Book One – Chapter 2

The bombardment broke only when they reached a larger ruin. A massive slab of black stone jutted directly from the crest itself. It resembled an arch, or perhaps the surviving curve of some grand pavilion roof. One side plunged deep into the dune while the other swept upward in a warped crescent, its exposed surface scorched smooth by impossible heat. Great sections had sheared away, yet what remained still rose a meter above the ground in places, and nearly to a wizard’s height in others. Around it lay several larger fragments; columns that were burnt, broken and buried to varying depths, all of their exposed surfaces fused into the surrounding glass.

Between them, the surviving arch curved into a deep hollow. Midnight disappeared inside. Yves scrambled after her, still casting as he dragged the braced leg through the final stretch. One shield burst behind him. He threw another in its place without looking back. A second rupture struck somewhere above the arch and sent a violent shudder through the rubble beneath his hands. Then he was between the ruins. He ducked beneath the curve, forced himself through the gap between two broad, flattened boulders and dropped into a crouch beside Midnight, where the fused stone enclosed them on three sides. Only then did he let the shard diversions go. The lightning and tore them apart in an instant. He let the leg brace dissipate, too. It took to much Rothar to uphold it against the pull.

Beyond the arch, lightning continued to rupture across the unseen crater. Each strike lit the outer curve in violent white. Some flares travelled briefly along the scorched surface, finding veins and remnants of metal melted into the stone, where they branched, flared and spent themselves. Yet no bolt crossed over or around the surviving mass. More than seven meters of fused ruin separated the exposed face from the hollow turned towards the slope; enough to break the direct course of the discharges before they could reach the recess. Again and again the lightning bolts struck the outer side, and again and again the violence exhausted itself there. The impacts travelled through the ruin as deep concussions, but the hollow itself remained untouched. No rupture turned the edge. No flare entered. The inner face stayed dark. It was the first structure on the rim that offered real cover.