Chapter 27
“I have gathered what Drakari and Drengr remain. The Peaks burn, but we have beaten the wraiths back. I make for Luxterra. Hold fast, brother. I await your orders with your falcon.”
Celestial War Correspondence of Lord Fafnir of the SkyForge Peaks, Steward of Rage to King Illias, Ruler of the Celestial Court, King of Astradeon
ASTRAIA HELD HER brEATH AS she watched the wraiths glide through the village, spreading their unnatural fires, consuming every living thing in sight.
The wraiths kicked over wagons, upending anything that could be a hiding space.
The ravaging made her stomach turn, praying to the Stars that innocent blood had not been spilled.
Orion’s ears flattened, sensing evil was close at hand. She patted his neck, shushing him as they waited behind the trees.
Caelan narrowed his eyes at the wraiths, then gestured for Astraia to follow him. He turned his horse around, walking it back several paces down the road, away from the looming threat. The men followed behind them, their faces stoic, but fear hung in the air.
Stopping beside the riverbank, Caelan faced the Empyrean and Astraia.
He straightened in the saddle, head held high.
“We are here to scout, nothing more. Taurus, you will send word to the village we passed to evacuate to Volpes. Get everyone out.” Caelan nodded at the Empyrean Guard with skin as dark as the starless skies and eyes as deep as the oceans.
Taurus nodded, then took off in a gallop, his horse’s hooves kicking up dirt as he flew.
“Rados, Nax, head south, then come around from the east. Give the village a wide birth so as not to draw attention to yourselves. I want to know which direction they go so we can track them. If they head east, follow and send a falcon with your report.” Caelan’s voice was firm, commanding, but Astraia could see the slight tick in his jaw.
He was struggling with sending his men into danger, into hellfire itself.
“Keyser, you hold this position, and if the wraiths begin heading down this road, you will retreat and join Taurus to get the villagers out and report back to Volpes.”
Keyser nodded, his dark eyes fixed on Caelan as he placed his right hand over his heart, then to the sky, honoring Caelan and the Stars. “Yes, sir.”
“Traia, you and I will scout from the south. There is a higher hill in the trees we can use for cover and a vantage point.” He kicked his horse forward, moving down the road away from the wraiths.
She nudged Orion to do the same, nodding once at Keyser as she passed by him.
Several minutes down the road, Caelan veered his horse south, blazing a new path through the trees.
Avoiding branches and undergrowth, they made their way south before heading east once more.
The terrain shifted to a steady incline until they were high above the river.
Ahead, an outcropping of stone jutted out from the trees, overlooking the village roughly a quarter of a league away.
Caelan halted just inside the trees, dismounting. Crouching low to the ground, he edged his way out of the trees then lay flat on his stomach on the stone cliff.
Astraia followed suit, making sure Orion was tied to a branch before she crept to the edge, lying down next to him. From this elevation, they were well out of sight but could still watch the wraiths as they slunk through the village.
There were six in total, black and ominous shadows with broadswords strapped to their backs and glowing red eyes. The smell of smoke lingered in the air, even high above the decimation.
Astraia shuddered at the memory of ash coating her throat and otherworldly strength bearing down on her from the wraith she battled. Squeezing her eyes shut, she willed the memory to fade and refocused on the scene below.
The wraiths had burned every scrap of wood.
Only the cinders remained. One wraith in the center of the wreckage bellowed at the others, the unnatural guttural noise reverberating off the rocks and echoing far enough to be heard where they hid.
Astraia fought the urge to cover her ears, to mute the demon tongue.
The other wraiths stopped moving, snapping their attention to the wraith who spoke, then moved in tandem toward the eastern edge of the village.
“That one is a leader of some kind. Maybe a commander or general?” Astraia whispered, keeping her eyes fixed on the demons.
Caelan nodded, gesturing toward the far east side of what remained of the village, near a stone archway that now crumbled.
Astraia’s eyes drifted to where he was pointing, and her heart stopped. Partially obscured by the stone archway, a massive cloud of dark shadows grouped together. At first, it looked like another building smoldering in the dirt, but the longer she looked, the more defined the shadows became.
Blackness took shape, and glowing red eyes broke through.
The wraiths marched over to the shadows, and they parted, molding into terrifying new beasts.
Nostrils flared, hooves stomped on the ground, and an eerie ear-piercing shriek split the air.
It was not until the wraiths mounted the beasts that their true form was revealed.
Skeletal steeds with ebony skin stretched taut over bones, giving the appearance of a mummified horse.
Only the creatures were enormous, almost twice a man’s height.
The head was exposed bone, with deep sockets where eyes should be.
Now, only vivid red light pulsed in the holes.
There was no nose, only bone fragments and teeth like fangs.
Ghostly black shadows danced from the neck, creating a mane, and strung out behind the creature as a tail.
They were gruesome, vile, not of this realm.
“What are they?” Astraia croaked, fear inching its way into her subconscious.
“Nyrekh. Demon stallions. I came across them in old texts about the wraiths. They were once horses, massive stallions of the Celestial Wastes, but Dominion corrupted them for his stewards. They are neither living nor dead.” Caelan narrowed his eyes, staring down at the creatures.
“This is how they’ve been moving so quickly. ”
Once mounted, the wraiths beckoned their demon stallions onward, heading west toward the village that was now hopefully evacuated thanks to Taurus.
As the wraith’s hooves struck the ground, red sparks danced from the impact, mimicking the fiery steps of their masters.
Shrieking in unison, the Nyrekh galloped along the dirt road, leaving ruination in their wake.
Astraia and Caelan watched as they left, making sure they were out of sight before shimmying backward from the cliff edge and reclaiming their horses.
“We should be on the move. We cannot lose them. If we have any chance of besting them, we need more knowledge of where they’re going and from where they came.
” Caelan grabbed a canteen from his saddlebag, taking a long drink before pouring some over his face.
His dark hair glistened as the sun’s rays beamed down on his wet locks.
Shaking the water off, he sighed, rubbing his face.
“You do not carry this burden alone, Caelan. Remember that.” Astraia placed a hand on his arm, squeezing and giving him a half smile.
He nodded but remained silent. His jaw was clenched, shoulders tense, as though he carried the weight of the realm. Virellia was the crowning jewel of Astradeon. But if they did not act, it would soon be nothing but a pile of soot and ash.
Resolve washed over Astraia as she mounted Orion. Her back straightened, head held high as she and Caelan descended toward the demolished village. She would not allow the people of Virellia to suffer. Despite the bounty on her head, she would act.
Leaves crunched as the horses wove in and out of the trees, trying to avoid the main road the wraiths now traveled.
There was no other sound in the forest except their horses marching onward.
The eerie quietness unsettled her. The birds had ceased to sing.
The wind no longer blew. Yet the smell of smoke intensified.
Astraia tensed, absently reaching for her bow and nocking an arrow. A warm flash spread from her spine to her hands, her bonds awakening—a warning. Orion’s ears flattened, and his gait slowed to a stop.
Caelan looked back at her, puzzled, then his face paled, eyes wide with panic. Slowly, she turned her head to look over her left shoulder.
Black shadow cloaked the woods, embers flecking the forest floor. Red eyes, hungry for flesh, peered back at them from the black smoke.
A pair of wraiths riding demon stallions appeared from the blackness, not forty paces away. One of the wraiths opened its mouth, spewing smoke and demonic language.
With a high-pitched shriek, the wraiths galloped toward them.
“Astraia, run!”