Page 65 of Oath of Betrayal
‘The reason the past no longer bothers you is because Alaric used a spell to suppress your feelings, and I allowed him to do it. It was life-or-death, and you were being burned alive while you held onto the spirits of your Anchors. Your grief was preventing Vahin from controlling the fire and I used your geas to force your compliance so that Alaric could bespell your emotions.’
‘You … used my geas?’ Ani pulled away from me, suddenly emotionless, a wall of distrust crashing down between us. The tears in her eyes almost sent me to my knees, but as much as I wanted her understanding, I couldn’t regret saving her life.
‘I had to! There were no other options. I would do it again if it meant saving your life. Every time I close my eyes, I remember my helplessness, seeing the flames beneath your skin as you slowly died in my arms. So yes, I used the fucking geas. I know I’ve been acting like a prick recently, but there isnothingI wouldn’t do to protect you, even if you end up hating me because of it,’ I argued with a vehemence that earned me a sad smile.
‘I don’t hate you. I never did. It’s just … this thing between us … I like you, but I guess I forgot that I’m basically your slave,’ she said in a monotone. ‘You promised me you wouldn’t use it, but your promise didn’t even last a day. I fled the capital because they held that threat over me like an executioner’s axe, and now, if I stay here, I know my choices will never truly be mine.’
‘IswearI only did it to save your life.’
Ani raised her head to look at me. My dragoness with broken wings … there was no light in her eyes—and I was the man who had crushed her soul.
‘Tell me, if I said I wanted to return to Zalesie, or go somewhere those bastards from court couldn’t find me, would you force me to stay? If I told you I was leaving for good and never coming back, would you promise never to use my geas?’ I opened my mouth to deny it, but Ani shook her head. ‘No, Orm. Think it through. If I can’t have freedom, give me honesty. Please.’
Deep inside, I felt my answer would be the turning point for whatever future we might have. While I considered it, a gust of wind blew sparks from the fire, surrounding Annika with the light of a thousand dying stars. I couldn’t offer her anything but my honour, even if that meant whatever feelings were budding between us would die like the sparks flowing into the night sky.
‘I don’t know. I know I would beg you to stay, offer you whatever you wanted, but … for the people we’re both striving to protect … you are still my greatest weapon,’ I whispered, knowing I might as well kiss my future with this remarkable woman goodbye.
To my surprise, she came closer and placed her hand on my chest.
‘I hate it, Orm. I hate that you’ve been placed in this position, and I hate how it makes me feel. However, I really appreciate you being honest with me. I don’t blame you for saving my life, but knowing you own my geas … it makes things difficult between us. We will never be equal. It is an unbreakable chain weighing me down. Even if I know you’d never want to use it to hurt me, the fact remains that it will always be there if circumstances force your hand. But I know that you’re a good man faced with an impossible choice, and I don’t blame you for any of this.’
Ani’s answer, but more so the single tear that fell from her cheek, hit me like a hammer. Before I could do anything stupid, my kirbai headbutted me from behind. As I turned to rebuke him, Ani’s eyes narrowed.
‘Orm. My spell … four Vel demons are heading our direction,’ she stated, and I cursed because, whilst focusing on her, I’d forgotten we were still in a forest frequented by monsters.
The gods must hate me,I thought, trying to understand what had just happened.
Orm’s kiss left me reeling and filled with a desire to hold the bear of a man closer and do it again. Then I learned he’d used the geas to save my life and failed to mention it, leaving me to worry that something was wrong with me and my emotions.
I hadn’t even digested that punch to the gut when my proximity spell warned of an imminent attack. It also detected the frightening amount of foul magic the advancing creatures possessed, and it didn’t look good. I frowned when, in answer to my warning, Orm stripped the kirbai’s tack before grabbing the creature’s muzzle. ‘If we fail, run to the fortress and show the dragon what you saw here.’
‘Do you think he understands?’ I was curious despite the danger. ‘He does, and he will fight with us. Get behind me, Nivale, and support me as much as you can.’ I burst into laughter, pulling my falchion sword.
‘No, Lord Commander. Without your wings, we are equal, and the ground is where I excel. Now, get behindmebecause I have some anger to vent and it’s about to get messy.’
I stumbled a bit when I saw the pride and desire mixing in Orm’s gaze as our eyes locked.For a man who did everything he could to keep me in the fortress, he is far too happy to be fighting beside me,I thought, trying to suppress the joy it brought me before I shook my head and started muttering a quick cantrip.
I felt them before I saw them. Two strigae, fast and deadly, burst into the clearing and rushed in our direction. My usual tactic, casting an arcane net to immobilise fast-moving targets, wouldn’t work with Orm here—the net latched onto anything that moved—and I couldn’t afford to lose his fighting skills.
This will be more fun anyway, I thought, trailing my hand over the sword, modifying my incantation. The runes etched onto the blade burst into blue flame. The advantage of being an elemental mage was that I could channel aetheric fire into almost anything, turning it into an arcane weapon.
Scholars often theorised the results of a conduit mage stripping the land of its magic, channelling aether until nothing was left. In theory, it was possible, but no one had ever come close to managing such a terrifying feat. Aether was like water: it flowed through the world, changing from one form to another—always there, sustaining, and renewed by, life itself. We could drain a lake of its water, but the rivers and rainfall would always refill it.
I was an elemental mage. My affinity for elements made it easy to cast basic elemental spells without the sigils or incantations that were necessary to use other forms of magic. I couldn’t use my conduit abilities without my Anchor, but my own aether reserve was more than enough for such a fight—and these strigae were about to learn that it made little difference which ofmy abilities I used when the frustration of my situation burned within me like the heat of the sun.
Orm was left behind as I jumped between our attackers, fingers twisting to throw up a shield sigil to protect myself. At the same time, my sword swung in a deadly figure of eight. It cut the closest attacker’s arm while I parried the other creature’s claws. The sigil burned red but withstood the hit.
‘Ani, for fuck’s sake!’ I heard from behind, but it only made me laugh.
I needed this. After what I’d just learned, my darkness, fear, worries, and unfulfilled desires demanded an outlet. I unleashed it on the monsters, lashing out with pure, unbridled violence. I lost myself in the sheer joy of combat. Fury blazed through my veins as I fought the monsters that Orm—with his heavy sword—was struggling to get a move in on.
I called upon the fire, creating a Morgenstern flail,1 its fiery chain spitting incandescent sparks as the ball of plasma crashed into one of the strigae’s chest, setting her ablaze. The burning creature released a screech that almost made my ears bleed, and the earth shook beneath us. A massive shape, its head pushing aside the tree branches, emerged from the forest wall—a mountain troll.
What the … why is there a mountain troll here?
The race had never before allied with the Lich King, preferring to remain isolated and only trading sporadically with other races. Yet here he was, charging at Orm, his thundering strides so heavy they shook the bones in my body.
When he passed me, I understood: the pall of death lay heavy on him, and whether it was wild or foul magic that animated him, his mind and soul hadn’t returned from behind the Veil.
