Chapter 419 (2/2)
“I’ve sent a teae teround city of Vildorial The dwarves were heavily divided by the war in Dicathen, and tension will still likely be high there Do not expect a elcome If Arthur isn’t there, you may also speak to Virion Eralith, the Lances Bairon Wykes, Varay Aurae, or Mica Earthborn, or whichever dwarven clan is in charge of the city itself”
Wolfruhtly It see somewhat overwhelmed
“I need Arthur—Grey—to return to Alacrya soon,” Seris continued “He is…singularly focused on the protection of his family, and I worry that, now that he has finally returned hoain Convince him”
I set my jaw “Of course, Scythe Seris I trust hi me to trail off Iht”
Seris pushed away from the table and headed for the sah “Come on, then You’ll take a tempus warp to the oceanside, where a member of the forward party will meet you” She hesitated, then added, “For what it’s worth, Caera, I trust him too”
Wolfru the silent and brooding Cylrit behind The research center’s primary tempus warp chamber was tucked away between several offices and protected by a guard station At a word frorammed the device and stepped back
“Reh when you arrive in Vildorial,” Seris said as we stepped up in front of the matte metal of the teiven a chance, that they aren’t the barbaric failed continent Agrona has painted them as And I believe it is iressor, but as an equal victi”
“I understand,” I answered, and Wolfruo”
The operator activated the te h space In only seconds, ere deposited in a s woman in olive leather ar on and snapped a salute Her gaze flicked to Wolfru back on e warp is set up just on the other side of the shi+eld Follow
Wolfrum and I followed her out of the steel door and down a steep rocky path that led toward the coast, perhaps half a mile away and a couple hundred feet below The base of the shi+eld was just visible where it curved down out of the sky to sink into the sand and stone of a rocky beach I recognized it as the north-western coastline of Sehz-Clar
“So, you’ve been quite central to Seris’s operation here, haven’t you?”
When I looked at Wolfrum, he responded with a stiff s to hlord Frost and the others, I hadn’t seen Wolfrum in a few years, not since o to parties with the other Vritra-blooded fosters As children, our relationshi+p had been amiable, but I had never formed close bonds with any of the other Vritra-bloods
“I agree hat she’s doing,” I answered after a moment
“Yes but…she trusts you, clearly You seehed despite myself, but there was no hury”
I bit uilty I knew all too well how difficult Wolfrum’s life had been, and how he had been treated by the others like us “I apologize I’m not, really Just…your relationshi+p with Seris…took ether in a serious expression “She is good at co, you know”
“What’s that?” I asked, hopping down a steep step as I carefully followed after the soldier
“The way she thinks, plans, and executes…lessons taken directly froainst him It’s…almost poetic”
I stopped and looked over my shoulder at Wolfrum, who had fallen behind me as the trail down the steep slope narrowed There was a strange, almost wistful look on his face
“Coh the shi+eld is scheduled for…” Our guide shaded her eyes with her hand and looked toward the sun “shi+t, only about seven or eight minutes It only lasts thirty seconds, so we need to hoof it”
She began hurrying down the slope, occasionally sliding on loose stones or leaping over the edge of several-foot drops I hurried after her, listening to Wolfru up He’d never been very graceful
The rocky hill plu the beach, and our guide led us into a series of steep stone steps cut into the cliffside
“So, what should I expect onthis Ascender Grey…or Lance Arthur Leywin of Dicathen It sounds like you know hilanced up at Wolfru down at me, and there was an intensity in his mismatched eyes that didn’t match his tone
“He’s difficult to describe,” I said, growing uncomfortable “You’ll understand once you’ve met him”
I realized that this disco inwhat I was feeling, I had pushed it to the back of , as I’d been trained to do,backwards fro for subconscious details that had triggered my unease
My heel turned on a loose stone, and I slid doo steps I planted my hand to catch myself at the same time Wolfru silver tumbled out ofdown the cliffside, vanishi+ng in the rugged bushes that lined the beach's edge at the bottom
I cursed
“That looked valuable,” Wolfru me back to my feet
“It was,” I muttered unhappily
“No ti her head “Unless you want to explain to Scythe Seris Vritra e missed our ”
I only shook my head, and ent on in silence for a ht with Seris, right?” I asked, breaking the silence as I realized what had been botheringis much more stable than I remember Those dances ere all forced to attend…” Ia clued The nervous act…it’s just that, isn’t it? A htened his shoulders, but he didn’t miss a step “It’s not so different from your role with the Denoirs, is it? People expect you to be soht you to show them what they want to see If anyone ever thinks ofVritra-blooded boy who ed to embarrass himself at every turn They expecttheht me that there is power in underesti as I re frolad that Seris had sent Wolfru, and curious about what he was capable of When I opened h, I was cut off by another curse frouide
The soldier ju fifteen feet down to the sand belohere she landed with a grunt Then she was up andus after her “See those striations? It’s time We’re already late!”
There were lines like stretchvertically down the shi+eld Outside of it, on an outcropping of rock that broke the otherwise s for us Our guide was kicking up sprays of wet sand as she ran across the beach toward the spot where the lines converged on the ground
Es withtwenty feet of air before landing softly,into the sand Wolfrum landed beside me a moment later, and we both hurried to follow the soldier
The shi+eld split apart with a low, electrical huh
There was a flash of green light
A bolt ofher back at ht her, but in the second it took roup waiting beyond the shi+eld collapsed as bullets of fire and raining acid took thean
The young soldier was squirh to look over her shoulder at asps
The attackers were already hurrying to the gap in the shi+eld
Wolfru ap and started throwing dohat looked like co ht back We’d prefer to bring you in unhar as the intensity in his eyes turned into a dark confidence
“I know you’re calculating your odds of victory right now, but…” Wolfru taller and more muscled Onyx horns sprouted from his head, short and sharp “Let me assure you, a battle can only result in your injury or death”
I stepped away fro the soldier inover her left side
His Vritra bloodit Like es, each of ore an e red river, had set up an arch of black h above them, the streaks in the shi+eld iped away as the thirty-second tione, the shi+eld flexed around the artifact The two forces conflicted, issuing a ringing buzz, but the gap didn’t close
I needed ti Wolfrum was, and I was outnumbered seven to one, so I couldn’t be sure of the results of a fight I needed to understandhave you been a traitor?”
Wolfru toward me slowly, but he paused to consider the question “I was never Seris’s, regardless of what she says Besides, if you betray a rebellion, doesn’t that make you loyal?”
One of the Redwater soldiers ran up with a pair ofin his hands Wolfru them up for me to see Mana-suppression cuffs
“It’s ironic, of course, that Seris gavethe manacles “Everyone thinks she’s the clever one, but even she never suspected that‘round the bend!” one of the Redwateratop the rocky outcrop with spyglass pressed against his eye “Five minutes!”
Wolfruet these on you I’d hate for you to be teets here”
Silently apologizing to the soldier in ed atforas I caht on top of me His fist drove down like a club, wrapped in sable flames to smashthe shi+ft ins
He launched hiraceful backflip as he landed a few feet away
I felt theto conjure their spells
“As ht call, Caera, I’m curious to see what you’re capable of,” Wolfrum said with an air of confident curiosity “Seris has sothe manacles over his head, he hurled the around and around
I set e or deflect the wild throw
The air aroundsnarl of jet-black wind that blinded and restrained uided by hisether in front ofsnuffed out filled every cell of my body as the cuffs locked it inside me