Page 63 of Trial By Fire

As he stumbled through the opening, the sounds of battle faded behind him, replaced by the pounding of his own heart and the ragged gasps of his breath. Aric didn’t look back. He couldn’t. If he did, he wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to keep running.

Aric paused at the threshold, his heart a lead weight in his chest. The narrow streets of Drindal stretched out before him, a hellscape of devastation and death. The demon army had laid waste to the town, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Buildings smoldered, their walls blackened and charred. The stench of smoke and blood hung heavy in the air, threatening to choke him.

But there was no time to dwell on the devastation. Already, he could hear the shouts of the demon soldiers as they fanned out in search of the human survivors. Aric’s instincts screamed at him to run, to find cover and stay out of sight. But he forced himself to move, to push down the wave of grief and guilt that threatened to overwhelm him.

With a final glance back at the arena, he spotted a figure moving in the darkness, a lone shadow against the roiling storm of magic and steel. Malekith. He was still fighting, still holding off the demon horde with a ferocity that was both beautiful and terrible to behold.

Their eyes met across the distance, and in that fleeting moment, a world of unspoken emotions passed between them. Gratitude, and grief, and a fierce, unrelenting hope. Malekith’s lips moved, forming a silent word, and Aric knew what it was. Go.

The barrier was closing, the magical threads knitting themselves back together. With a sob caught in his throat, Aric turned away, and leapt through the opening.

He tumbled out into the streets of Drindal, the sounds of battle fading into the night.

Twenty

Pain lanced through Aric’s head as he stumbled to his feet and forced himself to run. The battle between Malekith and the demon guards was still raging, but Aric couldn’t risk looking back. Tears welled in his eyes, his vision blurring as he sprinted through the darkened corridors of the ward station. He had to focus. He had to keep moving.

A wave of fire roared past his face, and Aric cried out as the flames licked at his skin. He darted down a side passage, his heart pounding in his ears. He couldn’t keep this up for long. His magic was drained, his body battered and bruised from the guards’ blows.

But he couldn’t give up. Not now. He was so close to freedom he could taste it, a bittersweet tang on the back of his tongue.

A dim light shone in the distance, and Aric’s heart leaped. The secret exit. The one Malekith had shown him, with a cruel smile and a gentle touch to his shoulder.I’m trusting you,Malekith had said, his eyes burning with an intensity that seared itself into Aric’s soul.Don’t make my sacrifice be for nothing.

A fresh wave of tears stung Aric’s eyes, but he blinked them away. He wouldn’t dishonor Malekith’s sacrifice. He would make whatever terrible fate awaited them both mean something.Even if it was only Aric’s own life that was saved, he would make it count.

He reached the hidden door and fumbled with the latch, his hands shaking. The sounds of the battle grew louder, the stench of blood and smoke thick in the air. With a loud clatter, the door swung open, and Aric tumbled out into the night.

He forced himself to stand straight, and staggered forward, his muscles aching, his head throbbing. The city streets loomed before him, dark and ominous walls of stone. But it was his only chance.

He had to move, one step in front of the other. He couldn’t give up, not after everything that had brought him to this point. The long years of research and study, the secrets he had uncovered, the truths of his world and Malekith’s, and the bond that had formed between him and the demon prince, threading its way into his very soul.

Malekith had called it a curse, but as Aric stumbled deeper into the streets of Drindal, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. It was the only thing that had kept him going in the darkest moments of his captivity, the thought of Malekith, of the connection that bound them together.

And now, as he felt that bond stretching and straining, threatening to snap, he clung to it with all his might. He reached for it, a thread of darkness and heat and the promise of a better world. A world where demons and humans didn’t have to be enemies, where the war that had raged for centuries could finally, blessedly, come to an end.

A world that was waiting for him, if only he had the strength to reach it.

Aric ran.

He ran until his lungs burned with the cold night air, and his muscles ached with every step. He ran until the streets blurredwith darkness, and the only sound was the desperate thud of his heart in his ears.

He didn’t dare look back. He didn’t want to see the shadows moving between the buildings, the flicker of flames as the demon guards gave chase. He had to believe that Malekith was holding his own, that the guards were too preoccupied with Malekith and the ensuing chaos to pay Aric any mind.

He had to make it to freedom. He couldn’t let Malekith’s sacrifice be in vain.

He wept for all that he had lost, and all that he had failed to do. He wept for Malekith who had given everything for him, and the future he yearned for that now lay in tatters at his feet.

The city of Drindal blurred around Aric as he ran, his boots pounding against the cobblestones, the cool night air stinging his cheeks. He raced through the winding streets, following the path that instinct and desperation laid out before him. He had no plan, no destination in mind, only the aching need to escape, to put as much distance as he could between himself and the demon city.

The city’s twisted architecture loomed over him, a tangle of spires and bridges and dark, yawning doorways. The streets were a labyrinth, a maze that threatened to swallow him whole at any moment.

He could almost hear the guards behind him, their laughter echoing off the stone. He pushed himself to run faster, his muscles burning with the effort.

A dead end. The street he’d been following came to an abrupt stop, the buildings on either side pressing in close. Too close. Aric’s heart pounded in his ears as he scanned the walls, looking for any sign of a way through, a secret door or passage that he could use to escape.

But there was nothing. Only the cold stone of the city walls, and the stench of magic that hung in the air.

Aric pressed himself against the wall and tried to slow his breathing, his mind racing. He had to think. He couldn’t let the guards catch him, but there was nowhere left to run.

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