Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1)

My own coughing woke me up abruptly. Dense, pungent smoke filled the room. Panic settled in my chest and I sat up. Rixen was still by my side. I shook him awake.

The shadowman’s nostrils wrinkled before he opened his eyes, “What...? What’s going on?”

“Smoke.” I jumped out of the bed, suddenly hearing distant shouting. “There’s a fire.”

“Shit.” Rixen pushed himself off the sheets. “Shit.”

“We have to go.” There was no time for fear, not really. Everything turned muffled, like a barrier appeared between me and my reality, as I put on my pants and my shirt.

Rixen got dressed quickly, catching my eyes for a few moments. Something passed between us; regret, longing, desire. And then it was gone, replaced by urgency.

“We need to find the others.” The shadowman packed our stuff, or what was left of them. I grabbed my satchel, realising I completely forgot to buy some food.

Smoke entered our room through the gap between the door and the floor, thick and black. My instincts took over, leading me to the balcony, but Rixen grabbed my forearm.

“No.” He shook his head. “Someone will see us.”

I shook him off, “If there’s a fire in the Inn, it’ll devour us. We need fresh air!”

“Irina!” Rixen’s voice dropped to a growl, “You don’t know why there’s a fire. Someone might be expecting us on the other side.”

Realisation settled in my gut. This wasn’t a regular fire. No, we caused this. Our presence caused this. People that were after us were willing to burn the whole world down to catch us.

“Let’s go.” I flung the satchel over my shoulder, tied my hair in a bun and headed for the door.

Rixen stopped me again, “The doorknob it too hot.”

“So what do you want us to do?!” I snapped, desperation climbing up my throat, turning viscose in my eyes.

The shadowman tied his shirt around his palm, grabbed the doorknob and winced, but he opened it, inviting in a gush of smoke from the other side. I coughed and pulled up my shirt to cover my face. Smoke burned in my eyes, drying out the desperation-caused tears.

The hallways were completely black, but the fire didn’t seem to reach them yet. Rixen took my hand and led me through the thick, tangible darkness. Smoke filled my lungs, causing another coughing fit.

“The smoke is going to kill us.” I winced at the pain in my throat as it closed in on itself. My chest ached, itching for fresh air.

“Come on.” Rixen ran down the stairs, dragging me along. I almost fell down dozens of times, but the shadowman held me up.

“Rixen, Irina!” Nickeltinker’s voice travelled through the smoke. “Where is everyone?!”

“Nick!” I shouted, swallowing more smoke.

The green-skinned boy appeared in front of us, those two floran girls by his side. Panic gripped their beautiful faces, char marring their skin.

“The whole fucking town is on fire! Torvald and Danilo are waiting outside!” Nick pushed past us, dragging the girls with him. “Where the fuck is Ace?”

“Probably drunk in the tavern.” I coughed.

“We need to get out.” Rixen ran after the floran.

Ignoring the sting in my eyes, my throat and my lungs, I hurried after them through the Inn.

I pulled at Rixen’s sleeve, “We need to get Ace!”

“I know.” The shadowman grunted. “Go outside with Nick, I’ll be quick.”

“Now is not the time to be a hero.” My eyes narrowed.

Rixen offered that same cheeky grin I’ve seen in bed, “If there was such a time to be a hero, everyone would be one.”

His figure disappeared behind the thick veil of smoke. My chest tightened, either with pain or lack of air. Whatever the case, I knew we needed to get out now. There was no time.

Ignoring the gnawing need to follow Rixen, I turned on my heel and ran outside while my body still allowed it. The door at the end of the stairway burst open, Danilo calling us out.

Vertigo spun my head when I breathed in the fresh air and coughed out the remaining gushes of smoke. My legs gave out. Danilo caught me before I fell.

“What is going on?!” I shouted, my gaze escaping to the people running up and down the streets, shouting, carrying buckets of water, panic seizing their expressions.

“I don’t know!” Danilo shook his head. “But we need to go now!”

Those floran girls ran away from us, disappearing down the street. I couldn’t see where the fire started and I was grateful the flames were still nowhere near us.

“Aren’t the spirits still waiting for us outside?” Nick’s large eyes scanned the streets.

I nodded, “We’ll have to run from them.”

“We need help!” Rixen shouted from inside the building. “Believe it or not, Ace is still drunk!”

Torvald stepped forward, his large hands grabbing the stumbling mage. Ace rubbed his bloodshot eyes and coughed out smoke. His blood-covered robe was now black due to smoke. The asshole still had a flagon of ale in his hand.

“Well,” The mage coughed out blood, smoke and spit, “This caught me by surprise.”

The warthog ran up to the mage and licked his face, a terrified, panicked glint in his large eyes.

“Where do we go?” Danilo asked.

Fortunately, buckets and stacks of hay hid us from sight, but the fire would eat those up and our cover would blow. We needed to get out of here.

Ace’s bloodshot eyes somewhat cleared, “Over the wall.”

“What?” I spat.

“No fucking way!” Rixen shouted. “You’re the first one who’s unable to climb.”

“The warthog won’t make it.” Nick mumbled, staring at the terrified beast.

“Over the fucking wall.” Ace’s eyes landed on each of us. “The spirits are waiting on the other side of the gates and this fire isn’t accidental. This is Soterios. He found us.”

The possibility of death had never been this close.

For one tension-filled, horrifying moment, we were silent. But there was no time to ponder our mortality or regret all the things we haven’t yet done.

“It’s now or never, folks.” Ace said, barely standing on his hurt leg. He should have seen a healer, but he refused. And now his leg seemed infected.

“Alright.” Rixen took the flagon out of Ace’s hand and chugged. “Follow me.”

No one complained.

The shadowman ran down the street, sticking to the walls. I could see his body slowly morphing into a shadow, but he tried to stay corporeal for our sake. My heart pounded in my chest, muffling the screaming sounds. There was nowhere to hide. We were more exposed than I would’ve liked.

As I turned around, I finally saw the fire, climbing up the trees, licking the walls, painting the night sky a shade or red, yellow and orange, devouring the town of Dahn. This was all our fault. If we hadn’t stopped here, if I hadn’t convinced the gatekeeper to let us in-

“Now is not the time, Princess.” Nickeltinker pulled at my sleeve, tearing me away from the horrifying sight of flames.

We ran down the street, to the edge of the town, where we found the tallest house, one that was still standing despite the fear eating through the walls. Torvald crushed the wooden door with his fist and we entered, surprising and scaring the people inside who tried their damnest to tear down the door.

We were the only lunatics entering the burning building.

“Try not to breathe in the smoke!” Rixen shouted. “We’re going to the roof!”

I took in a huge gulp of fresh air, covered my mouth with a piece of cloth and followed the shadowman. Smoke quickly blurred my vision, entering my body through my eyes. My lungs began to hurt, but I held my breath as long as I could, not truly knowing whether that was clever or not.

Pain seared through my muscles as I tried to keep up with Rixen up the stairs. Torvald tore down any doors that’d gotten in our way. The warthog nudged me forward with his head, keeping me from falling. Nickeltinker helped Ace up. Danilo checked whether someone was following us.

We reached the attic and Torvald grabbed the wooden roof planks from the inside and pulled them down. Hay, which covered the roof, fell inside. Fire climbed up the wood, devouring the roof first. Its scathing tendrils warmed up the small area, almost suffocating us.

Nickeltinker jumped up first, checked the surroundings and shouted down the torn roof hole, “It’s clear. The wall is near!”

Rixen grabbed the remaining wooden planks and pulled himself up swiftly, making me think it was easier than it looked. Unfortunately, I had no upper body strength. Torvald grabbed me by the waist and lift me up, my head almost bumping into the wooden ceiling.

Rixen gripped my forearms and pulled me up on the roof. Fresh air slammed into my lungs and I dropped on the hay-covered roof. But there wasn’t enough time. And closing my eyes was dangerous.

“Come on!” Danilo’s muffled came from inside. “Fire is eating the roof!”

Ace was harder to pull up, he weighed more than me and he was filled to the brim with liquor. Torvald pushed him up from the attic, and Nick and Rixen were barely able to pull him onto the roof. Danilo climbed up right after.

Fire approached faster than before, completely devouring hay and wood in its way. Heat trailed to my face, turning unbearable. Burning wasn’t the only problem we faced. Fire would eat through our roof and we needed it to reach the wall.

The mage was only half-conscious. His wild eyes were now dim, the green inside simmering.

Torvald and the warthog were still inside. The giant tried his hardest to lift the beast, but it was near impossible. He took off all the luggage the beast carried, but it wasn’t enough. Fire stalked towards them, threatening and unstoppable.

“Frank?” Ace’s eyes widened suddenly. “Frankie, where are you?”

The warthog let out a desperate roar. Nickeltinker reached down to help Torvald, but he wasn’t strong enough to pull the beast up. Rixen and Danilo joined in and failed.

“We have to leave the beast.” Nickeltinker looked up from the hole in the roof.

“No!” Ace shouted and I thought I imagined the invisible magical veil reaching to our reality. “Frankie, come on up! You can do it!”

Sweat coated Torvald’s forehead, his muscles tensed and his teeth bared as he pushed the beast up, but he was tired and Frank too heavy.

“Francis Bacon the Third!” Ace commanded. “Come on up, boy!”

Tears glinted in his bloodshot eyes. The warthog let out a scared sound, his hooves dragging across the ground.

Danilo moved away from the hole, “We have to leave him. The fire will eat us alive.”

“No!” Ace shouted, his palms flattening against the hay-covered roof. “No!”

“Torvald,” Rixen swallowed hard, his throat bobbing, “Come up.”

I moved closer to the hole and looked at the giant, whose dark, gentle eyes jumped from the warthog to us.

Rixen glanced at me, regret shining in his eyes, “Torvald, I’m commanding you. Leave the beast.”

“No!” Ace crawled over the roof, but Danilo stood in his way. “No! Fuck you! Frank’s more of a man than you are!”

Torvald stared at the warthog as he climbed up, grief covering the harsh lines of his face. I swallowed the flood of tears, my spit getting stuck on the lump in my throat. The warthog let out a sorrowful howl.

Torvald stopped mid-climbing.

I couldn’t quite believe when I felt magic crawling through my veins and I found myself inside Torvald’s mind, feeling, seeing his thoughts.

The beast was his friend. They played fetch together. They shared food together. They escaped their enemies together.

And he would not leave his friend behind.

Torvald jumped back inside, I stumbled, falling out of his mind. Eyes wide, mouth open, and heart pounding, I watched as Torvald tore down half of the roof with his bare hands. Fire licked his palms, burning his flesh, splinters cut his skin, getting stuck under his nails, but the giant did not let out a sound. The smell of sizzling meat filled the air.

Torvald created a run-up for the warthog.

Frank moved away from the previously small hole; his hooves scraped against the ground. We moved aside as one, ignoring the fire seizing the roof. The warthog ran with fierce momentum, pushed himself off the ground without stopping, and landed on the roof, scooping hay and wood and ashes along with him, landing straight into Ace’s arms.

“Frankie!” Ace hugged the beast, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Good boy! Good boy, Frankie!”

Relief flooded me, the wave so strong I fell on my back, breathing in the hot, smoky air. For a moment, we cheered, enjoying this small victory. Torvald managed to climb up, Danilo helped him. His hands were badly burned, but he grinned widely, a sole, lonely tear falling down his cheek.

“We have to move!” Rixen said as the fire approached us.

We snapped back to reality. The wall was near. As one, we walked over the half-destroyed roof, coming closer to the stone snake circling the town. The roof of the house was approximately as tall as the wall, and we managed to transfer to the stone. The wall was as wide as a street, and from there, we were able to see the burning town of Dahn.

Fire soared to the skies, the forked orange and red flames reached every corner, eating up everything in their wake. We did this. We caused this.

We ruined this town.

“How do we pass through the Waiting Tower?” Danilo’s voice pulled me back to the present and my head snapped to the other side.

My mouth fell open. The fire was the least of our problems.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of soldiers littered the valley in front of Dahn, spears in the air, ready to fight. They weren’t all spirits. Some were... human?

“Are those the cultists?” I uttered, breath catching in my throat.

“Yes.” Ace nodded. “We have to bypass them.”

“I’ll go scout!” Nickeltinker announced and ran across the wide wall.

“What if they see us?” I asked, half hiding behind Torvald.

“They’ll follow us through the Waiting Tower.” Rixen mumbled. “Come on.”

As quietly as possible, we sneaked across the wall, having no idea how to climb down. Death, in the form of fire, took hold of Dahn and the residents were powerless against it. Guilt gnawed at my gut.

“There’s a place where the wall connects to the mountain!” Nickeltinker said, rushing back to us. “We can climb down the cliff. It’s steep, but not awful.”

Rixen nodded, “Come on.”

Nick and Rixen were way faster than the rest of us, and they quickly found themselves behind the cover of the tree line.

“Bastards.” Ace mumbled while he limped. “They think they’re better than me just because they’re younger.”

“What’s wrong with your magic?” I whispered, not wanting anyone else to hear. He tried to help Frank back on the roof, but his magic seemed weakened.

Ace grunted, “I’m tired, hurt and drunk. My magic is weak.”

“Wonderful.”

Danilo walked past us, “Hurry up!”

“Not so fast.” Unfamiliar, ice-cold voice travelled through the air.

Shivers crawled down my spine. Ace stopped in his place. The warthog bared his pointy, sharp teeth in the stranger’s direction.

Ace’s shoulders slumped, “Hello, Soterios.”