Prologue

The earth shuddered, unwilling to be torn apart without resisting. But the barren ground was no match for the force unleashed after one hundred and seventy-five years of dormancy. Clumps of dirt shot into the sky like grains of sand. Soon, a massive pit dominated the landscape. And soon after, half-formed figures began crawling over the edge. Just a few at first, each requiring great effort to escape from the abyss below. Then a dozen. And finally a torrent that numbered in the hundreds. A stench of mold and decay, like rotten eggs, clung to what they wore. Each was covered head to foot in a black robe. No limbs protruded. No face was visible beneath the hood that shrouded each head.

After escaping the pit, each crouched as if unable to support the weight of its upper body, then slowly stood erect. The first steps were tentative and unsteady, like a newborn foal. Within seconds, though, each walked with confidence and purpose. Most ventured alone over the parched earth, none acknowledging the others. Several dozen stood guard around the rim of the cavern. Another dozen stood in a group, none uttering a sound, seeming oblivious to one another.

All was eerily silent for several moments. Then one last figure ventured from the cavity in the ground. Unlike the others, this one was clearly female and wore no robe. Her clothes—earthen-colored pants and a top made of animal skin—were in tatters. Her white hair, streaked with crimson, reached to the back of her knees. Her angular face, while youthful, looked ravaged by pain—not physical distress, but torment of the soul. Without a sound, she walked toward the dozen robed and hooded figures who towered over her. As she walked past them, saying nothing, they followed as if on a leash.

Chaos had returned.

Chapter Fifteen

While the Shamra prepared to repel the Galvan assault, Dara was joined by Careef and Tomas.

“We will all join the battle,” Careef said. It wasn’t a question, Dara knew.

Dara smiled at him. “We each speak for ourselves, Careef,” Dara said. “This is my fight, so yes, I will do battle with my fellow Shamra. You may join me. But, Tomas,” she said, looking at him, “You have already—”

“The Galvan can’t take to the air, can they?” Tomas interrupted Dara. “I can be used to great advantage. I volunteer my services.”

“Thank you both,” Dara said. She looked at the advancing army. A rope ladder was being attached to the mountainside. Dara knew the Shamra would use tar to repel those who tried to climb. But with such a large Galvan army, Shamra warriors would eventually run out of hot tar. She saw something in the distance she couldn’t quite make out. “Careef, may I borrow your eyepiece?” Dara asked.

Off in the distance, seemingly out of harm’s way, Dara saw what she took for a general—the leader of the attack. He was surrounded by several guards. “Careef, would you ask Briana to join me after she’s deployed her warriors. I just might have an idea.”

Careef nodded and went to find Briana.

“You have a plan,” Tomas said. A statement of fact.

Dara nodded. “And you’re the key,” Dara said.

Ten minutes later, Briana and Careef returned. “I still have much to do,” Briana said. “Can’t you wait—?”

Dara handed Briana the eyepiece. “Who is the Galvan on horseback in the distance?” she asked and pointed.

“The general who leads the Galvan,” Briana said. “He is also battling with the Galvan leader for control. He’s tortured two of our warriors he captured to gain information. I fear his faction will be victorious. If so, he will be more relentless with his attacks. Casualties seem to mean little to him.”

“Cut off the head, and the body crumbles,” Dara said. “An expression I’ve heard on my travels.”

“Meaning?” Briana asked.

“We kill the general, and the army will be in disarray,” Dara said.

“That’s why he stays clear of our bows and arrows,” Briana said, sounding frustrated. “No way—”

“He is unaware of Tomas,” Dara said, and fell silent.

Briana only stared. Dara told Briana of her plan. “May the prophets be with you,” Briana said when Dara had finished. “It could end hostilities with few casualties on our side.”

Minutes later, the attack began. As Galvan soldiers climbed the rope ladder, other Galvan soldiers shot hundreds of arrows to make it difficult for the Shamra to respond. Still, the Shamra were able to douse the first group who climbed with molten tar. Dara could smell the burning flesh of the Galvan, and their screams reverberated in her head.

“Now we go,” Dara told Tomas and Careef. “While all eyes are on the mountain climbers.”

Tomas, with Dara and Careef on his back, flew around the mountain to avoid detection for as long as possible. As they flew, Dara was aware Careef’s Cloak of Invisibility hid him from sight. Careef was essential to the second part of Dara’s plan.

As Tomas approached the Galvan general from a height at which they couldn’t be seen until it was too late, Dara heard a voice intrude in her mind.

“I’ve had my eye on you,” the voice said. “You’ve seen me, too, in your dreams.”

“Who are you?” Dara said aloud.

“Your plan is brilliant,” the voice said, ignoring Dara’s question. But—”

“Tell me who you are, or shut up,” Dara said. She knew the voice was distracting her—possibly intentionally. In moments, her target would be within her reach.

“Anis,” the voice said.

“A pawn of Chaos,” Dara responded. “How did he turn you?” she asked.

“A question for another time,” Anis said. “But speaking of chaos, are you really any different than me? You kill this general, and you have, what? Chaos among the Galvan. I would do just as you. Kill the general, and you’re doing my work for me.”

Tomas flew by the Galvan general. Dara had been too distracted to act. She cursed herself for falling into Anis’s trap. “Make another pass, Tomas,” Dara commanded. She knew they had been seen.

“We’ll speak again . . . often,” Anis said, and then Dara sensed her nemesis was gone.

As Tomas veered toward the Galvan general a second time, arrows flew by them. With her knife of Shriek scales, Dara slashed at the General neck and connected. She saw his head fall to the ground. Tomas flew upward to escape the fuselage of arrows.

They then advanced to the rope ladder. Another group of soldiers had been felled by the hot tar the Shamra spilled on them. A few soldiers were beginning to climb the ladder after the tar had cooled. Dara held out her knife, and Careef’s invisible hand grabbed it. As they arrived next to the ladder, Dara heard Careef leap off Tomas. Soon, portions of the ladder were in tatters. With three-quarters of the ladder cut, the weight of the rope and soldiers climbing was too great. The remnants of the ladder fell to the ground. Dara saw her knife on a boulder, where a portion of the ladder had fallen. She guided Tomas toward the rock, and Careef leaped onto Tomas’s back.

On the mountain, the Shamra were cheering. After Tomas had landed, Dara saw the Galvan army flee. Their general dead, there was no one capable of slowing the retreat.

Tomas, who had been looking at the retreating army with Dara, fell to the ground.

“He’s been wounded,” Careef said, pointing to an arrow partially hidden under Tomas’s wing.

“Go get help, Careef,” Dara said in panic.

When Careef had left, Dara rested Tomas’s head on her knee. “It was my fault, Tomas. I’m so sorry. I let Anis distract me. If I had killed the Galvan general on our first approach, you wouldn’t have been hit.”

Tomas smiled weakly. “I’ll have a wonderful story to tell my people,” Tomas said.

“Hush now, and conserve your strength.”

Four Shamra approached with Careef. One, who Dara recognized as the healer who had attended to Thiebel, looked at Tomas’s wound, then instructed the others to carry Tomas to the same cavern where Thiebel had been taken.

“Will he be all right?” Dara asked the healer as he readied to leave.

“Ask me in an hour,” the healer said. “This creature is not like us. If no vital organs were hit, he should survive. Let me tend to him now.