Fate of an Empire (Talurian Empire Trilogy Book 1) by Jonathan Pasquariello Page B

side. His veins and muscles tightened.
    A roaring
shout sent ripples of energy through the air.
    The fury of
wind blew the fake Thandril fifteen feet down the hall. The imposter crashed
into the far wall, brickwork crumbling around him as he slid to the floor. His head
slumped forward.

Chapter 18: A Dark
Savior
     
    “We need to
get these fires out, now!” Rurik shouted.
    The screams,
the desperate pleas and agonized cries of the civilians trapped outside the walls,
had ceased. They were all gone, dead within seconds. Such was the mercy of
fire. The flames continued to swell, gaining in height and growing in intensity.
Fingers of red and orange curled over the Keep’s walls, mischievously setting
buildings and shrubbery aflame.
    “Sir, we need
to move everyone to the southern wall,” Private Galro said. His head down,
sifting through a pile of reports from the other walls. “It seems the fires are
not as bad in that direction. We may be able to wait it out if we get indoors
and away from this smoke.”
    As he
finished, a loud explosion echoed through the Keep.
    “That came from
the south side!” Rurik yelled back to Galro, over the screams of the crowd. “The
city’s oil reserve!”
    “Damn it! The
wind must have picked up and carried something over the wall.”
    A huge plume
of smoke started spreading over the southern side of the Keep. “So much for
moving everyone that way.” Rurik smashed his fist on the stone wall next to him.
    “We are
finished…” Rurik’s voice trailed off. With each passing minute, the flames rose
higher, and the cries of the crowded courtyard grew louder.
    “I will not let
things end this way…”A voice whispered across the wind, dancing from
ear to ear.
    Suddenly, a
loud clap of thunder echoed through the sky, deafening the masses. People
dropped to the ground, clasping their hands against their ringing ears. The air
swirled, lifting the flames higher, yet away from the walls.
    Rainbows of
fire arched across the smoke filled air.
    Rurik was the
only one that stood his ground, standing tall against the sudden overload of
senses. He lifted his eyes to the center of the forming vortex of fire. A man
slowly appeared through the blinding light.
    The brightness
of the flames shone past his body, hiding his features, throwing a dramatic
shadow across the ground below. He floated high above the Keep, never coming
any closer, never moving further away.
    The ground
trembled.
    Buildings,
weakened from the fire, collapsed under the stress. The wind swirled faster and
faster, knocking down stands and carts lining the courtyard. Rurik finally
conceded to the gaining pressure and fell to his knees.
    A booming
voice cracked across the sky, “People of Taluria, I am here to help. If you
wish to live, breathe deep and hold your breath. Do it now.”
    The figure
started twirling in the air. His speed increased exponentially until he formed a
giant whirlwind, sucking the oxygen out of the area. The people inside the city
started to understand what was happening and held their breath as long as they
could, some fainted, knowing this was their only hope of survival.
    The towers of
fire gasped for the last envelopes of their precious fuel but soon withered to
nothingness. Once the people were safe from the flames, the man in the sky
pushed out his hands, causing a gust of wind to clear the thick, smoky air.
    The crowds
rose, cheering and screaming praises to their new found savior.
    “I did not
waste my time sending your army back to Hillsford just to find a massacre of
charred bodies.” The rescuer sighed and, with another deafening explosion, the
featureless man and the ominous light that accompanied him, blinked out of
sight.
    All was
suddenly calm. For the first time in two days, the city was at peace. Well, as
much as a scorched landscape of death and unrecognizable buildings could
muster.

Chapter
19: The Aftermath
     
    Amira sat and
waited for Saris to return, mindlessly kicking a piece of