to see Rolukhan fall like a blazing comet into the Hellfire engine four hundred feet below.
He slammed into it and disappeared into the maze of glasswork and pipes. An instant later of crimson fireball the size of an ox burst from the machine, and Caina felt a tremor go through the arcane aura of the device. More flames erupted from the sides of the machine, and she felt the next tremor through the floor beneath her boots.
“Oh, that’s not good,” said Caina.
“What’s happening?” croaked Kylon, hurrying to the railing.
“The Hellfire engine,” said Caina, a burst of sparks erupting from the machine. The light illuminated the galleries spreading off from the base of the chamber, galleries that held thousands upon thousands of amphorae of Hellfire. “You knocked Rolukhan into it. That means…”
The Hellfire machine blazed with a sudden plume of dazzling red light, and a tongue of flame erupted from the side, splashing across the curved stone wall. The fire chewed into the stone, and one of the shelves in the nearby gallery collapsed. A dozen Hellfire amphorae fell to the floor, and three of them shattered, puddles of Hellfire spreading around them. A hideous whine came from the machine, the crimson light in its depths burning brighter.
“Just like the Craven’s Tower,” said Kylon.
“Worse,” said Caina. There had been only a few hundred amphorae of Hellfire in the Craven’s Tower, and that had been enough to blast through the curtain wall and rip down half of the tower itself. There were thousands of Hellfire amphorae down there, to say nothing of the deadly arcane forces bound within the engine itself. She looked to see if any of the acolytes remained to control the machine, but they likely had fled when Rolukhan called the Immortals to arms. “Much, much worse.”
Kylon started to say something, and the Hellfire engine let out a horrible metallic scream.
“Run!” Caina bellowed at the top of her lungs, projecting her voice as Theodosia had taught her. “Run! All of you, run! The Hellfire engine is about to explode. Run!”
For a moment everyone stared at her, Immortals and Undying both.
Then the floor shook again, the metallic scream growing louder. The Immortals turned and ran, sprinting for the entrance hall, the Undying following close after. Likely they were following Caina’s command. She darted through the press, Kylon following, and found Morgant and Laertes helping an exhausted, haggard Annarah forward.
“You do have a knack for setting buildings on fire, don’t you?” said Morgant.
“Get Annarah out of here,” said Caina. “Go!”
“I can walk,” said Annarah, though she was breathing hard and her face glistened with sweat.
Caina turned and saw Malcolm and Nerina leaning over Azaces. The big man’s eyes were closed, his robe wet with blood. Malcolm had his hands around Azaces’s ankles, but Nerina simply could not lift his shoulders.
“Kylon,” said Caina. “Help them.”
He nodded, slid the valikon into its scabbard, and grabbed Azaces beneath the arms.
With Malcolm’s help he lifted Azaces, and together they hastened around the balcony, making for the entrance hall. Caina ran after them, looking back to make sure that Annarah and Nasser and Laertes were moving.
Another explosion rang out, the floor heaving. Caina stumbled and almost lost her balance, but Kylon’s hand caught her shoulder. She felt the tingle of water sorcery in his grasp, giving him the strength to hold Azaces while keeping her from falling. Caina nodded her thanks and caught her balance, and they resumed running. The Hall of Flames grew hotter and hotter as the Hellfire engine started to break down. They reached the entrance hall, and Caina shot a glance over her shoulder to see crimson flames shooting over the railing. The aura of Hellfire pressed against her, seeming to drown out even the terrible power surrounding the Subjugant Bloodcrystal.
She kept running.
They raced through the gates and back into the open night sky, and the cool air of the foothills felt pleasant after the heat within the Inferno. The stars blazed overhead, though far to the east the sun was just starting to rise. Beyond the bridge and the watch towers Caina saw Immortals scattering in all directions. The Undying poured over the slopes, some of them disdaining the bridge to simply climb over the chasm, while before the watch towers waited hundreds of terrified, gray-clad slaves, men and women and children. Najar had done his work well. She suspected that most of the Inferno’s slaves were gathered below the watch towers.
She hoped most of the slaves had gotten out in