Page 53 of Fallen: Darkness Ascending, Vol.1

“Welcome back,” sneered the Valsharess. “We said , show us your true appearance, Pennilil. You are not one of the wild ones. We do not tolerate games like this.”

Kadre snickered, covering her mouth to feign the demure underling when Ishuna glanced at her. At last, the demon blinked but in mock innocence.

Uradri exhaled, allowing her pale white skin and golden hair to show, her sandstone eyes regaining their infinite stare beyond the limits of iris and pupil. The one change she did not allow was her wings to erupt from her back.

Though she wanted to .

“Who are you, Naulor spy?!” the Queen demanded.

“I am not Naulor,” Uradri said. “Or a spy. I am beholden to no Queen. I am a guardian, last seen at the Nalari sacred spring to the west. And you, Desert Queen, are in danger.”

The guiding siblings watched helplessly as Cris-ri-phon jolted in his saddle and the Seer’s eyes opened in shock barely controlled. The demon clasped the Seer’s forearm, whispering poison in her ear.

“Penn…” stuttered the General as recognition flooded his face. “Penni…?”

The Valsharess rounded on him. “You know her?”

“I don’t… I…” he stammered.

“The Zauyrian sorcerer aided me in his travels centuries ago, Your Majesty!” Uradri said, holding out one hand, gripping Oros’s black mane with the other. “This helped your lands in ways unimaginable! Believe me, he is a friend to all Elves!”

“’Friend,’ hah?” The Queen laughed, gripping the hilt of a dagger from her belt, eyes fixed on Uradri’s swollen gut. “Don’t tell me that is what he’s been up to on his campaigns.”

“I’ve never, my Queen!” Cris denied.

Lying.

Uradri blinked at her own thought. Even if the Zauyrian hadn’t quickened this child as the Queen implied, Pennilil and Cris-ri-phon had been lovers for years. Just no child between them.

That honor was reserved for you, Queen Innathi. How often he spoke about you to me…

The General and his son repositioned to protect their Valsharess while the Seer moved closer.

“The pale one is dangerous, sister!” Ishuna urged while Kadre cackled behind her fleshly solemn face. “Her magic disrupts my visions. Let us seize her and discover who is behind this plot!”

“No, listen to me!” Uradri pointed at the acolyte, her red stallion dancing underneath her with ears flat to his skull. “ That one is a demon! She’s been lying to you! You can’t trust her!”

Fury and terror crossed the dark sisters’ faces.

“Enough!” the Valsharess wrenched her dagger out of its sheath, pointing it at her General. “Bring her! Leave the wild ones, I do not care about them!”

Uradri’s eyes fixed upon the Queen’s weapon, skimming the red runes marking the matte black blade.

Infernal script. He’s been here. Already influenced the Queen .

She wanted to scream. What did Indrath promise her? What deal did they make?—?

*Surprise!!* Kadre shrieked.

Jagged darkness reached out from Oros’s own shadow to slash at Uradri’s throat.

The red stallion screamed in fury and reared up on his hind legs, kicking out his forelegs.

His aura flared, condensing into a keen, biting shield which struck back against the Abyssal attack.

Wild magic so fierce, the demonic Davrin fell from her saddle.

“Kadre!” Ishuna cried.

Oros… Uradri stared with awe while others scrambled to respond. How did you do that?

“Flee!” Kaju shouted. “Scatter!”

The Wilder reacted faster than either queen or consort could stop them, while Oros charged. Uradri clung to him, sliding to one side to grab Kadre’s hair, dragging her as her horse lengthened his stride.

*I shall deal with you right now, vermin!*

“STOP!”

A mage’s blast struck Oros in the legs; he stumbled, and they crashed down together, leaving the acolyte somewhere behind them. Uradri, overtaken by a wave of pain, shared the burden borne by Oros, her unborn, herself?—

And the Seer.

The Sovereign cried out in shock, in sorrow at the depth of the Abyssal touch.

Ishuna. Oh gods…no! Such pain !

More than any mortal should be able to bear.

“Good work, sister!” the Queen cried. “Bind the woman, beloved!”

The Sovereign struggled to get off the ground, her skin and her limbs numb.

Kadre hissed, crawling scraped and bloody toward them with mouth open, revealing spider’s fangs, blinking multiple eyes behind her mortal mask.

Simultaneously, the Godblood she’d once known was preparing to cast. To trap her.

No.

*Oros. Oros!*

Uradri laid her hands upon the stallion, releasing a flood to heal him as white feathered wings burst out of her back. She and the Seer both screeched.

“Pennilil!” Cris cried. “Stay where you are!”

Her gravid belly cramped, doubling her over. She kept healing hands upon her Wilder. *Oros, get up! We must fly!*

The massive horse thrashed once, then his body shifted, swift and smooth, to that of an Elf.

A winged Elf. Like her.

Oros scrambled to his feet, black feathered wings open wide. He leaped out of reach of the lunging Abyssal creature and seized Uradri’s hand.

*Yes! Fly with me! Fly free!*

Oros’s first flight was pure instinct at unimaginable speed high above the Red Desert. Uradri wouldn’t land until her time was upon her.

Thanks to him, the Ice Lord would not catch up until well after she’d given birth.