"Come." he finally rasped, stumbling to his feet.
Despite Lukel's energetic assault and Shuden's powerful attack, the other townspeople simply stood and watched in dumb stupefaction. Lukel found himself
desperately fighting three soldiers; the only reason he stayed alive was because he did more dodging and running than actual attacking. When aid finally did come. it was given by an odd source: the women.
Several of Sarene's fencers snatched up pieces of wood or fallen swords and fell in behind Lukel, thrusting with more control and ability than he could even feign to know. The brunt of their onslaught was pushed forward by surprise, and for a moment Lukel thought they might actually break free.
Then Shuden fell, crying out as a sword bit into his arm. As soon as the Jindo's concentration broke. so did his war dance, and a simple club to the head knocked him from the battle. The old queen, Eshen, fell next, a sword rammed through her chest. Her horrible scream, and the sight of the blood streaming down her dress, unnerved the other women. They broke, dropping their weapons. Lukel took a long gash on the thigh as one of his foes realized he had no clue how to use his weapon.
Lukel yeIled in pain and fell to the cobblestones. holding his leg. The soldier didn't even bother to finish him off.
Raoden dashed down the side of the mountain at a horrifying pace. The prince leapt and scrambled, as if he hadn't been practically comatose just a few minutes earlier. One slip at this pace. one wrong step, and he wouldn't stop rolling until he hit the foot of the mountain.
"Doloken!" Galladon said, trying his best to keep up. At this rate they would reach Kae in a matter of minutes.
Sarene hid beside her unlikely rescuer, holding perfectly still in the darkness.
Hrathen looked up through the floorboards. He had been the one to spot the cellar door. pulling it open and shoving her though. Underneath they had found a terrified family huddled in the blackness. They had all waited quietly, tense. as the Dakhor moved through the house then left out the front door.
Eventually, Hrathen nodded. "Let's go,' he said. reaching over to lift the trapdoor.
"Stay down here," Sarene told the family. "Don't come up until you absolutely have to."
The gyorn's armor clinked as he climbed the steps, then peeked cautiously into the room. He motioned for Sarene to follow, then moved into the small kitchen at the back of the house. He began pulling off his armor, dropping its pieces to the floor. Though he gave no explanation. Sarene understood the action. The bloodred gyorn's armor was far too distinctive to be worth its protective value.
As he worked, Sarene was surprised at the apparent weight of the metal.
"You've been walking around all these months in real armor? Wasn't that difficult?"
"The burden of my calling," Hrathen said. pulling off his final greave. Its bloodred paint was now scratched and dented. "A calling I no longer deserve." He dropped it with a clank.
He looked at the greave, then shook his head, pulling off his bulky cotton underclothing, meant to cushion the armor. He stood bare-chested, wearing only a pair of thin, knee-length trousers and a long, sleevelike band of cloth around his right arm.
Why the covered arm? Sarene wondered. Some piece of Derethi priest's garb? Other questions were more pressing. however.
"Why did you do it. Hrathen?" she asked. "Why turn against your people?" Hrathen paused. Then he looked away. "Dilaf 's actions are evil." "But your faith..
"My faith is in Jaddeth. a God who wants the devotion of men. A massacre does not serve Him."
"Wyrn seems to think differently."
Hrathen did not respond, instead selecting a cloak from a nearby chest. He handed it to her, then took another for himself. "Let us go."
Raoden 's feet were so covered with bumps, lacerations, and scrapes that he no longer related to them as pieces of flesh. They were simply lumps of pain burning at the end of his legs.
But still he ran on. He knew that if he stopped, the pain would claim him once again. He wasn't truly free-his mind was on loan. returned from the void to perform a single task. When he was finished, the white nothingness would suck him down into its oblivion again.
He stumbled toward the city of Kae, feeling as much as seeing his way.
Lukel lay dazed as Jalla pulled him back toward the mass of terrified townspeople. His leg throbbed, and he could feel his body weakening as blood spilled from the long gash. His wife bound it as best she could, but Lukel knew that the action was pointless. Even if she did manage to stop the bleeding, the soldiers were only going to kill them in a few moments anyway.
He watched in despair as one of the bare-chested warriors tossed a torch onto the pile of Elantrians. The oil-soaked bodies burst into flames.
The demon-man nodded to several soldiers, who pulled out their weapons and grimly advanced on the huddled townspeople.
"What is he doing?" Karata demanded as they reached the bottom of the slope. Raoden was still ahead of them, running in an unsteady gait toward Kae's short border wall.
"I don't know," Galladon said. Ahead, Raoden grabbed a long stick from the ground, then he started to run, dragging the length of wood behind him.
What are you up to, sule?Galladon wondered. Yet he could feel stubborn hope rising again. "Whatever it is, Karata, it is important. We must see that he finishes." He ran after Raoden, following the prince along his path.
After a few minutes, Karata pointed ahead of them. -There!" A squad of six Fjordell guards, probably searching the city for stragglers, walked along the inside of Kae's border wall. The lead soldier noticed Raoden and raised a hand.
"Come on," Galladon said, dashing after Raoden with sudden strength. "No matter what else happens, Karata, don't let them stop him!"
Raoden barely heard the men approaching. and he only briefly recognized Galladon and Karata running up behind him, desperately throwing themselves at the soldiers. His friends were unarmed; a voice in the back of his head warned that they would not be able to win him much time.
Raoden continued to run, the stick held in rigid fingers. He wasn't sure how he knew he was in the right place, but he did. He felt it.
Only a little farther. Only a little farther.
A hand grabbed him; a voice yelled at him in Fjordell. Raoden tripped, falling to the ground-but he kept the stick steady, not letting it slip even an inch. A moment later there was a grunt, and the hand released him.
Only a little farther!
Men battled around him, Galladon and Karata keeping the soldiers' attention. Raoden let out a primal sob of frustration, crawling like a child as he dug his line in the ground. Boots slammed into the earth next to Raoden's hand, coming within inches of crushing his fingers. Still he kept moving.
He looked up as he neared the end. A soldier finished the swing that separated Karata's beleaguered head from her body. Galladon fell with a pair of swords in his stomach. A soldier pointed at Raoden.
Raoden gritted his teeth. and finished his line in the dirt.
Galladon's large bulk crashed to the ground. Karata's head knocked against the short stone wall. The soldier took a step.
Light exploded from the ground.
It burst from the dirt like a silver river, spraying into the air along the line
Raoden had drawn. The light enveloped him-but it was more than just light. It was essential purity. Power refined. The Dor. It washed over him, covering him like a warm liquid.
And for the first time in two months, the pain went away.
The light continued along Raoden's line, which connected to Kae's short border wall. It followed the wall, spurting from the ground. continuing in a circle until it completely surrounded Kae. It didn't stop. The power shot up the short road between Kae and Elantris, spreading to coat the great city's wall as well. From Elantris it moved to the other three outer cities, their rubble all but forgotten in the ten years since the Reod. Soon all five cities were outlined with light-five resplendent pillars of energy.