Page 150 of Soul Forge

A loud bang woke Elda and Sypher with a jolt when the door swung open and bounced off the wall. Reiner barged through, the look on her face promising violence.

“What the fuck is going on?” Sypher growled, his wing curling around Elda to shield her bare skin from their uninvited guest.

She was too focussed on Reiner’s eyes. “Rukya? Is someone hurt?” she asked.

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “It’s Lillian.”

“What has she done now?” Sypher groaned.

“She’sgone.”

Sypher landed heavily in the clearing, dropping to his knees and pressing his palms against the dirt the second Elda was off his back. Nox landed beside them, her legs folding beneath her. Even Atlas faltered when his hooves hit the dirt. Their chests heaved, none of them able to move for several minutes.

“You’re going to kill yourselves like this,” Julian muttered, detaching himself from the saddle and crouching down to stroke Nox’s quivering nose. Reiner dropped from the saddle and massaged Atlas’ wings.

“I can’t imagine the others are faring much better on their horses,” she remarked. “At this pace, half of us will be useless by the time we reach Rift.”

“What choice… do we have?” Sypher panted from the ground.

“Let the idiot wielder die and save ourselves,” Julian grumbled immediately.

“They wouldn’t… kill her,” the Soul Forge answered between breaths. “They’dcorrupther. They want… her portals.”

“If we don’t stop her before she reaches Rift, another powerful wielder and her Spirit could be turned against us,” Elda agreed.“Either that or they keep her captive like Arden. We have to go get her.”

“How exactly do you propose we catch up to her without killing ourselves?” The vampire ran his hands through his sandy hair, casting a worried glance down at his mount. “You’reexhausted.” He gestured to Sypher’s prone body before turning on Elda. “You’re powerful but inexperienced, we needtenof Reiner, and I’m just an ordinary fucking vampire. We don’t even have safety in numbers right now.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Reiner muttered.

“We need speed,” Elda said quietly, taking his hands to try and calm him. “The others will catch up to us. If we can’t get to Lillian before she enters Rift, we retreat to Eden, regroup, and come up with a new plan of attack.”

“And if she’s portalled from here straight to the desert?” Julian countered.

“She can’t,” Sypher muttered, sitting up to lean against Nox’s massive side. He’d started to look better in the villa after a few hours of rest, but now he was pale again, a light sheen of sweat coating his forehead. Nox craned her neck round to lay her head in his lap.

“Why can’t she?” Elda asked.

“Her portals have limits. The trick is designed for battle, not long distance.” The Soul Forge leaned his head back against Nox, closing his eyes. His chest no longer heaved so much that it hindered his speaking, but his hands trembled when he stroked the tulpar demon’s cheek. “If she’d listened when we were bonded, she could have been able to by now, but she didn’t. She’ll need to create a huge number of portals to get all the way to Rift. That will tire her the same way flight tires us and running tires a horse.”

“She’s several hours ahead of us,” Julian pointed out.

“We can close the gap,” Sypher insisted. “We can reach her before she crosses the mountains.”

“And the others?” Elda asked softly.

“Will only be needed if we fail to catch her,” he answered. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

Reiner frowned. “Why are we so sure she’ll be Corrupted?”

“It’s a possibility,” Sypher replied. “She’s already unhappy. She’s proven that she’s happy to take what she wants. She’s more likely than the rest of the wielders to turn her back on us.” His brow furrowed. “And if she doesn’t, she’s alone, exhausted, and she still has those mountains to contend with. If the climb doesn’t kill her, the Corrupted will capture her.”

“Which still leaves us at a huge disadvantage,” Reiner grumbled.

“Exactly. We can’t let her get to them.”

“I’m going to hunt,” Julian muttered. “You at least need to eat.” He stalked away from them, drawing his knife.

The ex-captain cast a glance between the two of them. “I’m going to find some fresh water for Nox and Atlas. They need to drink before the next leg or they’ll both collapse.”

---