The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

past him. Unfortunately,the things he fought were nearly as fast, and they dodged andretreated, feinting on either side until it was clear he could nothope to catch them if they wouldn’t meet him directly.

Penny glanced back,desperate to save her children, but there was nothing she could doaside from aid Dorian in preventing the fallen gods from slippingpast. Lilly Tucker held her youngest, little Irene, while PeterTucker was holding Conall by the hand. Her twins were standingclose together, eyes on one another as if seekingreassurance. No, wait, thought Penny, they’rescheming.

She had seen the expression on theirfaces far too many times while they were growing up. Matthew wasleaning in to speak directly in his sister’s ear and the look onher face was far from one of fear or resignation. It was the lookshe got when she thought she’d heard a clever idea. Matthew’s handsmade wide motions, pointing first down the tunnel in the directionthey had come and then back in the direction of Dorian’sbattle.

Moira nodded vigorously at him, and asmall smile fell upon her lips. A wall of water had alreadyappeared, rushing at them from the rear. It was a liquid avalanche,a great wave seven or eight feet in height. Because of thelocations of the flood gates the water coming from the otherdirection was still out of sight, but once the onrushing waves metthe entire roadway would fill until it was completelyfull.

The water should have crashed intothem, driving them at breakneck speed down the corridor beforedrowning them, but something curious happened instead. Their partyhad gathered close to the outer edge of the tunnel, the side theLancaster gate was on, and as the water reached them it slid oddlyaway from that wall, coursing sideways around them beforecontinuing on. It split to avoid Penny and Sir Egan as well, butwhen it reached Dorian it re-converged, just a few feet past wherehe stood, slamming into the fallen gods with the force of a mightyhammer.

Their enemies were swept awayinstantly, disappearing into the roaring whitewater.

“Through the gate!” shouted Matthew asloudly as his small throat could manage. “She can’t keep this upforever!” Indeed, his sister’s face was a study in focuseddetermination.

Moira Illeniel’s brow was sweatingdespite the cool air, and her eyes narrowed as if she were in pain.Her brother had her by the hand and was guiding her forward, forshe couldn’t spare enough attention to watch her ownfeet.

Everyone caught on quickly. Penny andEgan rejoined the main group, simplifying Moira’s task, since sheno longer had to maintain four separate protected areas. Now it wasjust the main group and Dorian. Before they could start in thedirection of the gate, a monstrous grating noisesounded.

The gate was closing.

Whoever was in the control room had atlast decided to rectify their mistake. The gate should properlyhave been shut before opening the flood gates; at least that waswhat Mordecai had intended when he built the whole thing. Itappeared the operator was learning fast, however.

Dorian was the closest to the gate,standing less than twenty feet from it already. Leaping forward hisdiamond blades pierced the bubble protecting him from the water andhe flew over the waves to land beside the gateway. Stabbingdownward with one arm he drove one of his blades into the stoneroadway to keep the powerful flow from sweeping himaway.

Moira had reshaped her protectivebarrier, forming it along the sidewall to give them a narrowcorridor to reach the gate. She expanded it to keep the water fromentering the gate entirely, giving Dorian some relief from thepounding water. The massive stone door continued to descendhowever, and within seconds it would seal them within the WorldRoad. They would find themselves trapped in a watery grave soonafter that.

The closest of them was Penny and evenshe was still thirty feet away.

Dorian Thornbear stood then, andstepping into the gateway he spread his feet, braced hisshoulders—and caught the descending monolith.

The stone that descended upon him wasalmost two feet in thickness and ten in width. The bottom was wedgeshaped and sharp, making it difficult to find a place to gainpurchase on it. Its descent was controlled by the magic storedwithin the enchantment Mordecai had created, but it was clear thatthe magic was involved mainly in managing the pace of its closingat this point. The weight of the giant stone was immense, anduntold tons of force drove it downward.

It had been designed thus, along withthe automatically recessing groove in the floor and walls so thatit would be impossible to stop. Literally anything attempting toblock or prevent its descent would be quickly crushed, allowing itto complete its task of sealing the path to Lancaster.

But it hadn’t been designed withDorian Thornbear in mind.

The crystalline warrior lifted hisbladed arms and punched upward, driving into the bottom of thestone as he spread his legs. The enchantment guarding the stoneshowered sparks around him as his diamond weapons breached it andthen bit into the gate itself. It continued to descend,however.

The others continued their mad dash toreach the gate, and as they ran they could see Dorian’s struggle.It seemed hopeless at first, as he was driven to his knees, and thedoor forced its way through his hands to bite into his shoulder,but then a miracle happened. Slowly, begrudgingly, the door camegrinding to a halt. The gap between the bottom of the door and thegroove in the floor was a mere four feet, but it wasenough.

Penny led the way, followed by thechildren, one by one, running easily under the great stone. Eliseand Ariadne were next, hunching to avoid banging their heads, andthey were followed by Rose and then the men. In the space of lessthan a minute they were all through. Lancaster and freedom seemedclose at hand.

But Dorian was trapped.

Cracks appeared, tracing their waythrough his chest but he stubbornly refused to give up. The red gemin the center of his chest pulsed with an ever increasing pace andthe door steadied again, but he could not lift it. Dorian’s handswere trapped by the blades he had driven into the stone and lookingdown they could see that his feet had also created fractured holesin the stone floor.

Azure gems stared at them, but theyfocused on