Oath of War (The Cursed Bonds #2)

32. Chapter 32

T he agonised roar of a bies shocked me into awareness, and I looked around, confused.

I’m alive. How the fuck am I still alive ?

I frowned as I inspected my arms. Flakes of dried blood fell from their unblemished surface, the strange symbols drawn there by the old hedge witch now nothing more than a faint memory.

‘ Arachne? ’ I called out to the goddess, but her presence was gone from my mind. Only silence answered my call. What did she do? I wondered, knowing the Dark Mother had done more than show me an ancient spell.

It was then that the surrounding devastation registered in my dazed mind. Where countless undead had scrambled forward, piles of smouldering ash now lay. I whispered my gratitude to Martha and the matrons that made it possible; I had made some progress in repaying their sacrifice, but until I watched the light in the Lich King’s eyes die, I would hold this life debt close to my heart.

‘Annika, watch out! One survived the lightning,’ Bryna shouted, and I instinctively ducked, narrowly avoiding the claws of a striga that had somehow fought past my guards.

‘ Asaro! ’

The word came to my lips without conscious thought, and I felt my magic stop the monster’s double heart.

‘Fuck,’ I muttered, unsure what had just happened, only now noticing the dendritic marks only a thunderstrike could have left on the ground. Did Vahin ... a nd how the hell did I miss it? I shook my head, but the memories of the last few moments were hazy at best.

‘One thing at a time, Ani,’ I mumbled, deciding to deal with it later. I may have obliterated the undead, but this battle was far from over, and I still had more work to do.

As we moved forward, it became more of a trek as monsters threw themselves in our way, abandoning their previous targets. Every time I’d glimpsed the enemy leaders, the Moroi generals pointed towards me, and a horde of monsters descended upon us.

‘Brace!’ Bryna barked out the command as we neared the sigil. Several women rammed their spears into the ground while others locked shields, creating a thorny wall in front of three charging biesy.

Before the beasts could reach us, the ground shook as the cataphracts rammed into them. The sound was deafening, a thunderous collision, followed by the screaming of monsters, animals, and men. I watched as the enormous bison-like creatures were flung metres away—yet even as they hit the ground, the biesy were back on their feet, claws swiping at their attackers.

I saw a flash of gold as I glanced at the lead rider and realised that King Reynard was commanding the unit. I couldn’t help but be impressed as his sword crashed down to parry a monster’s deadly onslaught. Our gazes met briefly, and he nodded before the swipe of a clawed paw almost injured his horse.

‘Hold your ground, protect the mage!’ he roared.

I cursed at my distraction, remembering why I was there. Runes covered the ground in front of me, gleaming with potential, ready to explode into action the moment I completed the spell. As Bryna and her warriors dealt with any attackers that made it past the cataphracts, I slogged across the muddy ground to reach its centre, tracing the soft hum of stored power emanating from its lines.

Deep groves were burnt into the ground so thoroughly that not even a vicious battle had erased them. The complexity of the spell was a genuine marvel, designed for it to withstand appalling damage.

The rest of the spell was a master class in controlled destruction, far beyond anything I could create. Its focus concentrated on shaping hundreds of explosions in one direction whilst also supporting the soon-to-be walls of the new pass.

‘I’d hate to be on the other side of this pass,’ I muttered, unable to hold back a grin.

‘You can do it, yes? I mean, do you have any power left?’

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, startled when I saw Katja’s frown inches from my face. I had completely forgotten she was with us, but somehow, she’d managed to get here safely.

‘Yes, I can do it ... That is, I think I can do it,’ I said when she leaned back. ‘But you can’t help me here, so go to Bryna. You’ll be safer there, and you could help the injured.’

‘Do you really see me leaving? We have three healers in that wall of steel and stubbornness, so don’t even bother trying to send me away.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘You’re queen of the fucking dead. I thought you’d burn us all and that your dragon would finish the rest, but your fire only engulfed the monsters.’

Katja laughed before continuing. ‘I don’t know how you did it, but if the dark fae aren’t on their knees worshipping your arse after this, I’ll bang their heads together.’ She passed me one of her potions. ‘Drink this. Someone has to be here to catch you when you finally crash and fall, and I bet it’s going to be spectacular.’

The stench of death hung around me, but Katja was smiling. It caught me off guard—her expression. My down-to-earth friend radiated something I’d never thought to see from her during this war: hope. Maybe for the first time since meeting her all those years ago, she wasn’t expecting everything to go to shit.

‘Look, you’re right, but there will be an earthquake, and gods know what else.’ I hesitated before revealing what was gnawing at me, ‘Katja, I used death magic. The spell was supposed to claim my life, but it didn’t, and I don’t know ... I don’t know what price I’ll have to pay for that.’

She paled but grasped my hand, locking it around the vial. ‘I don’t care. It’ll be alright ... but if it isn’t, I still don’t care. I choose you. You may have scared the shit out of me when your eyes turned black, and you may have pulled necromancy out of your arse, but it doesn’t matter because you are my friend. So drink the damn potion, and let’s rock this world!’

Her touch, caring and without a hint of hesitation, soothed my fears. I tipped back the bottle and let the burning liquid flow down my throat, gasping as it took my breath away.

‘What’d you give me, bloody moonshine?’ I coughed out when I could speak again.

She shrugged. ‘Damn right, I did. You needed some liquid courage. And for the record? I can defend myself.’

‘Katja Laster, since when have you had such a potty mouth?’ I asked.

She shrugged before casually throwing a vial at a rampaging manticore. Yellow smoke covered the creature’s face when the vial broke, and in moments, it began clawing its face until it fell, twitching, to the ground.

‘We’re in a bloody battle. So what if I curse?’ she asked, shouting to Bryna, ‘Get the unit away from here. Ani wants to cast without an audience.’ The half-orc grunted in response, calling the remaining females away. ‘There, happy now? And hurry up. There’s a swarm of ... whatever those are heading our way.’

I watched Katja take a few steps back, smirking as if she were challenging me. I didn’t have time to argue further as the epicentre of the fight was heading our way, the thunder of heavy cavalry and the grunting of monsters growing louder as they neared.

It was now or never.

You wanted me in Katrass before the first snow? Then I’ll be there. I’m going to enjoy seeing your face when I burn it to the ground , I thought.

I knelt in the centre of the sigil, and with a few quick gestures, wove a spell to connect its power to my elemental magic. I was focused on stabilising the connection when a vast shadow swept across the ground before it turned, heading in our direction.

A piercing screech disturbed my concentration, and my eyes snapped up to the skies. I watched as flames burst from the beak of a raróg, melting the soil into glass and erasing the runes of the sigil.

I screamed, still linked to the construct, as the explosion of aether engulfed me. Instinctively, I transformed it into a bolt of condensed energy, aiming it back at the beast as it obliterated the world around me.

My connection with Vahin protected me to a certain degree, but I could feel my skin blistering in the heat. The formless energy I’d flung up missed its target, and the raróg twisted around to attack again.

The fire demon screeched as it dove, and I tried blasting it with pure aether once again. I needed to stop the tenacious beast; I might be fire resistant, but the people surrounding me weren’t. As it spouted flames once more, I turned to protect my friends.

‘Katja, run! ’ I screamed as I spun around, but instead of doing so, Katja leapt forward, pushing me out of the way of the raróg’s flames.

I watched, helpless and disbelieving, as the fire engulfed her.

She was gone.

Katja, my friend, my family, was gone.

I couldn’t breathe, the weight of what just happened crushing my chest.

It was my fault. The price for death magic was always life, and it seemed when Arachne, goddess of fate, saved mine, she’d doomed my friend to lose hers. Katja had died because of me , because I couldn’t protect her. Bile rose in my throat, the bitter taste of my failure choking my screams.

It should’ve been me. Not her. Never my Katja.

Bryna bellowed, her large body tearing through the enemies that swarmed us. The pain in her voice matched mine, but all I could see were the horrifying remains of the sister of my heart.

She was actually gone .

The woman who had welcomed me when I first arrived in Zalesie, the one who had treated me while I mourned my Anchors and tried to drink myself to death, the one who always had my back ... was gone.

I dropped to my knees, digging my fingers into the scorched ground, and keened in pain. Primal magic erupted from my core, flooding the world with its destructive power. It had no direction or control, but the half-ruined sigil beneath my knees flared to life, warping the ground around me.

A trumpet sounded the retreat, and everyone scrambled away from the crumbling rock as it rose and fell in devastating waves.

It wasn’t enough, wouldn’t be enough, until this place drowned in destruction. So I raised a hand and dragged the aether of the storm down and twisted it into something dark. Countless monsters were caught in the chaos, but my wrath was entirely focused on one: the raróg.

Pulverised rock scored its wings as a vortex of death held it in place. The overwhelming wind extinguished the flames covering its body, but I wanted more. I wanted to see it suffer.

I clenched my fist around the aether, watching as its wings disintegrated, and laughed. I caught sight of more of its flock and expanded my reach, quickly destroying one after another. My laughter increased in volume, and as the last one died, I turned to the mountain.

The Lost Ridge had taken everything from me, and now it protected my enemy. Somewhere in this mountain, Aro and Tal’s bones were buried beneath tonnes of rock, and now Katja’s ashes were mixed with its cursed soil. This graveyard of my heart held no markers, no memorial, but I would make sure no one forgot this place ever again.

Darkness arose inside me, numbing my senses. I was going to find the heart of the mountain and rip it apart just as it had mine.

The ground cracked beneath my feet, the fissure spreading outwards and heading straight for the Rift. I was rooted to the spot where my magic had become the nexus of power. The elemental aether became a part of me, even as it shredded my insides while my consciousness escaped the torment, travelling through the rock, seeking its heart.

Finally, deep beneath the earth, beneath the Barrier stone chamber, deeper even than the sleeping army’s cave, I found it. In a grotto of molten magma, held aloft by a lonely spire, I found the immense, jagged boulder—the Heart of the Lost Ridge.

‘ Little Flame, stop. We’ve won. You can let the magic go. Annika, please! Stop! ’

Vahin’s roar thrummed through my mind, but I refused to listen. I embraced the aether, twisting it, revelling in the pain. My power burned, building, spiralling, until agony became my existence. I laughed like a maniac, reaching for more even after blood gushed from my nose and the air burned in my throat.

I raised my hand, squeezing it into a fist with a command that fractured the world around me.

‘ Karvet. ’ 1

Cracks formed on the cavern’s roof, spreading outwards, and vast chunks of the ceiling fell into the molten rock below. I withdrew my consciousness as the earth shook, the mountainside crumpling in on itself. Time seemed to slow as an explosion of dust and debris obscured the world while I watched numbly the destruction around me.

The dust settled and everything was silent. The Lost Ridge was no more, but I’d found no peace in the act of destruction and felt only the grief that tore my heart asunder. A gust of wind tugged on the loose strands of my hair, but I didn’t raise my head even after I saw a massive black paw settle before me.

‘Little Flame, let me in.’

Vahin nudged me gently, hot air from his nostrils prickling my skin. When I didn’t react, he lay on the ground, his massive head pressed against my body, just like a cat trying to get its human’s attention. The storm of aether slowed inside me.

‘Ormond, I don’t know what to do.’ The uncertainty in Vahin’s voice made me gasp for breath.

I’d killed a flock of rarógs and destroyed the mountain, but it changed nothing. I buried my face in my hands as a sob burst from my lips.

‘I do.’

Strong masculine arms encircled me as my Ursus knelt before me. He pressed me to his chest, rocking my body as it shook in the aftermath of grief and excessive magic.

‘If it helps with the pain, then let the world burn, Ani. Just do it; it’s not worthy of your tears. My love, my beautiful Nivale, I’m so sorry for your loss,’ he whispered as I buried my face in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

‘ Little Flame, let me help soothe your pain. Share it with me as you did before. You don’t have to face this alone, ’Vahin’s voice rumbled in my mind as he coiled around us, creating a wall to protect me from the external world.

It was just the three of us, both of my Anchors’ skin glowing softly from grounding my power, and as time slowly passed, I let their love ease my heart so I could control my magic.

With tears rolling down my face, I finally let them in, the stream of aether thinning and fading away. I slowly stood up, my body protesting every movement, only to find Tomma’s condemnation. The betrayal in his eyes stabbed me in the heart as he turned away and headed towards his dragon.

‘Where are you going?’ Orm called after him. Tomma didn’t turn around, didn’t even slow down as he mounted Rashul, but before they shot into the sky, he finally spoke.

‘I’m going to Katrass. Your woman cleared the skies, so I’m going after the bastard who released the firebirds. I will return with their head ... or not at all,’ he said, and his dragon snapped his wings open, lifting them both into the air.

Orm sighed heavily before turning to his men.

‘I want two volunteers to follow him. The rest of you help with the aftermath. Take special care to search for any wounded. Annika’s spell may have won us the battle, but it wasn’t selective.

That was when I saw the scorched earth, rough ground, and carcasses of monsters. Between them were also soldiers caught in the destruction I’d caused. But I felt nothing. No pain or remorse, only an overwhelming tiredness that numbed my senses.

‘Well said, brother. Annika, please join us at the camp. We need to plan our next steps. I didn’t expect you to be so ... effective,’ Reynard said with a twitch of his jaw.

‘That’s what you wanted from me ... to kill and destroy everything around me,’ I said to the king, ignoring his frown. ‘Enjoy your victory, Your Majesty, and leave me the fuck alone.’

‘Annika!’

‘Leave her alone, Rey!’

I heard the clashing of steel as I walked away but didn’t slow down, blinded by the tears I finally realised were falling from my eyes.

1. Shatter .