Page 98 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

Torin couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t hear Gideon give up on his life.

“Hey, hey...” He grabbed his brother’s face in his hand. “You do as I say. We are not losing you to a demon blade. A Blacksteel will not die at the hands of a demon blade. Do you hear me?”

Gideon clamped down on his teeth and nodded.

For the first time in years, he allowed himself to comfort his brother. Torin cradled Gideon in his arms and held him there.

“I am here. You are not going anywhere, brother.”

Emara stood back as tears welled up in her eyes. She clasped a hand over her mouth to hold in the emotional outburst she could feel taking over. She watched as Torin leaned over his brother and held him in his arms. In that moment, she could see the unconditional link between them. Gideon and Torin Blacksteel. Fire and Ice. Both bound by blood and love.

There was no oath in the embrace he had given him. Just love.

Her heart burst into a million different pieces at the sight of them together. Not fighting, not arguing, not sparring, but loving each other—an unbreakable bond. Brothers.

“Tor, it hurts so bad!” Gideon’s back arched and he gritted his teeth. But Torin was there to hold him down. He was the only one strong enough to do so.

“Help him, please, Rhea,” Breighly begged. “Please heal him.”

Her beautiful face was devoured by emotion. She, too, looked like something out of a nightmare, with blood splattered all up her face. Emara noticed that she was wounded, but she wouldn’t let anyone touch her until they helped Gideon. She genuinely cared about him—and she let herself selfishly wonder how much she cared for him. How deeply she cared.

“The demon magic from the blade is acting as a poison in his blood, Rhea. We need to act quickly before it spreads,” Torin demanded.

“I cannot remove the blade until we have burned the leaves from the white oak tree, which are burning right now. Before I apply them to the wound, they must turn to ash.” Rhea held Torin’s stare. “If I pull the blade out without the ash of the leaves, he will die. The wound will never heal. He will bleed out and the poison will spread all over his body.” Her words turned Torin’s face into a ghastly white colour. “Help me get him to the infirmary.”

Torin nodded and Breighly followed, ensuring she helped with lifting his body correctly.

Although Rhea was small, she was clearly respected within the Tower and it was clear throughout that she was to be listened to. Torin lifted the middle part of Gideon’s torso into the air and he screamed in reaction to the movement. Breighly winced, but took charge of his legs, to help Torin guide his body through the Tower. Rhea took his head in her delicate hands and led the way.

Passing by, Gideon’s eyes locked onto Emara’s. She removed the hands from her mouth and took a step forward.

“You waited for me!”

“Of-course I did,” she managed in a whisper.

His mouth parted to say something else, but before he could, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and closed.

“Gideon!” Emara screamed.

A sob broke from her, but he was no longer conscious to hear it.

A burning flame engulfed Gideon’s body, flicking its way across every cell. He could no longer speak. He could no longer hear the world around him. He could no longer feel the demon blade that had struck him, and it was now only a matter of time…

Being hit by a demon blade was something that very rarely happened to Hunters, as demon blades were uncommon in this world. He had read about the blades that were forged in the fires of the underworld in his studies in the Selection. It was something every Hunter had to study. They needed to know every demon and every weapon that could end their lives to be proactive in their hunt.

A demon blade was lethal to any species that had the light Gods’ blood running in their veins.

While in the clearing, he had looked the Demon Knight in the eye as he hurled the blade towards his heart. Luckily, he had dove to the side, but he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the blade completely, and it drove straight into his upper arm. It was a message from their King about what was to come.

The pain of the blade entering his skin had been like nothing he had ever experienced before. As he fell to the ground in utter agony, he had heard eruptions around him. Knowing Torin, he would never have walked away from that fight. Only Torin could knock Gideon down, no one else. And whoever did didn’t live to see another day.

As the anarchy of another fight broke loose, he had been lifted off the ground by the wolves and carried back to the wagon. However, he must have blacked out with the pain, as when he awoke Breighly and the pack had carried him into the foyer. The last thing he remembered was her face.

Emara Clearwater stood in the foyer, watching him die.

Just after that his mind had gone numb and he was no longer in that world, but in a dimension full of demons that were feasting on his flesh.

Or so he thought.

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