"Gods have mercy!" Sol cried.

"Hang the gods," Kieran snarled. "Where are the jaffing Fey?" «Fey! Ti'Kieran! Protect the shei'dalins! Fey! Ti'Kieran! Ti'shei'dalins!» Lillis clung to him, her face buried in his neck, showering his skin with hot tears.

"Kieran!" Kiel shouted. "The mountain!" Another fearsome barrage of Mage Fire had dissolved half the mountaintop above their heads. The remaining rock and stone gave a rumbling shriek and collapsed, sending countless tons of dirt, stone, and wood rushing towards them in a deadly wave.

"Hold tight to me, ajiana," Kieran whispered to Lillis. He turned to raise both hands. Green Earth fountained inside him, wrenched up from the center of his soul, spinning in flows of extraordinary mastery and strength. He was Kieran, son of the Solande and Serranis lines, descended from many of the greatest and most powerful Fey the world had ever known, an Earth master of tremendous power.

Screaming defiance, he flung out the weaves.

The crumbling mountainside froze. Kieran gritted his teeth, feeding his power into the weave, holding up the weight of the mountain through sheer force of magic and strength of will.

Raising his voice, he shouted to the warriors behind him, "Five-fold weaves, kem'jetos! Keep that scorching Mage Fire off us!"

But the Fey were already locked in a desperate battle for their lives.

And they were losing.

Between the snarling filth of the darrokken and the fury of Mage Fire, the warriors couldn't protect themselves against the barrage of sel'dor arrows as Eld archers came within bow range. Weaves faltered, and Kieran screamed in helpless rage as his blade brothers began to fall. Acid seared his thigh as a barbed sel'dor arrow sank deep.

"Master Baristani, take the girls. Go with the shei'dalins into the Mists! Run!" Another darrokken crashed through the Fey, ripping and slashing warriors. Two of the shei'dalins grabbed Lillis and Lorelle and ran up the mountain towards the Mist-shrouded peaks. The other three screamed as Mage Fire, sel'dor arrows, and darrokken herded them back away from the safety of the Garreval and towards the waiting Eld army. "Kiel, scorch it, where are the Fey?"

Kiel slammed a furious Spirit weave towards Chatok and Chakai. «Fey! Ti'Kieran! Ti'ku! Ti'Teleon!» To me! To Teleon! Spinning blue weaves shot out from his fingertips, desiccating the darrokken pursuing Lillis and Lorelle.

Rumbling thunder shook the ground at Kieran's feet. Krekk! More Mage Fire? If the ground gave way beneath him, he was dead. He didn't dare divide his weave or the mountain would come down upon them all.

But this time, the rumble wasn't an avalanche spawned by Mage Fire.

The eastern army of the Fey charged out of the Mists, magic blazing, steel bared. Hundreds of them … a thousand…more. All of Chatok and Chakai had emptied and come rushing to the aid of their embattled brothers.

Two more arrows struck Kieran's back. His weave faltered, and he screamed with fury as the mountain fell.

Eld ~ Boura Fell

The collection of moving lights at the edge of Vadim Maur's display of Celieria winked out. He frowned and tapped the map of the Fading Lands, scanning the area near the Gar-reval, but the moving lights of the chemar didn't show there either. They were gone.

His brows drew together. Scorch those fools! They were supposed to capture Ellysetta Baristani's family, not destroy them and their precious chemar with Mage Fire.

He spun the display of Celieria into place. In Teleon, a new trail of chemar led away from the main grouping. The bread crumbs Den Brodson had left behind to lead the way into the hidden Fey fortress.

He tapped four more white lights around Teleon, turning them red. "Send in the second wave. Unleash the demons on the army in the Garreval." He tapped the line of chemar leading into the Fey's hidden fortress. "Send the Black Guard here and the Primages here." Last, he turned one final pinpoint red. "And here. Bring me Lord Darramon's wife."

"What about Lord Darramon, Most High?"

He glanced across the table and raised a brow. "Kill him. Leave no survivors."

Celieria ~ Teleon

The shouts of the Fey and the sound of booted feet racing were the first signs the Eld had breached the Fortress. Lord Darramon gripped his sword more tightly. Den moved towards Lady Darramon. He knew what was expected of him. When it came, the attack happened with shocking speed. The gateway opened without a sound, a great gaping maw of darkness from which black arrows flew as thick in the air as a murder of crows. Lord Darramon rushed towards his wife and died, skewered on the barbed sel'dor blade of the High Mage's Black Guard. Lady Darramon screamed and fought like a madwoman until Den's fist clipped her temple. Then the silvery blue stone room ran red with blood, and demons howled as they rushed from the Well to feast on the dead and dying.

Eld ~ Boura Fell

"Victory at Teleon, my lord." Primage Rao bowed. "We have captured Lady Darramon, three shei'dalins, and two dozen Fey warriors. All are pierced and being brought through the Well. The hidden fortress and the outpost have been destroyed."

"The Fey?"

"They suffered heavy losses, my lord. Nearly a thousand slain before we drove them back into the Garreval."

"Excellent. Seed the Garreval with chemar. If the Fey come through again, we will be waiting for them." Vadim Maur turned his attention back to the illuminated vertical map display and scrolled to the section that showed Orest and the locations of the inactivated chemar there. He tapped fifteen of them. "Vargus, contact your commanders at Boura Dor. Begin the conquest of Orest."