Page 65

Her lips tilt in a grim smile, the flicker of black runes pulsing faintly on her collarbone. “Then we leave them no time to rally.” She locks eyes with me, silver meeting molten crimson. “No regrets, Malphas.”

A rush of emotion churns in me—admiration, guilt, a savage protectiveness. I want to spare her the final risk of the unbinding ritual. Yet I know she won’t stand aside. “No regrets,” I echo, illusions coiling in readiness.

We surge forward into the courtyard, boots pounding cracked stone. Dark elf soldiers scramble to intercept, raising swords and spears. My illusions flare around me, conjuring ephemeral copies that lash at the nearest enemies. Valentina ducks a sweeping halberd, retaliating with a swift slash. Sparks shower, and the soldier staggers back, leaving her path open. She glances at me, rallying a fierce grin, then darts to engage the next threat.

I sweep my illusions wider, driving half a dozen soldiers back with a burst of black flame. My horns ache, the vow pushing against me like claws on my mind, but I force the illusions to intensify, weaving a barrier that deflects incoming bolts of magic. The robed elves by the dais see us, chanting faster. Their barrier dome pulses, arcs of purple lightning racing across its surface. They want to re-shackle me, reassert monarchy dominance.Over my lifeless body.

Valentina slashes through another guard, breathing ragged. She’s covered in sweat, her hair clinging to her brow. Blood smears her bandaged ribs. Yet she fights on, a unstoppable force, each strike guided by defiance. The black runes flicker acrossher arms again, fusing with her sword in crackles of dark energy that devour the monarchy’s wards. I sense the cost on her face—a pale tension, pain in her eyes.

The dais stands mere paces away now, guarded by only a handful of soldiers who remain upright. The tall elf lord in grand armor raises his staff, voice booming. “This ends here, traitor!” He aims the staff at me, arcs of raw magic hissing in the swirling air. “You will bow.”

I bare my fangs, illusions spinning. “Not anymore.” My tail snaps in agitation, and I unleash a wave of black flame from my horns. The elf lord erects a shimmering shield, blocking the brunt, but the force staggers him. He snarls, forcing his staff forward, sending a lance of arcane power my way. I fling illusions in a complex swirl, dispersing the lance, though it scrapes my flank in a scorch of pain.

Valentina lunges to join me, sword raised high. Another bolt from the robed elves shrieks across the dais, aiming to pin her. She channels the black runes once more, forging a barrier that splits the bolt in two. The impact rattles her, nearly knocking her off her feet. She coughs, regaining balance. I leap to her side, illusions swirling in a protective net, batting away stray blasts. My vow rages in my soul, half-lashing me with pain, but I push it back.We’re so close.

The robed elves chant in feverish unity, the barrier dome overhead brightening. The dais glows beneath it, runic lines converging. If they finalize that chant, I risk being shackled. My illusions tremble. “Valentina,” I hiss. “We must break that dome now.”

She nods, eyes narrowed with resolve. She crosses the last few paces, plunging her sword into the ground near the dais, focusing the black runes through the blade. A shockwave of dark energy ripples out, colliding with the dome. Cracks race acrossthe barrier’s surface, making the robed elves stumble in alarm. They strain to hold it together, chanting louder.

At that moment, the tall elf lord lunges in a final, desperate strike. His staff crackles, forging a whirling lance of electricity that he aims at Valentina’s exposed back. I snarl, illusions bursting forward, but I’m an instant too late. The lance fires. Valentina sees it too late, eyes widening. She tries to pivot, raising her sword.

In a flash of raw instinct, I hurl myself between them, illusions forming a half-shield around my horns. The lance slams into my chest, searing agony ripping through me. I roar, the vow flaring with sadistic glee at my pain. Sparks dance across my body, illusions shattering. The impact throws me back, colliding with a broken column. My lungs burn as I slump, black spots dancing in my vision.I can’t fall here.

Valentina cries my name, voice cracking. She spins on the elf lord, fury blazing in her silver eyes. The black runes intensify, swirling from her arms up her neck and across her cheeks.It’s more than before.She looks terrifying, almost otherworldly—a mortal shell infused with the raw might of the Abyss. Her sword hums with lethal darkness. The elf lord tries to form a second bolt, but she’s already upon him.

Her blade arcs in a savage slash, cutting through his staff. He staggers, staff sparking, wide-eyed. She exhales, tears glistening, and rips the sword across his torso. The lord slumps, blood spattering the dais. The last of the robed elves scream, scrambling to hold the dome.But it’s too late.Valentina’s power glows, forcing cracks across the barrier.

I choke on my breath, illusions faltering as I push off the rubble. My chest smolders from the lightning strike, but I’m alive. Gritting my fangs, I stagger back to the dais. The vow’s presence is weaker, overshadowed by the swirl of new energies.We must end this now, or risk them regrouping again.

Valentina meets my gaze, chest heaving, hair a wild tangle around her face. The black runes swirl across her entire form now—a living pattern of Abyss and mortal flesh. Her eyes shimmer with swirling darkness. She nods once, silently telling me it’s time.

The final step of the unbinding ritual we planned: unleashing her Abyssborn heritage fully to devour the vow’s last threads. My heart clenches. We have no guarantee it won’t kill her. She stands strong, though tension carves lines across her brow. “Malphas,” she whispers, voice trembling. “Guard me while I do this. I have to direct the power at the vow. If it tries to feed on me, I—” She falters, then steels herself. “I won’t let it take my life.”

I exhale, illusions sparking around my horns. “I won’t let it either.”

She steps onto the center of the dais where runes converge, placing one hand over a glyph, her sword in the other. Her eyes flutter shut, and a deep thrumming resonates underfoot, shaking the entire courtyard. The robed elves cry out in alarm, but they can’t muster a coordinated assault. Soldiers either lie dead or flee the site, morale shattered. The ground cracks, arcs of chaotic energy weaving from the dais into the swirling sky.

Valentina calls upon the Abyss. The black runes on her body blaze, forming shifting sigils that crawl across her skin. The air crackles with a horrifying, glorious power. I feel the vow inside me surge, desperate to reassert control, but the dais resonates with Valentina’s might, forcing the vow’s energy outward. My illusions glitch, color fracturing. A rumble builds beneath the earth, as if something stirs in the deep. The monarchy’s wards flicker on the dais, grappling with her unstoppable flow.

My chest clenches, the vow’s last chains thrashing at my heart. I stagger forward, illusions swirling around my horns, prepared to shield her from any stray attacks. The robed elvesshriek, flinging bolts of purple flame. I intercept them with illusions, blasts scalding my battered wings. Pain roars through me, but I hold firm. “Stay back!” I bellow at them, voice echoing across shattered pillars.They see the futility now, but fear or pride compels them to keep fighting.

Valentina trembles, face contorted in concentration. “Almost… got it…” Her voice vibrates with an otherworldly echo. The black runes glow like hot coals. The dais cracks further, fractal lines radiating. My vow tears at me, trying to embed fresh talons, but her power denies it.

A swirl of wind explodes outward, ripping broken banners from the walls, sending shards of obsidian skittering. The robed elves are hurled back, magic disrupted. Soldiers wail in terror, dropping their weapons. The entire courtyard shudders. At the dais’s center, Valentina arches her back, black runes searing across her arms and chest. A vortex of inky energy surges from the ground, binding her to me in an invisible current. I feel the vow coil, moments from snapping or devouring.

“Valentina!” I choke out, stepping closer, illusions flickering. My horns ache. The vow’s presence rises up in one last savage attempt to enslave me.But she’s pulling it away, siphoning it through that swirling Abyss.I sense her life force flickering like a candle, threatened by the vow’s hungry jaws. Fear stabs my gut—the prophecy said this final step demands her life.

But she roars, voice half-human, half-demonic. “No!” She defies the vow’s lethal cost, channeling arcane energy into the swirling black runes. Her entire body glows with a churning interplay of darkness, an unstoppable current. The vow screams in my mind, fracturing under her assault.

A deafening crack reverberates across the temple. I stagger, illusions fraying around me. The vow’s chains in my heart snap—a surge of agonizing relief floods me, so powerful I collapse to one knee. The vow is gone, wrenched from my essence. Awhirlwind of obsidian shards flares around Valentina as the vow’s magic coils around her, trying to devour her. My breath catches.Is this where she dies?

She cries out, eyes turning pure black. The runes swirl faster, forging a cocoon of inky light around her form. Then, with a final blaze of energy, the vow’s malignant power evaporates in a shriek, casting arcane shards high into the stormy sky. The entire courtyard glows with the aftermath. Soldiers cower behind broken pillars, dark elf lords moan, battered and powerless. My illusions vanish, no longer needed to protect me from the vow.It’s truly gone.

A hush descends, disturbed only by the rumble of the distant storm. I force myself to my feet, chest heaving. My soul feels raw, unshackled after centuries of subjugation. Euphoria mingles with dread. “Valentina?” I rasp, scanning the dais.

At first, all I see is a swirl of black mist. Then it dissipates, revealing her figure crouched on the cracked stone. My heart leaps into my throat. She’s alive, pressed to one hand, sword dropped. But something about her silhouette is… different. The black runes remain etched into her skin, but less chaotic, more integrated. Horn-like ridges have sprouted at her temples, small but unmistakable. Her eyes flick open, revealing pupils slit like a demon’s, glowing faint silver at the edges. She staggers upright, panting, confusion etched across her face.

She doesn’t die. She transforms—part demon, part mortal. My mind reels at the sight: she’s still Valentina, but the lines of her limbs are more powerful, her canines slightly elongated. The aura around her is charged with demonic resonance. My chest constricts in wild relief. I race to her side, illusions forgotten in my shock.