Chapter 32
Light appeared at my fingertips, and Fen’s shadows were already snaking towards the Wraiths.
“What are Wraiths doing outside the Dungeon?” Titus asked as he ran up to us. “The altar is how they get to the World of the Living.”
Marcus joined us a second later, and I saw Bea and Daphne appear behind the commotion at the Dungeon’s entrance with a bunch of Judge trainees.
Fen’s shadows reached the Wraiths just as they dropped the Tempters they were holding, having drained them.
Two of them blurred and disappeared, but he caught the third.
Black ribbons wrapped around it, pinning its arms to its sides.
It gave a high-pitched shriek and the shadows around it dissolved, like they’d been sucked into the Wraith’s body.
My eyes went wide and Fen jerked back.
It raced towards us. My hands flew up out of instinct, and a bolt of light shot towards them. They stopped and ducked to the side, cringing away from the fiery arrow which hit the wall inches from a white-faced Tempter.
I needed to get a grip. No more throwing light around unless I had a clear shot.
“Since when are Wraiths immune to your shadows?” Titus asked.
Fen shook his head, and then something clicked in my mind.
“These aren’t normal Wraiths,” I said. “This is a trial.”
The Wraith disappeared in a blur, and pandemonium reigned, with Tempters running every which way trying to escape but not knowing where was safe. None of the Wraiths had reappeared, which meant they could be anywhere in the castle by now.
“The second trial. You’re sure?” Fen asked, his voice tight.
“Yes.” Trust what is. “I have to destroy them.” My breath got stuck in my throat. I had to force myself to inhale.
“Even if they were normal Wraiths, you’d be the only one with the power to destroy them.
” The bitterness in Fen’s voice would have made me flinch if worry weren’t tangled with shame in our bond.
He was used to being the powerful one, but since this was my trial, his power had been rendered useless.
It was the only explanation. “You’ll have to lay hands on them to shred them. ”
“Why? I can destroy things without touching them.”
“Souls are different. They’re meant to survive, so they’re more resilient. To channel the intent to destroy, you have to touch them.”
Heaviness settled in my chest. I’d practiced destroying things but always from a distance.
Trying to lay hands on a fast-moving target that drank people dry was not something I was prepared for.
There wasn’t room for doubt, but doubt was all I had.
Could I do this? I was painfully conscious of my power limits. Would I run out? Gods.
Tempters and Judge trainees mingled around us with fearful looks on their faces, as if close to us was the safest place they could be.
“How can we help?” Daphne asked as she and Bea jogged up.
“Don’t bother telling us to leave,” Bea said, pointing at me, her tone harder than I’d ever heard it. “We don’t have the time for that fight. Tell us what to do.”
Much as I wanted to object, she was right. There were three Wraiths and they could be anywhere. I needed help. I looked at Fen and Titus. “Where do we start?”
“Our shadow shields are useless,” Titus said. “Can you conjure us shields of light?”
“Weapons, too,” Fen said. “If they’re made of your light, they should be able to do some damage.”
I nodded, the pressure in my chest easing.
The light shields were quick and easy to conjure.
Creating the swords took a little more effort, honing the edges to make them sharp enough to cut.
I created a dagger for Bea when I saw her eye them uneasily.
It took a fair amount of power to imbue them with my light and keep them burning.
I’d learned to gauge how much there was left to draw from Fen; it drained at a faster rate than I was used to, but it was necessary.
I couldn’t do this alone. We needed to end this quickly, so no one else got hurt.
“How do we find them?” I asked, passing the last sword to Daphne. “What should our strategy be?”
Screams rose again as the three Wraiths reappeared, one on each side of us and one at the top of the stairs.
“Well, that makes it easier,” Marcus said.
“Get as many people out of here as you can,” Titus said. “Then we need to contain the Wraiths and round them up so you can destroy them.”
The Wraiths moved, grabbing at people in the crowd, and we scattered, diving into the fray.
“Take cover,” Titus shouted to the Tempters in our midst as he ran at the Wraith to our right. “Any room with a door.”
Daphne got there before him, swinging her sword, forcing the Wraith to duck to the side.
She raised her shield to block its claws and then pivoted to strike at it again while Titus ran to join her.
The two of them moved to surround the Wraith, but it jumped into the air, flipping before landing so it faced both of them.
They launched into a flurry of strikes and parries, moving around each other in what almost looked like a dance.
Tempters scattered, taking Titus’s advice. Small groups crowded into whatever rooms they could find and slammed the doors. The sound of locks being turned or bolted and heavy things being shoved against wood echoed down the hall.
On the other side of the stairs, I conjured ropes, wrapping them around Judge trainees and pulling them out of harm’s way while Marcus swiped at a Wraith with his sword, hitting its arm and forcing it to drop the trainee in its grasp.
The Wraith jumped back with a hiss, the cut on its arm smoking, and Bea dashed past gathering people.
“Run.”
The two of us herded trainees towards the bridge to our left. Death would hear about this, but I didn’t care. Better they escape unharmed.
The Wraith escaped Marcus, grabbing for me, but light surged through my limbs, making it cringe back.
Changing tactics, it turned and surged after the people running for the bridge.
Light-stepping ahead of it, I conjured an army of small birds and sent them swarming at it.
They hurled their bodies at the Wraith, pecking, flapping and scratching, forcing it to stop and throw up its arms to defend itself.
A male trainee nearby froze, their eyes wide with horror. As one of the flock winged over their head, he dropped into a crouch, covered his head, and started screaming. Bea ran past, hauling him to his feet and dragging him towards me and the bridge.
Conjuring a rope, I wrapped it around them and pulled, sending them flying through the air as Marcus plunged his sword into the swarm of birds.
With a shriek, the Wraith burst out of the cloud of angry wings and raced towards us.
A split second after Bea and the trainee landed next to me, I summoned a wall of light in front of me, stopping the Wraith in its tracks.
It hissed at me for a second and then started to blur away.
I summoned a second wall behind Marcus, hemming the two of them in. Thwarted in its escape, it flew at Marcus who received the blow on his shield and immediately parried, dropping into a steady rhythm without missing a beat.
“Let me in,” Bea said, as the trainee raced across the bridge towards Death’s castle.
“I don’t think—”
“Marcus needs help. Let me in and you go check on the Devil.” The use of Fen’s title startled me. I’d ceased to think of him that way. She was right. I could see Titus and Daphne battling their Wraith, but I didn’t know where Fen was.
“Fine.” Grabbing her arm, I light-stepped us past the barrier. “Be careful.”
She didn’t answer, already running towards Marcus and his Wraith.
I collapsed the two light walls, hemming them into a dome of light, cast a similar one around Titus, Daphne, and their Wraith, and then used my bond with Fen to light-step to him.
He was two thirds of the way up the stairs, fighting the last Wraith.
I’d never seen him fight before, and it took my breath away.
His movements were precise and measured, moving smoothly from strike to shield in a rhythm that seemed as natural as breathing.
He worked to get above it, so he could drive it towards the others, but it refused to be turned.
Instead, it moved backwards, pulling Fen up the stairs rather than down.
I could feel his well of power draining the more I used it and the longer things dragged on.
It was already a third gone. Looking down at Titus and Daphne, I watched them dance around their opponent.
They held their ground, but they hadn’t made any progress in getting past its defenses.
It held them off with ease. We needed something to turn the tide.
If we could contain all of them, force them into smaller quarters where they didn’t have as much room to maneuver, we might be able to gain an advantage.
Turning back to the stairs, I conjured a brick wall at the top, cutting off the Wraith as it danced backwards.
Fen seized the opportunity to thrust his sword into the chest of the Wraith who blurred around him, striking him from behind.
I winced as claws shredded leather, but Fen didn’t seem fazed.
He swung around, knocking the Wraith’s arm with his shield and swinging his sword around to strike at it again.
I watched them exchange blows for a few moments, looking for an opening to step in and help. They moved so quickly, by the time I identified one it had already closed. With no fight training, I was afraid of getting in the way. I needed to find a different way to help drive the Wraiths together.
Looking down at the steps beneath my feet, I realized I didn’t need to drive them anywhere. I sent an image to Fen through our bond, pushing it with an insistence I hoped he’d feel.
His eyes flicked to me as he fought, giving me the smallest nod. Then he leapt into the air, shadows streaming from him.