touched
the Illudin.

The Hounds threw
themselves to the ground as the Illudin exploded into life. Serrel
gently placed his hand against the crystal on the opposite side
from Mouse, and lifted his staff. The Ferine hesitated, but neither
of the mages waited for them to attack anyway.

The light from their
weaving was visible from the Legion’s camp. Dillaini took it as a
sign that it was time to attack. Towns and villages far away from
Vollumir saw the sky light up red, the Aurora Ethereal dancing
across the heavens.

When it was over, most
of the buildings surrounding the square were flattened, and there
was a not a living Ferine to be seen. They were all dead or
fleeing. When Serrel finally broke contact with the Illudin, his
staff was hot in his hands. Mouse surveyed the ruined buildings and
smiled in satisfaction.

“That was all your
fault,” Serrel told her.

“Yes it was,” she
agreed.

“Gods,” breathed
Annabella. “What did you do?”

“What we were meant to
do.”

“You are destroying my
city,” said Dhulrael in shock. “Was that absolutely necessary?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sure the Legion
will compensate everyone for damages,” lied Snow. “Let’s finish
this before they regroup.”

“Let them regroup,”
said Mouse. “We can handle it.”

“Mouse,” Victor said
sternly.

She sighed.
“
Fine
.”

“Let’s empty this damn
thing and smash it,” suggested Serrel.

“I’ll do it,” said
Jurgen forcefully. “You all get out of here, while the Ferine can’t
see you. I’ll take care of the thing.”

Annabella stared at
him. “Captain, you haven’t done any weaving in nearly a
decade.”

“It’s like falling off
a log, Kincade. You never forget.” Jurgen pulled the glove of his
left hand, revealing a tattoo like Victor’s. “As long as this thing
still works, I should do all right.”

“Captain-”

“I know how this ends
for me, Kincade,” he snapped. “And I will be damned if I spend the
last days of life lying in bed, covered in my own shit. Now I’ve
given you an order, and you will follow it.”

Annabella nodded.

“Are you sure about
this, Captain?” asked Snow.

“Yes. Go on, Snow. You
have a mission to finish.”

They gently pulled
Jurgen to the Illudin and propped him up against it.

“You just have to put
you hand on it and make a connection, Sir,” Serrel told him.

“I’ll manage.”

Caellix placed an axe
on his lap. “I’ll say this much for you, Jurgen. At least you’re
going out like a warrior.”

“Told you I wasn’t such
a bad guy, Caellix. I guess I’ll see you on the other side.”

“I sincerely hope
not.”

“There should be
another portal to the sewer around here,” Dhulrael said. “We should
hurry.”

Dhulrael led them to
the next sewer access, and Annabella undid the lock. The Hounds
slipped down and out of sight one by one, led to safety by
Dhulrael. Serrel lingered behind with Caellix, in case anything
went wrong.

He saw Jurgen lift his
hand over his shoulder and press it against the Illudin. The
crystal came to life.

“Is he going to...”
Serrel started.

“He’ll do what he has
to. Let’s get going, Hawthorne.”

The two disappeared
underground, and closed the metal hatch behind them.

The rain had finally
stopped, and through patches in the clouds, blown opened by the
force of the Illudin’s discharge, Jurgen could see the sky
brightening. A new day was dawning. And more Ferine were beginning
to climb over the rubble surrounding the square. They were nothing
if not persistent.

Jurgen let the energy
of the Illudin flow into him, and used what little knowledge he
still recalled about healing spells to put his broken body back
together. It was slapdash weaving, and his instructor would turn in
her grave if she saw the way he forced the ether to reattach all
the important bits and pieces of his spine. As soon as the energy
was used up, it would all fall apart, but that was hardly the
issue. Jurgen wanted to die on his feet.

Not breaking his
contact with the Illudin, he pushed himself upright, and hefted the
axe Caellix had given him. With all the energy he had just used up,
and all the rest going up into the sky, he figured there couldn’t
be that much left in the Illudin.

He waited for the
Ferine to get closer, and smiled.

“What the hell.”

Caellix ran down the
sewer tunnels, Serrel fast behind her. He figured that they were
about halfway back to the smuggler’s tunnel where they had made
their entrance, when the explosion rocked the entire city. The
shockwave knocked them both to the grimy floor, and sent the roof
of the tunnels behind them collapsing inwards.

Caellix coughed and
rolled over. “What the hell was that?”

“I think that was
Jurgen,” said Serrel. “I think he may have broken the Illudin a bit
earlier than expected.”

“At least he got the
job done. Get up, we aren’t finished yet.”

“I don’t suppose I’m
going to get a day off when this is all over.”

“You wish,
Hawthorne.”

It took him a while to
realise she had stopped calling him Fresh Meat. He didn’t bring it
up, in case she took offence.

They were far behind
the rest of the group now, so when they saw movement in the
darkness ahead, they weren’t sure if it was the Hounds, or Ferine
who had caught on to them. Serrel lifted his staff, but relaxed
when Dhulrael came into view. Victor and Annabella were right
behind him.

“Is everyone all
right?” he asked them.

“Everyone’s fine,”
replied Annabella. “Snow’s leading them to the south gates.”

“But we have somewhere
else to be,” put in Victor. “So you’ll have to excuse us. Serrel,
take care of yourself.” He clapped Serrel on the shoulder, and
moved off.

“Wait,” snapped
Caellix.

“Caellix,” Annabella
said wearily. “Jurgen gave us his orders. His last orders. I’m not
disobeying them.”

“I know. What I was
going to say is: I’m coming with you.”

“Me too,” said Serrel
without hesitation.

Annabella gave them a
look. “Really?”

“We both know Jurgen
was the brains of your little outfit,” said Caellix. “You idiots
don’t stand a chance on your own.”

“Oh. Well, thanks,
Caellix.”

“Besides, he was right.
I don’t know what Dillaini had planned, but we need to stop Vharaes
now.”

“Just so we’re clear,”
said Victor. “I’m going up there to kill him. You aren’t going to
get in the way are you, Sergeant?”

“I’m not an assassin,
boy. I don’t kill people without cause. So when I find Vharaes, I’m
going to ask him to surrender.
Then
I’m going to kill
him.”

“Works for me. Let’s
go.”

“This way,” Dhulrael
lead them onwards. “This won’t be easy. We can travel underground
most of the way. But we will need to sneak across the city for the
last leg. The entrance to the secret tunnel is inside a public
house.”

“The Patrician of
Vollumir has his own tunnel leading to the local pub?” said
Annabella with amusement.

“No. It is a pub now.
When the tunnel was made, it was a brothel.”

Annabella laughed. “I’m
starting to like this city. Or, you know, what’s left of it.”

They moved through the
winding sewer tunnels as far as they could, then Dhulrael took them
to another access hatch, and led them back to the surface. The sky
was bright, and the clouds were finally dispersing when Serrel
emerged onto the street. He gulped fresh air and swore he was never
going into a sewer ever again.

The streets were eerily
quiet, and empty of people. Everyone was probably in hiding, at
least, anyone the Ferine hadn’t killed, Serrel thought grimly.
There was a plume of smoke drifting in the air, no doubt over the
remains of the market square. On the edge of his hearing, Serrel
thought he could make out the sounds of shouting, and fighting.

Dhulrael led them to
what at first appeared to be a park in the middle of the city.
There were vines sprouting flowers, wrapped around wooden supports
lining the path. All over the grass were wooden tables and seats
carved from the remains of tree stumps. In the center of the park
was a large double storey building. It only had walls on two sides,
and was open and exposed to the environment on the others.

“That’s a pub?” asked
Annabella.

“An elvish pub,” said
Dhulrael. “When we drink, there is usually much singing and
dancing, and carousing with nature.” There was the tiniest hint of
embarrassment when he said that last part.

“Add bloodshed and
you’ve got yourself a Norwen party,” said Caellix.

Dhulrael took them
inside. There was no door, and the ground level of the pub had been
ransacked. Barrels of beer and mead, and bottles of wine were
smashed across the floor. Dhulrael led them to the upper level,
where there were several rooms. He led them to the largest, and
most opulently decorated room, and went to a large wardrobe set
against one wall. He opened the doors, shoved aside a variety of
expensive dresses, and searched the back panel.

“You’ve been here
before then,” said Annabella.

“A few times.”