Page 18 of Celestial Shadows

My legs buckle and I fight to hold myself up. The Obiqui are like parasites, eating away at every bit of my exposed flesh.

***

BARON

Mortal Ruins

“Baron!” I hear Pyre’s voice calling out to me. The Obiqui are moving on, pushing towards the mountains. I leap from my perch and vault over the obstacles in my way. Pyre stands at thenorthern wall, looking a bit green in the face. It isn’t until I’m almost at his side that I feel it too. Fuck. The Veil is tearing.

“How the fuck do we stop it?!” I ask, climbing up to stand beside my fellow guardian. “There’s too much power…”

“The ethers tore open when Elioth used the blood magic to free Abedon.” Pyre begins to spin a web of spells, looking down at his hands instead of the weird shit happening in the sky. “When the ethers tore, it thinned the barriers between The Veil and this world. If we don’t try to repair it or at least contain it, the entire thing will come crashing down.”

“So, are we talking about the dragon, Harpies, demons, and spirits coming over or something else?” I join Pyre, using my own magic to amplify his.

“There are more creatures in The Veil than that. Including the Leviathan.” Pyre yanks me closer and increases the energy flowing between us. He forms a sphere of magic and focuses on repairing what was broken. Already I feel drained.

“Holy hell, I’m not sure how much more I can take before I need to feed. I’m losing strength.”

“Feed from me when the deed is done,” Pyre answers.

I shake my head. “You’re barely doing better than I am.”

I look back and see Silvanus walking towards us. The god sends a bolt of crackling energy towards the tear in The Veil, but it bounces back and nearly strikes him.

“Your power is too light,” Pyre explains. “It will be repelled by The Veil.”

“If Abedon comes before we repair the tear, what will happen?” I ask.

“The darkness of the Chasm within him will latch onto The Veil and tear it further. Without you and me to defend and control the spirit world, it would collide with the realms and bring on the end of days,” Pyre answers.

“Well, then you better not fucking die on me.” I feel the bond between us fueling our magic. It’s strange to think there was a time in my life when I didn’t have Pyre and Eilish. All of us have become more than just outcasts with fucked up destinies. “This war has to end in our favor. So long as Eilish is in charge, the future of the realms is bright. We owe it to her to fix all of the bullshit we screwed up.”

Pyre nods.

“I concur,” Silvanus says as he casts protective wards around the keep. “We can still fight through this. Even if we have to tear this city to the ground around us, Abedon and Elioth must not win this fight. It’s Eilish who should lead us into a new era.”

Through the barrage of squawking pests, I catch sight of Zir climbing up one of the towers. She wears a mechanical mask attached to her hood to protect herself from the Obiqui. “Pyre, can you do this on your own? I need to help Zir. I think she’s activating the cloaking device prototype. If we can get it working, then we can better defend the keep.”

“I can hold it steady for a while.”

Wind picks up as I race across the top of the wall. I reach the tower and leap nearly to the top, catching the small artificer along the way with one arm. She climbs onto my back, throwing her arms around my neck and holds on. My fingers dig into the wall, striking holes through the brick where I hold on. Zir taps away at the blinking screen attached to the device as we get higher. A brick crumbles beneath my hand and we nearly fall to the ground. I hang off the edge with one hand and toss Zir up to the tallest point.

“I need help! There’s too much wind and these damn birds are trying to knock me off!” she yells.

My fangs pierce through my bottom lip as I scale my way to the top of the tower. I crouch beside Zir and cast a shield aroundus. It crackles like lightning, surrounding us with a vibrant green sphere of energy. “Will this hide us from Abedon?”

“In theory it will hide the keep entirely and act as a repellent to magic,” she answers.

“So, in order to fight, we will have to leave?”

“Unless you wish to endanger the lives of the people here, you’ll have to fight Abedon away from the walls. Preferably away from this realm entirely,” Zir grumbles irritably. “But you’re in luck. The dark one isn’t here. Only his scouts. Get rid of the birds and this whole mess is over for now. Wait too long and the dark riders will come.”

“How long do we have?” I ask.

“Less than an hour.”

I look below and see a shimmering mound of feathers. Zir says the device is active. The birds fly right into an invisible barrier, unable to cross through. Those trapped inside are still a problem, however. I help Zir down from the tower and nearly knock Pyre over as I run to his side. He grabs me and forces my hand up towards the tear in The Veil. Our power becomes one, stitching the tear shut. Pyre releases me and gasps to catch his breath.

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