Smoke rose from Lord Aidan's clothes, and his hair blazed as it caught fire. The flesh on his face and hands blackened, sizzling and smouldering. Killian continued the stream of energy as he walked backwards and the revenant came on, face curled with hate, eyes red with blood.
Lord Aidan fell to one knee. He attempted to stand again, but fell down until he was on both knees. The skin on his face was now featureless; the only part of him recognisable was the redness of his eyes. His clothes burned away from his body and smoke poured from him in a steady plume.
Lord Aidan fell down face forward, and then he was still.
"Ella!" the woman's voice called again. "Please, hear me! You have to cross now!"
Killian lowered his hands. He'd destroyed the creature that was part monster, part his father.
The curtain of the portal shimmered and flickered as the beacon wailed, even louder than the shrieks of the wraiths.
Ella ducked a swooping shadow, launching a yellow bolt from her wand as it passed. Killian prepared to unleash his power on the wraiths.
A flying creature flew at the portal and disappeared through the curtain.
53
SHANI stared at the shimmering curtain of molten gold, willing Ella to come through before it was too late.
Bartolo and Jehral both stood with swords bared, ready to face anything that wasn't Ella or Killian. The beacon pealed, and both men grimaced at the intensity of the sound.
Shani looked at the Lexicons. They were fading visibly. The portal would close automatically rather than drain the Lexicons completely. Ella would be stranded on the other side.
"Ella!" Shani cried. "Please, hear me! You have to cross now!"
In a lull between peals she thought she could hear something on the other side. Strange shrieks and cries? What was happening through there?
"I hear it," Jehral said.
"Be ready," said Bartolo.
A black creature of nightmare suddenly shot out of the portal, into the chamber inside the Sentinel, filling the room with shrieks. The winged creature bounced off the walls and scratched at the stone. Spotting the two men, it plummeted down with claws outstretched.
Bartolo was already singing, activating his armoursilk and zenblade, filling the room with his voice. The bladesinger flared up as his silken garments protected his body with a hardness greater than steel. His zenblade became a hue of fiery blue, a sword that could cut through anything.
The creature shied away from the light, and went for the black-clad warrior holding a curved scimitar.
Jehral ducked under the sharp teeth, narrowly missing the following claws. Spinning, he hacked at the winged creature with his sword. The scimitar bounced off the shrieking creature as if striking stone. Bartolo leapt into the air and swung overhead, missing the neck but striking a wing. The zenblade should have passed through the wing like a knife through water. Instead the glowing blade bit deeply, seeming to anger the creature.
"Close the portal!" Bartolo screamed.
"You have to!" cried Jehral.
Shani looked at the portal, torn between her husband, and the friend she would be dooming by closing the gateway. Bartolo was a bladesinger, one of the best, but this creature was something none of them had encountered before. She had no way of knowing how pressed he would be, or if more of the creatures would be on their way.
Jehral struck again at the flying demon, his sword once again having no effect other than to enrage the creature. Bartolo tried to strike but the creature flew out of range, shrieking as it batted around the ceiling of the chamber.
Shani had to keep the portal open for as long as the energy would flow. With no other clear path of action, the elementalist said the words that activated the red cuffs she wore around her wrists.
Taking a deep breath, she drew her wrists together and a tiny ball of flame appeared between her palms. The flame grew steadily and Shani drew her wrists apart to give the fire room to breathe. The winged creature tried to fly down once more, and again Bartolo's fiery sword caused it to rear back, retreating to the heights.
Shani looked up at the creature and took careful aim. The ball of flame twisted and sizzled, quivering with pent up energy.
With a shout, Shani threw the fireball at the creature.
Incandescence bathed the heights of the chamber, and silhouetted in the centre the black nightmare screamed and writhed in the flame. It held together for a long moment, and then the flame triumphed.
Ash fell down from the ceiling, and the creature was gone.
Shani turned back to the portal, ignoring Bartolo and Jehral's pleas to close it.
"Come on, Ella," she muttered. "Where are you?"
54
FLAMES travelled from ship to ship along the row, spreading in both directions. Caught between two travelling lines of fire, Amber's face told Miro she now realised her plight.
Miro knew that any second Commodore Deniz would be giving the order, and the Seekrieger would be the last ship to depart. The entire harbour was ablaze, flames raging on the decks of countless vessels while masts went crashing into the water. Deniz would have to leave or face the risk his own ship would catch fire.