A Wish Upon the Stars (Tales From Verania 4)

And then it hit me. “Kevin.”

“What?”

“Kevin! Dude, I am the motherfucking dragon whisperer. I’ll just get Kevin to come and—fuck me in the face!” That last part came out as a shriek as a wall of rock burst out of the ground before us. We avoided it at the last second as Ryan pulled us to the right down another alleyway. I heard a large rumble and looked back in time to see the alley behind us narrowing as the buildings on either side moved toward each other.

“Faster!” I squeaked. “We need to run faster.”

He glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes bulged when he saw what was happening. I heard the groan of wood and stone and plaster around us as the buildings shifted. Flowerpots from balconies rained down around us, and Ryan grunted as one hit his shoulder, the pottery breaking against his armor. He kept moving, however, and we jumped out of the alley at the last second as the buildings crashed together. I fell to my knees, grunting as the road scraped against my skin. Ryan stayed upright, though his sword was knocked from his hands. It bounced off the road and came to rest on the opposite side of the street.

“We have to keep moving,” he snapped as he pulled me to my feet. “We need to go north. We can get to the gate and—”

Even before he finished, another wall of rock rose from the ground, blocking the northern road.

“Mothercracker,” he growled. “Come on. We’ll find another way.”

We continued on. He scooped down without slowing and grabbed his sword, flourishing it as he rose, because he couldn’t not act like a douchebag, even when we were running for our lives.

I winced at the pain in my knees, feeling blood splashing and smearing along the inside of my robes. But I pushed away the sting, gathering my magic as best I could. I tried to reach out to the pulses in my head, the black and red and blue and white, but they were faint, like they’d been muted somehow, and I wondered if it was Myrin’s doing, if he’d somehow cast a spell over the entire godsdamn City. I didn’t push too hard. I wanted to avoid giving away our location. I couldn’t hear Myrin behind us anymore, but every time we tried to head north, more often than not, the road was blocked. We were able to advance, but we were mostly moving east, and it took a few instances before I realized where we were headed. “The slums.”

“What?” Ryan shouted back at me, sweat dripping from his forehead.

“It’s like we’re being corralled. We’re heading for the slums.”

He frowned. “Why would he—it doesn’t matter. We know the slums better than he ever could. He wants to take the fight there? Fine. Let him bring it.”

“Dude, that was so fucking hot—right, yeah, not the time.”

With renewed determination, Ryan stopped trying to push north and instead headed for the slums. My body was weak and tired, and running for our lives wasn’t helping. I didn’t feel as drained as I had after the sand mermaids or even when I’d faced Myrin in Mashallaha. Granted, I wasn’t the same person I’d been back then, but still. I couldn’t do what I’d done—

kill murder death

—without… consequences….

What the hell was that?

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I didn’t have time for anything else right now. The connection to the dragons felt stretched thin, and if Myrin was doing something to stop me from reaching out to them, I was going to need everything I had in order to break through.

We began to anticipate where the rock walls would shoot up, and that put us one step ahead. I could no longer hear him behind us, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. Ryan didn’t falter as he led us through side streets and alleyways, flashes of the familiar going by as we ran through the empty City. We came across random lumps of vermilion root where Dark wizards lay trapped underneath. They still lived, even after all they’d done. I had chosen to spare them after they’d followed Myrin.

Why?

I could have stopped them.

I could have stopped them all.

It’s what wanted I wanted to do from the start. I had the power within me. I could have ended everything in one fell swoop. Never again would the Darks be able to hurt the ones I loved. It would have been my decision—

“—AND I need you to respect that,” I said quietly, staring out at the sunrise.

Randall sighed. “I do, Sam. I promise you, I really do. But I’m worried.”

“About?”

“Your heart. Your mind. Your soul.”

“That’s… all-encompassing. What the hell, Randall.”

“How many people do you know that have lost their cornerstone?”