Gates of Ruin (Magelands Eternal Siege, #6) by Christopher Mitchell (top 10 books of all time .TXT) 📗

surged off towards the promontory, skirting the edge of the Shinstran district. Aila stared at the devastation. As Frostback had said, miles of the city were submerged under the waves, with only the tops of the ruined buildings poking up from the dark water. A long strip of city had remained above sea-level, but every building seemed to be on fire, or had collapsed into rubble. Thousands of refugees were streaming out of the city, heading into the relative safety of the fields, but earthquakes were continuing to rip and buckle the land. A new river of lava had burst through the surface, and was spouting molten rock and ash into the sky a few miles to the north.

‘What’s happening?’ Kelsey whispered, her eyes wide.

‘I don’t know,’ said Aila. ‘I thought that the volcanoes and earthquakes were only affecting the valley of the Catacombs. This is… something else, something terrible.’

A thunderous roar ripped through the ground as they approached Old Alea, and the last faces of the gods carved into the rock face collapsed, showering the ramp below with rubble, and killing dozens of civilians who were trying to make their way up onto the plateau. At the top of the ramp, the gates had disappeared, and the gatehouse was in smoking ruins. Deathfang led them up and over the line of walls that surrounded the promontory, passing smouldering heaps of burning ballistae and piles of charred corpses. Beyond, the streets were in chaos. Armed bands of civilians were battling small detachments of Banner soldiers, and bodies lay scattered upon every road. A mile ahead of them, an enormous palace set amid huge gardens was burning, the flames reaching up into the growing light as dawn approached.

Behind them, the sun breached the horizon, sending its rays across the surface of Old Alea, and the extent of the slaughter became clear.

‘I can sense powers,’ said Kelsey.

‘Where?’ said Frostback.

‘Ahead and to the right, next to that huge building with the tower. Death powers, and fire.’

‘Father,’ Frostback called; ‘Kelsey has located the gods.’

Deathfang slowed a little, careful to remain close to the silver dragon. ‘You take the lead from here, my daughter; guide us to them.’

‘Yes, father.’

Frostback powered her wings and moved to the front of the formation, Deathfang to her right, Halfclaw to her left. Aila stared at the ground as they approached the building. Was Corthie somewhere down there among the carnage?

‘I see Sanguino,’ called Halfclaw; ‘he is in the gardens of the burning palace.’

‘Leave him for now,’ said Deathfang; ‘we shall check on him once we have dealt with the gods.’

Aila leaned to the left, her fingers gripping the folds on Frostback’s shoulders. She caught a brief glimpse of the dark red dragon, surrounded by dozens of humans, who appeared to be fighting Banner soldiers alongside him. A blast of fire rose up from the gardens, incinerating a group of soldiers who had ventured too close to where Sanguino was standing.

‘He seems to be holding his own,’ said Aila, ‘but I can’t see Sable.’

‘I can see her,’ said Kelsey, staring directly ahead.

Aila turned. At the western end of the huge building, a tower had collapsed. Surrounding it was a swarm of soldiers, scrambling up the slopes of rubble to confront three figures upon the summit – Sable, Belinda and Corthie.

‘Frostback!’ cried Kelsey. ‘Sable’s down there, in the centre of the rubble, and my brother is with her.’

‘Is he the one with the clawed hammer?’

‘Aye.’

Deathfang closed in on their right. ‘Look at them fight! I am tempted to leave them to it; I have never seen humans fight like that.’

‘Help them,’ said Aila; ‘please.’

‘There are three gods down there, too,’ said Deathfang.

‘Kelsey will block their powers, father,’ said Frostback. ‘We must act before the soldiers’ numbers prevail against Kelsey’s kin.’

‘And this will work, you can assure me, daughter?’

‘It will, father.’

‘If you are wrong, we will all die.’

‘You must trust me.’

‘Very well, daughter; lead on.’

Frostback swooped down, the other two dragons staying close to her flanks. They opened their jaws together, and unleashed a flood of flames onto the soldiers scaling the heap of rubble. They circled the mound once, incinerating the thick ranks of armoured humans, then turned for the gods.

All three raised their arms as the dragons approached. Deathfang flinched, but nothing happened, and the dragons opened their jaws again. Flames exploded over where the gods stood, and they were engulfed in the blast of fire.

‘Run, gods, run!’ laughed Deathfang. ‘Taste my vengeance and burn!’

The flames cleared a little as the three dragons banked together. One of the gods had vanished, and of the two that remained, one was fleeing on foot, his hair and robes alight, while the other was trying to crawl away. Deathfang peeled off to chase the fleeing god.

‘No, father,’ cried Frostback; ‘you must stay close to Kelsey.’

Deathfang pulled short at the last moment, and they watched as the running god ducked into the smoking building. Then they turned to the one who was crawling along the ground. His clothes were hanging in burnt, tattered strips, but his skin was regenerating. The three dragons hovered over him, aimed down, and enveloped the god in flames. The paving slabs cracked and split, and a scream rose up with the intense heat and smoke, but the dragons were relentless, their streams of fire combining into a white hot inferno. At last, Deathfang closed his jaws, and the other two did the same. Not a trace of the god remained amid the glowing slabs.

‘Today,’ Deathfang said, ‘we have slain a god, and sweet vengeance is ours.’ He turned to Kelsey. ‘You, girl, are a true wonder, and I was wrong about you. Frostback, your rider will always be honoured by me, from this moment forth; I swear it.’

‘My rider?’ said Frostback. ‘Yes. My rider. Kelsey, do you wish it to be so?’

‘Of course I do!’ cried Kelsey

‘Then I accept you as my rider.’

‘Let us land,’ said Deathfang; ‘the other two gods have fled, as cowards are wont to do.’

They