The Complete Runebound Trilogy by Sandell Wall

Author:Sandell Wall [Wall, Sandell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2018-06-21T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

THE SUMMONED STORM PURSUED Remus and the survivors across the flatlands for five days. With the help of Tethana, he pushed the people to their limits every day. Each day, they put just enough distance between themselves and the blackened sky at their backs to collapse and rest for a few hours. Not everyone could keep the pace, and even the most hardy suffered. There was precious little water and food to go around. Every time they resumed the march, a few doomed souls were left behind to be swallowed by the tempest. Remus spoke with each one, imparting what encouragement he could.

On the last stop before reaching Umgragon, Remus found himself kneeling next to an ancient Volgoth man whose strength had run out. Tethana stood behind Remus, her face turned into the swirling wind. The storm was close. They had rested for longer than usual, preparing to make the final push to Umgragon.

“I saw you tame the lightning with my own eyes,” the old man said, his voice as weak as he looked. “I’ll go to my ancestors knowing that the gods once again bestow their blessings upon mortals. Watch over my people, son. Keep them safe.”

Remus gripped the graybeard’s hand, not trusting himself to speak and not knowing what to say. Without fail, every person they left behind had faced their death without fear, honored to have been witness to Remus’s heroic stand against the enemy.

“Go on with you now,” the old man said, releasing Remus’s hand and shooing them away. “Leave an old man to die alone. I go willingly to the halls of my people.”

“I’ll not forget your bravery,” Remus said, knowing the words were woefully inadequate. Great gusts of wind tore at his clothes.

“Pah,” the old man spat into the gale. He had to raise his feeble voice to a shout to be heard. “There’s a hundred stories of bravery. If you want to remember me, tell the world I had a rod as thick as a tree, fire in my heart, and murder in my eyes. You tell them I rode the lightning.”

A fierce grin spread across Remus’s face. “I’ll tell everyone I meet.”

The old man nodded, smiling to himself. Remus and Tethana left him there to face the storm on his own. Together, they ran to catch up with the retreating multitude. The old man was one of five who did not march on with them this time. Remus could not help but look behind. He knew what would happen. The storm would creep over the fallen figures, and five jagged bolts of lightning would lash out, impaling bodies to the earth and burning them to a crisp.

“Must you watch every time?” Tethana said from his side.

Remus turned his gaze away in response. “No.”

With the killing whirlwind bearing down on them, the mob of survivors put on a burst of speed. An undercurrent of unspoken fear filled the people with dread. Remus knew that they would either reach salvation today, or perish. Within the next hour, a dark shape appeared on the horizon.

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