Chapter 10 #2
Arielle moved away from me and pressed both palms flat against the cracked stone, then she started chanting a spell. It was the same one she’d used to free me from the Soulwraith’s grasp, but she seemed to be amplifying it with more power.
I watched, wishing I could do more than just watch.
Her chant rose again, louder this time, more desperate. "Lumiere… tundas… luminas. Luminas!"
White fire erupted from her hands once more, but instead of wrapping around us, it pulsed outward, flowing under our shield in waves across the ground.
Light raced through the cracks like lightning through a spider's web, flowing in brilliant streams toward the shadow creature.
The moment it touched the monster's base, the thing let out a shriek.
The shadow shuddered, its edges flickering like a dying flame. For the first time since the fight began, it couldn't reform when Bastian's blade carved through it. Smoke dissipated instead of flowing back together, and suddenly, the creature was solid, real, vulnerable.
"Now!" Alaric roared.
Three blades struck as one, and the monster shattered into ash that scattered in the winds.
Silence fell like a heavy blanket, broken only by our ragged breathing.
The creature's remains drifted around us, indistinguishable from the endless ash that coated this realm.
For a moment, the oppressive pressure that had been crushing my chest eased, like a giant fist had loosened its grip just enough to let me draw a full breath.
But the relief was short-lived.
Ahead of us, the darker smudges began to peel themselves from the gray, more shapes moving with that same deliberate, hungry purpose. There were dozens of them. They flowed toward us through the ash with predatory grace, their forms shifting and solidifying as they closed the distance.
"More are coming!" Garrick called out, wiping shadow residue from his blade.
Arielle straightened, helping me to my feet. The moment I stood, the protective shield faded.
"We fight with light," she called to the Bloodsworn, her voice carrying an authority that made them all snap to attention. "It's the only thing that can touch them properly."
She pointed toward the distant gray where I'd sensed Wolfe. "Elariya said Wolfe’s over there."
“I have an idea,” Bastian said.
He ran his hand over his sword, then light, like luminescent starlight, beamed from it. It shone around us in a protective sphere of energy.
The approaching Soulwraiths let out mind-numbing shrieks, and the pressure began to build once more, heavier than before.
“Stay behind me,” Bastian ordered, then he moved, sword raised, light sheathing us.
He unleashed his wings and soared up into the ashen sky.
Garrick grabbed Arielle, unfurling his wings, too. She secured her arms around him as he scooped her up, and into the air they went.
Alaric took me, slipping an arm around my waist. “Hold on to me and do not let go.”
I did as I was told, holding on to him for dear life.
Massive wings expanded from his back, and up we went to join the others.
We cut through the gray sky, Bastian's light blazing ahead of us, carving a path through the oppressive darkness.
From this height, I could see the true scope of what was coming.
Soulwraiths rose from every crevice in the earth below, flowing together like a dark tide.
They moved with terrifying coordination, their forms stretching and reaching upward as if they could pull us from the sky through sheer will.
I forced myself to look ahead, scanning the endless gray as we flew.
Through the chaos, I searched for any sign of Wolfe.
Swirling ash and twisted spires of black shadows surrounded us. Below was nothing but darkness and chasms that seemed to breathe with malevolent life, and then...
The locator spell pulled at my chest like a fishhook, growing stronger with each beat of Alaric's wings.
My heart stopped.
There, in a clearing ahead of us, surrounded by jagged obsidian pillars, was a figure suspended motionless just above the ground.
Even from this distance, even through the haze of ash and shadow, I knew that silhouette, knew the way dark hair fell across the shoulders that it was Wolfe.
And, Gods, a huge sword protruded from his chest like an obscene monument, its blade gleaming with unnatural light against the gray.
It was him.
Blessed Mother, we found him. We actually found him.
But he wasn't alone. The faces of the dead pressed close around him. Hundreds of ghostly features twisted with hunger and malice.
They circled him like vultures, reaching with transparent hands that couldn't quite touch, couldn't quite claim what they so desperately wanted.
"There!" I screamed, my voice raw with desperation. "Down there! It's Wolfe!"
Bastian's wings snapped to the side, banking sharply toward the clearing. His light blazed brighter, cutting through the ash like a beacon.
Garrick and Alaric followed in perfect formation, their powerful wingbeats driving us through the oppressive air with desperate speed.
The pull inside my chest became a burning ache the closer we got.
We dove through the sky like falling stars, racing against time.
But the Soulwraiths weren't so content to let us pass.
The growing swarm rose to meet us, their shrieking forms a dark storm encircling us.
Their smoky forms elongated into twisted spears that shot toward us with impossible speed.
"Incoming!" Garrick bellowed.
The first wave hit Bastian's light barrier with a sound like thunder.
Alaric's grip on me tightened as we lurched in the air. More Soulwraiths surged upward, their hungry forms blotting out what little gray light filtered through this realm's perpetual twilight.
"The barrier won't hold!" Bastian called back.
"Split formation," Alaric commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos with military precision.
"Garrick, cover me,” Bastian shouted. “We hold the swarm. Alaric, get them to Wolfe."
Garrick released Arielle and fell into position beside Bastian while Arielle floated down on a cloud of light.
Garrick and Bastian drove straight into the heart of the Soulwraith storm. Light erupted from both their blades as they carved into the mass.
Alaric's grip on me tightened as his flight path straightened into a controlled dive toward the clearing below where Wolfe was.
Before we landed, Arielle called out a protective ward that sent her magic wrapping around us like a second skin, then we joined her on the ground.
The Soulwraiths slammed against Arielle’s barrier with soundless fury, their forms rippling like oil on water, but I could already see hairline fractures spreading across the protective dome.
Alaric set me down. My eyes were on Wolfe the instant my feet touch the ground.
I couldn’t see his face. His hulking form was slumped at an unnatural angle as if hung from strings. His shirtless torso was covered in slashes and black bruises, and blood had pooled beneath his body, seeping into the ground.
The sword in his chest was…
Gods, being this close made my lungs lock. The sword was rooted in his chest, its blade pulsing with a sickly light.
The hilt rippled like living tissue. Veins of corruption spread from the entry wound in black lines that crawled across Wolfe’s skin like parasitic roots.
And that wasn’t even the worst thing. His body looked like it was fragmented, forming then reforming in parts.
Blessed Mother, I’d never seen anything like it.
"We need to get that sword out of him." Alaric rushed forward.
The faces of the dead scurried away when he broke through their wispy ring.
He was about to grasp the sword's hilt when Arielle grabbed his arm.
"Stop!" The words tore from her throat. "Don't touch it!"
Alaric’s face paled. “Why? What’s wrong?
"The sword. It’s feeding on him. There’s a spell on it to drain his life force. That’s why he’s fragmenting. If you pull it out, you'll kill him instantly."
Panic flooded my system, and I clutched a hand to my heart. “What are we going to do? We have to get that sword out of him.”
Silence stretched between us, broken only by the relentless crash of Soulwraiths against Arielle's failing barrier and the distant clash of steel as Bastian and Garrick fought the swarm beyond.
Cracks spread wider across the protective dome with each impact, and precious seconds bled away like sand through an hourglass.
Alaric's jaw worked soundlessly as he stared at the cursed blade, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.
Then Arielle's gaze found mine. The piercing stare she gave me was careful and measured and calculating, the look of someone about to deliver news that would tear apart whatever hope I'd managed to cling to and destroy any illusion that this rescue would be simple.
I knew, even before she opened her mouth, that whatever she was going to say would be something I'd fight against.
“You.” Her voice shook.
“What, me?” I pointed at myself.
"If you can slow time… even for a few seconds… you could suspend the sword's magic and stall its power." The words tumbled from her lips.
And I was right. I was going to fight against the idea. “I can’t do that. Me, slow time? Are you serious?”
It was bad enough that I didn’t remember having those powers. But on top of that, it wasn’t as if I’d done hundreds of spells when I discovered them. In my journal I’d recorded the Seer’s council of being able to control time.
But whatever I’d unlocked during my last reset had stayed there.
"Elariya.” Arielle rushed toward me, her hands finding my shoulders, grounding me. “You can do this. I would try, but I don’t have that power. Slowing time is our best chance right now.”
“But I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Listen to me. You can already naturally speed time up without even thinking about it. I just need you to slow time long enough for us to remove the sword safely. That will stall the magic on it. Please."