The Past Lies Ahead (A Throne Of Glass Fanfic)

Chapter 70

«I haven't taken them, Rowan. Old Aelin threatened to skin me alive if I so much as thought about it, so I haven't» Dorian said.

«Then it must be Aelin, do you know where she went?» he asked, he swallowed down the dread. This was his fault. If he had only taken the time to speak to her, maybe she wouldn't have gone this far... A strange, deep rumbling sound reached them all the way up in the air, and Rowan glanced down at the ground but could see nothing but fighting.

Manon turned in her saddle. «Wasn't she supposed to be with the Fae army?» she said. Abraxos suddenly jolted to the side, making Rowan almost fall of. A spiked tail from another wyvern swooped past close to their heads, and Abraxos angled to the left swinging them around. That's when Rowan saw it, the message of flame in the sky. Dorian saw it too, and cursed softly under his breath.

Rowan shifted and took to the skies to got a better view of the area. Find her, he had to find her before it was too late. With his hawk eyes he quickly spotted his Aelin standing with Sam, but he turned his gaze to an empty hill further away. No, not empty. One single person stood there. His hawk released a cry, then he made the wind push his straining wings to race towards that hill. 

He shot past Sam and his Aelin, but didn't glance their way instead he kept his gaze on the woman on the hill. She was holding her hands up before her, and his heart beat wildly in his chest as he realized that she had begun. Maybe he could still stop this. But as soon as he thought that, a blinding light obstructed his vision, followed by a powerful wave of magic that sent him tumbling through the air.

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«Why would she do that?» Sam asked, panic rising in his voice, but Old Aelin just looked lost and shook her head. He wanted to shake her, he knew it wasn't really her fault, but he still wanted to shake her for not hiding the keys properly. A hawk cry sounded above the battle noises, and Sam looked up in time to see Rowan shoot past them overhead.

«He's found her.» Old Aelin said, then grabbed his hand and pulled him into a run. «Come on, before we loose sight of him.» she said, the burned more soldiers that were in their path.

Sam discarded his shield and sheathed his sword, it would be too much trouble running with all that gear and it would only slow him down. He ran as hard as he could closely behind Old Aelin, who kept her pace slow  so as not to leave him behind. Any soldier who was dumb enough to step between them soon became ash on the wind. They made it up a small knoll, and that's when he saw Aelin holding out her hands. Then a second later the world exploded in bright light, and he and Old Aelin was thrown to the ground by the force of the magic.   

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The world was filled with warm light. She concentrated on what she wanted it to do, who she wanted to be taken by the light. Erawan first, then his Ilken, then his Valg princes, the commanders, the sea demons, the Valg grunts and the matrons of the Ironteeth Alliance. 

Breathing was getting hard, but she kept her focus, repeating the list of Valg creatures she wanted to go through the gate before she locked it. Her chest seized, and she drew in a sharp breath when she realized she had forgotten to breath. Nevertheless, she kept pouring her magic into the lock, until the battlefield had been cleansed. 

The light subsided, slowly winking out and her hands fell to her sides. The keys were gone. She looked out across the battlefield before her, finding it to be less filled with enemies than before. She was numb and suddenly her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. A hawk flew into her field of vision, which was becoming very blurry. She blinked slowly, and her body began falling to one side but was caught by strong arms before she hit the ground.