Page 94 of Oath of Betrayal
‘You need clear thoughts, unmuddied by fear. I can help in more ways than just safekeeping a shard of your soul. Trust me to keep you safe and help kill those abominations.’
‘Ani, what are your thoughts? If you have a plan, I will follow it.’ Orm’s voice broke through my conversation with Vahin, and I noticed several riders circling around us, creating a perimeter. Vahin turned towards me, the unblinking stare of his vertical pupils leaving me slightly concerned.
‘We can deal with it, Little Flame. Be careful using my fire; protect my flight mates, but don’t leave yourself vulnerable.’I nodded, removing my gloves and placing my hand on his scales. ‘The plans stay unchanged. Vahin agreed to take the risk, and I … I can handle this.’
‘Alright, you heard our mage. Move into formation,’ Orm bellowed. Vahin added a strange, modulating roar that made the other dragons turn towards him. It was as if a silent conversation passed between them, but I didn’t have time to ask him about it.
I could feel the potential of the dragon’s fire coiling inside him; Vahin’s flame formed when liquids from two special sacs insidehis body mixed and were expelled from his mouth, exposure to the air igniting them to create an intense blaze. I didn’t need to access the physical part of it; that potential—the primal core of the dragon’s soul—was a deep well of magic, and that is what I connected to. I felt my hands on Vahin’s scales warm up once the link was established.
It didn’t take me long to whisper an incantation meant to reduce the toll the flow of the primaeval aether put on my body … in theory. If it worked, the amount of energy I could safely access would increase; unfortunately, the spell had been abandoned centuries ago after only two conduit mages had survived its use. The only restriction to the limitless spells a conduit could cast was the finite endurance of the human body; and if the spell failed, I wouldn’t be the first conduit that had burned in the flames of raw aether. I’d never intended to use it; I had studied it after I found it in Varta’s library simply because it caught my interest, but I didn’t have a choice now.
Cold sweat pooled in the small of my back and I hoped Orm wouldn’t notice how my hands trembled on Vahin’s neck. I couldn’t let Orm’s feelings for me impact his decisions as commander.
Once I felt the link stabilise, I turned to him with the bravest smile I could muster.
‘I’m ready. Signal the riders and ask them to distract the spectrae. I need to get closer before they attack,’ I directed, surprised at the budding excitement for the upcoming battle beneath my terror. If I was ever to take on the Lich King, I needed to test my limits.
Vahin glided along the Barrier, heading towards the Rift while the rest of the squad followed, keeping their distance. We hovered close enough to see the tendrils of corruption spreading from the edges, draining the rest of the Barrier. The land belowwas desolate, with dry husks of diseased trees marking the terrain where a once lush forest had covered it.
‘Hold formation,’ Orm commanded as he turned Vahin away from the Barrier.
Moments later, we observed the tail end of the swarming spectrae as it moved towards the Lost Ridge. I couldn’t help but look at the damage I’d caused all those years ago as we waited; its eerie darkness was mesmerising. The gap itself looked strange for another reason, though. It appeared almost alive, changing shape, twisting and narrowing as I stared. There was so much purple lightning here that I was sure it was the only reason we didn’t have more Vel demons breaking through.
I concentrated on my magic. I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly, then reached for the energy of the aether, letting it fill me. As we closed in on the swarm, it changed direction, heading for the dragons. Orm’s arm tightened around my waist, and I realised how tense he was.
Vahin, are you afraid?I asked the dragon in my thoughts. I didn’t want to say it out loud, and the massive dragon rumbled in response.‘No. I don’t like the pain, but I know you will protect us. I will endure for the pleasure of seeing the swarm burn under your touch.’His steadfast faith in me helped strengthen my resolve.
I watched the dragons swooping past dangerously close to the swarm, distracting the demons, but the bulk were still heading for Vahin. He was so calm even as the first tendrils shot forth and hooked into his chest. I felt his pain and wanted to lash out and destroy the parasitic leech, but we had to wait. In a moment of inspiration, I diverted the primal power from my surroundings and into the dragon.
‘Little Flame, you don’t need to … that feeling … I’ve never felt so drained yet so powerful. That is an interesting sensation, almost as if I’d been struck by lightning.’
Helping Vahin as I prepared my attack put a strain on my body, but without my support, the sheer numbers of spectrae draining him would send us crashing to the ground long before I could destroy them. My breathing grew laboured, and I leaned down, plastering myself to the dragon’s neck while Orm directed his riders.
‘Annika, stop. Your body can’t withstand such a torrent of magic,’Vahin said, distressed and filled with pain. ‘I can’t let them harm you,’ I replied. My voice was so hoarse I barely recognised it myself. ‘Orm, tell the riders to disperse.’
Orm’s body radiated such tension that he felt like a coiled spring ready to explode. He didn’t discuss my order; he simply gestured to the riders, and they flew in the opposite direction, leaving only us on Vahin’s back. The unsated ghost vampires instantly flocked towards the aether-fuelled dragon, latching greedily onto his core.
‘Little Flame?’I heard the tone of desperation in my dragon’s words, and we dropped several metres as he struggled to keep us in the air, but almost all of the spectrae had regained corporeal form. I sank deep into both of my Anchor bonds.
Vahin and Orm gasped when I dropped all restraint, fully opening myself to the raging aether. It shimmered over my skin like a desert mirage, and they felt it. This impossible power, able to create or destroy, was mine to wield, and I shaped it into coils of dragon fire, directing the flames with a soft-spoken command.
‘Išatum.’
Magic erupted from me, rushing through the spectrae’s tendrils, setting the greater Vella demons ablaze as they screeched, falling away like burning cinders. They couldn’t escape. The tactics we’d spent hours perfecting were put into practice as the riders returned and fought the stray spectrae with a fury that set the sky ablaze. When the burning demons drifted too close, almost colliding with Vahin, I instinctivelylatched onto the aetheric fire and thrust it at them, turning the screeching ghosts into smoking ruin.
Gods! That was far too easy.
With Vahin’s fire and Orm’s ironclad control, manipulating the aether felt like child’s play. I’d never felt so elated and so frightened at the same time. The power I controlled felt absolute.
Could I kill the Lich King with dragon fire?
I looked at my glowing hands on Vahin’s scales. I’d felt a pain in my chest for some time but had ignored it; now, it blossomed like a firebird, and my heart stuttered. The human body was not built to withstand the power of creation, but if I could hold on for a little longer … if I could do it, Alaric would be free and my people would be safe.
I just need more time, more power … I could do it,I thought.
‘No, Little Flame, close the gates! Disconnect from the aether before it changes you—do it now, Annika! Do it before it destroys you,’ I heard Vahin’s thoughts, his soul pulling away, taking the fire with him.
I can do it. The aether … if I can take a little more, it will be enough to kill the immortal bastard; itmustbe enough. I was losing myself in the power of creation, but the thought of saving my Ari, of freeing Orm from the burden of fighting any longer, kept me pushing past the pain. I barely heard my dragon’s voice before an ear-splitting roar shook the skies.
