Page 119 of Soul Forge

She was going to die. Stars burst in front of her eyes, the edges beginning to dim. She’d failed. It was over.

Through her fading hearing, Elda picked up Vel’s roar. Somewhere in her disjointed thoughts, she felt guilty for leaving him. For failing him and Sypher. She’d promised him that she’d succeed. She’d promised Reiner she’d be a better ruler than her parents. There was so much she still had to do, tolearn, and none of it mattered. Cynthia was going to snuff her out like a candle, and she was too stunned to even struggle.

A dark shape moved in the last of Elda’s fading vision, and the pressure at her throat released, air rushing into her starving lungs. She rolled onto her hands and knees, coughing and spluttering. Her throat burned, and there was blood on the ground where her head had struck it, but she wasalive.

She turned to find Vel, freed from the death magic and dragging the witch backwards by her hair. He was incandescent, the shadows thrashing and coiling with his rage. Darkness wrapped around his fist as it swung, the blow landing like a cannonball. Cynthia dropped like a lead weight, and the demon soul leapt on her. Again and again, he punched. The witch barely kept his sharpened teeth from tearing out her throat, but shecould do nothing to stop the knuckles bruising her face when the demon tried to beat her to death.

A yell from Reiner caught Elda’s attention, though her head spun when she turned. The large wraith was still fighting, and its talons had the ex-captain gripped around the middle. It tossed her at Gira, the pair crashing to the ground, and slapped Julian in the face with its massive wing. He staggered back, and another sweep of that wing flung him at the others, landing in a tangle of limbs with a groan. Its sharp beak stabbed at Nox and Atlas, forcing them to gallop away from its reach.

Seizing its chance, the wraith spread its wings and soared across the cavern. Its long talons sunk into Vel’s shoulder and tore him from its rider. He roared and swung his fist, the darkness sharpening as it arced from his fingers. Bone and flesh parted when the blackened blade lopped off the foot that kept him captive. Vel hit the ground in a roll, and the wraith wailed its agony but kept moving, picking up Cynthia’s bleeding body in its remaining talons and retreating from the mountain with a bone-shaking cry.

Elda watched their enemy disappear through the opening, her heart beating hard enough to rattle her ribs. Her whole body shook, her lips trembling with the shock of almost losing her life. Around her, the others were all still alive and moving. She waited for more demons to pour in through the opening, but none came.

“Shut that fucking door,” Vel commanded through gritted teeth, pressing a hand to his bleeding shoulder. Reiner nodded and limped away, Gira on her heels, and the pair forced them shut. The relief was short-lived when Elda realised they were shut in with whatever death had fed Cynthia’s power.

The demon soul dropped to his knees beside Elda and took her face in his hands, turning it gently. She could feel her cheek beginning to swell, there was blood in her mouth, and herbody was throbbing. Seeing him alive, knowing she was alive, her walls crumbled. Tears poured down her cheeks, shivers wracking her body.

“It’ll be alright, Varro,” he promised, taking off his glove and laying a warm palm against her neck. “I’m here.”

She whimpered when his magic reached her, sweeping through her and cooling the fire that raged in her throat. Her bruises receded, blossoming on Vel’s skin when her pain transferred to him. His entire throat was covered with handprints that had already turned a deep purple, and there was another shadow over his cheekbone.

“You should have healed yourself f-first,” she stammered, casting her eyes down to the slash on his thigh.

“No,” he answered simply.

“How does she have fireandpoison, Vel? How am I supposed to beat that?”

He sat on the ground beside her, stretching his wounded leg out in front of him. “She doesn’t have two powers. The one she has is warped.” She watched his brow furrow. “The Corrupted both had warped magic from the beginning,” he explained. “It happens sometimes. I’m not sure why.”

“What does that mean?”

“Every magical ability is modelled on the Spirits and their powers,” he explained. “All of the things that are magic about Valerus are variations and offshoots of the abilities the Spirits possess, gifted to us in weaker forms. Abraxos uses solamancy, or light magic, but because it’s warped, it only manifests in the form of lightning.”

“So is Cynthia’s warped fire?”

“Exactly,” he nodded. “She has an elemental Spirit, but when the gift was transferred to her, something changed it into what she used today.” He swallowed. “And that something is a poisonous fire that can kill on contact.”

Elda’s stomach flipped. “She cut you three times and burned you!”

“She’s cut me far more than that in my lifetime,” he muttered. “The worst it does is slow me down and make me sick. I’ll be fine once I’ve worked it out of my system.” He cocked his head, studying her. “She almost killed you, Varro.”

“You told me to stay put.”

“I did.”

“I didn’t stay put.”

“No, you didn’t.” He sighed, shaking his head. “But part of being a wielder is the instinct to protect. Yours is strong. You should hold onto it.”

She swallowed, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. “I will,” she promised, blinking them away and looking down at her knees.

“Elda.” The sound of her name on the demon soul’s lips made her look up, and she found him smiling faintly. The expression was the gentlest she’d seen on him, and the butterflies that filled her chest did so despite what had just happened to her. “You did well.”

The fresh tears spilled, and he patted her on the shoulder, rising to his feet to approach the red stream running through the cavern. She heard him retch, realising the poison must have finally made him sick. When he returned, his bruises had begun to fade.

Elda accepted the hand he offered, rising unsteadily to approach the others. They were bruised and bloodied, but nobody was seriously wounded. Both steeds were unharmed, hovering protectively by their respective riders. When Reiner met her gaze, Elda threw herself at the valkyrie.

They didn’t hug. They weren’t emotional towards one another, but seeing Reiner in the claws of the wraith changed something in Elda so profoundly that she embraced her. The ex-captainfroze, and then her arms came slowly around the princess, one hand patting her on the back.

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