Page 40 of Storm of Shadows

“With a key.”

“How very helpful,” I retort. “Was the prospect of spending the next three centuries with me not motivating enough?”

He sighs. “Unless you can retrieve the key, you will have to force open this door like you forced open the last.”

“Fire it is then.”

Just as I’m about to conjure my flames, Natharius adds: “The cell door is warded with light magic.”

“How wonderful of you to neglect to mention it.”

“I didn’t neglect to mention it,” Natharius says. “I told you, did I not?”

“You could have told me sooner.”

He shrugs.

“Is there any other way to get this door open, demon?”

“Not unless your magic is considerably stronger than their High Priestess’s and you blast it open with aether.”

Even with Father’s staff, I’m not sure I can conjure such a powerful spell. And if I do succeed, the impact will disturb the temple, even without considering the ward, and I won’t have enough time to get Natharius out.

“Or you could use dark magic.”

“I would never use it.”

“Of course not. After all, you are a high and mighty, upstanding Mage of Nolderan who didn’t decide to defy all her teachings to use dark magic to summon a Void Prince of the Abyss—”

“Shut up.”

As my words are a direct order, he has no choice but to obey my command. Any other time, I’d gloat over the infuriated look on his face. Instead, I press my hand to the bars to test for the wards Natharius claims High Priestess Ahelin has placed over it.

Golden light ripples across the bars, the ward becoming visible to the naked eye. The magic feels different to both aether and dark magic. Aether fizzes and crackles like lightning, whereas dark magic is like ice seeping through your veins. Light magic is warm and soothing, like a gentle stream on a bright summer’s day.

I don’t dwell on the sensation of the strange magic and hold out my fingers, pulling aether toward me. “Ignira.” Violet light bursts into crackling flames. “Incendius.” The plume of fire intensifies to roaring blue flames, and I waste no time in pressing them to the hinges. The barrier of light magic holds fast, and I focus on fueling my spell until I penetrate it. Slipping through the barrier like a needle requires less power than shattering the entire thing, but it costs enough that I have to fuel the flames with more aether. If the High Priestess wasn’t already alerted to my presence when I entered the dungeons, she will be now I’ve penetrated this barrier. I must work quickly and crack this cell door open faster than the last.

Heat billows out. Zephyr drops to the ground, shielding himself with his wings. The Void Prince doesn’t flinch at the heat.

When the first hinge is glowing, I move to the others. Like before, I blow it open with the spellventrez,but now I focus the wind on the hinge, turning the door anticlockwise like a torque. The High Priestess’s spell is powerful and resists my magic. I fuel it with increasing amounts of aether until the barrier finally gives way, and the door is torn aside.

With the cell cracked open, the barrier’s circuit is broken and falls away, disappearing into glittering dust. I stride through into the cell, and Natharius holds up his wrists and gestures to the golden manacles binding him.

Of course. The manacles.

I run my hand down my face. These will be more challenging than the dungeon and cell doors combined.

“Any suggestions?” I ask.

“If I knew how to remove them, I would have broken out of this wretched place and unleashed my wrath upon all those priestesses days ago.”

I step closer to the demon, though every instinct screams to stay away, and examine the golden manacles around his wrists. The metal is thicker than the steel hinges, and I doubt I will be able to melt through them. Even if I succeed, it’ll take me all night and we don’t have that sort of time.

There is one other option, however. It isn’t one that concerns me, but I suspect it’ll concern the Void Prince.

“How well do you heal?” I ask.

“Well.”

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