Chapter 85 – Azaria
AZARIA
Elias and I had barely stepped inside the palace gates after our morning sparring session when a runner nearly collided with us.
“Captain Sylvenhart—High Lord Tywin requests your presence in the war room immediately.”
I nodded. “I’ll go now.” The runner took off, and Elias turned to me.
“That doesn’t sound good,” he said.
“No, it doesn’t,” I agreed. “Go back to the wing, let everyone know to get ready for immediate dispatch.” Elias nodded and disappeared, and I made my way toward the council wing, where Tywin’s favored war room was located.
He was already inside when I entered; so were Veshar and Rylen, the other two squad captains. Tywin didn’t waste time.
“Captain Serah and Captain Torik are not in Tempest, but urgent dispatches have been sent out,” Tywin began. “Torven Kaelor has left Dravareth and crossed back into Kareth. He’s been seen with a Dravareth unit attacking villages, spreading the rot. There are casualties.”
“Fucking bastard,” Veshar muttered.
“How many?” Rylen asked.
“Multiple entry points across the wards. Each unit has at least four soldiers—some more. We’ve identified and tracked three, but with Torven somehow managing to expand the fissures in the wards, there will be more,” Tywin replied.
“I’ll get my people ready,” Veshar announced. “I’ll also send for the portal mages to move supplies where they can, but I’m not wasting spatial casters in an active combat zone.”
“I’ll send a unit as well,” Rylen added.
“Give us the coordinates, High Lord,” I said. “We’re ready to leave immediately.”
Tywin regarded me warily. “He’s after you, Azaria, as well as your squad. I would prefer to keep my most accomplished team from breaking.”
“That’s precisely why I need to go, Tywin. You can’t expect me to sit still while he sends his men to slaughter innocents,” I ground out. “I’ll lure him out.”
“He’s an Abyss wielder now, Azaria,” Rylen warned. “He’s not a simple mage anymore.”
“Kalias is immune, and Quin can push the rot out,” I countered. “We’re the best option you have if you want any chance of stopping him, and you know it.”
Tywin did not like that at all. I knew this was Torven trying to lure me out, to kill me once and for all—anyone could see it. It was dangerous and reckless, but that didn’t mean I’d sit in the palace twiddling my thumbs while the bastard spread carnage. I would bring him down—even if it killed me.
“We’re going.” I rose to my feet. “Send me the locations and we’ll stop them.”
Tywin finally relented. “Very well.” He turned to the others. “Send out your men immediately. You’ll be given details in the next ten minutes.”
I didn’t waste time. I sent a runner to the stables, requesting our horses be saddled and readied, then made my way back to the wing. When I opened the door to the common room, they were all waiting, eyes already on me, ready for news.
“Torven is back in Kareth,” I announced as I crossed the room. “He’s opened multiple fissures across the wards, sending his men through. They’re attacking villages, killing innocents. Torven can now wield the Abyss. He’s spreading the rot along the way.”
“What are the orders?” Reyna asked.
I didn’t hesitate. “We’re going after Torven.”
“He’s doing this to lure you out,” Kael said, voice flat. “You want to walk right into his trap?”
“If that means I get to kill him, then yes,” I replied. “Gear up. We leave in thirty minutes.”
Kael muttered under his breath as he pushed away from the wall. “One day, Tywin could spare us a portal mage instead of sending us galloping across half the kingdom.”
Reyna gave him a look. “Portal mages are rare, non-combat, and directly under Tywin’s command. He’s not wasting one on field deployment.”
“I know,” Kael grumbled. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Kael looked like he wanted to argue more, but he stood and left with the others. I knew it was a trap. But arguing about it would waste time. The bastard had to be stopped.
Quin stayed behind as everyone else filed out to prepare. He crossed the room to me, voice low. “Stay with me and Kalias at all costs. Do not break out on your own, Azaria.”
“I won’t. We need to do this together. We can’t afford to split into smaller groups this time. We don’t know what kind of magic or tools they might have with them,” I said, stepping into his embrace. He lowered his head to kiss me.
“I will not let anything happen to you. I promise,” he whispered against my lips, pressing his forehead to mine.
“I know,” I whispered back. “Let’s get this done.”
He nodded, kissing me again. “Right behind you, Captain.”
A palace runner arrived not long after, carrying details of all the fissures, enemy sightings, and the trail of rot. I studied the report and picked the most obvious target—clearest path, freshest evidence.
Our horses were already saddled and ready. I swung myself onto Karion’s back and gave the black gelding a steadying pat on the neck.
“Let’s not waste time,” I called out, squeezing my legs, and Karion cantered out of the palace stables.
We rode hard. The midday sun was nearly at its peak by the time we reached the outskirts of the village. I could smell the rot from miles away. I slowed to a walk, scanning the horizon.
“We’re close,” I said. Kalias, running beside us in wolf form, growled his agreement.
“The ground is sick,” Thorne rumbled from atop his war beast.
“Come on,” I said, pushing my gelding into a steady canter. A short while later, we arrived. The stench of Abyss and rot was so foul I nearly doubled over.
“Don’t come any closer,” I warned the team. “Kalias, can you investigate?” I called to the wolf.
He padded silently toward the desolated area while the rest of us dismounted.
I stroked my gelding’s shoulder as we waited for the shifter to return.
Time dragged, the silence broken only by the horses shifting their weight and the distant creak of dead wood.
When Kalias finally loped back, I didn’t need words to know what he’d found.
All dead, his voice echoed in my mind, heavy with grief.
I took a shuddering breath.
I smell him. He was here, Kalias said suddenly. My eyes snapped to his.
“Torven?” I asked.
An affirmative huff. He must have picked up Torven’s scent while he was healing me, fixing the spell.
“Can you track him?” I pressed.
Yes.
“Lead the way. But stay away from the rot. If it touches us, we’re done.”
We all mounted up and followed Kalias into the blighted wilds.
The trail was thick and fresh. Kalias ran confidently ahead, nose to the ground until it began to fade. He slowed, sniffed the air, and stopped completely. His hackles rose, a low growl rumbling in his chest.
“He’s lost the scent,” I said softly. I glanced around. We were standing in a decent clearing, a patch of grass circled by boulders. “We’ll leave the horses here. This could make a good camp if we need it.”
I dismounted as steadily as I could; the others following suit. We tied off the reins and checked our gear. There was something… different in the air. Every instinct in me screamed to stay alert.
“Everyone, stay close. Nobody wanders off.”
We moved on foot, Kalias prowling ahead, Quin steady at my side. The world was too quiet. Not even the birds made a sound. Every rustle of leaves felt too loud. Every shadow felt wrong.
Suddenly, I caught something strange—burned metal, sharp like vinegar, with a sickly sweet edge beneath. Kalias froze, head snapping up. He smelled it too.
Quin’s hand brushed my arm, but I barely registered it, my mind fixed on the strange aroma drifting through the air.
“Something’s wrong,” I whispered. “Do you feel?—“
A flicker of movement ahead. I shifted my weight instinctively and stepped left to get a better angle. Not even a full step, just a careless swipe of my foot.
I reached for Quin on instinct, but my hand grasped only empty air. One moment I was next to him; the next I was somewhere else entirely. I froze, senses straining to assess my new surroundings.
The strange smell was gone. In fact, I couldn’t smell anything at all. No sound either. The air itself seemed to shimmer, warping around me.
The trees surrounding me were twisted, dark, and wrong somehow. A concealment spell seemed to be layered over everything. At least, that was how it felt.
I’d only read about these in books—faerie tricks, designed to trap larger animals or confuse prey. I had no idea Dravareth could pull this off.
A dimensional magic trap. In Kareth. And I’d walked right into it.
“Shit.”
The blow came without warning.
A hard kick slammed into my gut, below the ribs, and all the air tore out of my lungs in a violent rush. I folded forward with a helpless gasp, vision flashing white as pain detonated through my abdomen. I tried to inhale. Nothing happened. My body refused.
I staggered, hands clawing uselessly at the air as my lungs burned, my head swimming. A wave of nausea rolled through me, my legs buckling as the world tilted sideways. Then something grabbed my hair. My head snapped back?—
—and slammed into the tree behind me.
The impact exploded behind my eyes. Light fractured. Sound vanished. I felt something tear at my scalp, hot and wet, before my knees gave out completely. I hit the ground hard, palms scraping dirt and stone, the taste of iron flooding my mouth.
Blood.
Gods—so much blood.
My ears rang, high and shrill, drowning out everything else. I blinked, tried to focus, but the world refused to settle. Shapes swam. Shadows doubled.
A boot caught my side, knocking the breath from me again. Pain bloomed along my ribs, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t get enough air to scream anyway.
Another kick landed, then another, not precise or careful: just punishment.
I curled instinctively, arms wrapping around my middle, but my body felt slow, heavy, unresponsive. My head throbbed violently, every heartbeat pounding behind my eyes.
Warmth trickled down my face. My vision narrowed. I tried to push up.
Failed.
My limbs wouldn’t listen. My thoughts slipped, disjointed, fading in and out like a bad dream. The ringing in my ears deepened, drowning the world in static.
Stay awake.
You have to?—
My cheek pressed into the dirt. My fingers twitched weakly, scraping uselessly at the ground.
Darkness crept in from the edges of my vision. I was still breathing, barely, but I could feel it slipping.
The last thing I registered was the distant sound of my own pulse before the world finally went black.