Page 102 of Soul Forge

“I need you to kick the door in,” she told the tulpar demon. Nox snorted. “Everybody inside should move back!” Elda yelled, hoping the inhabitants could hear her. She gave them several seconds to move, and then she pulled on the reins. Nox reared up, her heavy hooves slamming against the wood. It creaked but didn’t give. She tried again, this time earning a crack. The third go made the whole thing groan, but it stayed in its frame.

Elda glanced up to find the flames already licking their way along the thatching, the shielding rune having sputtered and died. She patted the silken skin on the side of Nox’s neck, leaning closer to speak into her ear.

“One more, Nox. Give it all you’ve got.” The winged horse turned her back to the door and bucked. Elda clung tightly to the saddle, almost unseated when those powerful hind legs smashed through the wood at last.

As soon as the tulpar demon settled back onto all four hooves, the princess hopped down, ducking inside the barn to find twelve villagers huddled in the far corner with cloths over theirnoses and mouths, staring at her. A murmur of “demon” came from one of them, and she realised they must have thought Nox was there to attack them.

“It’s alright, we’re here to help,” Elda tried to reassure them. The villagers huddled further back, staring at her like they thought she was an elaborate trick. The further away they inched, the more likely it was that an arachna would notice the fresh meat in the hall and come running.

Time was running out. The roof was already entirely consumed by fire, the thatch offering the perfect fuel for the blaze eating its way through Riordan. Overhead, thick wooden beams creaked and groaned. The air itself rippled, sweat springing up on her skin in the stifling heat.

Elda’s hands and knees were trembling, her lungs and eyes burning from the smoke. Grit and soot lined her tongue, the crashing of her heartbeat so loud in her ears that she could hear it even over the chaos. Another creak, followed by the popping of distressed wood, shot through the racket. If she didn’t get the people outside, the roof would bury them alive. If she did get them outside, they faced the demons instead.

Nox brayed loudly enough that the princess turned – just in time to watch her rear up and kick at an arachna with her front hooves, caving its head in with her body weight. The dull thwack of the impact made the villagers gasp. The tulpar demon let out a loud hiss and flared her wings, taking two steps forwards with her back to the hall. Elda realised there must be more of them inching forwards outside the doorway. The smoke and heat haze made it too difficult to see how many.

The shifting of the roof overhead terrified the villagers. They started shuffling towards the door, shoving one another forwards in their eagerness to avoid being crushed under the weight of the collapsing hall. Elda lurched forwards, the world moving in slow motion.

Above her, the beams faltered, then split. The molten thatch began to tumble, embers falling like snow. A woman fell, pushed by the people around her, her ankle twisting beneath her. The villagers barged past Elda, forcing their way towards the door, leaving their injured neighbour behind.

The heaviest beam finally detached, the flames having eaten through its core. The woman screamed, and Elda dove, hands outstretched towards the fallen villager. Fear cooled her even in the blistering heat, expanding until it filled her from head to toe. The trembling of her limbs seemed to quiet in the wake of its intensity, and with it came a strange sort of energy. It buzzed in her soul, and Elda realised it wasn’t fear freezing her but magic.Irileth’smagic

She was still moving towards the woman, the beam still tumbling down to crush them both, but the cold was intensifying, slowing the world down around her even further. Mist rose from Elda’s skin, power coursing through her veins.

The princess threw herself protectively over the fallen woman, one hand shooting up to unleash the blizzard in her soul. It exploded from her fingertips, surging towards the fire. A pillar of ice shot upwards, engulfing the beam mid-fall. Hoarfrost swept across the roof, dampening the raging flames in an instant, thickening into a blanket of ice that secured the structure before any more of it could collapse inwards.

Elda stood, helping the woman to her feet, her breath misting in front of her. The chill still coated her insides, swirling around in her chest when she helped the villager hobble over to her neighbours.

“If you sacrifice your friends to save yourself, you’re no better than the monsters you run from,” she told them, ducking under the woman’s arm.

With her free hand, the princess reached for the bow hung over her shoulder, pressing the blue gem and letting the daggerdrop into her palm. She held it ahead of her, the frost from her fingertips snaking out to coat the blade in intricate whorls and patterns.

It was a warning to the arachna. She would fight and die for those who couldn’t defend themselves.Thiswas what she was meant for.

Emerging into the smoke-filled night, the heat hit like a slap in the face after the sudden chill of the ruined hall. Nox snapped her sharp teeth at the semi-circle of five arachna that had chosen her as their next meal. There was a slash in her dark hide where the very first one had caught her off guard in the doorway, but the other demons bore evidence of her retaliation in the form of bite marks and deep, bruised hoofprints littering their bodies.

Further into the square, the others were still fighting, the arachna spilling across the village like a river bursting its banks. Purple energy fried black eyeballs, claws tore holes in pale flesh, an axe took whatever pointed limbs it could reach, and shadows speared through armoured plating as Elda’s companions battled to hold back the tide spilling from the well.

And with Irileth on the other side of the village, there was nobody to help the princess.

“Go,” she said to the villagers, keeping her eyes on the growling spider demons surrounding Nox. “The temple is full, but the far side of the village is safer than here. The Third waits there with the others. Irileth will keep you safe.”

“You’re a wielder,” the injured woman realised. “Thank the Spirits.” She and the rest of the villagers touched their fingers to their foreheads in the traditional sign of gratitude.

“We can save the introductions for later,” she replied. “Take her and run, I’ll follow.”

Two of the men took the woman from Elda, following the group in search of Irileth. The princess took advantage of the ice still tingling in her fingertips, sweeping her hand from leftto right. Magic flared and the ground froze, needle-sharp icicles surging upwards to force the arachna backwards. One of them shrieked, its leg skewered just above the bone sheath.

Elda hoisted herself into the saddle, and Nox kicked off, galloping after the villagers. Putting the dagger away, the elf watched the metal grip reshape around it to complete the bow and turned in her saddle, trusting the tulpar demon to know the way.

She’d never hit a moving target before, nor did she know what would happen when her arrow struck something living, but she had to do something, or the arachna would tear chunks out of them while they fled. The creatures were fast, their eight legs scuttling along the ground and over buildings with practiced ease. The sound of the sharp appendages tapping with every step sent fear trailing its clammy fingers down Elda’s spine.

Nox slowed to a trot behind the running villagers, and the princess took her chance, pulling back the bowstring and releasing it. The demons weren’t expecting the projectile, and Elda grinned when it burst on contact, shattering ice shards across the narrow street and blinding three of them. They fell over one another, shrieking as their heavy bodies smashed through the planks lining the road.

The other two carried on their chase, dodging any more arrows she sent their way. Panic tightened her lungs when they began to gain ground, one of them getting so close that she had to kick it away before it could sink its fangs into Nox’s flank.

She smashed her bow across another gnashing jaw, loosing another arrow before the creature could recover. It struck the arachna in the centre of the chest, bursting through the plated armour and tossing its corpse backwards. It collided with the one she’d kicked, knocking it off its pointed legs and leaving the way behind them clear at last.

The villagers took full advantage of the gained ground, the two men lifting the injured woman and carrying her so they could sprint the last hundred feet to safety without leaving her behind. The front of the group passed the last house and spotted Irileth waiting in the marsh beyond.

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