That was the clicking noise. The sounds of those clawed hands and feet scrabbling across rock with their darting speed. Some ran upright along the narrow path, but most raced on the sides of the mountain, covering the sheer cliff faces of the gorge like a monstrous swarm of beetles.

The first lines of Fey tried to stand their ground, spinning hundredfold weaves, filling the pass with blazing magic. But the revenants were too many. For each one they destroyed, ten more were there to take its place. The revenants reached the Fey lines and began leaping off the mountainside into the thick of the Fey.

Screams broke out as needle-filled mouths and acid skin ripped and dissolved shining Fey flesh.

“Earth masters! Bring down the mountains!”

Earth masters combined their weaves, tearing the sides of the mountain down and sending avalanches into the pass, burying the revenants beneath countless tons of broken rock.

For a chime, the Fey began to breathe easier. But then came the sound of shifting rock. The rubble moved. Clawed hands reached up from the shattered stone into the open air.

“Fey! Retreat! Retreat!”

Celieria ~ Orest

Rain soared across the sky, banking rapidly from left to right, soaring and diving. Another of those scorching Rainseeking bowcannon bolts was on his tail. How many of the flaming things did the Eld have?

Below him, Fey dead littered a battlefield crawling with revenants.

«Shei’tani, how’s your aim with a Fey’cha?» «Getting better by the chime.»

He curled back his lip and gave a growling chuff of tairen laughter. «That’s what I wanted to hear. If I fly low enough, do you think you can grab some of those Fey’cha harnesses with a weave?» «I know one way to find out.»

He chuffed again and blew smoke. Flying with her in battle had shown him an entirely different side of his shei’tani. Gone was the frightened, nightmare-stricken girl, gone too was the strong and powerful shei’dalin healer. In their place was a fierce Fey warrior—one with a good eye for strategy, unhesitating courage, and a deadpan sense of humor that would put Gillandaris vel Jendahr to shame.

«Then let’s find out. And weave a shield around your hands in case the red Fey’cha slip their sheaths. There may be Shadar horn in your bones now, but I don’t want to put it to the test.»

He felt the brief burst of magic.

«Done,» she said. «Let’s go.»

He dove. Behind him, the bowcannon bolt followed suit. His wings spread wide and they soared low over the revenants. Fire boiled from his muzzle, incinerating a wide swath of the hideous creatures. Bright, blazing weaves shot out to his left and right, aiming just beyond the perimeter of his fire, and a collection of Fey’cha harnesses lifted up into the air.

«Got them.»

«All right. Then here’s what we’re going to do.» He sang her the images of what he had in mind in tairen speech.

«Can you manage that?» «I think so. Let’s give it a try.»

Rain put on a burst of speed and soared up, heading straight for Orest. A frenzy of bowcannon bolts launched from the ramparts, but he flamed the incoming, rolled and dived to avoid those that survived his flame and kept to his heading. On his back, Ellysetta flung out spinning weaves of Air and Fire to clear a path. As they crossed the walls of Lower Orest, Rain veered sharply left then wheeled around back to the right and came in nearly parallel to the mountains.

On the ramparts of Upper Orest, the bowcannon were loaded, bowstrings cranked into firing position. Just before the sheer mountain cliff gave way to the stone ramparts of the upper city, Rain put on a burst of speed and said, «Now, shei’tani.»

Ellysetta launched from his back in an Air-powered leap. She shot up into the air, her own forward motion and magic carrying her over the tops of the cannoneers and Mages gathered on the ramparts. Red Fey’cha spit from her fingertips in a hail of death. Below her, Rain engulfed the battery in a boiling jet of tairen flame, consuming cannon and cannoneers alike. He Changed into Mist at the last chime so the bolt that had been following him plowed into the open portal to the Well of Souls, taking half a dozen screaming Mages and Eld with it. He changed back into tairen form in time for Ellysetta to land securely in the saddle. His wings angled sharply and they shot up in a near vertical climb, soaring past the falls of Orest, leaving smoldering fires and corpses in their wake.

They burst into the open sky over the Rhakis. In the distance, no longer hidden by the Mists, he could see the pass of Revan Oreth, where hundreds of thousands of revenants covered the canyon walls like insects.

The Eld hadn’t brought bowcannon to the pass yet, so Rain took a few chimes to send a sea of boiling flame racing through the canyon. High pitched shrieks from burning revenants filled the air. Beyond the fire, Fey warriors cheered and raised their blades into the air. The echoing cries of “Miora felah, ti’Feyreisen! Miora felah, ti’Feyreisa!” followed him and Ellysetta as they banked around the column of steam rising from the first volcano of the Feyls and returned to the battlefield of Orest.

They burst from the pass over Upper Orest and dove back into the missile-filled skies.

«Rijonn, Tajik,» Rain called as he swooped down for another strafing run. «Gather the Earth and Fire masters. I have a plan.»

The Fading Lands ~ Dharsa

The sound of running and alarmed voices woke Lillis. That and a strange, icy cold that made shivers race down her spine. She sat up in bed, suddenly frightened. “Lorelle?” “Lorelle’s not here anymore.”