Rain’s expression went grim. “Revenants? What the Seven Hells are revenants? “

General Greywing’s eyes went dark. “Black magic. Very old, very deadly black magic. The world hasn’t seen their like in at least ninety thousand years.” He glanced at Commander Silverleaf and said, “The knowledge was lost. How did this Mage find the spell?”

“It doesn’t matter, Tam.” She turned piercing gray eyes on Rain. “Get your people out of there, Feyreisen. This is not an enemy Celierians can kill, and Fey will find it difficult.” Authority snapped in her voice. “Swords are useless—worse than useless—as is most magic.”

Rain gave the command without question, then scowled at Silverleaf. “If swords and magic are useless, how the Hells are we supposed to kill them?”

“Elvish Light arrows. Tairen fire. Hundred-fold weaves—though more than hundred-fold is better. Other weaves have little effect. Whatever you do, don’t slice off even the smallest bit of the revenants’ flesh. They multiply when split.”

“Lovely,” Gaelen muttered.

Beside him, Bel’s eyes went hazy as he spun the warnings to the allies. Dozens more holes in the ground had opened up, and revenants were pouring out into the sunlight. The Celierians were running for their lives back to the allied encampment, while the Fey brought up the rear and spun shields to slow the revenants’ advance.

“Bas’ka, you heard her,” Rain commanded. “Swords and magic are useless. Kaiven chakor, get Ellysetta and the shei’dalins to safety.”

“Bayas,” Commander Silverleaf countermanded. “That you must not do, Tairen Soul. The Feyreisa must fight at your side.”

Rain’s brows slammed together. “What? Are you mad?” He glanced from Greywing to Commander Silverleaf. “Who the scorching Hells are you, Elf? And don’t give me that ‘You may call me, Silverleaf’ krekk. Obviously you are not Greywing’s subordinate.”

“I am a seer of the Elves, Tairen Soul, and I have come to advise you on behalf of Elvia’s queen, Illona Brighthand. If you send the Feyreisa away, you will perish and she will fall to Darkness. Your only hope to survive this battle is to stay together and fight as one. You hold each other to the Light.”

“Are you saying if we fight together, we will survive this battle?”

The Elf hesitated. “Bayas. I cannot say that. There is risk. But if you send her from you, risk becomes certainty. You will die; she will fall.”

Rain stared hard at the Elf commander, trying to read those impenetrable gray eyes, but as with most Elves, looking into her eyes was like staring down a bottomless well. They gave away nothing.

“Rain, let’s go.” Ellysetta’s hand brushed his. “You heard her. Tairen fire is one of the few weapons we have against this army.” «It’s time for trust, not doubt, shei’tan. The Elves are right. We’re stronger together than apart. You know it as well as I.»

He wanted to refuse. The danger to them both was very real. He’d just almost died himself. But already, the entire field around Lower Orest was blanketed with foul, maggot-colored monsters. There were easily two hundred thousand of them, and thousands more scrambled out of their boreholes with each passing chime. Behind the allied lines, the earth shifted and bulged upward as a new line of holes erupted and began spewing revenants to cut off the allies’ retreat.

Rain spun to face Ellysetta’s primary quintet. “You five organize the hundred-fold weaves. Let’s kill as many of those creatures as we can, starting with those.” He jerked a hand towards the line of revenants threatening the allies’ rear flank.

“The Aquiline riders will assist you,” Commander Silver-leaf said.

“I’m counting on it.” Rain leapt into the sky and Changed. Ellysetta’s quintet flung her skyward on a weave of Air, and she slid effortlessly into the saddle strapped to the back of Rain’s neck, her dahl’reisen-forged armor shining in the sunlight.

As Rain wheeled around to head back towards the field of revenants and prepared to fire, he heard Greywing cry, “Elves! Take aim!”

The Elvian general didn’t look up to watch Rain’s approach, but just before Rain flew past, he cried, “Fire!” The Elves loosed their Light arrows, and the sky before Rain and Ellysetta lit up with blinding brightness.

Rain, the tairen, and the Aquiline riders flew through the wake of the Light storm. They burst from the brightness with tairen fire and arrows blazing to incinerate the monsters threatening the allies’ retreat.

Fire consumed long tracts of revenants in red-orange flame. As they burned, they emitted a grating, high-pitched screech that rattled Ellysetta’s bones. She shielded her ears against the noise but kept her eyes open and scanning the sky.

Bowcannon bolts turned the sky dark, flying from Orest and across the river. She spun whirling cyclones of Air and Fire to stop them, but the missiles were too plentiful for her weaves alone.

«Gil!» she cried. «You and the Air masters keep those bowcannon bolts off of us.» Instantly two dozen cyclones sprang up around the tairen and Aquilines, catching the bolts midair and leaving the tairen and Elves free to rain fire and Light arrows down upon the revenant masses.

The Mages clearly didn’t like that much, because the rest of the dragon flock took wing from the peaks surrounding Upper Orest. They screamed, the sound like great trumpets blaring. Long, serpentine necks ended in wedge-shaped heads with snouts filled with sharp, curved teeth. They flapped their massive wings and soared over the fields of Orest on a direct course with the tairen and the Aquiline riders. With them was a female dragon nearly twice the size of the rest. Clearly, she was the pack’s queen, for when she bugled a command, the others obeyed.