Sky of Wind by Emily Deady
Chapter 37
Sol looked back over his shoulder to ensure Meena had made it out of the room. He couldn’t grab both of them, but he trusted her to get out on her own more than Ezra.
He was far too familiar with the pain Ezra had just put herself through. And was also familiar with how fearlessly and energetically Meena tackled whatever problem was in front of her.
Sure enough, she was right behind him, slamming the door closed with her foot.
A brilliant idea. The running water would buy them some precious minutes.
He had no idea how long it would take for the chaos ribbons to loosen their grip on the squadron of soldiers.
Younn would not be able to remove the silencing necklace by himself, but it would not take him long to get someone to take it off for him.
As they exited the tunnel, the full force of the wind and rain hit him in the face. He bowed his head forward, trying to protect Ezra as much as possible from the onslaught.
Thunder boomed overhead, and though it was not unexpected, he flinched. The explosive sound shook the earth below his feet and reverberated through his body.
Jules, with his arms full of beads, was waiting down the first bend of the trail. Even through the rain pouring down his face, Sol could see the concern in his eyes for his wife.
Sol reached out for the beads so Jules could support Ezra.
Fortunately, moving down the path was faster—even if it was more terrifying—than climbing up it. Even if they stumbled, they would still end up closer to their goal.
The storm which whipped at their faces and drenched their clothing also ensured that it would be difficult for Younn and his men to pursue them.
Eventually they caught up with Neven, then with Tillon, who was waiting near the bottom of the path closer to the beach.
Esven waited on the shore with the small rowboat.
Ezra appeared to be walking on her own again.
The blue shimmer in the waves looked strangely out of place in the chaos of the storm.
Tillon helped Neven load his armful of bead strands into the bottom of the boat. Sol added his to the pile and turned around to take Meena’s final few handfuls.
Jules helped Ezra over the side of the boat and jumped in after her. Sol held his hands around Meena’s waist as she swung her sopping wet skirts over the side of the boat before climbing in herself.
Sol watched the cliff behind them, scanning it for any movement or light.
If their pursuers had escaped the tunnel, he could not see them through the pouring rain.
The small boat was full, but Sol swung himself over the edge and crouched next to Meena, huddling close to her for warmth.
He had spent every hour as Younn’s prisoner wishing he could wrap his arms around this woman one more time.
She leaned into his touch.
Esven and Tillon pushed the boat into deeper water and jumped on board themselves. They sat precariously near the edge, using their oars to maneuver the small bouncing boat through the choppy waves.
“Ezra,” Sol called. “Can we start emptying these beads now?”
“If this storm can get any worse, I don’t want to see what it looks like,” she replied. Despite her negative response, she leaned forward and picked up a strand of beads.
“Release it directly into the cliff side,” Sol said.
Ezra drew the power out of the beads and flung her hand forward, releasing the purple orb into the night.
It flashed through the air, touching down like lightning on the other side of the canyon, away from the fort.
The bright flash illuminated every drop of water in the sky, temporarily blinding him. The blue light glowing from the waves erupted explosively in the tumultuous water.
Ezra handed the empty beads to Meena.
Undoing the knot, Meena tossed the glass beads into the ocean, one by one.
Ezra continued, sending the chaos magic straight into the land around the fort. She never hit it directly, but the strikes caused an astonishing amount of damage around the structure.
Each flash of light revealed tumbling rocks bouncing down the cliff side, landing in flurries of sand, and splashing into the sea.
This, in turn, caused the sea to flare brightly with blue light, just in time for another lightning strike to hit.
Sol clung to Meena, watching in awe as the world exploded around them in chaos and beauty combined.