When Kihrin exited the portal and looked back toward the shore, he realized he’d underestimated the bridge’s length. Suddenly, he understood why everyone had immediately gone for their horses, even if Var had then provided a faster passage. The bridge was miles across. He suppressed a shiver, thinking of what Relos Var had done.

Of course, that same mistake in scale meant Morios loomed even larger than he’d initially thought. Still, once in the lee of the east gate’s white quartz walls, Morios was no longer visible. The terrified guards within had little to go on, in terms of protecting their people. They’d just seen the bridge’s entire shantytown vanish before their eyes, accompanied by a roar reminiscent of an earthquake. The bridge must therefore have seemed the greatest threat, representing the most obvious and deadly use of witchcraft. So the guards had decided not to let anyone leave.

“You!” a rattled guard shouted. “Identify yourselves!” He looked like he might fire his crossbow without waiting for an answer.

Janel ignored him. “Here!” Janel said, dismounting. “Var! That wall there!” She pointed, not at the gate itself but at the wall beside it.

The wizard raised an eyebrow at her commanding tone, but regardless, he narrowed his eyes at the offending structure. It began collapsing in on itself, as if succumbing to age and the weathering of millennia in a matter of seconds. The crowd behind it pulled back, clearly terrified. Oh, and Morios became visible once more.

“Good,” Janel said. “Now I need—”

Several of the guards fired their crossbows.

Relos Var batted them out of the sky before he turned to Janel. “Enough of this! You have a job to do.” He held out his hand, and a spear appeared in it, which he tossed in her direction. Khoreval.

Janel caught it. “My job is to protect my people, Relos! I’ll deal with Morios once the city is cleared.”

“He’ll bring the city down around your ears!”

“So distract him,” Kihrin said.

Var turned his head. “What was that?”

“You’re a dragon too,” Kihrin said. “Don’t even try to pretend you’re not. Every person who participated in that ritual to create Vol Karoth was turned into a dragon, including you. So you’re more than capable of distracting Morios, until we can evacuate. Then we’ll talk about killing the damn creature.”

Relos Var stared at him, lips drawn back in a sneer. Janel watched, waiting for Var’s response.

“Well?” Kihrin said.

Relos Var turned his phantom horse around and galloped to the edge of the bridge, away from Lake Jorat and toward Demon Falls. The phantom horse jumped.