Read Azra of the Burning Sands (Genesis Project) for Free Online

at him, and tasted the air. Smoke, blood, and death were prevalent.
    ‘Lord Shakla, we’ve taken the wall, and the remainder of their forces have retreated to the Baron’s palace.’
    ‘What of the others?’ asked Amahl, from his position next to Shakla.
    ‘They’ve taken the far wall. We have won the walls, and our foe flees like a desert Kam into hiding, in the safety of their burrow. They have shown themselves to be cowards.’ The raider spat on the ground.
    ‘A trapped beassst isss sssstil dangerousss,’ Shakla warned.
    ‘Yes lord...’ replied the man.
    ‘What of the citizens of the city?’ Amahl demanded.
    ‘They’ve hidden themselves away. Their houses and shops sit empty.’
    Shakla turned away from the Raider and looked down the main street, leading from the gate to the open courtyard in front of the Baron’s palace. The street was empty, and as far as he could see; so was the courtyard.
    He looked back at the Raider and Amahl.
    ‘The citizensss are not the prizsse. Asssemble the men at the gate. We take the palace.’
    ‘Yes, Lord Shakla.’
    *
    BARON’S PALACE – JARRIDON - HALLI
    ‘They’ve started to move to the courtyard,’ Azra said to those assembled in his lobby, opening his eye’s from a trance.
    ‘It’s time to consider leaving, Wyzard,’ said Cina grimly.
    Azra glanced at the door to the left of the stairs leading upward from the lobby. That door lead to the downward stairs and the Archway, as well as the catacombs beneath the city, that were filled with the people from the empty metropolis.
    ‘I will check the Archway,’ Azra growled. ‘Jahnyz, you seal the entrances.’
    ‘What should I use?’ asked his apprentice
    ‘Use any pieces of metal around the palace that you can get to easily. Use them and transfigure them into bars and blockades.’
    ‘That won’t keep out arrows.’
    ‘It won’t keep ours in either. We can hide behind cover in here. They have to cross the open plaza to get to us. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m off to the Archway room.’
    Azra turned from his companions and opened one of the two doors behind him. He walked swiftly down a corridor of polished stone blocks, and came to an crossroads near the end. A staircase lead down a level, running under the staircase upwards that was in the lobby. Around him, more doors and corridors branched off. He started down the stairs.
    At the bottom of the stairs, there was a wide, open, room. In an alcove to his left, bathing the room in a soft blue light, Azra saw the shimmering shape of the Archway. To the right, sat two closed double doors made of a dark wood. Those lead to the tunnels beneath the city.
    Azra walked up to the Archway. Its ornately carved stone frame was shimmering in the soft light cast by the swirling blue and white expanse of energy filling the space between the frame’s edges. Azra placed a hand against the Archway and closed his eyes.
    He felt his connection the Archway and the connection had with the capitol of the realm, thanks to the focus crystal sitting in a slot for it near the top of the frame. The connection was strong and unbroken.
    Azra left the room and started back for the lobby.
    He entered the lobby and found Jahnyz sealing off the last of the doorway. She held a decorative shield and sword from off the wall, and another hand outstretched towards the doorway she was sealing. The shield and sword began to glow, and turned to molten liquid. Jahnyz then used her Mahgic to form it into bars across the doorway, standing vertically. They stretched the whole length of the door, and seemingly fussed with the frame. She then used her Mahgic to cool it again, forming an effective blockade.
    Azra looked around, and found Kia and Lady Cina nearby. He walked briskly up to them.
    ‘What do you have to tell us?’ Cina asked.
    ‘The Archway is still connected with the capitol. I couldn’t detect any foul play, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any.’
    ‘I’ll have one of my men