A Sky of Spells. Morgan Rice

nothing more she could do. She had tried – and she had failed. Now all she could do was watch her fate approach her, step-by-step, as she was carried across the Canyon, swirling mists rising up and enveloping her, then disappearing just as quickly. Luanda felt as if she were being taken to some other planet, to some place from which she would never return.

      Finally, they reached the far side of the Canyon, and as Romulus took his final step, the cloak around his shoulders vibrated with a great noise, glowing a luminescent red. Romulus dropped Luanda on the ground, like an old potato, and she hit the ground hard, banging her head, and lay there.

      Romulus’s soldiers stood there, at the edge of the bridge, staring out, all of them clearly afraid to step forward and test whether the Shield was truly down.

      Romulus, fed up, grabbed a soldier, hoisted him high overhead and threw him onto the bridge, right into the invisible wall that was once the Shield. The soldier raised his hands and screamed, bracing himself for a certain death as he expected to disintegrate.

      But this time, something different happened. The soldier went flying through the air, landed on the bridge, and rolled and rolled. The crowd watched in silence as he rolled to a stop – alive.

      The soldier turned and sat up and looked back at all of them, the most shocked of all. He had made it. Which could only mean one thing: the Shield was down.

      Romulus’ army let out a great roar, and as one they all charged. They swarmed onto it, racing for the Ring. Luanda cowered, trying to stay out of the way as they all stampeded past her, like a herd of elephants, heading for her homeland. She watched with dread.

      Her country as she knew it was finished.

      Chapter Three

      Reece stood at the edge of the lava pit, looking down in utter disbelief as the ground shook violently beneath him. He could hardly process what he had just done, his muscles still aching from releasing the boulder, from casting the Destiny Sword into the pit.

      He had just destroyed the most powerful weapon in the Ring, the weapon of legend, the sword of his ancestors for generations, the weapon of the Chosen One, the only weapon holding up the Shield. He had hurled it down into a pit of molten fire and with his own eyes had watched it melt, flare up in a great ball of red, then disappear into nothingness.

      Gone forever.

      The ground had begun shaking since, and it had not stopped. Reece struggled to balance, as did the others, as he backed away from the edge. He felt as if the world were crumbling around him. What had he done? Had he destroyed the Shield? The Ring? Had he made the biggest mistake of his life?

      Reece reassured himself by telling himself he had no choice. The boulder and the Sword were simply too heavy for them all to carry out of here – much less to climb the walls with – or to outrun these violent savages. He had been in a desperate situation, and it had called for desperate measures.

      Their desperate situation had not changed yet. Reece heard a great screaming all around him, and a sound arose of a thousand of these creatures, chattering their teeth in an unnerving way and laughing and snarling at the same time. It sounded like an army of jackals. Clearly, Reece had angered them; he had taken away their precious object, and now they all seemed resigned to make him pay.

      As bad as the situation had been moments before, now it was even worse. Reece spotted the others – Elden, Indra, O’Connor, Conven, Krog and Serna – all looking down in horror at the lava pit, then turning and looking around in desperation. Thousands of Faws were closing in from every direction. Reece had managed to spare the Sword, but he had not thought past that, had not thought through how to get himself and the others out of danger. They were still completely surrounded, with no way of getting out.

      Reece was determined to find a way out, and with the burden of the Sword off their heads, at least now they could move quickly.

      Reece drew his sword, and it cut through the air with a distinctive ring. Why sit back and wait for these creatures to attack? At least he would go down fighting.

      “CHARGE!” Reece screamed to the others.

      They all drew their weapons and rallied behind him, following as he sprinted away from the edge of the lava pit and right into the thick crowd of Faws, swinging his sword every which way, killing them left and right. Beside him, Elden raised his axe and chopped off two heads at a time, while O’Connor drew his bow and fired on the run, taking out all those in his path. Indra rushed forward and with her short sword, stabbed two in the heart, while Conven drew both of his swords and, screaming like a madman, charged forward, swinging wildly and killing Faws in every direction. Serna wielded his mace, and Krog his spear, protecting their rear flank.

      They were a unified fighting machine, fighting as one, fighting for their lives, cutting their way through the thick crowd as they desperately tried to escape. Reece led them up a small hill, aiming for the high ground.

      They slipped as they went, the ground still shaking, the slope steep, muddy. They lost some momentum, and several Faws jumped onto Reece, clawing and biting him. He spun and punched them; they were persistent and clung to him, but he managed to throw them off, kicking them back, then stabbing them before they could attack again. Cut and bruised, Reece kept fighting, as they all did, all fighting for their lives to climb the hill and escape from this place.

      As they finally reached the high ground, Reece had a moment of reprieve. He stood there, gasping for air, and in the distance, caught a glimpse of the Canyon wall before it was covered by the thick mist. He knew it was out there, their lifeline back to the surface, and he knew they had to reach it.

      Reece looked back over his shoulder and saw thousands of Faws racing uphill for them, buzzing, teeth chattering, making an awful noise, louder than ever, and he knew that they would not let them go.

      “What about me?” a voice screamed out, cutting through the air.

      Reece turned and saw Centra back there. He was still being held captive, beside the leader, and a Faw still held a knife to his throat.

      “Don’t leave me!” he screamed. “They’ll kill me!”

      Reece stood there, burning with frustration. Of course, Centra was right: they would kill him. Reece could not leave him there; it would go against Reece’s code of honor. After all, Centra had helped them when they’d needed help.

      Reece stood there, hesitating. He turned and saw, in the distance, the Canyon wall, the way out, tempting him.

      “We can’t go back for him!” Indra said, frantic. “They will kill us all.”

      She kicked a Faw that approached her and it fell backwards, sliding on its back down the slope.

      “We’d be lucky to escape with our own lives as it is!” Serna called out.

      “He’s not one of us!” Krog said. “We can’t endanger our group for him!”

      Reece stood there, debating. The Faws were getting closer, and he knew he had to make his decision.

      “You’re right,” Reece admitted. “He’s not one of us. But he helped us. And he’s a good man. I cannot leave him at the mercy of those things. No man left behind!” Reece said firmly.

      Reece began to head down the slope, to go back for Centra – but before he could, Conven suddenly broke from the group and charged, racing down, leaping and sliding on the muddy slope, feet first, his sword out, sliding downward and slashing as he went, killing Faws left and right. He was hurling back to where they’d come from single-handedly, recklessly, throwing himself into the group of Faws and somehow cutting his way through them with sheer determination.

      Reece jumped into action close behind.

      “The rest of you stay here!” Reece shouted out. “Wait for our return!”

      Reece followed in Conven’s tracks, slashing the Faws left and right; he caught up with Conven and provided backup, the two of them fighting their way back down the mountain for Centra.

      Conven charged forward, breaking through the crowd of Faws as Reece fought his way all the way to Centra, who stared back,