Page 21 of Blood Sings (Beyond the Gloom #1)

Ice and fire clashed in a thunderous roar.

Ember perched on the roof, her emerald eyes blazing with Gebeleizis’ fire. Wind whipped her golden hair into a frenzy as she stepped onto the ledge, each strand pulsing with power.

“Time to light ‘em up!” Ember’s manic cry sent chills down my spine. “It’s barbecue time, y’all!”

She thrust her fists over her head, veins igniting like Fateless Festival fireworks. Muscles and bones flickered beneath her clothes.

“Dance for me, you bastards!” she howled. “Burn, baby, burn!”

The night sky erupted. Celestial fireballs blazed to life among the stars, hurtling toward us with terrifying speed. As the ground shuddered, shooting cracks along the church wall, my body reacted.

“Selena!” I choked out, seizing her hand and yanking her toward the nearest alcove.

The church turret split apart, collapsing in a cloud of debris just as Ember’s meteors slammed into the earth. Agonizing wails shattered the night before fading into eerie silence. I peered around the corner, choking on smoke and dust. Burning Stalkers filled my tear-drenched vision, and acid washed my tongue.

A rush of wind drew my gaze upward.

Gale had landed on the roof, her coppery wings unfurling like a metallic sunrise. She raised her hands, and the air responded with sudden fury. Smoke spiraled skyward, sucked into the growing maelstrom. Fires sputtered and died, snuffed out by the tempest.

The stench of charred flesh being whipped into the air nearly emptied my stomach.

The Astral Visor shifted with Harbinger’s gaze, revealing Phoenix, Quakelord, Hummingbird, and Pearl taking their positions. My Blood Manipulation tugged at my mind.

We were still vastly outnumbered, and the Ignises had yet to reveal themselves, and—

Magic fizzed through the air, raising goosebumps along my skin.

“Holy fangs,” Selena gasped beside me, “do you sense that?”

I nodded, words failing as their magic surged in perfect sync.

Phoenix’s skin flashed, blue fire erupting from her clawed fingers. Two dozen Stalkers incinerated instantly, their howls silenced mid-screech. A hundred paces away, Quakelord grinned at the carnage. The ground roared, clay spears impaling Stalkers in droves.

My magic fluttered in response. I rubbed my hand over my face, forcing it down. Not yet. I had to be smart and find the right moment to strike. Can I tap into the Stalkers’ minds, take control over their blood? I’d never tried outside of Academy drills, but now seemed as good a time as any.

Pearl’s arms shimmered with iridescent scales as massive water bubbles rose around her. Stalkers thrashed in her liquid coffins, clawing futilely at their throats. Beyond her reach, more Stalkers wailed and choked on air.

“Hummingbird,” I gasped, my pulse rising.

Selena clicked her tongue. “Hey, that’s my move, asshole!”

Hummingbird leaned against a wall, hands in pockets, stealing breaths with casual ease. When we first met, I thought him pretty. Now, with honey-brown curls falling on his forehead and eyes, which were slightly darker than the captain’s, sparkling with dark delight, he looked positively handsome.

My magic yanked at me, invisible threads thrumming with dark, viscous power. Everything stopped. My heartbeat roared like a battle drum. Ignises marched through the mist, crushing my mind like a vice.

Pressure built in my skull, ready to burst.

I snapped my eyes open, stars swimming in my vision. “Clear the way!” I screamed, but the earth answered first, rupturing with a deafening blast and swallowing my warning.

A colossal tide of liquid fire surged up the road. The world dissolved into blistering heat and harsh smoke. I staggered from the alcove, a burning stench filling my nostrils as the suit melted with a sizzling hiss. Dread held me in place, the advancing inferno searing my eyes.

“Aurora!”

Selena slammed into me, sending us tumbling away from certain death. Stones and mortar pelted us as we crashed into the building.

The Astral Visor went dark. My head throbbed like a hammer blow.

Choking on ashfall, I forced myself up. “Sel?” I croaked, squinting through the haze. “You okay?”

Her groan was my only answer while I fumbled with the unresponsive Visor. Fear chilled my blood. We needed eyes on the battlefield before the Ignises struck again. But first—

“Set Harmonization target, Black Guild,” I rasped, dread tightening.

Connections blazed to life in my mind. I leaped from consciousness to consciousness, heart pounding in my throat.

Phoenix, Ember alive. Quakelord, breathing. Gale, Pearl, Hummingbird, good. Terraknight, Harbinger—all safe. Relief surged through me, so intense it brought tears to my eyes.

The lava receded, leaving a gaping chasm along the road. I helped Selena up, ignoring her death glare. Then I gave one back that said, we don’t have time to argue .

“Dear Lord,” she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

I glanced uphill, my heart sinking at the sight of the church reduced to rubble. “Come on. We should move,” I muttered, tugging her along.

We inched forward, the ledge shrinking with each step. Across the chasm, sheer smoldering walls belched thick smoke. A disturbing realization hit me.

“The Ignises,” I breathed, “they aimed for Harbinger and Terraknight.”

Selena squeezed my hand, a small comfort as the Astral Visor flickered back to life. What I saw made my blood run cold—a creature I’d only heard whispered about in terrified tones.

No outlier had ever seen an Ignis and lived to tell the tale.

Harbinger crouched among ruins, a smoldering tree trunk at his side. His breath came in ragged gasps, but his heartbeat remained steady. Beyond his silver locks, I glimpsed Terraknight’s tanned arm, moving in slow, perfect circles.

The fog parted.

The Ignis rose in ribbons of heat, flames dancing around its ten-foot frame. Its skin gleamed like freshly forged iron. Curved bones sprouted from its elbows, ending in sharp, clawed fingers, rivaling the fiery horns crowning its head. It fixed blazing orange orbs on Harbinger, and my bones liquefied.

My Astral Visor screamed: Threat assessment: Lethal.

The Ignis’ cry agitated the earth.

I pressed against the wall, shielding my face as a wave of heat tore through the street. Trees snapped like twigs, the stench of sulfur reaching us moments later.

“We’re close,” I yelled to Selena, trying not to gag on the taste of rotten eggs.

I released her hand, trusting her to follow as I inched along the buildings. One eye on the battle, the other watching my steps, we moved painfully slow. The smoking chasm yawned to our left, promising eternal death with one wrong step.

“I should have listened to you and stayed in my room,” I muttered under my breath.

Selena’s bitter retort raked like thorns down my back. “Don’t make me smack you! I told you—I fucking told you not to come.”

The gurgle of lava mixed with the sounds of battle. Shivers ran through my body, both from heat and fear. I wondered which was worse—one misstep straight to our deaths, or walking into the bloodbath unfolding on my Visor.

BOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the ground, nearly knocking us off our feet. An entire row of houses collapsed between us and the battle, raising a billowing cloud of dust that stung my eyes and choked my lungs. On the holo-screen, Gale’s scarlet wings swept the debris away, revealing the outliers’ strategic positions.

They had the Stalkers cornered.

“Unde esti? Hai si prinde-ma, lasule!” The captain’s faint words carried a chilling familiarity.

“Hey, you alright?” Terraknight’s deep baritone rumbled through the Harmonization.

Stairs of sandstone materialized before them, propelling them over a broken fence. Harbinger remained ominously silent.

“Did he lose it again?” Hummingbird cried out. “Not the time to retreat into your enormous head, Captain.”

“What did he say?” Phoenix unleashed a fiery blue arrow. It hit its target, igniting a Nebula on the spot.

“Asked the Shepherd to come get him, I think,” Hummingbird replied. “My Russkayan’s rusty.”

Quakelord crashed a building down upon a dozen Stalkers. “Creepy, Cap. Don’t do it again,” he warned.

Selena’s fist slammed into the wall, pulverizing it. Her eyes, decidedly murderous, locked onto me. I flinched, remembering the last time I’d seen her this furious—when her parents had disowned her after the Academy.

“He speaks their language!” she spat, ripping off her torn glove. “He’s a traitor! Varcolacs have no honor, Aurora. He’ll slit our throats first chance he gets!”

Doubt crushed my chest. Was Harbinger here on Russkaya’s orders? My Russkayan was less than rudimentary—I’d have to brush up the first chance I got.

My doubt plummeted, then soared. The Commander had sent me to investigate him. That’s what I’d do, even if it meant confronting him directly.

The road bent, and I could see Harbinger and Terraknight without the Visor. Ice shards rained down on them, clashing against the vice-captain’s earthen blocks. The Glacies met their end, impaled on a forest of spikes.

Harbinger moved in a blur—and even I had trouble keeping up with him—changing directions and plunging into the fray.

Alone.

“Harbinger, what are you doing?” I blurted.

If my voice surprised him, he didn’t show it. He leaped between the storming Stalkers, his heart thudding with a terrifying excitement that echoed in my chest.

Froth-mouthed Limuses led the charge, followed by a horde of Nebulas and Glacies. In one fluid motion, Harbinger unsheathed a short sword, so dark it melded with the night. It hissed along the scabbard like a whisper of scales on rough stone.

A Limus leaped, jaws snapping for his throat. Harbinger’s blade flashed, and the creature split apart in mid-air.

I’d missed the strike.

Sand twirled around his weapon as he pivoted, ducking under another Limus. The hellhound’s head hit the ground before its body finished falling.

Harbinger pressed forward, his actions merging into a haze. A Glacie’s eye exploded in a spray of gore, the deadly ice shard shattering to the ground. Before its scream faded, Harbinger had already vaulted onto a Nebula, slicing its throat with surgical precision.

“How is he so fast?” Selena snarled, her teeth gnashing together.

I couldn’t answer her, my throat tight with dread. A knot fisted my stomach as I watched him flicker across the battlefield, each swing of his sword dealing a fatal blow.

Then, a murmur through the Harmonization. Harbinger’s voice, cold and distant, spoke in the Republic’s language, “Ah, you won’t come out this time, either, will you?”

My heart shriveled, dropping into my guts with a painful thud. This wasn’t the calculating captain from the war room. This was… He was a different man.

Harbinger moved like a whirlwind of steel, cleaving through bodies without pause. When his blade met flesh, it tore. It was a lethal dance, and only he could hear the music. He wasn’t just fighting. He was reveling in it. The thrill of killing enraptured him, and a piece of me recognized that dark euphoria all too well.

I felt like I was witnessing my father’s chronicles come to life. They called him Vlad the Impaler because destruction trailed behind him on the battlefield, like the ravens in ancient folklore.

If my father was the messenger of Death, then Harbinger was its scythe.

My magic prickled a warning. A horde of Stalkers poured from between the buildings, heading straight for Harbinger. The captain, lost in his battle frenzy, seemed oblivious to the approaching threat.

“Harbinger!” I shouted, quickening my pace as the chaos swallowed my voice.

Gritting my teeth, I extended my Blood Manipulation in a desperate attempt to halt the oncoming Stalkers, but their minds slipped away from my control like vapor.

“Stupid, bull-headed—”

A snarl was my only warning before a Limus slammed into me. We skidded across the ground, its jaws snapping inches from my face. Pain seared through my abdomen.

I unleashed my magic, feeling it surge through me like scalding lava. The fragile barriers of his hollowed mind shattered, and I invaded, bending its will to mine.

It froze, yellowed killing teeth inches away, drool splattering my face.

Yuck.

“Aurora!” Sel’s cry broke my concentration.

The Limus’ eyes flared red, and it shook its head as it regained control.

I yanked a needle from my hair and jammed it into its bloodshot eye. It yelped, giving me the opening to kick it off.

Another lunged. I sidestepped, scoring its neck with my nails.

Then it spun and burrowed its claws in my thigh. Ignoring the pain, I rammed my fist into its throat, tearing through arteries and bones.

The Limus collapsed, spewing rotten blood.

I twirled, searching for Selena as the foul scent penetrated my nostrils. She was extracting a spine shard from a third Limus with her bare hand, looking as gore-splattered as a Goya painting.

“Stay on the sideline,” she spat, throwing my earlier words back at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh please, you handled yourself just fine. Now, are you going to help me save the idiot captain, or cry into your fist?”

Selena’s mouth opened, then snapped shut with a groan.

“Keep up, slowpoke” I called over my shoulder, already racing toward him. “Harbinger!” I shouted. “Enemy at your ten!”

He ignored me, lost in his rampage. Glacies and Nebulas fell before him, bodies piling up like gruesome trophies. The Stalkers were circling, hunting him. Anger boiled in my veins to the point I could hear it.

Enough.

I wouldn’t stand by and watch him get himself killed. Not when I needed answers to so many questions. It was enough.

“Sel, slow the Stalkers rushing Harbinger. I’ll help, then try to stop him, but I need backup if I fail.”

She nodded grimly. “On it.”

I reached out with my Blood Manipulation, digging my nails into the slippery, tar-soaked threads of the Stalkers’ minds. Their vacant consciousness yielded easily, bodies freezing mid-charge. I felt Selena’s magic brush mine, reinforcing the hold.

Harbinger’s mental barriers were another story. His blood, still fresh in my system, made finding his link simple. But penetrating his mind? Like breaching a fortress.

His consciousness was intricate and vast, a labyrinth. I slipped through his initial defenses, meeting resistance like pushing against rubber. Then the walls came up, shoving me back.

My head throbbed as he fought to keep me out, but I held on. If I could just make him see reason, make him understand the danger—

I yanked at his thread. “Harbinger, stand down!” I roared into his mind.

His body halted mid-swing, the blade hovering. For a heartbeat, silence fell over the battlefield.

Then came his feral roar—defiance and anguish combined into a horrifying sound. It didn’t matter if I was right; like a petulant child, he rejected reason.

The pressure in my skull mounted to unbearable limits. This was what a walnut must feel like in a nutcracker. And still, I sensed he was holding back.

“Get out of my head, Projector!” he snarled.

His presence became a tempest, raging against my grasp. I felt my control slipping, cracking under the assault. A tidal wave of power slammed into me, infiltrating my mind, squeezing, bombarding, trying to wrest control.

With a terrifying growl, Harbinger shattered our link. It snapped, crumpled. And a void slammed into me like a hammer to the chest.

I took a step toward him—or attempted to.

A streak of heat ran up my spine and exploded into jagged pain at the base of my neck. It ripped at my bones, twisted my tendons, and dragged me to my knees. The world tilted and blurred, voices shouting indistinctly over the thrashing in my head.

Blood filled my mouth, metallic and warm.

As darkness swallowed me, one last thought haunted my thoughts: I’d failed. I’d failed us all.