Page 117 of Oath of War
Terror flashed across Rowena’s face as Alaric approached, death dancing gleefully in his eyes. He leaned over her, trailing a finger over her cheek with chilling tenderness before shaking his head in disbelief.
‘What are you?’ he asked softly, his voice a rasp of disgust. ‘What pit of nightmare spawned your hateful soul?’
He seized her throat with brutal force, the smoke net around her vanishing under his touch. From the corner of my eye, I saw Valaram slump to the floor, hand holding his bleeding throat, reaching towards Ani.
‘I .. . He forced me. Ari, I didn’t want this, but the Lich King . .. He made me suffer until I complied ...’ She shrieked when Alaric squeezed her throat tighter.
‘Your lies won’t work anymore,’ he hissed, his voice empty. ‘I’m dead inside, sister. You took everything from me and turned it to dust. My last wish is to see you dead before I follow my domina behind the Veil.’
Alaric pressed the dagger he’d pulled from Ani’s back to Rowena’s chest. Slowly, with deliberate precision, he drove the blade deeper, the sound of the metal scraping through her ribs a sickening melody. Rowena’s screams were raw and agonizing, but I didn’t look away. I drank in every moment of her pain as she thrashed until, with one last gasping sob, her body hung lifelessly in Alaric’s grasp.
The courtyard was eerily quiet. The man I loved approached me, pain and loss finally cracking his emotionless façade. I glanced down at the dagger in his hand, his sister’s blood still dripping from its blade.
‘Help me, my love. I can’t let her walk alone,’ he said, his voice cracking as he passed the knife to me hilt first. I pulled away from him as if he’d offered me a poisonous snake.
‘No!’ I shouted. ‘There must be another way.’
He shook his head. ‘If there is, I don’t know it. Such power is beyond me.’
The earth trembled with the heavy thump of Vahin’s landing and I shielded my eyes from the blinding blue light that coated him. My dragon was a broken sight—bloodied and battered, with scales missing and one wing hanging flaccidly, bone jutting from his flesh. But despite the carnage, he was alive.
Vahin’s eyes widened as they fell on Ani’s lifeless form, and a sharp pain twisted in my chest. He took a tentative step towards her, but his legs buckled beneath him. ‘Bring her to me! Now!’
Without hesitation, I did as he commanded, placing Ani’s body into his gentle embrace. She looked almost as if she was sleeping, cradled by the dragon.
‘What are you going to do?’ I asked when he lowered his head, his muzzle touching her chest.
‘A miracle.’
I stumbled back, nearly tripping over Alaric, who was kneeling beside us, whispering prayers in his native tongue. I mimickedhis posture, drawing a sword and resting it across my thighs as I prayed to the All-Father, pleading for the life of the woman whose bravery put the heroes of old to shame.
‘My troublemaker, this time I’m locking you in my lair,’ Vahin murmured, his voice tender as his breath stirred Ani’s hair. The blue glow of his scales deepened, radiating with intensity, while lines of lightning flickered across his wings. A tremor ran through his body, and from deep within his chest, a low rumble echoed, accompanied by a strange melody that seemed to resonate through my very soul.
Then, Vahin spoke. I didn’t recognise the words, but there was a decisiveness to them. A chill ran down my spine as his head dipped lower, his breath hovering over Annika’s lips. I blinked, stunned by the golden mist that swept across her heart-shaped face, a faint ethereal glow that twinkled in the stillness of the moment.
Annika no longer appeared as if death’s embrace held her so tightly. My muscles were painfully tense, but I was afraid to move, afraid to lose this sliver of hope and disturb a ritual I didn’t understand.
‘Dark Mother, she gave you everything you asked for and more. Please do not cut the thread of her fate. It is not her time,’ Alaric whispered in prayer.
‘Come back, Little Flame,’ Vahin’s weary voice spoke again. His scales, just now vibrant with power, had dulled, the fire within him dimming with every agonised word. ‘I know it hurts. I know it is easier to shy away, but we cannot lose you. Not yet.’
He continued, his voice growing softer, ‘Come back to me, my light. My beautiful soul ... Take my gift and live for me. I offer my immortality. For you, I give Veles everything. I’ll stray from the endless path and no longer soar the edge of eternity.’
Though Ani remained still, a faint blush of life seemed to paint her cheeks. I wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking or Vahin’spower, but something shifted in the air, and my heart dared to hope.
Alaric broke first. With a sudden, determined movement, he threw himself towards them, his hands drawing healing sigils in the air that burned with the force of his power before sinking into her body.
‘I’ll seal the Veil for you—consequences be damned,’ he cried, his voice cracking with anguish. ‘Hear these words, Domina. Hear the one who commands the dead. You’ll not join their ranks. I forbid it!’ He turned to me, desperation etched into every line of his face. ‘Do something! She loves you the most.’
His words cut through me like a whip, urging me to act, but I had no magic like Vahin or mastery over the dead like Alaric. All I had was the heart of the beast she’d tamed and the words I swore never to say again.
I stripped off my armour and tore my shirt off, ignoring the raw pain of my injuries and the crackling magic coursing through my veins. Kneeling beside her, I cradled Ani’s head to my chest, pressing my heartbeat against her ear.
‘My beautiful Nivale,’ I whispered, my voice trembling. ‘Can you hear my heartbeat? I still remember that first night, when you were so delirious you ripped my shirt off just to feel it.’ The memory burned in my mind, a blissful sweetness I could never forget. ‘I remember everything—the confusion, the bliss, the certainty that my life would never be the same.’
I willed my heart to beat faster, pushing the blood through my veins with all my will until the roar of it drowned everything else. I lifted her gently, cradling her head in my hand as I pressed my lips to her ear to speak the words of her geas.
‘Iru?ai efsun khavarin.2 Come back, Nivale. I command it.’
