Page 151 of Soul Forge

She let go of her Pegasus and started walking, pausing at the edge of the trees to frown at Elda. The princess knew it was a warning.Do not leave without me.She waited, her glare sinking into Elda’s bones until she turned and strode away.

“Nox is slower than me,” the Soul Forge murmured when Reiner was out of earshot. “She’s also a lot easier to kill.”

“You’re not seriously suggesting we leave them behind?” Elda asked incredulously. “Youjustfed three vampires. You’ve barely slept or eaten. And Reiner willmurderme for leaving her.”

“I ate the food you brought me yesterday.”

“And before that, when was the last time you ate a proper meal?” She set her hands on her hips. “If we leave, Julian will throttle you.”

“It’s my job to keep people alive, El.”

“Not at the expense of yourself!” She knelt down and took his face in her hands. “Eat, rest. We can pick it up again as soon as you feel able.” Her eyes dropped to the bite wounds at his throat, almost healed but still there. “You’re going to burn yourself out before we get there at this rate.”

“If I don’t reach her before she gets to the mountains, she’slost, El.”

“Why? The Corrupted will be in the desert beyond. Even if she gets over the mountain, there’s still hope of reaching her before she finds them.”

“Those mountains are surrounded by strange magic,” Sypher murmured. “They’re run through with tunnels and crevices – caves that once a person enters, they might never leave. It’s easy to get turned around or to hallucinate and fall to your death. I’m fairly convinced there are demons living in them.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“When Nova fell, a lot of vampires fled to the border to try and survive. Hundreds, in fact. They never made it beyond that. I destroyed the city and the roadways and decimated the population, but those mountains finished the job.” He got slowly to his feet and rolled his shoulders, stretching his wings out with a groan.

“You can barely lift them.” Elda put a hand on his chest. “What use are you if you get to Rift and you can’t stand? Please, stay long enough to eat,” she implored.

“Fine, but I’m telling them we’re leaving them behind.”

“They won’t like it.”

“They won’t have a choice.” Sypher set about making a fire, and Elda immediately made him stop, taking the sticks from his hands. He arched an eyebrow but didn’t protest. “They’re only with us now because they could still keep up.”

“You don’t think they’ll be able to continue?”

“Look at them.” He gestured to the tulpar demon still panting on the ground and Atlas with his drooping wings and lowered nose. “If Nox kept pace with me, it’d kill her. She knows that. Atlas isn’t doing much better.”

“I disagree with this, you know. Wholeheartedly. Going alone is stupid,” Elda insisted, folding her arms across her chest. “This is exactly what you told Lillian not to do, and now you want to do the same.”

“Going as a group increases the risk of the Corrupted increasing their ranks. Lillian’s portals in their hands would be a disaster. And even if she makes it past the mountains and doesn’t switch sides, she can’t take them on alone. She’d be captured, possibly killed.” Sypher ran a hand through his pale hair. “I don’t want to leave them, maite. Wearestronger together, but we’re slower too. If we lose Lillian, the balance will shift. We’ll be outmatched.”

Elda chewed her lip, torn between staying with the others, and agreeing to Sypher’s plan. She didn’t want to go alone. The Corrupted terrified her. Both of them had almost killed her – she’d had to be rescued at the last second. They were more experienced, stronger, and more bloodthirsty than she was. They didn’t hesitate to go for the killing blow like she had. Going up against them in her current state, barely trained with an exhausted Soul Forge, was madness.

But he wasright. If Lillian turned against them, there would be three powerful Corrupted with access to an army of demons. Sypher would only have one experienced wielder and one novice left, and the outlook for a battle like that was bleak at best.

Even if Lillian didn’t turn, they’d capture her, possibly even kill her. The mountains might even kill her before the Corrupted could. If there really were demons hiding in them, she’d be going up against them without backup.

The choices threatened to split her in two, but when she looked into Sypher’s eyes, she knew what was needed. It felt like a betrayal – Reiner had been her protector for as long as she remembered. That final look from her before she went to find water was burned into Elda’s mind, guilt twisting her stomach into knots.

But she nodded. “Fine. But youmusteat first.”

“I will,” he promised. Elda nodded, encouraging him to sit back down and conserve his strength, worry gnawing at her gut. The dark circles under his eyes were heavy, another reminder that he was far from ready to make the journey. When he tipped his head back against Nox’s dark hide, it took no time at all for him to crash into sleep.

Julian and Reiner eventually returned with a wild boar carcass and a full waterskin each, carrying them to the small fire Elda had constructed. The vampire skinned the beast in silence for a while, glancing over at the Soul Forge where he dozed against Nox’s side. The ex-captain scowled at them from beside Atlas.

“We know what you’re planning,” Julian muttered, turning the meat to make sure it cooked evenly. “Nox can’t travel yet.” His silver eyes shifted to stare at Sypher. “He’s going to eat and run, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Elda nodded. Julian’s brow furrowed, and Reiner shook her head in disgust. “We can’t let her reach the mountains. Sypher says she’s as good as dead if she reaches them.”

“He’s not wrong.” The vampire sighed, silver eyes reflecting the flames. “Hundreds of my people got lost in their bowels, never to be seen again. Clover thinks there are demons hiding in the caves and that they fed on the vampires who tried to escape through them.”

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