Page 62 of The Immortal Covenant

“Are you…real?” he managed to croak.

Sarilian’s worried expression turned to anguish. A tear slid down his bronzed cheek. Malorg reached instinctively to wipe it away, only for the chains to halt him.

Swallowing, Sarilian nodded. “Yes, Mal. I’m real.” His gaze narrowed on the chains, golden fury brewing. “I can’t believe your own people would do this to you. Merciful Light, if you’re this bad after a month, I can’t imagine what would be left of you after a single year, let alone athousand.”

Malorg let his head fall, his chin thumping his chest. Shame curled through him. “Weak. Sorry.”

“Hey, no.” Sarilian cupped Malorg’s cheek, raising his head so that he gazed into the Celestial’s gilded eyes. “You arenotweak. You are the strongest, most courageous being in the cosmos. Pelorak is the weak, cowardly one.”

Pelorak!

Raw panic gripped Malorg, and he shuddered in his chains. “You have to get out of here before he finds you! I…I tried to protect you.” His thoughts still felt oddly scrambled, making it difficult to stay focused. An effect of the magic holding him here, perhaps?

Sarilian’s face crumpled for a moment. Guilt flickered over his features, though Malorg wasn’t sure why. Then, his lips firmed into a fierce smile. “I know you did, Mal.”

His thumb brushed a heated circle into Malorg’s cheek before he rose and stepped back. A spear of dawnflame, dulled within the Dusklands but still shining with dim radiance, appeared in his hand. “Now, it’s my turn to protect you. Because it turns out thereissomething more important than the Covenant:you.”

The spear blurred as it lanced through the air. An instant later, Malorg felt his right arm drop as the shadowy chains binding it melted away. The atrophied muscles trembled, and he forced his fingers to flex. Almost instantly, feeling began to return.

The chains must have had a curse of weakness imbued in them to keep him pliant. With each additional chain Sarilian sliced, more strength returned to Malorg, his mind clearing.

“I…I remember now.” He clutched Sarilian’s arm for balance. “Pelorak came for me after you left. I tried to kill him and almost succeeded.” He gritted his teeth, recalling the moment in the alleyway. “But I hesitated to deliver the final blow. Pelorak took advantage of my weakness to overpower me. He brought me here, chained me up in the dark.” A shudder raced through him, along with another spike of unease as he glanced at Sarilian. “He comes here sometimes to torture me. I…I’m not sure when he’ll return.”

Sarilian’s expression darkened. Malorg could tell there was more he wanted to say about Pelorak, but he settled for a curt nod. “Then, we should go while we can.” He started toward the closed door Malorg could now make out, its edges barely visible against the black wall. “And for the record, I already told you that you arenotweak.”

Malorg scowled at Sarilian. “I could have won. I could have escaped. Instead, I gave my enemy the opening he needed to defeat me.”

“You showed a former friend mercy,” Sarilian countered, arching an eyebrow. “That takes more strength and courage than someone like Pelorak will ever know.”

The affirmation soothed something in Malorg—a restlessness he couldn’t quite define. Even as warmth flooded him at Sarilian’s fond look, he snorted and shook his head. “Such a Celestial.”

Sarilian grinned. “ThisCelestialis about to save your Infernal butt.”

Still leaning on Sarilian for support, Malorg imparted a darkvision enchantment to Sarilian while they hobbled to the door. He forced himself to stand on his own, steadying himself against the wall when he almost fell.

“I’ll be fine,” he huffed, waving off Sarilian’s concern. “I just need a moment to catch my breath.” He jerked his head at the door. “What can we expect outside?”

Sarilian dismissed his spear and studied the closed door with a frown. “They have you in a cell deep beneath the Dusk Citadel. No guards outside, but regular patrols throughout the area, as well as in the Citadel above. We’ll need to be careful to avoid detection—I doubt we can fight our way free, especially if Pelorak or the other Aspects get involved.”

Remembering Pelorak’s miasmic cloud, Malorg shuddered. “Agreed.” A thought occurred to him then, and he turned to give Sarilian a considering look. “Speaking of, how the Dark did you get in here, anyway? Surely, they didn’t allow a Celestial to waltz right by the guards.”

Sarilian smirked. “Like this.”

Looking entirely too pleased with himself, he raised a hand glowing with dawnflame. Wonder widened Malorg’s eyes as the dawnflame coated Sarilian’s body, rendering him nearly invisible save for a faint shimmer when he moved.

“I had no idea radiant magic was capable of something like that,” Malorg exclaimed.

“Neither did I,” Sarilian’s disembodied voice replied. “I doubt many Celestials have tried—subterfuge doesn’t exactly alignwith our ideals. It’s how I reached your apartment after the last Accords meeting.”

Malorg felt like a fool for missing that detail earlier. Emissary or not, no Celestial would’ve been allowed to meander alone through Twilight’s streets. Of course, he’d had a lot on his mind at the time, what with Pelorak’s ultimatum and Sarilian’s sudden appearance.

Tentatively, he rested his hand against Sarilian’s concealed chest. “It’s incredible magic.”

Firm muscles shifted beneath Malorg’s fingers. His skin prickled with the warmth of Sarilian’s aura as he stepped closer. “Thanks,” Sarilian said softly. “I figured out how to do it from your duskflame disguises.”

Malorg barked a breathless laugh, distracted by Sarilian. Somehow, not being able to see the Celestial made his nearness all the more tantalizing, as if he were a dream made flesh. It didn’t help that Sarilian had yet to manifest his armor, likely to reduce the strain on his magic here in the Dusklands.

“So, you’re saying I’m the one who corrupted you?”

---