Page 31 of Soul Forge

“I saidtake the reins!”she yelled. Elda did as she asked, wrapping the leather straps around her wrists just in time for Reiner to swing with her whole body, the spikes of her mace crippling something that zipped past them. All Elda saw was the vague shape of a dark wing and what looked like smoke before it tumbled downwards and disappeared into the driving rain.

Sypher turned sharply when something huge and black made a dive for him. The creature was so massive that it made Atlas falter in the sudden updraft, the movement throwing Elda’s whole body to the side. She scrambled for a grip on his neck when one of her hands came free of the reins, nearly slipping off his back.

“Do not fall!” Reiner yelled through the storm. “I will not be the soldier that dropped the wielder to her death!”

“Easier said than done!” Elda snapped back, pressing herself as tightly to Atlas as she could. Despite her grip on the reins, he didn’t seem deterred. The magic that bound him to his valkyrie flared brightly, trailing from his wings in a lilac blaze. Elda dared to turn her head, catching sight of Reiner illuminated by the same glow. Her veins pulsed with magic, the violet rings in her eyes expanding to take over the whole iris. The wind had loosened her many braids from her bun, and they whipped out behind her in a dark curtain. Energy crackled down her arm and into her weapon, arcing from it in tiny flares like lightning.

Another sudden bank almost unseated Elda. She squeaked and pressed her face back into Atlas’ damp mane, squeezing her eyes shut. The world rocked and tilted wildly, her stomach dipping and rolling in time with the evasive manoeuvres Reiner pushed her mount into.

One of the forks of purple lightning shot from the mace as it swung and caught the princess on her exposed hand. Power seared through her, seizing up every muscle and joint. Her face contorted into a rictus of agony, a silent scream frozen on her lips. She heard the captain curse and heard Sypher yell her name, but there was no air in her lungs to answer.

And when the power faded, she went limp. Her body slipped from the saddle like it had no bones, her eyes wide and staring despite the rain. Elda couldn’t find the sense to be frightened; her mind was silent, emptied out by the sizzling zap of Reiner’s magic.

Strong arms caught her, a familiar flash of red filling her vision. Dark feathers shifted in her periphery. Wings –Sypher’swings. He’d caught her.

“You need to snap out of it, Princess. I know it hurts, but I can’t fight with you in my hands.” His voice held an edge that made her heart start to pound. “Please.”

Every muscle burned, but she managed to move her fingers and then her hands. Her arms followed, then her legs, until she clambered awkwardly onto his back, helped by dark tendrils of his magic, and looped her arms around his neck. His shadows swaddled her immediately, pressing her tightly into the hollow between his beating wings.

His sword was already unsheathed, pointed towards a hulking black shape materialising through the tempest. It was a bird as big as a mountain, its beak filled with razor-sharp fangs. Elda had never seen a bird with teeth before.

That vicious beak parted, and a concussive scream ripped from its throat. A thunderclap rumbled in answer, lightning cracking the sky around the massive beast. The forks revealed dozens of smaller wraiths flocking to help the giant.

“What is that?” she croaked, too hoarse to shout. With her face right next to his ear, he heard her over the rain.

“A Behemoth,” Sypher replied. “I’ve been looking for the little bastard for the last six months.”

“There is nothinglittleaboutthat.”

“It’s not that big.” He drew his sword and hovered in place, assessing its weaknesses. Elda’s arms and legs began to tremble, her muscles still searing with the aftershocks of Reiner’s wayward magic.

“You and I haveverydifferent concepts of big,” she grumbled through gritted teeth.

“If I’d known it was using the thunderstorm as cover, I’d have found and killed it a while ago. This storm system has been here for weeks.”

He spoke without fear, the sharpness in his voice disappearing the moment she was able to clamber onto his back. Elda could feel no tremors running through him at the thought of fighting the beast. If it were her, she’d be quaking in her boots.

The enormous demon circled them slowly, its beady black eyes fixed on Sypher’s beating wings. He waited patiently, one hand keeping Elda’s leg in place, the other holding his wicked black blade.

“Are you sure we should fight like this?” she asked, eyeing Reiner nowstandingin the saddle, wraiths dropping from the sky like falling leaves. Atlas smashed a hoof down on the nearest skull, a flash of amethyst frying the brain inside it until the creature dropped, tumbling away in the downpour. The captain’s muscles flexed to hold her balance, her false leg planted firmly on the flat of the saddle, as much a part of her as the magic flowing through her veins.

The Behemoth lunged, and Sypher twisted, his body falling into a bone-creaking spin when he tucked his wings in to drop beneath the creature, throwing them out a second later and rising to slash at its underbelly. Long talons snatched at Elda, trying to drag her from her perch, but the Soul Forge dipped deftly out of the way. She clung to him for dear life, heart hammering in her throat while he tore a hole in its massive wing. The beast screamed, and lightning flashed in answer. Bright bolts struck it, feeding it energy and closing the hole right back up.

“It can control storms?!” Elda yelped.

“It’s a Behemoth!” he called back like she was supposed to understand what that meant. Could all Behemoth’s control the weather?

Sypher let go of her leg and drew on his magic, sending solid shards of shadow zipping towards the monster. Pierced all over its body, the Behemoth howled in agony, the lightning cutting off abruptly. Several cries answered its distress call in the distance, and Elda’s pounding heart skipped a beat when half of the flock pecking at the captain broke off to attack them. Sypher turnedand squinted through the storm, cursing when he saw them approaching.

“You were meant to distract the little ones while I went for the big monster!” he yelled.

“I’m a littlebusyhere!” Reiner roared back, not pausing in her precarious dance of blood and magic on the back of Atlas’ saddle. “Are you saying you can’t handle them?!”

“I wouldn’t be the Soul Forge if I couldn’t!” Sypher shot back. Rain ran down his face, dripping off his nose and chin in a steady stream. “Sorry, Princess. You have to hold on a while longer.”

Before she could answer, Sypher zipped towards the Behemoth, the wind whipping at them both. The Behemoth screamed and shook out the last of the shadowy spikes in its flesh, cawing at its companions for help. Elda couldn’t look back, but she could hear the beating of many more pairs of wings chasing them.

Something slapped against her and bounced off the tough cloak, hitting hard enough to knock the breath out of her. The only reason she stayed put was Sypher’s magic holding her still. It started as a constant, heavy pressure on her back, giving her no wiggle room and keeping her perfectly still.

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