“I’m fine; don’t worry about me.”
But I was incredibly worried about his pale complexion and the pinched lines around his mouth. “We can go out through the tunnel.” Back was the only way for us to go as much of the palace around us had fallen apart. “I think it will be?—”
Before I could finish speaking, an ominous sound came from above while another started from below. The creaking grew louder as more rubble rained down.
Across the way, in the newly formed hole I’d created to the outside, a piece of the palace slanted forward, or maybe I was imagining it. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, because what remained of the walls was leaning impossibly far toward the hole.
When rocks started pelting me, I threw my arms over my head to protect myself. Ryker grasped my arm, pulling me back and into him.
“Get the door open,” Ryker commanded Samael.
Laboring to breathe, I rested my fingers over the ugly wound in Ryker’s stomach. My fingers grazed him as the creaking became a deafening crescendo that filled the world.
What remained of the ground plummeted out from under us. I tried to maintain my hold on Ryker, but a stone smashing into my arm ripped me away as I plunged into oblivion. The deafening cacophony of the palace collapsing followed me.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Indon
Deep within me, the building power pulsating in the air rattled my bones and pounded through me until it vibrated throughout my soul. I banked to the left, swooping to avoid a cannonball as another arrow pierced my wing, making it so I had to readjust my balance to keep flying.
The battle had battered my poor wings; tattered pieces of them waved in the wind, but I’d stayed aloft. Some of my fellow gargoyles couldn’t say the same and had to land. They were fighting on the ground until their wings healed enough for them to fly again. That could take hours.
Tilting, I searched the sky and ground for the source of that strange, building power as the air buzzed like millions of bees were swarming us. My attention shifted to the forest, but it was oddly quiet, even with the poltergeists and other creatures standing in the shadows, waiting to slaughter any soldiers who entered.
The fires had gone completely out as rain continued to pound the muddy, bloody earth. Tornadoes spun across the field, but their numbers had decreased with the increased number of bodies.
Cannon fire, screams, and the clashing of weapons continued to wage as tornadoes, sleet, hail, rain, and other elements hammered the battlefield. While the amsirah from the towns and villages weren’t as battle-ready, their higher numbers had started working in their favor.
They savagely fought against those trying to keep them oppressed. They were determined to save their loved ones and themselves from a fate worse than death.
Even if they perished in the fight, these amsirah sought freedom and a happier life for all those they loved. That was a far more powerful motivator than money or prestige.
I knew that feeling well, but I didn’t know the increasing thrum of power vibrating the air.
“Do you sense that?” I asked through the bond connecting me to the other gargoyles.
“Yes,” came the reply of not everyone, as we had lost a few and two remained unconscious, but most were still fighting.
I mourned the loss of my friends, but we didn’t have time to gather to celebrate our fallen. When this ended, we’d properly care for our dead.
“What is it?” the question came through our bond.
“I don’t know, but it’s powerful,” another responded.
“I think it’s Ellery,” I told them as the realization sank in and the power swelled. “We have no idea what that amsirah is capable of doing.”
“Should we fear her?”
I’d pondered that question many times since the young woman set us free. Could we trust her? Would she turn on us as the other amsirah had? But they’d taken us by surprise; we wouldn’t let that happen again.
Ellery might be able to take us by force, and there might be nothing we could do to stop her.
However, she had a good heart. It had taken me some time to truly believe that, but I did.
Ellery loved deeply and truly wanted the best for her kind. She’d resisted the allure of the Stone, something that would probably prove impossible for all other amsirah, but she hadn’t kept its power for herself.
She was strong, kind, and an anomaly the likes of which Tempest had never seen before. That could develop into something as bad for the future as it was good now.
