Chapter 3 Noble Causes
NOBLE CAUSES
THAREN
Tharen slashed his way through a tapestry that had fallen from the hooks on the walls, blocking his way. His blade cut through it like butter, the icy blue ends drifting to the watery ground.
The castle was flooding.
The water had seeped through the cracks of the throne room doors, filling the halls. The shaking was random, with cracks in the stone walls that webbed up to the ceilings, splintering out every so often when the wind grew too violent.
"Which wing are Ina and Osa in?" Bastian asked from behind him, slogging through the water.
Graves, in raven form, flew overhead near the slowly slanting ceilings as they made their way down into the servants’ quarters. His amulet had been stored in his pocket, and the male had wasted no time fitting it back around his neck and shifting as soon as Luella had gotten out.
The demon barreled ahead, lifting fallen chunks of stone with ease and throwing them out of the way, clearing the path.
A large piece crashed against the wall as Azgorath threw it without care.
"Fuck, careful, beast. You want this place to come down quicker?" Tharen warned.
The demon merely looked back with fury in his eyes. None of them were taking this well—any of it. Like a nightmare since her wings had emerged in the Temples…
"Sorry if I want to get out of here before we drown—or get crushed." Azgorath punctuated his words by lifting another chunk of fallen stone and throwing it out of the way, but Tharen noted he was a bit more careful this time.
The sloping floors diverged, and Tharen jerked his head to the right, toward Ina and Osa’s room. The water rose, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted them to be here or hoped they had already fled.
He tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. The icy water now reached his thighs. "Azgorath."
Tharen stepped back, and Azgorath lifted a foot, slamming it against the door.
Once, twice.
It rattled, water sloshing around them. And finally, it gave in. Water rushed inside as soon as the door was opened.
Tharen hurried in, relief making his shoulders sag as he found Ina and Osa huddled on the floor together.
Ina’s eyes were wide in fear as she clung to Osa, and even the fiery maid seemed scared.
"Master Tharen, you’re here." Osa disentangled herself from Ina, tugging the smaller maid up with a hand on her shoulder.
"Get up. No time to gather your things. We have to get out. Now." Tharen’s words were clipped.
Osa nodded, and she and Ina both followed after him, steps slow from the way the water dragged them down. Bastian helped them, wrapping an arm around both females as he urged them on.
"Where is Ori?" Osa asked, fear creeping into her words.
The sound of cracking stone echoed. Tharen glanced up at the ceiling; it was growing.
"The stables. He’s safe and waiting for you."
They had gotten to Ori first, finding the impish youngling huddled in the stables, consoling the skittish horses. Dyara, Lya, and Akira were with him. Tharen’s wolves were smart; they did not need to be told where to go and what to do.
They just had one more stop to make, but Tharen could do it alone.
"Bastian, take Ina and Osa outside to the stables with Graves. We don’t know how long we have left before the whole castle falls." Tharen sucked in a harsh breath. "The demon and I will go to the library. I still have a sprite to save."
The noble cause of being a savior was the only thing making Tharen want to work with the demon. He may need his strength.
At his words, Graves shifted, descending in a swirl of drifting feathers and swaths of fabric. "I will make sure they get there safely," he said.
Tharen held Graves’s eyes. He knew the male yearned to be with their Vincire more than anything right now, knowing what she was going through…
"Hurry, Tharen," Bastian urged. "Don’t get caught up in rescuing more lost things."
The vampire knew him too well. There was nothing Tharen loved more than saving broken things.
"No promises." The Prima gave a wicked half-smirk.
Then, they split up.
It was dangerous, but they had no other options. The maids needed to be safe, outside the crumbling castle. And Tharen needed a sprite… and a book.
Alone with Azgorath, Tharen started to help the demon clear their path.
The halls were utterly deserted. Water lapped against the stone walls, ruining the tapestries and ice sculptures. So much beauty, lost to waste.
But Luella felt they deserved this.
Maybe they did.
The doors to the library were closed.
"Kick it down. It won’t be easy," Tharen said. "The room’s enchanted to protect the books."
Azgorath nodded, cracking his knuckles as he lowered his head, horns jutting out. Then, he charged.
The demon rammed against the doors with such brute force that Tharen felt shockwaves ripple through his body and the surrounding water.
The doors did not budge.
Tharen stood by the demon’s side, kicking against them with his foot under the water. Magic wouldn’t break the enchantments.
He couldn’t give up.
Nyxila was in there. And the Compendium he had stolen back from Luella was hidden once more. He needed that book.
"Again." Tharen reared back, poised to strike along with the demon. Their blows were out of sync, Tharen landing moments later than Azgorath.
"Fuck, Prima!" Azgorath yelled, tendons in his neck straining as he pushed against the door. "Stop fighting it. We have to work together. For Lu."
Tharen gritted his teeth. "Go again."
Azgorath stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. "Together. At the same time. Maybe we can break it."
"I said, again!" Tharen hissed, tone laced with frost, just as shards of ice crackled up his fingertips to his forearms. It would do no good against the enchantments. He should know; he put them there. "Together," the mage added, when Azgorath did not remove his hand.
The demon stepped back, nodding once. Again, they charged.
They hit the doors at the exact same moment, the demon’s brute force, combined with Tharen’s warrior build—and the doors cracked.
Again. The cracks grew.
The walls shook, sediment falling around them from more than just the force of their blows.
Her storm was building.
They charged, rushing through the water, and fell straight onto the dry library floor with a heavy thump.
Tharen groaned, his arm caught under the demon’s hulking size. "Get off me, beast." He pushed at Azgorath, who rolled off of him with a hiss.
Tharen pushed himself up to a stand, scanning the darkened library. Outside the glass dome above, there was nothing but thick, raging clouds. Rain fell in sheets against the enchanted glass, slicing down the rounded dome and falling off the side of the castle.
"Will it hold?" Azgorath followed his stare to the glass dome.
"Yes," said Tharen—he hoped. "You know where Nyxila resides?" At the demon’s nod, Tharen continued, "Then go get her. I have something else to pick up before we leave. Hurry."
The demon gave a jerky nod, and he was off, rushing to the dark maze of shelves that the sprite loved to call home.
Tharen shivered from the way his wet clothes stuck to him as he jogged to the falls set into the wall.
The rushing water fell in a perfect loop into the thin pool wrapping around the circumference of the library floor.
He reached straight through the stream of water.
The mellow temperature warmed him slightly as he pressed his flattened palm to the stone behind it.
Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to slip partially into the Spirit realm. It was disconcerting, having every part of his body normal, save his arm.
His palm phased through the stone wall, and his phantom fingers grasped weakly at the small leather-bound book. With effort, he pulled his hand back through the wall, allowing his Spirit mage to dissipate as his arm returned to normal.
A cloud-like bubble crafted with his Aer magic protected the book as he pulled it through the water.
In Tharen’s hands, the purple leather cover of the book, no title etched onto the pristine cover. But he knew what it was.
Compendium of Fates.
He sighed.
Noise from behind him made him jolt, hurriedly stuffing the book into his cloak. He kept a small bubble of air wrapped around it, just in case. It was supposed to be protected against harm, but he did not want to take any chances.
Tharen turned away from the small trickling stream of water just at the right moment, catching the demon’s eyes as he barreled through to the center of the library.
Fluttering around his shoulders in waves of green and dark brown, Nyxila.
When the tiny sprite saw Tharen, she squealed, speeding toward him. The sprite hit his chest in a small flurry of leaves and happy sounds.
"Master Tharen! You’re here for me. You saved me again. Thank you so, so much!"
Tharen raised his hands by his side, unused to such overt displays of gratitude.
Azgorath grumbled lowly.
"Yes"—Tharen cleared his throat—"you’re welcome, Nyxila."
Torrents of rain fell upon the glass dome overhead, and the sprite jumped, flitting over to the demon and tucking herself atop his mop of unruly, dark brown curls.
Leaves drifted around Nyxila as she shivered. "Are we going to die?"
"No," Azgorath said gently, "we’re here to rescue you."
The sprite patted Azgorath’s head. "Thank you, Az." She gasped. "Did you rescue Lu, too? I don’t want her to die, even though she lied to me. I forgive her."
Something in Tharen’s chest cracked at the mention of death and Lu in the same sentence.
The demon seemed well-equipped to handle the impish creature. "We got her out. Lu’s far away and safe. Now, it’s your turn. We need you to help us with this, Nyx. We’re going to leave the library. It will be wet and scary out there, but no matter what, I need you to stay on me. Can you do that?"
The demon spoke to Nyxila while she sat atop his head, yet he stared at Tharen. His voice was calm and soothing.
Tharen watched as the corners of the sprite’s mouth turned down in fear. She rarely left the library, but had never left the castle—not since Tharen had rescued her and given her a home here.
Her tiny wings fluttered behind her as she gave a firm, small nod. "Yes, I can do that. I promise."
Tharen started for the doors, knowing Azgorath would be following.
"Good. Stay quiet, Nyxila. I’ll—we’ll make sure you’re safe." Tharen corrected himself at the last moment. She needed to trust the demon just as much as Tharen, if she wanted to survive.
Then, he pushed open the doors.