Page 62 of Soul Forge

Irileth nodded, her brows pulling together. “I was afraid of that. Now I must show you what he will be.” Before the princess could protest, images flashed up on the ice, drawing her gaze in until she was tethered, unable to close her eyes and shut them out.

Black eyes and sharp fangs flashed above feathered wings spread wide. Burning, screaming, death everywhere. The demon that used to be Sypher stood atop the remains of Eden, blood coating its sword and splattered up its wrist. Elda approached it, injured and bleeding, tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. She stepped over the broken bodies of her parents where they lay in the rubble of her home, limping on a wounded ankle. Her mouth opened to plead with the creature wearing his face. It slit her throat the second she got close enough to touch it, coating the debris with her life.

Elda fell backwards, scrambling away from the horrible scene, tears pouring down her cheeks. Bile rose up her throat, and she retched onto the ice. She’d never seen death before, never known the smell of burning flesh or the scream of a dying city. It rang in her ears, the tolling of Eden’s bells a constant buzz in her mind. Irileth stood silently behind her, waiting for her to accept the inevitable.

She wanted to. She wanted the comfort of knowing she had the power to command such a beast, to bend it to her will. Her fear was sharp enough to cut through the rationality and demand sheaccept the lesson. It screamed at her to protect herself, to protect her home and her people from the violent creature concealed inside him.

Sypher is part of my family, Elda. My bloodkin.Julian’s voice floated through her terror, quieting the maelstrom for just a moment.He is important to someone.Lovedby someone.

Someone loved him. He was someone’s family. Hurting him would hurt them, too.

She knew in her soul that this was the moment Julian had told her about. The moment when she had a choice to make that would make or break Sypher. The memory of the vampire’s haunted eyes in their rocky camp reminded her why she had to be shown the images in the first place – the reason she’d wanted to refuse the Compulsion the second she learned what it was.

She sucked in several deep breaths, letting them out through her nose and counting slowly, imagining she was back in her room and trying to handle her claustrophobia. The grinding of the walls, the shifting of brick in her periphery; all of it had been in her mind. This fear was in her mind, too, and she would overcome it. She held in the scream, visualising the grinding walls of her terror expanding outwards, further and further away, until her pulse slowed enough to think.

She remembered the many scars she’d seen on Sypher’s torso in the inn, how he’d flinched at the mere thought of being touched. The shame on his face when he had to say it aloud. His hatred for the wielders made perfect sense, the truth falling into place like the last piece of a puzzle.

They’d all used the Compulsion on him.

Elda didn’t know to what degree, but she was certain it had been unpleasant. If she treated him like everyone else had, enslaving him like they must have, would that be the trigger for the horrible future she’d been shown? Or were the Spirits right? How would she know which path she was supposed to take?

It’s yours and yours alone. You’ll make the right one when the time comes.Reiner. She’d said it with such faith. She trusted Elda to make the right choice for herself. And when she listened to her instincts, they tugged her towards the only option she was ever going to accept, even when the fearful part of her brain recoiled.

“I know what you’re thinking, little friend,” Irileth warned softly. “Is it worth the risk to your home? To your parents?”

What if she set him on that very path by betraying him like everyone else? Would learning the Compulsion be the mistake that set the end of her life into motion? Or would denying it allow the demon soul to run rampant and burn everything she loved? The smell of smoke and blood still lingered in her nostrils, her heart thundering in her ears. If she chose wrongly, Valerus would become a war zone. She was too inexperienced, too young and sheltered, to make such a decision so quickly.

Her palms were pressed against the ice, her body trembling. The glassy surface reflected her frightened expression back at her. The same expression she’d seen on Sypher’s face before he fled. Seeing her own wide eyes and pale skin sent a shock through her, lessening the roaring in her head in an instant.

“It’s worth it,” she whispered, standing on shaking legs. “It’s worth the risk. You might not see what the Spirits and the wielders have done to him. You might not care about how his life has affected him.” Her hands balled into fists.“I do. I won’t add to what he’s already gone through.”

“If he succumbs-”

"I don’t care!" Elda roared, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt such pain at the weight of the horror he must have to carry with him. She wondered if he felt the walls closing in on him when it became too much, if it made him want to tear at his skin until it bled. She knew that feeling.

“Elda–”

“I don’t care what stories you have to tell me!” she yelled. “Have you seen how he is? How much he has to go through just to betouched?Youdid that to him.” She jabbed her finger at Irileth. “You Spirits and your perfect wielders! They are lauded as heroes across Valerus, but not one of them is forced to face the consequences ofenslavinga man! Saving a continent doesn’t excuse the crimes they committed against the soldier you chose to train them!”

“They did as we asked, and it ensured the safety of the continent,” Irileth replied simply. “When we learn of perils in Valerus’ future, we do what we must to protect it.”

“You getother people to protect it.”

“The Spirit bonded to the wielder is right there alongside them,” Irileth argued. “We gift our power. We give the wielders magic they would never be able to control without us. We risk ourselves against war and monsters to ensure the safety of the population, just as the wielders do.”

“And what about the safety of Sypher?” Elda countered. “How can you force him to endure the threat of his free will being ripped away from him with every new wielder? Anybody should be able to see how insane it is to enslave someone out of fear!” She squared her shoulders, lifting her chin when her chest started to feel tight again. “And if the people of Valerus disagree with me, then maybe the whole damn continent deserves to burn. I will find a way to avert what you showed me, and I’ll do itwithoutthe Compulsion. Let me leave this place.Now.”

Irileth stared at her for several long, heavy seconds, her expression unreadable. After a moment, she nodded. “So be it,” she murmured and waved a hand, casting Elda out of her realm and back into the body still standing in Gira’s garden.

“You’re back!” the shifter gasped when she staggered backwards into Reiner’s waiting arms. “You’ve been in Irileth’s realm all day. What happened?”

Elda looked up to see the sky was dark. Her throat was parched, and her legs ached from standing for hours. Even so, she straightened to stand on her own two feet, looking around for the only person who was important in that moment.

“Where’s Sypher?” she croaked.

“Right here,” the Soul Forge said from behind her. She turned to face him, the apprehension in his eyes tearing a new hole in her chest. It was clear to her that he was waiting for her to test her newfound control over him.

“I will never do what they did to you,” she choked out instead. “Sypher, I saw it. I saw what she had to show me. I know what they think you’re capable of.” His expression hardened, but she continued, taking the knife from her hip and tearing off her bracer. Reiner jerked like she wanted to intervene but visibly forced herself to stay back, putting a hand on Gira’s arm to stop him from interfering as well.

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