Page 77 of Shadows Ascend (Remnant Archives #2)

I was getting tired of waking in a pool of water. This time Riella cradled my head, her tiny body submerged and shivering while keeping me afloat. I choked when the dark shadows of Lova's lilin poured out of me and I blinked up at the mocking stars.

"No more," I whispered, still feeling the weakness of death lingering, attempting to regain my own reality.

Riella was above me, smoothing my hair away from my face with her wet pruney hand. "No more, maedere. You did it."

Rising, I pulled her shivering body into me, rubbing my hands up and down her damp arms.

"Thank you, little chickadee." I kissed her forehead, seeing my haggard self within the reflective surface of her crown. "I fear you have taken better care of me than I have of you."

Riella curled into me. "Faedere would want us to take care of each other."

I tapped her nose lovingly, ignoring the deep set worry I had as Emon’s soul fluttered inside.

"That he would." Rising, the cold water dripped from my exposed legs and weighed down my boots.

I grimaced, more than eager to feel dry lands beneath my feet and the hot sun on my face instead of the cold wet dampness of this realm.

Adjusting Riella, not wanting her in these unknown waters a moment longer, I slung her across my back once again.

Spying her shadow spear lying at my feet, I summoned it to my hand, carefully handing it back to her.

"Let's get out of here," I whispered, walking towards where we had first entered.

Riella and I both gasped when the shadows popped up towards us, Lova's lilin joining them, becoming one in their agitated swirl. My steps faltered and my brow quirked, I had lived a long enough life with the previous shadows, I knew their urgency when I saw it.

"What is it now?" I sighed.

They furiously tumbled around us, shoving us forward.

Riella tilted her head, her eyes widening listening to their anxious swirling. "They say they have obtained the souls but the demons are still outside. They have captured Lir and lay in wait. A trap."

I ground my teeth, "We must free Lir, even if it is a trap—” my heart pounded, Emon’s body was aboard that ship, vulnerable in the soulless sleep. "Take me to Lir and protect Riella at all costs when we get there."

They did not pause this time, in one quick swirl Riella and I were enveloped in darkness before we were sent stumbling onto a demon infested metal ship with the great fae sea king laughing with each blast of his glittering trident.

Looking up into the sky, I inhaled sharply at the hundreds of demons above, illuminated in Wrath’s skies by dark ruby red blood crystals.

"Lir!" I cried out, setting Riella down and watching the lilin cloak protectively over her. Nodding, Riella raised her spear in response, before I turned to run to Lir’s side. Sliding across the deck, I sliced viciously at any demon in my way, my eyes trained on the sea king.

Lir fought valiantly, but their sheer numbers were vast and he was quickly buried beneath a heap of demon scum.

“No,” I screamed, lunging forward only to be knocked to the side by a fierce wind. Its gusts barreled straight into the demon pile, sending more than several flying into the churning seas.

Whether it was Lir’s jealous ex wife, his cursed north wind daughter Fi, or both, I would never know, but it was enough for the sea king to regain his footing.

Reaching his side, together we blasted and skewered demons dropping from the sky, the glow above us increasing in its brightness—charging in strength.

My eyes widened, “They are sacrificing their own to build the strength of the blood crystals!”

Lir roared as he pierced two demons at once with his great trident, flinging them hundreds of feet over the sea with ease. “Dinnae know if I am happy t’ see ye or not lass with such grave news!” Then he frowned, "Where is yer wraith?"

Gritting my teeth, I killed the last demon aboard and kicked him over the side.

Riella anxiously joined me before the demon even hit the water, the lilin still cloaking her in a bubbled sphere of shadow.

Turning, I gripped onto Lir’s strong forearm, and shook my head, "There is no time to explain!

" I pointed up at the demons gathering. “We must get out of here or we will all be destroyed! "

Shoving his huge body forward, I grabbed onto Riella's hand, a dark foreboding creeping up my spine, quickly followed by an echoed hum, so loud it vibrated the entire ship.

“Fuck!” I screamed, knowing that the Sanguine was about to blast us from the very hell in which we resided. Heaving shadow from the depths of the oceans and the skies, I arc’d it over us right before the first explosive blast hit the shield.

I fell to my knees, arms raised to hold the shadows, layering them just as I had to stop Ethereal in The West Isles, a permanent weave the death god called it. The Sanguine power crackled a brilliant red against the darkness, hungry to reach us.

“Get Riella out of here Lir! The lilin know what to do!” I roared over the charging hum.

“That won’t be necessary, shadow fae,” a sweet cultured voice from behind me sounded.

I stiffened before screaming, “For the love of the goddess and all of Faerie, you cannot be serious right now.” Glancing over my shoulder, I glared at the queen of Hell, and her sidekick demon Zazion standing smugly with his arms crossed over his chest.

The glinting of the sea king’s head caught my attention next as he bowed to Avalon and her demon, backing Riella closer to the cabin door, hiding her behind his massive body as he did.

I narrowed my eyes on Lir.

“Sorry lass, tis her realm and it’s where mi children be,” Lir whispered to me, seeing my reaction as he straightened.

My eyes fell on my own daughter wrapped in shadow, “Riella, come to me.”

Her hand tightened on her weapon and she hedged away, but the queen of Hell moved quickly, stopping her progress with shocked curiosity.

“No.” I growled, ready to summon the lilin to portal her from here but the command died on my lips when Riella hissed, her spear pointed towards the queen of Hell’s heart.

“Get out of my way, before I take you from this very existence,” my daughter growled.

Another battering of the Sanguine hit the shadow shield and I grunted, bracing it before the power destroyed us all. “I’d do as she says cousin, that is a bás fang she holds and she is my daughter after all…you know how many I took down even in the chains you bound me in.”

But the demon queen did not answer. Her gaze stuck on the vicious snarl on Riella’s face. She held up her hands and stepped back, stating softly. “How old are you, child?”

Riella growled, sidestepping around her with the spear staying on target, Zaki appearing on her shoulder hissing his own warning. “I am seven.”

Avalon stilled and I knew why, she saw in my daughter the little girl she once was. Alone and having to fight for a kingdom that betrayed her family. “Seven,” she whispered.

Riella took her opportunity to blur over towards me, becoming a shadow within lilin shadows, and when she reformed, she stood protectively in front of me.

Avalon spun, staring with wide violet eyes.

Riella pointed her spear again, “Either you help my mother and your own people,” she nodded to the giant sea king Lir, “or you leave. What do you choose, demon?”

Red light lit up the sky and I braced for its impact, a shower of crimson pouring over us. A bead of sweat dripped down the back of my neck.

“My queen?” Zaz whispered, placing his hand on Avalon’s shoulder. She was still frozen, watching my daughter, and with her face turned towards me now, I could see her trapped within phantoms of memories from long ago.

Zaz shook her this time, “Lonnie?” The endearment slipped from his lips and I had a distinct feeling we were never supposed to hear it.

Avalon blinked from the forceful shake, looking at the demon that was manhandling her. She snarled, swiping his hand from her shoulder before turning back to me. “She is truly your daughter?”

“Yes,” I said, feeling the shield tremble. Turning my focus back to the shadows, I hissed. “I am a little busy right now demon queen, come back later if you wish to chat.”

“That red power, what would happen if you released your shadows?”

I weaved more into the cracks after another blow of the Sanguine fizzled over the barrier. “It would destroy us all.”

The demon queen hummed, watching me with agonizing silence before kneeling on one knee before Riella, “Lower your spear, fierce warrior, I have no desire to harm you or your mother, I have decided to help her.”

Riella glanced back at me and I nodded, smiling as she sent the demon queen one more growl and dropped her spear to the hull of the ship with a loud thud.

I snickered. “You have decided to help me? It has nothing to do with the fact that we are all about to be blasted from Hell?

“You still must return to my camp to hold trial for your crimes. My demons demand retribution,” she drawled.

I laughed dryly and my daughter hissed. “Clearly I need help. I need my daughter off this fucking ship, my soulmate’s body delivered to Sheol without dying myself, and if you want me that badly, of course I shall return.”

Stepping beside me and giving the watchful Riella a respectful nod, she looked up at the power with a disappointed face, “I was at least expecting some sort of protest. You steal the fun out of everything.”

I laughed coldly, “I’ve been playing these games much longer than you, cousin .”

She grunted, not sparing me a glance of her bright violet eyes. “This will mean declaring war on the territory of Wrath,” she mused.

The demon growled behind us. “War has always been the fate of this territory, it was just a matter of time.”

Avalon grunted, “So be it. Cover me if need be, Zaz.” She spread her wings out wide, a beautiful array of both black leather-like skin and red feathers.