Page 123 of Soul Forge

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Then don’t let go of my hand,” she begged impulsively, ignoring her instincts and listening instead to her heart. “Let me be there with you; let me see what you see. Lean on me, Sypher.”

He took a deep, deep breath, letting it out slowly before nodding. Elda watched him remove his other glove and slip it into his pocket, taking one of her hands in his. They knelt beside his bones together, and Sypher pressed the palm of his hand to his own dismembered skull.

An angel with raven wings bent to place a tender kiss on the forehead of a little girl. She beamed up at him, her eyes the same fiery red as his, dancing with life and laughter. He lifted her above his head, drawing a giggle from her when he tossed her into the air and caught her again. Her wings were the same silky black as his, though here and there, downy silver tufts flecked them like the feathers of a newborn chick. They were still too small to fly with, tucked close to her body and twitching with excitement.

“Daddy, do it again!” she squealed in angelic, flashing a gap-toothed grin. Sypher chuckled at his daughter and settled her on his shoulders instead, wandering leisurely down a street illuminated by sunlight. The air was warm and balmy, scented by the towering trees lining the paths. Gold details in the mosaic floors lit up like jewels as they walked, refracting sunbeams across the white moonstone.

All around them was life - bustling, teeming, vibrantlife. Angels flew back and forth, sauntered between buildings, hurried in and out of shops. Many of them stopped to greet Sypher and his child as they made their way to the park in the centre of the city. The youngster smiled and waved at all of them, bubbling with excitement until she was bouncing around on her father’s shoulders, her tiny wings fluttering madly.

“Calm yourself, Ana. If you keep wriggling, I’ll drop you,” he chuckled, shaking chestnut hair out of his eyes and squeezing her little hands.

“I want to see the fish!” Ana announced.

“You can see them soon, sweetheart. We’re almost–”

BOOM.

Sypher’s sentence was lost in the throbbing thunder of a distant explosion, the mountain vibrating beneath his feet. A deafening silence followed, all heads turning towards the gated city entrance. He took Ana down from his shoulders, watching smoke begin to curl towards the skies at the edge of the city.

The unexpected roar of a wraith pierced the quiet, echoing across the city so loudly that it seemed worse than the explosion. A hundred more cries answered, and a tidal wave of black burst from the archway, rising up above buildings and laying waste to anything they came into contact with.

“Daddy?” Ana asked uncertainly, fear making her voice waver.

“It’s alright, Anaita. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” He swept her up into his arms and ran, bounding back to their house in search of his sister. He chose not to fly, afraid that it might get the attention of the demons as they began painting the streets with angel blood.

“Sypher!” A young brunette with the same dark wings called out to him when he burst through his front door, leaping up from her seat. She was a teenager, her face still rounded with youth. “What’s happening?”

“Wraiths,” he replied, setting Ana down on the sofa.

“Here? How?” the teenager gasped, one hand flying to her mouth.

“Someone must have let them in. I have to go out there and help, Eris. The Seraphs are the only ones with weapons.” He shot Eris a pleading look. “Keep Ana safe. I’m counting on you to protect her.”

“Be careful, brother. Come back to us alive.”

“I’ll do my best. I love you both.” He kissed his daughter on the forehead once more, breathing in the flowery scent of her chestnut ringlets, then folded his sister into a tight hug.

The girls watched as he called on his dazzling silver armour with a wave of his hand and shouldered open the front door, his sword appearing in his grasp the moment his foot touched the tiles outside. He leapt into the air, scanning for the other soldiers he knew would be mobilising with just as much urgency.

The wraiths were a writhing black cloud at the far end of the city, swirling and churning around a winged figure at their centre. They seemed to flock to it, baying and cawing as they circled their commander. Sypher set himself on a course straight for their master.

Armour glinted in the sunlight as the rest of the Seraphs engaged with the wraiths, hacking and slashing their powerfulweapons in an effort to stem the overwhelming tide of demons. When one beast was cut down, three more replaced it, each one more ferocious than the last. Sypher dodged and rolled and sliced through every bird that snapped at him, focussed only on the one controlling them.

He barked orders at his soldiers, watching them form up from the corner of his eye, each one attacking with deadly precision, but one by one, they began to fall beneath the swarm. The sheer numbers were overwhelming, and all around him, the screams of the dying played in a chilling soundtrack.

He saw a child running in the streets and cursed, veering off course and angling downwards to try and save them. He was an inch away from grasping the boy’s reaching hand when a shadowy beak pierced through his small torso. The child’s eyes were wide and frightened, a startled gasp escaping him before the life left him, and his body was tossed aside like a rag doll.

Sypher howled and hacked the creature to ribbons, screaming curses at the beasts and throwing rage into every swing of his sword. Magic pulsed from his hands, waves of fire and air tearing the feathered beasts to pieces, water pouring down their throats and drowning them while chunks of rock and moonstone shattered, peppering them with shrapnel.

It was futile. The only way to stem the tide of demons was to cut off the head of the snake. Sypher let out one more burst of flame, then turned his attention back to their master. He shot back into the sky, snarling when he found the figure was no longer floating safely amid its cocoon of demons.Sypher followed the path of the flying creatures, cutting more down as he flew with them to their master. He found his target at the centre of the city, hovering over Lake Morra.

The enemy sported wings feathered in ebony, matching the tresses of long, raven hair flowing past his shoulders. Sypher almost fell from the sky when his own brother turned andsmiled, teeth sharpened, his once-green eyes turned blacker than sin.

“Malakai!” he roared. “What are you doing?! This is our home!”

“Your home, perhaps,” Malakai shrugged, taking in the death and destruction with undiluted rapture. “Not mine. Not anymore.”

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