29. Chapter 29
Chapter 29
L ightning cracked open the sky overhead as Ven pulled her to her feet.
His face was so clear that for a moment Aurelia wondered if daylight was already upon them, until her eyes rose to the pines above—engulfed in flames that lit up the entire mountainside.
“We need to go,” Ven ordered.
Karro was already helping Tanis to her feet as Valea looked up into the grey pines that were now beacons in the darkened, snow-covered forest.
“Now!” Ven’s voice rang out and they were all sprinting away from the scene. Not only to escape the fire that burned high above them, but whatever it might draw.
Aurelia glanced behind them, stumbling over a root as Ven caught her arm and pulled her along. “Did I—”
Understanding sunk in. The rumble of thunder, the lightning she’d called forth . . .
Somehow her magick had cut through the spell in the in-between.
A flicker of green in the distance was the only warning before the darkened forest filled with shrieking and growling.
Pairs of glowing eyes peered out from the pitch black of night where the light from the fire couldn’t reach.
Ven’s hand was still wrapped around hers as he pulled her in the opposite direction, the others following, but they only made it a few steps before another wall of phosphorescent orbs glowed back at them from every direction.
Aurelia grounded her feet, searching for her lightning. If it had answered her moments ago, maybe there was a chance it would respond to her again.
Heat crackled and simmered along her veins, smothered just as quickly.
The sounds drew closer as the first of the demons emerged into the firelight, its leathery hide black against the freshly fallen snow. Its head was angular, walking on three stilt-like legs. Large fangs dripped venom, burning a trail through the snow as it prowled closer to where the five of them huddled.
Karro unsheathed Flamecleaver with a rasp of metal as Valea swung the bow from around her shoulder, nocking a ravenstone tipped arrow in a single graceful movement. Ven stepped in front of Aurelia as the demons crept closer, removing the curved blade at his hip.
Green eyes glowed brightly as the demon lunged.
Ven swung his sword, a perfect arc that cut deeply into the underbelly of the creature. Black ash rained down on their heads in a suffocating cloud of sulfur. Shrieks resounded through the pines in answer as a line of bodies crawled closer.
Valea loosed an arrow, nocking and firing off one after the other—the air whipping Aurelia’s face as the shafts shot past her. She took down three of them before Karro stepped forward, swinging his heavy blade and slicing through another body.
It was all Aurelia could do to see through the grey haze of ash to make sure that Ven was still beside her. Her blade was heavy in her hand as a drugar shambled forward, and with more instinct than sense, she plunged her dagger into its emaciated ribcage.
“Move to the western edge,” Ven shouted over the din.
An impossible task—but so was trying to stay alive underneath the giant beacon of burning pines above their heads. The demons would continue to flood into this clearing so long as the evidence of her magick was here.
Ven tossed his dagger to Tanis, which seemed to shake the human from her daze as they began to fight their way through the horde.
Claws and teeth met them at every turn. Valea cleared a path ahead, picking off demons as Aurelia and the others sliced through the ones that attacked their flank. They could see the edge of the crowd . . . close enough that if they broke through it, they would only have to outrun the creatures until daybreak.
Only a glimmer of a chance—
A low growl ripped through the forest.
The haze of grey ash had just cleared when Aurelia caught the monstrous shadow in the distance. Dread washed over her as she realized what was coming toward them.
The ground shook as the death hound closed the distance—too fast for them to possibly outrun. Its green eyes tracked her, drenching Aurelia with fresh panic as it cut through the line of demons.
Valea began to nock her arrows with an efficiency that only could have come from centuries of practice, frantically trying to clear their path as the Fengul charged toward them—only to grasp at air as she reached behind her shoulder. Slinging the bow across her back, she pulled the blade from her hip, gripping its hilt.
Karro rolled out of its path, barely dodging its sharp teeth, earning a snarl of rage from the beast.
The demon circled, growling as it prowled closer. Its glowing eyes searched for Aurelia. She knew its task now—the command that the King of the Void had given his death hounds. To track her—not to kill her.
She glanced between Karro and Ven, hoping that they understood as she detached herself from Valea and Tanis, drawing the wolf-like demon away.
Green eyes tracked her slow, measured steps.
Massive claws dug into the frozen ground and the Fengul lunged—
Exploding into a cloud of black ash above her.
Ven hit the ground beside her, hauling her back to her feet as she wiped the soot from her eyes.
They were surrounded, the circle of demons tightening as a hush fell over the forest. Every demon stilled at whatever else stalked amongst them. And a singular sound echoed through the pines, trailing icy claws over her skin. Something heavy dragged across the frozen earth . . .
A silhouette cut through the horde of demons like a blade. Unhurried. Purposeful.
And in the quiet, a voice slithered through the night air.
I offered your lives in exchange for the female once before. I will not be so benevolent again .
A green haze glowed in the distance.
Maloch’s face appeared in the night, hauntingly perfect save for the crude stitches that sewed his mouth shut, eyes luminescent against the glossy ebony of his skin. His powerfully muscled arms ended in black bands inked upon his wrists. And had he not been a prince of the Void, she would have thought them shackles. Beside him, his heavy scythe drug across the ground, clawing at the earth with every step.
And beside the dark shadow of a male, another figure. White against the backdrop of night.