Ascension (Book Four of the Soul Forge series)

Chapter Seven: Elda...

"Insane. You're insane," Elda muttered for the fiftieth time. They were outside the gates of Varthal, hidden from sight by the trees ringing the open expanse of grass in front of the huge wooden wall. Vel's power was so controlled that he'd managed to deposit all of them across Valerus in a matter of minutes. He'd called it Sgailing.

"Why?" Sypher asked, turning his head to look at her. "Vel is right. The people of Varthal appreciate strength."

"That doesn't mean you have to go busting in through the gate!"

"Do you really think Genevieve is the type of orc to side with someone who favours sneak attacks over brute force?" he asked. Elda frowned and shook her head. "Her voice is the loudest. What she does, others will emulate. Busting through the gate is exactly her kind of mayhem."

"Just don't get yourself killed." Elda scowled, but the shiver of fear down her spine made her stomach turn.

The Soul Forge turned and cupped her face in his hands. "I will not leave you again," he vowed. The shadows rose around him to brush against her. "Se maite nireh."

She kissed him, terrified that it would be her last chance. She didn't care about the soldiers waiting feet away, or her friends standing right beside her. That familiar anxiety clawed its way up her throat, choking her.

He sensed it, wrapping her in his arms, his wings and his shadows, shielding her from sight so he could speak to her away from prying eyes.

"Look at me," he murmured. Elda raised her eyes to see the angel and the demon looking back. "We are strong." They spoke together, two souls with one voice. "We are new. We will not die."

She searched those extraordinary eyes, the glimmer of deepest black, the flicker of burning embers, and she saw in them the promise that he would be by her side. He was the darkness to her light.

She nodded. "Then let's go."

The shadows dropped, his wings unfurling to free her. Elda let her light build, shining out of her skin as she approached the gates. Once again, she had a contingent of soldiers at her back and the Soul Forge by her side.

Sypher retreated, and Veloran Blackweaver raised his head. His shadows swarmed, rising up to frame her in darkness. His sword, with its black blade and ornate hilt, gleamed in his hand. Feathered wings stretched wide, the formidable scaled armour soaking up the sun until he was night personified.

"You are the crown, I am your blade," he said softly. "Show them who we are."

Tendrils of black tore the gate open, revealing four horned demons prowling through the village. The residents were in various stages of fighting, some of them already dead. Elda marched beyond the wall with Vel beside her.

Aeon's creatures paused, turning to stare at them. They were tall, bigger than the one Elda had seen through her husband's eyes, and they each looked different to one another. One of them had a long tail with a sharp tip, a second with blades where its hands should be. The last two had no visible weaponry, but she knew they wouldn't be without their tricks. One of them was wingless, its body leaner than the rest.

I only need to come into contact with their consciousness to know their names, Vel told her silently. Stay away from the one with no wings.

And then his darkness surged. He barely moved, only his head tilting, but his shadows reacted with venom, sharpening into spears that pierced the wings of the closest demon, ripping huge holes in the membranes. Vel lunged and sheared them off with two quick swipes of his sword, grinning at the screams of Aeon's puppet.

The soldiers followed at Elda's command, rushing to help those that had been injured. The rest lined up and raised their weapons, boxing the demons in. Her light flared, an arrow zipping from her bow to shatter against the demon with the barbed tail. Reiner and Gira flanked her, ready to battle right beside her when it stumbled.