Page 12 of The Immortal Covenant

Malorg rolled his eyes and pressed his palm to Sarilian’s neck. Or at least, he tried to. Sarilian shifted at the last instant, accidentally knocking Malorg’s arm so that his hand ended up on Sarilian’s cheek instead.

Malorg froze as heat seared his fingers, almost enough to burn. Sarilian swallowed. The motion flexed the soft flesh beneath Malorg’s hand.

“You, uh, going to finish casting that spell?” Sarilian asked, his voice huskier than usual.

“Oh. Yes.” Malorg allowed duskflame to leak into Sarilian as he had before. Once he’d imbued the last of the magic, he went to remove his hand, then hesitated.

Almost against his will, he allowed his lingering fingertips to lightly brush Sarilian’s cheek. The touch was faint, but by the way Sarilian’s eyes widened, he noticed all the same.

“It is done,” Malorg intoned, snatching his hand back and facing away.

Behind him, he heard Sarilian clear his throat. “So it is. Much better. Thanks.”

Malorg didn’t reply, too busy mentally berating himself for his weakness. Eternal Dark, what waswrongwith him? None of this mattered. Everything he did here in the Immortal Realm was pointless: an unnecessary addendum to the real life he’d already lived on the Mortal Realm. He didn’t care about anything that happened here…oranyone.

An image of Uryqh sprawled atop piled pillows came to mind, and Malorg thrust it away. He’d locked up those memories years ago—they had no business haunting him now.

“So,” Sarilian said, interrupting his brooding. “Now what?

The question gave Malorg pause. He’d spent so much of the past two days scrutinizing their last encounter and wondering whether Sarilian would show up that he hadn’t given much thought to what happened next. “That depends. What do you want to see?”

“Twilight,” Sarilian said without hesitation, smirking when Malorg raised an eyebrow. “I’ve spent the past few years mapping every single one of Daybreak’s spires, convinced it was the most wondrous thing I’d ever experience. But after witnessing the true majesty of this forest, I’m curious to see how the Infernal’s city of perpetual shadow compares.”

Malorg supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. It wasn’t like there was much else to explore in the Dusklands beyond more forest. The ancient mages who had created the Immortal Realm had done so for one purpose: to hold back the Void. Those Progenitors hadn’t bothered fleshing out full ecosystems. Other than the Celestials, Infernals, and voidspawn, the realm stood devoid of any meaningful life.

“So be it.” Malorg held out his hand.

Sarilian eyed it uneasily. “What’s that for?”

“It would take hours to walk to Twilight on foot. I’m going to try duskwalking us.”

To Sarilian’s credit, he accepted the announcement in stride even though Malorg could tell the notion of being subjected to more duskflame unnerved him. Too bad. If he wanted to avoid Infernal magic, then he shouldn’t have returned to the Dusklands.

“Will it hurt?” Sarilian asked.

Malorg opened his mouth to reply in the negative, then reconsidered. “I don’t know. Not for me, but I’ve never tried it with a Celestial before.”Obviously.

Sarilian gulped but nodded. “Awesome.” He took Malorg’s hand, clutching it tighter than was strictly necessary. Malorg didn’t mind as much as he probably should have.

“Ready?” Malorg asked.

“Sure,” Sarilian squeaked, his voice higher pitched than normal. “Why not?”

Malorg barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Against his better judgment, he gave Sarilian’s hand a brief squeeze. “You’ll be fine. Just hang on tight.”

“What do you mean, hang—”

Sarilian’s panicked voice cut out as Malorg sent them sinking into the shadows. For him, the sensation was little different from walking. He guided them with practiced ease toward Twilight, their bodies condensed into a pool of darkness that glided swiftly along the ground.

Sarilian, however, didn’t seem nearly so calm. The Celestial’s grip on his hand tightened to the point of pain, and he had a feeling Sarilian would be screaming if he could.

The thought of Sarilian in distress left a tight knot in Malorg’s stomach, and he picked up his pace. When the forests of the Dusklands thinned around them, he jerked to a halt and canceled the duskwalking.

Sarilian instantly fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air.

Worry furrowed Malorg’s brow as he looked the Celestial over. “Are you all right?”

Sarilian managed a shaky nod. “Peachy. Feel fantastic.”

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