Page 10 of The Immortal Covenant

“Desolate,” Malorg suggested.

Sarilian grinned. He brushed his fingers against the leaves of a nearby tree, marveling at the wavering hues beneath his fingertips. “I wouldn’t gothatfar. We Celestials prefer a little stability. But it certainly isn’t so busy.” His gaze returned to Malorg, drawn to him as if by some magnetic force. A scar stretched down the Infernal’s left cheek, and Sarilian had to resist the urge to touch it. “How did you come by that scar?”

He might’ve missed the way Malorg tensed had they not still been standing so close. “A parting memento from a void god.” The Infernal chuckled at Sarilian’s startled expression. “Don’t worry—I made sure it wouldn’t forget me either.”

Avoid god? Darius had mentioned them in passing—elite servants of the Void more powerful than even void lords, only a step or two below the Empty Ones themselves. Yet, he’d never heard of a void god breaching the Immortal Realm. That scar, more than anything, drove home the sheer breadth of years Malorg had spent upholding the Covenant.

Malorg’s brows rose, his stormy eyes dancing with wry amusement. “What, no follow-up? I thought for sure that would pique your interest.”

“Are you kidding? Ofcourse,it did!” A hundred questions flitted through Sarilian’s mind.What was it like? How did you defeat it? When did you clash?He settled on the one that mattered most to him in that moment, his expression sobering as he met Malorg’s slate-gray eyes with his own golden gaze. “Does it hurt?”

Malorg froze, appearing caught off-guard. Something flitted over his face too quickly for Sarilian to parse. The Infernal glanced away, staring into the Dusklands’ deep shadows. “Sometimes.” His fingers hovered above his cheek until he caught himself and lowered his hand with a scowl. “My duskflame couldn’t fully counteract the Void’s taint.”

Again, Sarilian fought the urge to trace the faint line with his fingertips. “I can attempt to heal it if you like. I’m no master mender, but perhaps in the Dawnlands my dawnflame would be enough to accomplish what your duskflame alone could not.”

For a moment, Malorg’s expression softened, the perpetual storm in his eyes calming. Then, he scoffed and turned away. “A generous offer, but an unnecessary one. The scar serves as a reminder of how hard I fought—and how pointless it was in the end.”

“Fighting for what’s right isneverpointless. We sacrifice ourselves so that the Mortal Realm can survive.”

Malorg chuckled, but this time was different than the last, any joy stripped away and replaced by bitterness.“Sacrifice—such a Celestial ideal. As though our suffering is noble and therefore just. As though we aren’t throwing our lives away to delay the inevitable.”

“Sacrifice might not be a Dusk Virtue, but this war isallof ours.” Sarilian thought of Faeris’ casual insult and the others’ laughter, determination straightening his back and squaring his shoulders. “Celestial, Infernal, it doesn’t matter. It is everyone’s duty to fight.”

“Why?”

The question gave Sarilian pause. “To protect the Mortal Realm,” he said at last.

Malorg gave another bitter chuckle that set Sarilian’s teeth on edge. “Sure, that’s what we’re told—uphold the Covenant by fending off the Void. Butwhy?Tell me, Celestial, what has the Mortal Realm ever done to deserve my protection?”

“My name isSarilian.”Malorg shrugged as though it didn’t matter, and Sarilian forced a deep breath before continuing. “And it’s not a question of who deserves what. We chose this life when we pledged our mortal souls to the Covenant.”

Malorg’s amused face stood in sharp contrast to the anguish in his eyes. “Did we?”

Sarilian frowned. The abrupt shift in topic left him reeling, feeling like he stood on uncertain footing. “Of course, we did. That’s why our souls came to the Immortal Realm instead of passing on to the Great Beyond like everyone else’s.”

“There are myriad ways a soul can end up here.” A shadowy dagger appeared in Malorg’s grip. With practiced ease, he made it dance between his fingers. “Perhaps I once believed in the Covenant enough to pledge my soul. Perhaps I was even eager to serve.”

In a sudden flurry of motion, he hurled the dagger at the nearest tree. It careened into the trunk and hung there, embedded deep in the shifting gray bark. “Or perhaps I desired power and cared little at the cost. Perhaps I struck a bargain with an Infernal soul collector, trading my servitude for a boon. Perhaps a warlock ripped my soul from my flesh against my will. Or perhaps I simply made a mistake—one I could never take back.”

With each new possibility, Malorg conjured and loosed another blade until a half-dozen bristled in the tree trunk. He spun toward Sarilian, his face contorted in a grimace. “With ourmortal memories stripped from us, there’s no way to know for certain. But the harsher truth is thatit doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter why I’m here—what reason, noble or misguided, led me on this path—because either way, I’m trapped, same as you. And since the Void can never be beaten, our only choices are to die now or die later.”

Malorg bowed his head, his voice becoming a barely audible whisper. “Perhaps it is for the best if the Void wins and consumes us all. At least then, this endless cycle will be broken.”

Merciful Light.Sarilian struggled to sort through his conflicted emotions at the deluge Malorg had unleashed on him. While he was glad to have breached the Infernal’s walls, what he’d found underneath was no less distressing.

He’s lost hope, he thought, watching Malorg recompose himself.And without it, he sees no path forward.There had to be a way to help, like Malorg had aided him against those voidspawn. Malorg deserved better than to waste away beneath centuries of regret.

An idea flickered at the corners of Sarilian’s mind, impossibly bold. “There’s another way to break the cycle,” he said, watching closely for Malorg’s reaction. “We win.”

Triumph gripped Sarilian when Malorg looked up sharply, his wide eyes boring into Sarilian’s like he wanted desperately to believe. Then, his lips narrowed to a thin line.

“Impossible,” he said, shaking his head. “The Void is eternal. No matter what we do, it will always return. Even that void god I killed is still out there, reconstituting itself to invade again. We can’t defeat it.”

“Maybe not.” Sarilian held out his hand. “But we shouldn’t have been able to combine our magics the way we did, either. Perhaps together, we’ll find a way to do the impossible.”

Malorg stared at Sarilian’s hand like it was a voidspawn poised to attack. Sarilian held his breath, praying he hadn’tmiscalculated. Relief warmed his skin when Malorg gripped his proffered hand even as the physical contact sent a chill racing through him. Whether anything came of his brash promise was irrelevant. The important thing was that he’d given Malorg something new to hold onto.

They locked gazes, Sarilian caught in the eddies of Malorg’s tempestuous eyes.I could drown in those stormy depths,he thought dazedly.And remain content even as I sank beneath the waves.

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