Sons of Ironstorm - Book 4: Griffon's Stand

Doom and Shadow Fire

First to receive a fair amount of that rechanneled energy was the shield that was protecting them from Damdalinor's dark flames. Runes raced across its inner surface at a thought then the shield was visibly brightening.

Hoping that was enough to hold their draconic foe at bay long enough to accomplish his intentions, Shawn quickly moved to the next step in his impromptu plan. Runes dropped out of the cloud and began to glow as he willed them to life. And with each rune activated, he felt a line of energy race over his body.

Feverishly he activated rune after rune, many times the same one over and over, building a lattice of energy over his body. Then, when the construct was solid enough to satisfy him, he was extending his will across the blood bond to do the same for Shiana.

- What... what are you doing? - she demanded to know over the bond as the first line of energy raced over her.

- Trying to give us a way out of here, - was his terse reply. Then he was falling silent to continue building the second construct. Sensing that her brother was working against fate and time with what limited energies he had access to and didn't need the distraction, the Ironstorm princess also fell silent. Her questions could wait until after Shawn managed to extricate them from this impossible situation.

Despite that resolve, however, she nearly gasped out loud when the floor beneath her suddenly began to glow.

- Is that you? - she asked as carefully as she dared.

- The floor? Aye. - Shawn fell silent once more. But not for long: - Stand by. I'm going to short portal us to the level beneath us. -

- Won't the dragon notice? - she couldn't help but ask.

- I'm hoping not. Three, two, one ... - Then the room filled with flame and death winked out.

A heartbeat later she was crouching in a far different chamber minus her Wielder armor and significantly cooler. A glance to the side yielded Shawn was doing the same, also missing his armor although the Star Sword was still hovering just over his back. And directly in front of them was a length of draconic torso extending up from the floor into a large hole in the ceiling, shifting from side to side as Damdalinor continued spraying their former position with caustic shadow fire.

<<Frost me,>> Shawn breathed in Vanje with a relieved grin. <<That actually worked!>> Then he was sobering as he looked over at his bewildered sister. "Quickly now, Shiana. While the dragon thinks he still has us pinned down!"

Nodding, Shiana turned her head just enough to locate the chamber's doorway. Then, with her rune sword in hand, she was leading the way in a steady crouching run towards the doorway which should lead to a hallway equipped with a staircase leading downward.

They had managed to reach the doorway when suddenly the entire building shuddered.

"What is this??" Damdalinor roared. "My quarry has abandoned their armor and somehow escaped??"

"I'd say we've been discovered," Shiana said over her shoulder. Shawn tightly nodded in agreement.

"We cannot face him until we get beyond his dampening field," he replied, even as he was urging her into a full run with a gesture. Together the twins put their heads down and ran as fast as their legs would carry them towards the staircase, which they could see at the end of the hallway.

They were just dropping down the first pair of steps when the hallway behind them filled with shadow fire.

"Go, go, go!" Shawn tautly directly as he ducked the licking flames that narrowly missed lashing at his back. Determined to escape, Shiana fairly flew down the stairs, taking them two and three at a time. Each time she glanced back, she could see her brother was doing the same even as time and time again he was outlined by the flames that kept narrowly missing him.