Page 86 of Of Flames and Crows

Mae cursed. Her hair lifted around her as she grasped the crimson blaze churning deep within her body and drew upon it fully.

Nikolai grunted. Alastair’s wings quivered violently.

They can’t take much more of this, my witch!Hellreaver said worriedly after a minute.Their cores will crack!

Fear gripped Mae at her weapon’s warning. She started withdrawing her power from Nikolai and Alastair.

A voice reached her then.

One that rooted her limbs to the ground and made her soul tremble, just like her heart had done upon hearing Ran Soyun.

“Na—Na Ri?!” someone shouted dimly somewhere below.

Mae stared into the inferno of Hellfire Magic.

The flames thinned, revealing a shimmering portal to some kind of cave. Her stomach plummeted as she stared through the narrow window. A haggard, horned demon with crimson pupils and a tattered robe was looking straight up at her.

The demon’s face brightened. “Na Ri!”

Mae blinked. “Fa—Father?!”

Master!Hellreaver blubbered.

Relief flooded Azazel’s eyes when he saw the weapon. “I’m glad you found your mistress, Hellreaver!”

The weapon whined, a sound of sorrow.

The demon studied Nikolai and the Hellfire Magic blazing in his blind gaze and that of his familiar.

He frowned. “I wish we could talk longer, daughter, but it seems you have a situation!”

Mae dipped her head, tongue-tied. She recalled what Alicia had told her of Azazel. How Ran Soyun and Na Ri’s deaths had driven the demon so mad with grief none could reason with him, and how he’d wandered aimlessly through the deepest parts of Hell for eons.

Is that why he looks so gaunt, like he hasn’t slept in years?

The portal wavered. Panic clenched her belly.

“Father!”

Azazel’s voice came brokenly through the roaring blaze. “I—teach—spell—!”

The window reappeared. Azazel’s pupils flared with power as he raised his hands toward her.

Mae’s breath locked in her lungs when his magic connected with her core and detonated inside her mind. The conjuration appeared in her subconscious, so bright it scorched her soul.

She opened her mouth and invoked it. “Chaos Seal!”

The anomaly started shrinking, white magic sparking at the jagged edges as the nexus finally won the battle against the otherworldly power that had almost overwhelmed it.

Azazel’s portal flickered as the rift started to close.

“We will meet again, daughter!” he shouted, his eyes bright with conviction.

Mae swallowed, her vision blurring with tears. “My name is Mae now, father! Hana Mae Jin!”

Pleasure danced in Azazel’s loving gaze. “Mae. I like it, daughter!”

Mae froze when the portal shuddered and winked out. She closed her eyes tightly, overcome with a grief so deep she felt it would drive her into the ground.

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