The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [120]
As his head throbbed from the shockwave and his eyes burned from the flash, he made out a figure coming closer, a silhouette stumbling away from the holocaust. Daro’h tried to catch his breath, but his lungs burned. He shaded his eyes, then pointed.
Yazra’h saw the young man staggering along, exhausted, stunned. She shouted, “It is Designate Ridek’h! He survived!” She began waving her arms.
The brave boy looked burned, shell-shocked, but determined. He saw Yazra’h’s movement, though he seemed unable to hear her calling for him. Daro’h led the way, and they met him on the hillside. The Prime Designate caught Ridek’h just before his legs gave out. “You are safe now. You have escaped.”
The boy blinked several times, disoriented. Finally he shuddered, then used the support of Daro’h and Yazra’h to get back to his feet. He turned and stared at the still-smoking impact site and the raging fires on the perimeter of what had been Mijistra.
“I ran and ran,” he said, his voice ragged. “I did not look back. Not until now.” He began to cough, his chest spasming; the sounds turned into sobs.
“Do you think Rusa’h is dead?” Yazra’h said.
Daro’h stared at the holocaust. He could not imagine how the faeros incarnate could have survived that, but he was unwilling to assume anything.
* * *
84
Adar Zan’nh
At the moment of obliteration, Adar Zan’nh seized his chance. The massive spacedocks and construction yards crashing down from orbit provided more than enough diversion for his nine warliners to escape from the faeros on Ildira. He felt a deep ache in his heart as his ships put distance between themselves and his beloved home planet.
The beautiful, ancient city from which Mage-Imperators had ruled since the beginning of the Empire was no more. He knew what had been lost, knew that Ildira would never be the same. The impact was like a bright splash of blood and fire on the landscape. Mijistra . . . the Prism Palace. So much history, so much culture . . . all gone.
And, he hoped, faeros incarnate Rusa’h as well.
Yet the desperate tactic was their only hope of surviving as an Empire, perhaps even as a race. At last, the Adar had a mission he could expect to accomplish. If he could indeed rescue the Mage-Imperator from captivity, the Empire would be far stronger with its rightful ruler.
“Even when we free our father, the war will not be over,” said Osira’h, who had asked to accompany him while her four siblings remained with the Prime Designate on Ildira. “Even if Rusa’h is dead, the faeros are still a threat.”
Zan’nh looked down at the strange little girl. “All the more reason why we must free him.”
“Yes, we must.”
As the warliners raced away from the planet, they broadcast instant commands to Tal Ala’nh and his hundreds of waiting warliners outside the system. The Adar no longer needed to keep his plans secret. He could tell the cohort commander their objectives and reveal where the Mage-Imperator was being held. With all the fiery elementals stunned and distracted, the bulk of his Solar Navy prepared to depart en masse.
Behind them, the faeros ricocheted like sparks in a frenetic storm. Zan’nh had hoped the conflagration of Mijistra would occupy them for some time . . . but as his nine warliners sped away, several of the fireballs streaked after them. They seemed attracted by the movement, seeking anything to destroy.
“Increase acceleration. Prepare to activate stardrives.” He had not gained as much distance as he had hoped. With or without Rusa’h, the faeros could act.
In the command nucleus, his well-trained soldiers worked like machines despite the dread that gripped them. They knew full well what was at stake.
“The faeros are closing in on us, Adar.”
His warliners strained to get out of the system, gaining speed, changing course, ready to activate their stardrives. An increasing number of fireballs followed them like flaming projectiles. “Tell Tal Ala’nh to set course for Earth and to depart immediately. We will follow as we can.”
Osira’h said in a small voice, “Whether or not the impact destroyed him, Rusa’h