Gone

Like torn paper, the sky ripped open and all of the contents that it had been holding dumped mercilessly onto the ground.

The lizards hesitated. They did not like the change in temperature. But they did not have time to think about the change.

For at the same moment, Eira rushed forward into the monstrous hoard. Releasing the reins and trusting her warhorse, she brandished her sword with both hands high above her shoulder. With surgical aim, the soldier separated one creature's lower jaw from its upper. The lizard did not know what hit him before he hit the wet ground, dead.

The deluge washed away the fetid blood from her blade almost instantly. Buckets and pails of water dumped as the wind whipped up the droplets into a frenzy.

Runnels of rain ran down Eira's visor, making it difficult to see clearly. However, even over the roar, she could hear clashes of steel as the others joined in the fight.

Using her knees, she drove her horse to turn around, nearly scraping her armored leg against the wall of the city as the steed slipped in the spongy grass. Hissing, screeching, clicking and the odd human word mixed into the tumultuous storm.

Eira brushed the rain momentarily from the slit of her helmet just in time to see a spear coming at her. The tilt of her head that she had made to clear her vision had saved her life. With a shrill ring, the spear nicked the side of her helmet and smashed into the wall behind. Debris thumped against the back of her armor, but glanced away harmlessly.

Out of the darkness, long claws leapt at Eira like fangs of a deadly viper. The vicious lizard had abandoned his horse to attack the soldier, putting his full force into pushing Eira from her mount.

They both went splashing to the ground. Wildly, the creature scratched at Eira's armor, trying to find a weakened point.

Eira tried in vain to wield her sword. However, the long blade was not made for close combat.

Discarding the useless weapon, the soldier punched and thrashed against the lizard's torso, but the green beast was too strong for her action to have any effect.

The monster pressed on her chest, pushing out the air from her lungs as it pulled at her armor. A sharp nail slid into the slit of her visor, barely missing her eyebrow. The next tug would send the helmet--and with enough force, her head as well--flying through the air toward the wall behind her.

In a last ditch effort, she pressed her thumbs into the monster's eyes. It hissed and jerked its head away, only for it to come in contact with another one of the Guardian's bolas.

Mairwen stood close by, her shoulders heaving up and down with the effort. By now, all of the horses had fled in fear of the weather, leaving only humans and monsters to fight in the ankle deep water. But the rapidly rising tide is not what caught Eira's attention. Hanging above her on the wall, something new adorned the stone. A rope ladder.

"Your Highness! Look!" Eira pointed to the lifeline that had been tossed from the top of the battlement. Overhead, a figure could just be made out on top of the wall.

With Alaron and Renat covering her, Mairwen dashed toward the slick rope. After a small boost from the soldier, the princess began her climb.

The wall was high and the rope was pushed easily by the wind, creating a perilous journey upward. The dark-haired woman realized that if she lost her grip now, the fall would most likely kill her. A crash of thunder jarred Mairwen to core, causing her to miss her step on the rung.

Her hands gripped at the frayed rope as her feet dangled helplessly in the air. The rope below her whipped wildly, preventing her feet from gaining purchase again. The princess's fingers began to lose their grip.

"Help!" Mairwen cried into the darkness. She was so close to the top! Despite the princess's best efforts, her hands lost their tenuous hold and she tumbled downwards, though only for a moment.

From the battlement, an arm thrust downward and grabbed her hand. Swinging her back toward the wild rope, the figure helped Mairwen make her final ascent.

Finally safe, the princess shivered against the cold rain. "There, there," a familiar voice said, wrapping a cloak around her.

———

As the princess disappeared from view at the top of the crenellations, Alaron motioned for Eira to go next. "Ladies first," he said as he ducked under the thrust of a lizard's spear. "And hurry."

"The prince!" Eira argued. Her mistress's husband was fighting with a combination of his sticking balls and a knife.

"Will head up right after you," Alaron assured her. "Go!"

The soldier huffed but complied. When she was three-quarters of the way up the rope, Alaron called to his brother-in-law. "You are next! Go on! But, uh, I don't suppose you have a bursting ball?"

"Those things are far too volatile!" the scientist replied. "Take this, but close your eyes!" He handed the Guardian an orb and then hurried and began his own upward climb.

Alaron defended himself against two of the lizards that were left. One of them grazed his exposed sleeve with the spear, drawing blood.

"Blast you! I like this shirt!" The silver-eyed man flung the ball at the creature full force and shut his eyes. Even with his lids closed, the light emitted was overwhelming.

With the creatures temporarily blinded, Alaron sloshed through the valley's shin-deep water. Pulling four objects from his cloak, the Guardian slipped on a strange set of spike-tipped boots and gloves that Vahan had given him on their last meeting.

With the young man's inhuman strength, it would help him bite into the crevices between the stones of the wall or even into the stone itself if it was soft.

"I hope these work!" The Guardian took a running leap at the wall. Although his hands slipped on the slick stones, one of his boot blades landed squarely between the mortar of the rocks and dug deep. It was enough for Alaron to find a grip with his other limbs before he fell.

The young man climbed as quickly as he could, catching up to the scientist on the rope ladder. "Hurry up, slowpoke. Those lizards won't be blind forever!"

"Easy for you to say!" Renat whined. The soaked rope felt like it was wrapped in mucus, causing the lanky man no end of trouble. Instinctively he looked down to see if the monsters were in pursuit. His body tensed. "I hate heights," he mumbled.

Above him, Eira had already crested the wall. Now she, Mairwen, and another figure were peering over, cheering for them and warning them at the same time.

"It's coming!" Mairwen waved her hands frantically.

At first the Guardian assumed she meant that one of the lizards had begun to climb, but the princess was pointing down the neck of the valley. Alaron looked in the direction she had indicated and his eyes flashed. While the storm had been dumping on them, it had also been dumping on the rest of the mountain. All of that water was looking for the lowest place to escape, collecting in the valley with a mighty flow.

Now all of that water surged forward, cutting a path far beyond the normally shallow riverbed. The tide had gathered with more and more mass and momentum until it formed an impenetrable wall.

And that colossal wave was on a collision course with Oblivion's formidable stone walls. Between those two indomitable forces was...Alaron.

"Just great."

There was very little time to react. The Guardian dug the blades of his boots as deep between the stones as he could and used the metal claws in his hands to do the same. The water crashed upon him from all sides, immersing him in its unyielding flow.

Alaron's body was thrust forcefully into the stone, his head cracking open against a jagged rock. His vision blurred, but he didn't let go. Holding his breath, he debated the wisest course of action. The water was all around, covering his head, and he did not see any sign that it would lessen anytime soon.

'Where is a Fate when you need one!' he grumbled uselessly. He turned his head, but any hope of seeing the rope ladder was gone in the dark water. There was no use trying to find it. The only way to go was up.

Disengaging one of his hands, Alaron raked his arm upward through the water and bit into the wall as far as he could. The metal spikes from his other hand followed suit. Carefully, the Guardian moved one foot and then the other. He had no idea how high up the water was, but did not think it was as tall as the wall. As long as he didn't get caught up in the flow or pass out from lack of air, he would eventually be safe.

Heart-stopping moments passed as he climbed upwards, fighting the water that threatened to rip him from hope. When his lungs were past burning and becoming resigned to death, his hand finally broke the surface.

The Guardian nearly cheered, only to realize how fatal that choice would be. Instead he pushed through until he could gasp the precious freedom of the open air.

Ascending the wall the rest of the way was tame by comparison. As he neared the crenellations of the battlement, a strong hand reached down and helped pull him over. The Guardian splayed out on the stone like a captured fish.

"Welcome to Oblivion, Your Highness," Junayd said with a mix of confusion and relief.

"Are you alright?" Eira asked, offering her hand to help him up.

"I've been through worse." He paused as he retched out the water he had ingested. "How is everyone else?"

Eira's and Junayd's faces darkened as they glanced toward the princess. She was hunched over in Zan's Guardian's cloak, looking out at the mass of water below.

Renat was not with her.