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Red Armand stared at him, giving nothing away. “If the Dicteps is dead then I will take his place.”
Sven scoffed loudly. “I’d like to see you try. The miners have cut their chains. There’s no going back to the way things were.”
“Kill them, Armand! Kill all of them for their insolence!” Lorenzo barked.
I felt eyes on me and glanced up to see Yuri climb off his demon gargoyle and point in my direction. “I know this one. I remember when she was captured.”
“Do you also remember knocking me out and thieving the jewellery from my unconscious body?” I spat back and his gaze sharpened.
“I regret not killing you then.” As soon as the words left his mouth a bolt of magic shot through the air, knocking him off his feet. Vas strode forward, glaring down at him as angry waves of magic poured out of him. Red Armand produced a projectile weapon and aimed it directly at Vas.
“Back away, Vasilios, or I’ll shoot.”
“Don’t you hear that,” Vas replied, cupping a hand to his ear. “Thousands of people you kept trapped in your mine are almost here. They’re going to tear your body limb from limb and I’m going to watch.”
“And don’t you hear,” Red Armand countered. “I’ve taken charge of an entire regiment of the Dicteps’ Royal army. They’re marching this way as we speak. They’re armed and ready to subdue your pathetic excuse for a rebellion. Before long I’ll have taken back the Opal Palace, too. I’ll rid it of whatever vermin have been foolish enough to try to claim it.”
Fear seeped into my veins because he wasn’t lying. Behind the sounds of riot and rebellion there was the distinctive, foreboding stomp of heavy boots. The stomping sound was closer, too, coming from a different direction. Moments later hundreds of soldiers in dark uniforms appeared out of nowhere. I suspected they’d taken a more direct route from the palace, some private road that bypassed the densely populated residential and commercial parts of the city. Panic seized me.
Now when the miners arrived, the soldiers would be waiting to recapture them.
Red Armand practically buzzed with satisfaction as the soldiers outnumbered and surrounded us. I looked to Vas. Why wasn’t he panicked? A strange sort of calm befell him, his focus intent on Red Armand. It was like he didn’t even see the soldiers.
“Arrest them!” Red Armand ordered and several dozen soldiers advanced on us. Quick as a flash, Vas threw up a spell that knocked them off their feet. I joined in too, using my magical sparks to keep them at bay. They rose swiftly, coming for us again when finally the miners arrived. They saw the soldiers but they didn’t balk, their blood was up and they were ready to fight for their freedom.
“Hold off,” Vas shouted. I glanced at him, confused, but then saw he was staring up at the sky. Another demon gargoyle had arrived, but unlike the ones Red Armand and his men had flown in on, this one had no metal clamps upon its ankles.
Or should I say, her ankles.
This was the same beast Vas had freed, the one who flew us to the portal site. She sailed through the sky, her wings spread gracefully. She gave an ear shattering squawk, capturing the attention of the others. They raised their heads to her and she squawked again, communicating in a language only they could understand. She sailed down and landed right in front of Vas, who placed his hand upon her flank in greeting. She shimmered in happiness at his touch. Vas was her liberator.
Then he moved forward, casting a spell that took so much magic my ears hurt from the vibration. It pulsed so thickly you could almost reach out and touch it. My knees weakened being close to such power.
A moment later, the clamps on each gargoyle’s ankles fell away and they turned to those who’d ridden on their backs. Red Armand and his men backed up with dawning horror that they no longer had control over the beasts. One by one they shot up into the sky. My heart sank, because it looked like they were flying away, but then they circled back, returning and landing in front of us.
There were seven in total and together they made an almighty roar as they faced off with Red Armand and the Dicteps’ army. Goosebumps claimed my skin and a newfound wave of confidence flooded me. We were no longer outnumbered. Now we had our own army to fight with.
At my feet, I heard some kind of digging. Then, a tiny being emerged. A fire goblin just like the one I’d bargained with when I first arrived in Oreylia.
“What’s going on?” the goblin asked irritably. “You’re all making a terrible racket, you know.”
“Sorry about that,” I said, peering down as I quickly explained. “The miners are rebelling. Red Armand and the Dicteps’ army are trying to recapture us.”
