The pillars of creation

Jermsen was well past shock, horror, or even fear. She felt as if she were watching herself act. Even her own voice sounded remote to her. In some distant way, she marveled at the things she did, at her ability to carry on.

As they cautiously rounded an intersection, they encountered a few dozen soldiers hunched in the shadows just inside a small roombloodied, but alive. Four Sisters were there, too. Jennsen spotted Emperor Jagang leaning against a wall as he panted, his sword gripped tightly in a bloody fist. As she rushed up, he met her gaze, his black eyes filled not with the fear or sorrow she expected but with rage and determination.

"We're close, girl. Keep that knife out and you'll get your chance."

Sebastian moved off to check other doorways, securing the immediate area, several men moving at his direction when he gave them silent hand signals.

She could hardly believe what she was hearing, or seeing. "Emperor, you have to get out of here."

He frowned at her. "Are you out of your mind?"

"We're being cut to pieces! There are dead soldiers everywhere. I saw Sisters back there, ripped open by something-"

"Magic," he said with a wicked grin.

She blinked at that grin. "Excellency, you have to get out of here before they have you, too."

His grin vanished, replaced by red-faced anger. "This is a war! What do you think war is? War is killing. They've been doing it, and I intend to do it back twice over! If you don't have the guts to use that knife, then put your tail between your legs and run for the hills! But don't ever ask me to help you again."

Jennsen stood her ground. "I'll not run. I'm here for a reason. I only wanted you out of here so the Order would not lose you, too, after they've already lost Brother Narev."

He huffed in disgust. "Touching." He turned to his men, checking that they were paying attention. "Half take the room on the right, just ahead. The rest stay with me. I want them flushed out into the open." He swept his sword before the faces of the four Sisters. "Two with them, two with me. Don't disappoint me, now."

With that, the men and Sisters split up and quickly moved off, half through the room at the right, half charging after the emperor. Sebastian gestured urgently for her. Jennsen joined him, running at his side, as they raced out into the smoky hall after the emperor.

"There he is!" she heard Jagang call from up ahead. "Here! This way! Here!»

And then there was a thunderous blast so violent it took Jennsen's feet from under her, sending her sprawling. The hall was suddenly filled with fire and fragments of every sort rebounding off the walls as it all came flying toward them. Snatching her arm, Sebastian yanked her up and into a recessed doorway just in time to miss the bulk of the flying objects that came careening past.

Men up the hall let out screams of mortal pain. Such unbridled wails sent shivers up Jennsen's spine. Following Sebastian, Jennsen ran through thick smoke, toward the screams. The dark, in addition to the smoke, made it difficult to see very far, but they soon encountered bodies. Beyond the dead, there were still some men alive, but it was clear by the ghastly nature of their wounds that they would not live long. The last moments of their lives were to be spent in horrifying agony. Jermsen and Sebastian scrambled past the dying, through the carnage and rubble piled knee-deep from wall to wall, looking for Emperor Jagang.

There, among the splintered wood, leaning boards, overturned chairs and tables, glass shards, and fallen plaster, they spotted him. Jagang's thigh was laid open to the bone. A Sister stood beside him, her back pressed to the wall. A huge, splintered oak board had been driven through her just below her breastbone, pinning her to the wall. She was still alive, but it was evident that there was nothing to be done for her.

"Dear Creator forgive me. Dear Creator forgive me," she whispered over and over through quivering lips. Her eyes turned to watch them approach. "Please," she whispered, blood frothing from her nose, "please, help me."

She had been close to the emperor. She had probably shielded him with her gift, deflecting whatever power had been unleashed, and saved his life. Now she was shivering in mortal agony.

Sebastian lifted something from under his cloak, behind his back. With a mighty swing, he brought his axe around. The blade slammed into the wall with resounding thunk, and stuck. The Sister's head tumbled down, bouncing through the dusty rubble.

Sebastian yanked once, freeing his axe. As he replaced it in the hanger at the small of his back, he turned and came face-to-face with Jennsen. She could only stare in horror into his icy blue eyes.

"If it were you," he said, "would you want me to let you endure such suffering?"