Page 23 of The Immortal Covenant

“Fine,” Sarilian grumbled. He stood, dusting off his armor. “Albeit a touch embarrassed. I swear I’m not usually this clumsy. I blame my lack of dawnflame. At least I still have enough to summon my armaments.”

Malorg eyed the Celestial’s faintly glowing breastplate. Despite his best efforts, he hadn’t been able to get his illusion spell to completely cover either it or Sarilian’s spear. Yet another reason this was a terrible idea. All it would take was one wandering Infernal to blow their cover. While Malorg might not particularly care what happened to him, he refused to let any harm befall Sarilian on his watch.

A rustling noise came from another tree to their right. Malorg fastened his attention on its crooked branches. By his count, there were five voidspawn remaining, maybe more.

When he and Sarilian had stumbled upon the small, squirrel-like creature resting on a branch, he’d thought it the perfect prey to appease Sarilian’s desire for combat without placing them in any real danger. Little had he known it was part of an entire Dark-cursed nest hidden amid the shadowed boughs. Of course, he also hadn’t realized the pests couldfly.

“This is a good chance to test out more of our combined magic.” Sarilian eagerly brandished his spear, which already had lines of black duskflame woven throughout its golden dawnflame. “It helped bolster my weapon. Perhaps it would similarly enhance your daggers.”

Malorg didn’t share Sarilian’s excitement. So far as he was concerned, their ability to weave duskflame with dawnflame was an intriguing oddity, nothing more. No amount of boosted spells would miraculously enable them to defeat the infinite Void.

Still, when no immediate attack came, he sighed and proffered his latest daggers to Sarilian. The Celestial grinned and infusedthem with dawnflame until a dull glow pulsed beneath their usual obsidian surfaces. Curious despite himself, Malorg hefted the blades. They felt the same as usual, so he gave an internal shrug and scanned the forest for his foes.There!

A voidspawn emerged from the canopy and glided toward them on membranous wings that stretched from its arms to its sides. Malorg hurled a dagger at the creature, but a sudden downward swerve once again evaded his attack.

Frustration pulsed within him as he raised his second conjured blade. Before he could throw it, a smallboomsplit the air. Malorg’s eyes fastened on a tree trunk behind the voidspawn, where flames flickered across the gray bark.His dagger!It had to be. Sarilian’s addition of dawnflame must have caused the blade to detonate on impact.

Perhaps confused by the explosion, the gliding voidspawn veered toward the nearest tree. Hefting the second of his dawnflame-infused daggers, Malorg tracked the creature’s movement, then released. As he’d anticipated, the voidspawn snagged a tree trunk with its tentacles to swing itself out of the way. His blade struck the tree right ahead of the creature, erupting in gold and black flames that engulfed the voidspawn. Its charred corpse crumbled to violet ash.

Sarilian’s triumphant shout rang out behind him. Suppressing his own grin in response, Malorg began to turn back when a half-dozen more of the squirrel-like voidspawn burst from their hiding spots amid the boughs. They must not have liked that latest maneuver. He tensed, readying himself to attack, then hesitated and glanced back at Sarilian.

The Celestial caught his questioning look and gave him an encouraging nod. “Go on,” he said, raising his spear. “I’ll be fine.”

There was no time to argue, not with the voidspawn careening through the air.Eternal Dark watch over him,Malorg thoughtas he blurred into the darkness of the forest. He moved as a living shadow, emerging only long enough to slide a blade into each voidspawn he passed. They were harder than most to hit thanks to their small size and agility, but the Dusklands washisdomain, and all it took was a nick to consume them with spreading lines of cursed duskflame.

When the last of the creatures had drifted away in a cloud of scattered dust, Malorg resumed his corporeal form. An unfamiliar thrill raced through him—one he couldn’t remember feeling in a long, long time.

Eternal Dark, he’d forgotten what it was like toenjoyhimself in combat. To revel in the satisfaction of victory over his foes. Perhaps the Celestials were on to something working together as a team because he doubted he’d have experienced the same sense of triumph if not for Sarilian fighting alongside him.

He turned to smile at the Celestial, anticipation coiling in his belly at the thought of a celebratory kiss, when he froze, his eyes widening with horror. Sarilian lay writhing beneath a pair of voidspawn, their tentacles and claws scrabbling past his armor for purchase in his flesh.

Bellowing a wordless roar, Malorg charged. As he ran, he conjured fresh blades to throw. One found its mark, sending the targeted voidspawn back to the Void, but the other creature managed to dodge to the side. Spreading its makeshift wings, it hurled itself into the air.

Ignoring the last voidspawn for now, Malorg dropped to his knees by Sarilian, his frantic gaze racking over the Celestial’s body. “How badly are you hurt?”

Sarilian tried to sit up before flopping to the ground with a wince. “Well, I assume I’ve experienced worse as a mortal, what with having died and all. But my dawnflame is having a tough time mending my wounds here in the Dusklands.”

Guilt tightened Malorg’s jaw. “This is my fault. I got too caught up in the battle and left you alone. I should have remained by your side instead of abandoning you.”

This was why he fought alone. He’d failed to protect Sarilian just like he’d failed to protect Uryqh. What use was fighting when he couldn’t save those who mattered to him the most?

“Stop,” Sarilian scolded, swatting weakly at Malorg’s chest.

Malorg furrowed his brow. “Stop what?”

“That.Moping. I’m a big boy—I can take care of myself.” Pride shone on Sarilian’s face. “I killed three of them before those two got the drop on me, and I would’ve been able to handle them as well if I hadn’t lost concentration on my spear and let it dissolve.”

He must have seen the worry on Malorg’s face because he rested a reassuring hand on Malorg’s arm and gave him a faint smile. “I’ll be fine—really. I just have to wait for my suppressed dawnflame to heal me.”

An idea suddenly sprang into Malorg’s head. Coating his hand with a sheen of black duskflame, he started to lower it toward Sarilian before pausing to meet Sarilian’s golden gaze. “Duskflame is usually more effective at enabling Infernals to dodge attacks than to recover from them. But given how our conjoined magic has worked thus far, an infusion of it might offer your own natural healing some benefit.”

Sarilian’s eyes lit up, his wavering smile widening into a more genuine one. “That’s perfect! All right, Infernal—do your worst.”

Rolling his eyes, Malorg gently pressed his hand to Sarilian’s chest and sent duskflame surging into him. He didn’t try to shape the energy into a spell. Instead, he allowed the magic to flow throughout the Celestial’s body so it could intermingle with his inherent dawnflame.

At first, nothing happened. Then, Sarilian sucked in a breath. Malorg watched with rapt attention as the Celestial’s woundsbegan to mend, his flesh reknitting itself. Within the span of a few heartbeats, Sarilian appeared fully restored.

The Celestial slowly rose, probing his chest with ginger fingers. He must have been pleased with what he found since he let out a joyous laugh. The unexpected sound kindled a sudden warmth in Malorg’s belly. He started to move away, but before he could, Sarilian surged forward, tugging him into an embrace.

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