Page 25 of Vows of Sacrifice

“It’s not going to work. Whatever plan you have in mind, it’s not worth it, I assure you,” I warned, weary of his obstinacy.

“I’ve got more than one archer,” argued my opponent, likely the leader of the thieves. “Dodging one arrow is easy, but twenty?”

“Why don’t you give it a try?” I suggested, smiling all the while.

For a brief moment, he hesitated. But he seemed to recover and ordered his men to shower me with arrows. At the same moment, I drew on my power, drawn directly from my innermost nature. It formed a sort of translucent shield around me, slightly tinged with red and burning hot like flames. All the arrows immediately turned to ash on contact. Not a single one reached me.

The leader of the thieves turned pale. His gaze met mine and he understood. I knew my irises must be glowing like the embers of a fire ready to spew out its flames.

“You’re not human,” he stammered, terrified.

I grinned, amused.

“Ah. Finally, it seems you’re capable of discernment. I’d had my doubts. What do you think? Do you still wish to face me?”

He hesitated, then miserably bowed his head in surrender.

“We’re leaving, my lord.”

I heard them all—without exception—retreat. Some were disgruntled, convinced that we were carrying a great deal of loot with us. I had asked my men not to wave the Elendur banner to facilitate our journey. A very happy decision.

Upon returning, everyone noticed, not without a certain amazement, that my clothes were not stained with blood. Cyrian raised a questioning eyebrow, to which I responded with a shrug. If the three of us had gone as I’d originally planned, I could have had some fun with a bit of action; being alone, the best and quickest thing to do had been to scare them off.

“Is it already finished?” said Ashana.

Her surprise was genuine. Frustrated, I resumed my place on Vulcan.

“Yes. When they saw me approach, they mistook me for a demon capable of annihilating them all with my evil powers and ran away.”

“The people of Muvaria do not believe in demons.”

I smiled coldly, remembering the look on the thief’s face when he realized my nature.

“Well, these Muvarians believe it now.”

I signalled to the rest of the troops to get back on the road, then commanded my horse to do the same.

“How can you not believe in demons? You’ve seen Paivrin’s powers. Besides, magic is everywhere. It’s impossible for you to ignore it,” I said.

Ashana didn’t answer immediately.

“Actually, it’s not that we don’t believe in it in the literal sense. It was my father who forbade us to believe in magic and demons, by putting pressure on the High Priests of the One God.”

“Why is that?”

“Because of the colour of my hair. No one in Muvaria has this shade. The one reminiscent of blood.”

“And the ruby,” I added.

I would have gladly slapped myself for the trouble. The ruby was my stone. Mine. Ashana was my wife. The equation was simple, wasn’t it? I could already see Paivrin’s strange yet clearly mocking gaze on me.

“He thought it would be easier for me, his first child, to live in our world if the people didn’t perceive me as demonic. Even on a diplomatic level, my hair was becoming a problem,” she finally sighed.

I noticed the sadness in her voice. A mysterious impulse urged me to console her, to tell her that everything would be alright from now on, and that the first person who dared call her a demon would have his head torn off.

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore,” I said.

Ashana let out a bitter laugh.

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