Chapter 498: Light of the North
…Hollow Shade… Northern Commoner District…
The storm raged on in the middle of the night. What fires had spread across the city in the wake of the dragons and dragonbanes had all been extinguished by the pelting rain. The winds howled in the darkness and sent a chill through Freya’s soaked clothes. The light armor assigned to battle mages did little to protect her from the freezing rain.
Flashes of bright green lightning ignited the dark streets for brief moments, revealing glimpses of corpses and wreckage spread across the ground. Freya squinted and held one hand over her brow to prevent the rain from blinding her. It was a new moon and a storm had covered the skies, but there was still the rare magestone light post still working. A single enchanted magestone offered little light, a dim fraction of the well-lit streets of the Villa and Night Districts, but it would have to do.
Freya ran against the wind and sprinted across the streets, relying on her memory to lead her to the medical encampment. Her eldest brother, Aric, was there lying helpless. House Goldelm needed him and right now he needed her. She wouldn’t abandon him.
Kegrog’s uncertain smile flashed in her mind’s eye. The gentle giant of an orc always had trouble speaking up about his opinions, but earlier tonight he had never appeared so resolute. The solemn expression on his face was like nothing she had ever seen. There was something off about him and Nora, though both pretended as if everything was fine.
Freya had told them both to come to the medical encampment if anything went wrong. She wondered if they were there now, waiting for her to appear. Waiting like a deer in the sights of a wolf ready to pounce. The valley army was marching to the encampment. She needed to hurry.
A small shriek caught her attention. Freya skidded to a stop, water splashing at her feet. She took a turn past a half-collapsed house and rushed towards the noise. A human mother and her child sat shivering and huddling underneath a wagon. A stone golem roamed around them, searching for its next prey.
The mother covered her child’s mouth with her hand and whispered for the little boy to stop crying. The toddler trembled in her embrace and closed his eyes tight.
Orange mana filled Freya’s legs. She dashed to the golem’s flank and hefted Oginum. Gripping the war hammer tight she leaped into the air and swung Oginum down on the golem’s shoulder as it turned around. A wave of energy surged out from the hammer and ripped apart the golem in an explosion of rock, and sent Freya flying backwards.