A Realm of Shadows by Morgan Rice

blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the huge golden shields dropped
by his men—and an idea came to him.
    “Those shields!”
he commanded.
    Ra suddenly ran
out into the open courtyard, fearlessly leading the pack, and his men followed
as he went for the shields. Ra picked one up himself, huge, heavy, and his dozens
of men followed his lead, lining up beside him.
    “Crouch!” Ra
commanded.
    He dropped to
his knees and held his shield overhead. The others followed, and soon there was
a wall of metal pointing up at the sky.
    Another wave of
flames came down, and this time they rolled off the shields and harmlessly
continued on their way. Ra felt the tremendous heat on the other side of the
shield, nearly scorching the back of his hand as he held on. It felt as if it
would burn right through, yet he held on tight.
    “HOLD!” he commanded
his men.
    Most listened,
but a few, clearly afraid, let go and ran. As they did, they were burned alive.
    Finally, the wave
of flames passed, and Ra breathed hard, sweating, elated he was alive.
    “TURN THE
SHIELDS!” he commanded.
    Ra’s men did as
he commanded, turning the shields, as did he, until they caught the angle of
the sun. They finally caught the rays, and as they did, it reflected a blinding
column of sunlight back up into the sky.
    The dragons,
diving down, suddenly recoiled, clearly unable to see. They stopped in mid-air
and swatted at the light with their talons, as if trying to block it out,
trying to see again.
    It was just what
he needed. He had stunned the dragons long enough to mobilize his men and
escape from the city. Before he did, though, he knew he had just one more thing
to do.
    “General!” he commanded,
turning to one of his long-trusted advisors, a man who had served with him
across the world. “Lead your battalion of men north, out in the open courtyard and
through the northern gates of the city.”
    The general
stared back in fear and shock.
    “But my Most
Holy Ra,” he began, tremulous, “that would leave my men exposed. We would die.”
    Ra nodded.
    “True,” he
replied. “Yet you will die here if you defy my command.”
    Ra nodded to the
others, and they all drew swords and pointed them at the general.
    The general, panic-stricken,
jumped to his feet and shouted orders to his men. Ra watched as he led them, hundreds
of men, marching out in the open square and toward the northern gate of the
city.
    “The rest of
you, follow me!” Ra cried.
    He turned and
ran, and his thousands of other men followed him for the southern end of Andros, as horns were sounded up and down the city. High above, the dragons began to roar
as the shields were lowered and they were no longer blinded.
    As he ran south,
Ra glanced back over his shoulder and watched as the dragons, as he had hoped, fixed
their sights on his exposed general, heading north, alone, with his men. Ra
smiled as the dragons dove down for his decoy. They breathed fire, and his
general shrieked, aflame, as he and all his men ran for the gates, aflame.
    Ra turned back
to the Southern Gate, running to freedom. The general and his division were a
small price to pay for his own safety.
    They finally all
passed through the Southern Gate, and as they did, Ra breathed easy as he saw
the open stretch of barren land before him. The south lay before him, where, he
knew, Duncan had fled.
    Ra mounted the
horse with the golden harness that was quickly led to him.
    “ADVANCE!” he commanded.
    There came a thunderous
roar as thousands of Pandesian soldiers mounted horses and followed him, racing
south across the barren wasteland, somewhere toward Duncan. This time, Ra would
not let him out of his grasp.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
     
     
    Alec stood at
the bow of the ship as they sailed out of the Lost Isles, navigating around the
strange outcroppings of barren rock, the seagrass making a strange noise as it
brushed up against the hull. The water was as still as could be, eerily calm. Mist
rose off it, casting a