Part 49 (1/2)
CHAPTER 12.
As Nagazdiel came soaring down from the clouds, Rieuk recognized the winding Senon far below. The physical exhilaration of flight had utterly overwhelmed him, driving all other thoughts from his mind. He had watched through Ormas's eyes countless times before, but to feel the wind against his face, to see the great city of Lutece from this dizzying height, was the most thrilling sensation he had experienced in his life.
”Azilis!” The Drakhaoul had found her. They came hurtling down at such speed, weaving past pointed steeples and pepper-pot towers, that Rieuk was terrified that Nagazdiel would lose control and smash his body on the cobbles. The Drakhaoul had found her. They came hurtling down at such speed, weaving past pointed steeples and pepper-pot towers, that Rieuk was terrified that Nagazdiel would lose control and smash his body on the cobbles.
He took in the situation in one glance: the two prisoners tied to a stake; the dais filled with dignitaries come to gloat over the barbarous execution; the Inquisitors bearing flaming torches to ignite the pyre; the watching crowd.
”It's Celestine,” he cried. ”They're going to burn her!”
”Jagu, look,” Celestine urged. ”Look up!” ”Look up!”
Flying through the ominous sky, drawing the trails of darkness behind him like a vast cloak unfolding to smother the whole city, came a Drakhaoul. At first she could only see his eyes clearly: two crimson flames searing through the gloom. But as it drew nearer, she saw a powerful figure bearing down on them on wings of shadow. And she heard the Faie cry out suddenly in recognition.
”Father!”
Jagu's left wrist throbbed so piercingly that suddenly he knew with absolute certainty that his magus, the one who had marked him in Kemper, had come back to claim him. Looking up, he saw the dark angel descending, swooping down out of the blackened sky like a creature forged from flame and shadow.
So he's summoned his dread lord to carry me away to the Realm of Shadows? The thought struck Jagu as so bitterly ironic that he almost laughed aloud. The thought struck Jagu as so bitterly ironic that he almost laughed aloud.
”Lord Nagazdiel,” Eugene murmured. ”Why have you come?” And, in the depths of his heart, he felt a memory stir, a memory planted there by Belberith the Warrior, his Drakhaoul.
It was the briefest of visions that flickered through his mind, but in it he saw Nagazdiel as a tall, dark-haired Heavenly Guardian, turning to hold out his hand in friends.h.i.+p to him, his eyes filled with warmth and compa.s.sion.
That must have been before he was imprisoned in the Realm of Shadows. Before he became embittered and corrupted...
”Light the pyre!” A lone voice cried out in the stunned silence. Celestine recognized the strident tones of the Haute Inquisitor. ”Are you going to stand by and let this daemon set his servants free?”
”Stop him, someone-” Enguerrand launched himself forward but Visant seized a torch from one of his terror-struck men and threw it onto the straw bales.
”Burn them!”
The straw crackled into bright flame. Celestine gasped as she felt the wave of heat hit her. And then the acrid fumes from the rising smoke blew in her face, making her eyes stream.
”Keep your mouth closed,” warned Jagu through the roar of the flames.
”Faie?” she rasped in desperation, coughing as she breathed in a lungful of smoke.
” I'll do... what I can... I'll do... what I can...” The Faie cast a translucent s.h.i.+eld around them. But as Celestine felt herself growing dizzy, the s.h.i.+eld began to waver.
The Faie needs me to stay strong, or we'll all be lost. I mustn't black out...
Rieuk saw Visant set the pyre alight. He saw how fast and how hungrily the flames leaped upward. Celestine would die if he didn't move speedily enough. And if she died, what would become of Azilis, cast adrift without a mortal host?
The sky had become so black that the flames burned fiercely bright and the dust-laden wind which had blown in his wake only fanned them higher. And then Rieuk heard a voice crying out for help-that same high, anguished, piercing voice he had first heard all those years ago when he released Azilis from the Lodestar.
”Save her,” Nagazdiel commanded. Nagazdiel commanded.
There was no time to quench the fire. Rieuk took to the air again, swooping down into the intense heat and smoke to land on the pyre itself. The burning logs singed the soles of his feet, but he hardly felt the pain. Celestine's fair head was drooping. With Nagazdiel's sharp talons, he slashed at the ropes that confined her until they shredded and she fell forward against him. Clasping her tightly in his arms, he lifted from the pyre, flying with strong wingbeats over the heads of the mesmerized onlookers.
”Jagu...” Celestine murmured faintly. ”Save Jagu...”
Eugene had stood watching long enough. He turned to Linnaius. ”Wind mage,” he said, ”can you call down a rainstorm?” Linnaius appeared to have read his thoughts, for the Emperor saw that his fingers were already at work.
The daylight was blotted out by the fast-gathering dark. From nearby the sonorous tones of the clock of the cathedral of Saint Etienne could be heard striking noon, but the sky was as black as if it were midnight. The only light in the Place du Trahoir was the harsh light of the pyre flames.
On the royal dais, Captain nel Ghislain pushed his king to the ground, s.h.i.+elding him with his body as the Drakhaoul flew overhead. Donatien threw his arms around Alienor. Enguerrand alone stood in the rus.h.i.+ng darkness, gazing after the Drakhaoul.
”My lord Nagazdiel,” he whispered. ”Protect her. Protect your beloved daughter.”
Through the clouds of choking smoke, Jagu saw the Drakhaoul rising into the air with Celestine in his arms. And he could do nothing to prevent it.
”Hold on, Jagu! Hold on there, man!” Men's voices penetrated the crackle of the flames.
He was finding it harder to breathe and his senses were swimming.
”We'll get you down, Jagu!” And was that the sound of water slos.h.i.+ng onto the flames?
Must be losing consciousness...
Yet he could see black shapes looming up out of the smoke, men clambering over the burning logs toward him.
”Fire! Fire on them!” Visant ordered his Guerriers. Jagu heard the sound of shots, then screams of panic from the crowd.
A man loomed up over Jagu, slas.h.i.+ng the ropes that bound him, catching him as he slumped forward. A stab of pain jarred through his hand, jolting him back to consciousness.
”Steady there, lads, don't forget he's injured,” warned a familiar voice and he thought he recognized Alain Friard's homely features, face streaked with ash, as his rescuers bundled him down over the dying fire.
Enguerrand had never felt so angry in his life as the moment he saw Alois Visant set the pyre alight. And when the Inquisitor ordered his men to fire on the Commanderie Guerriers, he could take no more.
He drew his pistol and walked up to Visant, pressing the muzzle into his back.
”This time you've gone too far, Inquisitor.”
Visant half turned, a puzzled expression on his face that twisted into a humorless smile. ”Surely your majesty is joking...”
”Guerriers!” Enguerrand called out to the Commanderie squad who had come running with buckets of water to Jagu's rescue.
”Sire?” One turned around and Enguerrand saw that it was Alain Friard, Ruaud's loyal second-in-command.
”Arrest Inquisitor Visant.”