The party reached the end of the boulevard, which looked nothing like what Arista remembered from her dream. The Ulurium Fountain—with its four horses bursting out of the frothing waters—was gone, crushed by giant stones. To the right, the rotunda of the Cenzarium still stood, but it was a faded, broken version of its former self, the dome gone, the walls blackened. To the left, the columned facade of the Hall of Teshlor remained intact. While it had weathered the years better, the building was just as grime-covered as the rest. Most importantly, the great golden dome of the magnificent palace—in fact, the whole palace—was missing. Before her, only a hopeless mountain of rubble remained. All around the parameter, every inch of space was carpeted with bones of the dead.
Reaching the end of the road, Alric spun around and held the lantern high. “Arista! Which way?”
She shook her head and shrugged. “The palace—it should be just ahead of us. I think—I think it’s destroyed.”
“That’s just great!” Gaunt bellowed. “Now what do we do?”
“Shut up!” Mauvin barked at him.
“Is this as far as Hall got?” Alric asked Myron.
“No,” the monk replied. “He wrote that he entered the palace.”
“How?”
“He found a crevice.”
“Crevice? Where?”
“He wrote ‘Fearful of the drums in the darkness, and afraid to sleep in the open, I sought refuge in a pile of rocks. I found a crevice just large enough for me to slip through. Expecting nothing more than a mere pocket to sleep in, I was elated to discover a buried corridor. On my way out I was careful to mark it so that I might find it should I return this way again.’ ”
They began searching, crawling among the boulders and broken stones. The collapse of the building covered the entire breadth of the broad boulevard with a mass of fallen stones containing hundreds of crevices, each of which might hide an entrance. They had only begun looking when Royce and Hadrian returned, their weapons still drawn and slick with dark blood.
“That’s not good,” she heard Hadrian say the moment he saw the pile.
“There’s a crevice somewhere that leads inside,” Arista said.
“There’s a horde of Ghazel right behind us,” Royce told her.
“Everyone inside that building on the left,” Hadrian shouted.
They ran across the square, struggling over the piles of bones and rocks that blanketed the walk and steps to the Hall of Teshlor. Yelps and cries erupted behind them. Looking back, Arista spotted goblins skidding across the stone, scratching their claws like dogs on a hunt. Their eyes flashed in the darkness with a light from within, a sickly yellow glow rising behind an oval pupil. Muscles rippled along hunched backs and down arms as thick as a man’s thigh. Mouths filled with rows and rows of needle-like teeth spilled out the sides as if there was not enough room in their mouths to contain them.
“Don’t watch, run!” Hadrian shouted, grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her across the loose mounds of bones.
Alric and Mauvin sped up the steps, heaving themselves simultaneously against the great doors.
Hadrian threw Arista to the ground, where she fell, scraping her knee and bruising her cheek.
“Wha—” Her protest was silenced as a hail of arrows peppered around them, sparking off the stones. He hauled her to her feet once more and shoved her forward.
“Go!” Hadrian ordered.
She ran as fast as she could, charging up the steps. Myron and Magnus, who had just slipped inside the big double doors, waved at her to hurry. She glanced behind her. Gaunt was just reaching the base of the steps.
Arrows flew again.
Arista heard the hiss and Hadrian pulled her behind the pillars, but Gaunt had no such protection. An arrow caught him in the leg and he fell, sliding to a stop.
He rolled over to his back and cried out as the first goblin reached him.
“Degan!” Arista screamed.
A white dagger slit the Ghazel’s throat, and the princess spotted Royce straddling the fallen Gaunt. Three more Ghazel rushed forward. Two fell dead almost instantly as Hadrian joined Royce, taking one with each of his swords. Distracted, the third turned toward the new threat just as Royce stepped behind him and the goblin fell.
“Get up, you fool!” Royce shouted at Gaunt, grabbing him by his cloak and pulling him to his feet. “Now run!”
“Arrow in my leg!” was all Gaunt managed to say through gritted teeth.
“Look out!” Arista shouted as nearly a dozen more Ghazel charged.