Chapter 27: Whisper on the Wind

LYDIA

“Well,” said Gabriel. “Here we are.”

The army had arrived at the city of Freyr. The sleepy fishing community stretched out from under their vantage point atop a large hill overlooking the vast ocean beyond its shores.

“Something’s wrong,” said Ayana after a pause. “Everything seems too...normal.”

Sure enough, as Lydia looked down at Freyr below, everything did indeed seem...normal. There were no signs of attack, no spreading fires, no trace of Uzier’s forces at all.

“Could our suspicions have been wrong?” Gabriel wondered out loud. “If Freyr is not Uzier’s and Evine’s next target, then what is?”

Just then, a gentle breeze blew over Lydia. As it did so, a hard knot of shock and fear formed in her gut. As the wind blew past her ear, it carried the unmistakable voice of Elise Moran, delivering a message carried on the wind itself:

~“Ellesmere is under attack.”~

Lydia quickly locked eyes with Gabriel. Based on his expression, she quickly deduced that he had received the message as well. A look around at the others confirmed that they had all heard Elise’s voice on the wind.

“We’ve been set up!” Lucius spat. “Freyr was never a target at all! Uzier and Evine simply wanted to divert our efforts here to weaken Ellesmere’s defenses.”

“That sounded like Elise’s voice!” Ayana said. “Do you think she’s okay?”

“Let’s hope so,” said Redmond, though his voice was ripe with worry.

“Lucius,” Gabriel said urgently. “How quickly can we return the army to Ellesmere?”

“You know the answer as well as I do,” Lucius replied. “Two days to get here, two days to get back.”

“Can’t we teleport them?” Redmond suggested.

“Not all of them,” said Lydia. “Teleporting one person or even a small group of people is one matter. Teleporting an entire army? I fear that may be beyond even a Slifer’s ability.”

“It would seem our course of action is obvious, then,” said Gabriel.

Redmond stared at him. “You can’t be serious,” he said.

“We’re out of options,” Gabriel replied. “We can get ourselves back to Ellesmere. We won’t have the luxury of bringing an army with us, but we’ll be of more use there than we would be twiddling our thumbs here in Freyr.”

Lydia instantly realized Gabriel was right. Though the thought of returning to Ellesmere without the strength of an army worried her, she was confident that she would be able to hold her own…right?

“But how do we know where to send ourselves?” Marsie asked. “We have no idea which parts of Ellesmere are under Uzier’s control right now. We could end up dropping ourselves directly into an ambush.”

“I may have a place,” Lucius said. “A hidden safe house located in the underground corridors beneath Ellesmere Castle. At the very least, we could use it as a vantage point to gather information on the full extent of what’s happened there so far.”

“Very well,” Marsie said. “However, I will elect to stay behind with the army. Somebody has to keep this lot in line, after all.”

“The rest of you, focus on Lucius,” Gabriel continued. “He knows the location of this hideout, so he will be the one to teleport us there.”

The Royals and Slifers bowed their heads in concentration. Lucius did the same, and in a bright flash, everything changed...

***

EVINE

Within the magical congress building, Evine stood idly behind the speaker’s podium. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the podium as a bored expression crept across her face.

“What is taking them so long?” she wondered aloud.

As if on cue, the main doors of the congress hall swung open dramatically. The intimidating figure that was Uzier stepped inside the hall, flanked on either side by Dorian and King Morrison.

“Well, it’s about time,” Evine said, correcting her posture. “Honestly, you had me worried that you were going to miss out on your own housewarming party.”

Uzier surveyed the interior of the hall with unblinking eyes. “This castle is certainly an acceptable replacement for our previous lair,” he said idly. “What of the Royals and their Slifers?”

“No doubt arriving in Freyr as we speak,” said Evine proudly. “We may as well have asked them to leave the back door open for us.”

Uzier grinned. “Your decades of planning are finally on the cusp of fruition,” he said. “~Despite~ our most recent setbacks,” he added, turning to face Dorian, who looked away sulkily.

“I hardly see why I should hold sole responsibility for Lydia’s escape,” he said. “I didn’t see either of you two making a contribution to prevent that.”

“Do not test me, boy,” Uzier scolded. “My patience for you wears thin as it is. Insolent behavior such as this is unbecoming for your destined role at my right hand.”

Dorian bristled but said nothing more.

“Well now, this is going far more cheerfully than the way most of our family reunions turn out,” said Evine. “Wouldn’t you agree, Morrison?”

The enthralled king said nothing in reply.

“Now begins the next phase of our expansion,” said Uzier. “From Ellesmere, a new empire will rise. Our Wizard Hunters will scatter to all four corners of this accursed world, snuffing out resistance wherever it appears. My will shall be beyond that of iron, and I shall oversee my dominion from a throne of polished obsidian: cold, flawless, and eternal.”

“Well, that sounds absolutely splendid,” said Evine. “Now, what would you say to a spot of lunch? Regicide is hungry work, after all.”

A distant rumbling suddenly interrupted the meeting, like the sound of a person running heard from far away. Uzier’s coal-black eyes scanned the room.

“Intruders,” he said, his voice a low growl. “I sense a magical presence other than our own nearby.”

“Well, it seems some of our friends have returned to rain on our parade,” Evine said, disappointed. “Dorian, be a lamb and go sniff out our unwanted guests, would you?”

***