"We can't afford the time to find another way out," Thelvyn said as he stood beside Kharendaen at the center of the balcony.
"What can we do other than fight them?" she asked softly.
"We're going to have to fight," he replied. "I plan to make it a brief one. Be ready to follow me."
Kharendaen did not doubt him, but she wondered how long his strength would hold out after the terrible injuries he had recently endured. She recalled that few clerical spells were particularly useful in a battle of magic, but Thelvyn had always had a few tricks entirely his own. He rose to stand with his forelegs braced on the sturdy rail along the edge of the balcony, as if challenging his enemies, but she could see his eyes glaze as he concentrated on commanding a spell. She wished he would hurry; the Veydran warriors spotted him, shook their spears over their heads, and rushed up the stairs to attack.
Suddenly the floor of the fortress began to shake violently. The tremor was no more than three seconds in duration but very strong; blocks of the fortress walls began to shift and separate slightly, and long cracks split the floor of the gateroom. A large section of the balcony crumbled and fell away, and the gemstone dragons were forced to spread their wings and leap aside. The brief tremor was enough to shatter the outer wall of the fortress. The massive blocks of stone were too large and solid to collapse easily, but they were split by deep cracks, and the doors of the main gate shifted on bent hinges.
But the dragons had not escaped yet. Although the crossbars were broken, the doors remained shut and were now jammed together. Their enemies were disoriented, but Thelvyn knew he wouldn't have the time to try to force the damaged gate open before he was attacked. Looking quickly over his shoulder to see that Kharendaen was safe, he drew a deep breath and released the full fury of his breath weapon. A jet of blue flames that materialized into crackling bolts of lighting leapt and danced over the floor, ripping apart the stones as if they were dried mud. The Veydran warriors were chased down by the branching spears of lighting, their broken and smoking bodies hurled across the chamber. The gemstone dragons who were not immediately slain fled from the merciless destruction.
Kharendaen was alarmed by the ferocity of the attack, and as they flew, she kept herself slightly behind and above Thelvyn so that her mate was free to release his terrible destruction without fear for her safety. At last he turned and headed toward the gate, directing a full blast of lightning against the jammed doors until they exploded outward. Free at last, the dragons darted forward through the gate just as the stones began to collapse in a cloud of dust and rubble.
Thelvyn continued to lead the way, staying low as he followed the streets between the maze of fortresses. The sky above was tilled with the winged forms of the Masters and the smaller Veydran warriors, and soldiers of many other races hurried through the streets, but they seemed uncertain of what they were expected to fight. The confusion gave the two dragons enough time to search through the streets for the route to escape.
Following the larger streets, Thelvyn quickly found what he was looking for. Emerging between the long rows of strongholds, the dragons suddenly found themselves in the milling confusion of the central square. Companies of soldiers scattered and heavy freight wagons careened out of their path, but the dragons were too late. The immense worldgate had already been closed.
Seeing that he had no choice, Thelvyn turned and led the way out of the central square, staying low in the streets between the buildings to remain hidden as long as possible. The Masters and whole companies of Veydran had already seen them and were now in hot pursuit. Their only hope now was to avoid having to fight until they were away from the stronghold and able to disappear into the dusty twilight wilderness of that cold, dry world.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
If Thelvyn had still wanted to learn more about the strength of the Masters and their armies, this was certainly the time. He could see at least two hundred gemstone dragons darting back and forth over the stronghold, although in their alarm and confusion, they didn't seem to know what they were looking for. He hoped to take advantage of their uncertainty, remaining half hidden in the streets between the imposing, massive forms of the fortresses until he and Kharendaen were able to escape into the wild.
But he had never dared to hope that they would be able to get away entirely unobserved. Even as the two dragons weaved an elusive path through the streets, still more gemstone dragons began to fall in behind them, taking up the pursuit. That was no immediate concern in itself; Thelvyn knew that gold dragons were faster than the Masters, but when he glanced back, he saw that Veydran warriors were taking up the chase as well. That was a matter of some concern, since he had no idea of their speed and endurance.
Suddenly the street they were following ended, and the
dragons came out from among the great hulks of the fortresses. Now they had to make a desperate dash across the open ground and into the southwestern pass through the mountains that surrounded the stronghold. They entered the pass as quickly as they could fly, passing right over the heads of countless companies of soldiers waiting to be moved forward through the worldgate. Thelvyn waited for the rattle of arrows against his armor and hoped that nothing worse would be brought to bear against them, but it seemed that their enemy was still taken by surprise, unprepared to fight back. Moments later, the dragons were beyond the pass, turning sharply to head west across the fields toward the seclusion of distant mountains.
Thelvyn glanced back after a moment to check on their pursuers. The gemstone dragons were already beginning to fall well behind them, unable to match the furious pace of the gold dragons. But he saw at least twoscore Veydran warriors in pursuit, strung out over more than a quarter of a mile, the nearest only a few dozen yards behind Kharendaen. And as he watched, he saw that they were neither gaining on them nor losing distance. He had no desire to fight so many of the small, powerful warriors, but he realized that if they didn't begin to tire or fall behind soon, he would have to do something.
"How are you holding up?" Kharendaen asked.
"I'm not at my best," he said, surprised at how much he was forced to pant when he tried to talk. "I can't keep up this pace for long."
She bent her head to look at him. "If you want to avoid a light, would you mind a suggestion?"
"Of course not."
"Then let's begin to climb, as high and as fast as we can," she said. "If my guess is correct, the Veydran are not equipped to fly in high, thin air."
Thelvyn didn't have the breath to reply, but he was grateful tor the idea. Because his own experience with flight was limited, he would never have thought of such a thing. The two dragons began to climb at once, rising as steeply as they could with long, powerful sweeps of their wings, even though climbing sacrificed some speed. Thelvyn knew he couldn't endure much more of this, but he was encouraged to see that the Veydran were steadily falling farther behind. Obviously the Veydran were tiring even more quickly than the dragons, and that might put an end to the chase.
Every advantage now seemed to belong to the dragons. There was a high but solid blanket of pale, light clouds above them, and the brisk wind felt cold and curiously wet for such an arid place. If they could only climb into those high clouds, their escape was certain. More than that, the sun was already setting, and night came quickly to this desolate land. Thelvyn desperately needed a chance to rest and recover from his injuries, and he realized that he hadn't eaten or drank in at least three days. He didn't expect to find food or water in this place, but he had to have some rest before he could find a way to escape the world of their enemies.