rest were facing Silas, snarling as they paced. As two of them lifted off from the ground, their legs wheeled with furious kicks, struggling against the invisible force holding them. They were catapulted over Silas’s head and smashed headfirst into a tree behind him. The others closed in, pushing him back. He stumbled and regained his footing. There were still seven of them, and Silas didn’t look up to any more mental acrobatics.
Ariella scurried down the ladder, pausing just above Leonidas.
“Wait,” he told her.
“There’s no time. Silas needs our help.”
A dog lunged at Silas. He sidestepped, but the circle was too tight. Another dog sank its teeth into his leg. Silas roared as smoke seared off of him. He shook his leg, but the beast held on. Gritting his teeth, he swung his sword down in one neat stroke. The hellhound’s decapitated body dropped to the ground. Silas pried the teeth off his leg and kicked the head at the pack. Burning saliva dripped from their growling mouths, splattering the ground. Silas jumped back from the line of burning grass.
Well, that’s just about enough of this nonsense, Leonidas decided.
He drew his Boar Hunter and shot the nearest beast straight through the head. It dropped and didn’t get up. A few pairs of beastie red eyes glared at him, but they soon returned their attention to Silas. Leonidas shot the next dog dead. This time, the beasts turned in unison and trotted over to the ladder, surrounding the base.
As the first dog sniffed the metallic rungs, Silas bounded over the pack, kicking his foot off the sniffer’s head to launch himself onto the ladder. He landed above Ariella, paused only to pat Leonidas on the shoulder, then disappeared through a leaf ceiling. They followed, encouraged along by the wrathful song of the hellhound pack below.
Leonidas hoped the dogs were too stupid to find their way up. They probably were. He guessed they’d never seen a ladder before. A ladder. In the forest. He opened his mouth to ask the question he’d been too distracted to consider before.
“What is a metal ladder doing in the middle of an unending forest of magical beasties?”
Ariella managed to shrug without pausing in her climb. Her head disappeared into the canopy, then her torso, and finally her legs. Leonidas pushed through after her. As his head broke the treetops, he froze.
Below, the trees swished in the light breeze. Above, railed metal walkways crisscrossed against the blue sky. They stretched across the expanse like lines of a neatly divided pie, all connecting to the wider platform that encircled the top level.
Leonidas ascended the final three rungs and stepped onto the walkway. From below, the forest had seemed to continue on for an eternity, and so it was from above as well. But as he turned to look for his companions, his eyes panning across the odd scenery, his mind choked on the utter impossibility of what he saw.
Two hundred meters beyond the ladder, the unending forest came to an abrupt end. As he walked that way, a cloudless blue sky gave way to distant mountain peaks, which sloped down to other forests, then sand, and finally ocean. In the distance, waves lapped against a rocky beach. The decimated city of Hope, once the Rev capital, sat broken and forlorn atop the ridge above the shore.
Leonidas stood there at the edge of the walkway, his legs pressed against the glass fence before him. He peered straight down and watched the ocean toss and ripple beneath an enormous ominous shadow cast upon the water. His gaze jumped up a few hundred meters from the waves to the smooth walls that extended all the way up to the hip-high glass wall that fenced in the walkway.
They were atop a floating city, but as the local scenery told him, it was not Oasis. No, it was the Hellean city of Pallas, floating high above in the air that separated the Selpe and Avan empires.
CHAPTER TEN
~ Electrifying Waters ~
526AX August 22, Pallas
RUNNING AWAY FROM a pack of
Ariella scurried down the ladder, pausing just above Leonidas.
“Wait,” he told her.
“There’s no time. Silas needs our help.”
A dog lunged at Silas. He sidestepped, but the circle was too tight. Another dog sank its teeth into his leg. Silas roared as smoke seared off of him. He shook his leg, but the beast held on. Gritting his teeth, he swung his sword down in one neat stroke. The hellhound’s decapitated body dropped to the ground. Silas pried the teeth off his leg and kicked the head at the pack. Burning saliva dripped from their growling mouths, splattering the ground. Silas jumped back from the line of burning grass.
Well, that’s just about enough of this nonsense, Leonidas decided.
He drew his Boar Hunter and shot the nearest beast straight through the head. It dropped and didn’t get up. A few pairs of beastie red eyes glared at him, but they soon returned their attention to Silas. Leonidas shot the next dog dead. This time, the beasts turned in unison and trotted over to the ladder, surrounding the base.
As the first dog sniffed the metallic rungs, Silas bounded over the pack, kicking his foot off the sniffer’s head to launch himself onto the ladder. He landed above Ariella, paused only to pat Leonidas on the shoulder, then disappeared through a leaf ceiling. They followed, encouraged along by the wrathful song of the hellhound pack below.
Leonidas hoped the dogs were too stupid to find their way up. They probably were. He guessed they’d never seen a ladder before. A ladder. In the forest. He opened his mouth to ask the question he’d been too distracted to consider before.
“What is a metal ladder doing in the middle of an unending forest of magical beasties?”
Ariella managed to shrug without pausing in her climb. Her head disappeared into the canopy, then her torso, and finally her legs. Leonidas pushed through after her. As his head broke the treetops, he froze.
Below, the trees swished in the light breeze. Above, railed metal walkways crisscrossed against the blue sky. They stretched across the expanse like lines of a neatly divided pie, all connecting to the wider platform that encircled the top level.
Leonidas ascended the final three rungs and stepped onto the walkway. From below, the forest had seemed to continue on for an eternity, and so it was from above as well. But as he turned to look for his companions, his eyes panning across the odd scenery, his mind choked on the utter impossibility of what he saw.
Two hundred meters beyond the ladder, the unending forest came to an abrupt end. As he walked that way, a cloudless blue sky gave way to distant mountain peaks, which sloped down to other forests, then sand, and finally ocean. In the distance, waves lapped against a rocky beach. The decimated city of Hope, once the Rev capital, sat broken and forlorn atop the ridge above the shore.
Leonidas stood there at the edge of the walkway, his legs pressed against the glass fence before him. He peered straight down and watched the ocean toss and ripple beneath an enormous ominous shadow cast upon the water. His gaze jumped up a few hundred meters from the waves to the smooth walls that extended all the way up to the hip-high glass wall that fenced in the walkway.
They were atop a floating city, but as the local scenery told him, it was not Oasis. No, it was the Hellean city of Pallas, floating high above in the air that separated the Selpe and Avan empires.
CHAPTER TEN
~ Electrifying Waters ~
526AX August 22, Pallas
RUNNING AWAY FROM a pack of
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