Sons of Ironstorm - Book 4: Griffon's Stand

Inside the Walls

A slow breath out as the humming sound of his coldfire blades filled his ears for a moment, punctuated by the slow 'plop' of dark soldier blood dripping from them and from wherever it had sprayed him. Then a booted foot kicked apart the pyramid of modified tjor'riin bodies that blocked his way and he stepped to the courtyard's weathered back wall.

For a long moment, he gazed at that wall, thoughts churning even as the sounds of battle behind him faded into the distance as he focused. This was a fortress of the Diamond of Stone, just like Gorgon's Dagger. So it stood to reason there would be a guardian entity deep within this place as well, perhaps even closer to the surface as this fortress wasn't a ruin like the Dagger had been when he had awakened its guardian. Awaken it and it should help them take the fortress from the forces of the Great Enemy.

"It should be even easier than it was with the Dagger," Patrik said musingly just under his breath as he continued to stare at the wall. There was a stirring just behind him then, her lithe form partially hidden by her spell armor's built-in cloak of invisibility, Jaeda stepped out of the magical shadows, her Scattered Kingdoms rogues all around her. She quickly strode towards the young Wielder of the Earth as her rogues formed a loose semi-circle behind them, the desert folk keeping a wary eye on the battle still raging only a few paces away.

"Thinking of awakening this place as you did the Dagger?" she asked in a low voice as she came to a halt just behind him, just loud enough to be heard over the din of battle. At his nod, a fleeting smile danced across her face before she gave him a nudge with her forearm.

"Then why are you waiting, kevan?" she asked. "Awaken Storm Keep with the power of the Earth Sword! And this time you won't be doing it alone."

'Or with Lords of the Abyss looking down on me, waiting for the right moment to strike in my weakness,' he silently added.

Which, of course, brought up the question as to whether or not awakening the fortress would create enough of a ripple across the ether that the Abysslords would become aware of it. Shawn had mentioned feeling the Dagger awaken in distant Elvenfast, but that could've been because of the connection the Weapons had. Once the Earth Sword began channeling all of that energy and magic, each of the other two Weapons had come alive to tell their wielders that something massive was happening.

Ciradaan too had reported the Sword of Aesthegon reacting to the event, but that too made sense as the Weapons of the Scions were instrumental in creating the Diamond of Stone to begin with. They were intimately connected at a number of different levels.

Jaeda quickly made note of his hesitation, unusual in the normally resolute Wielder.

"You hesitate, kevan. Why?" she asked, taking a quick look over her shoulder at the surging fight behind them. It wouldn't take much for it to spill over in their direction, making whatever Patrik was planning on doing more difficult.

"I don't know if bringing the Keep's guardian back to life will be detected by the Abysslords," the Wielder of the Earth quickly and frankly replied. "If we are to make a stand here, we need time to gather our strength and rest our forces. All of which would be thwarted by the Abysslords coming upon us so quickly after Tal Morun's fall!"

Jaeda frowned. It made sense, of course. Little that Patrik did now failed to make sense. Still, they would need the fortress to awaken in order to defend more successfully against the Abysslords. That meant the guardian would eventually need to be brought back to life regardless of the risk. So why wait?

As if sensing the storm of thought churning behind Jaeda's clear, blue eyes, Patrik abruptly reached out to touch the wall. At the same time, he let the runes that he had used to awaken the Dagger spin back to life. 'Are you in there, guardian?'