Page 3 of Oath of War
‘Oh, but destroying them was the most wonderful entertainment. Corrupting the Moroi was quite satisfying, and defying death’s hold to create new beings kept me busy for centuries. Now, though, I want a new adventure, and I’m willing to compromise if you’d care to listen.’
‘Do I have a choice?’ I huffed in annoyance.
‘No, sweet Annika, you don’t.’
‘Well, then, get on with it so I can get back to ignoring your existence,’ I said, and the skeleton went rigid, purple light pulsing brightly in its eye sockets.
‘Such wit, my lady. I look forward to experiencing it in person when you come to Katrass. My invitation still stands, despite the fact that you killed my poor latawce.1 Now, take my hand and step through the portal,’ he offered, a skeletal hand reaching towards me.
I stepped back, and the skeleton’s bones rattled as its hand reached out further. ‘Don’t you know,” he continued with a dark laugh, “that the more you resist me, the sweeter the pleasure will be when you finally submit?’
‘Yeah, good luck with that, asshole,’ I quipped humourlessly.
‘Think about it, Annika,’ he said, his voice smooth and persuasive. ‘I have no need for war. It was a mistake five hundred years ago, and it would be a mistake now. I’ve learned from my ... Well, let’s just say I’ve evolved. I’d like my life to be a different kind of interesting, and having you join me would certainly help with that. I’m no monster, and with you standing by my side, the fertile Lowland Kingdoms would bow before me without the need for violence. Those who would otherwise die in the flames of war will bless your name. You could be their saviour if you join the winning side.’
‘No.’
‘No?’ There was amusement in his voice, but I could sense anger, too. ‘Tsk. Keep resisting, and I will take everything from you, starting with your Anchors.’
‘Touch them and I will—’ I whipped the chain, smacking the effigy of the Lich King in the chest. Several bones cracked, but the skeleton still stood.
‘What? Destroy me? I am eternal. As for your men, Alaric is already mine. I can see through his eyes, can whisper to him in his dreams ... It is just a matter of time until he comes to me.’
‘You can’t do any of that when he’s near me.’
‘Poor, delusional Annika. You’re not with him now, are you? Your precious ability is of no use to him while you’re here.’
‘You may see through his eyes, but you don’t know the man you’re tormenting,’ I said, my voice dripping with disdain. ‘Go back to whatever shithole you crawled out of and leave me be. I’m bored with your company.’ I waved him off dismissively, hoping to provoke him. I needed to distract him; if I couldn’t hurt the skeleton, maybe I could disrupt the glyph. To do that, I’d have to get closer to the terrifying creature.
‘Annika, your stubbornness is charming, but that, too, has its limits. You will not insult me—’
‘Or what? What can you do, trapped in a dead kingdom with your worthless sycophants? You’re burning through your stores of aether just to annoy me with your presence, and I’m not even afraid. Look, I’m coming closer, oh mighty Master of Death,’ I goaded him, wrapping the chain around my fist as I approached the diagram.
The corpse quietly observed me, its eye sockets filled with flickering purple flames. This time, however, there was no amusement. Harsh, threatening power filled the room. Its suffocating energy, unlike anything I’d ever felt before, enveloped me. The portal widened, as if he’d waited for the best moment to strike, but I didn’t let it deter me.
I smiled, twirling around as if taunting him. Then, with all my strength, I hammered my chain-wrapped fist into the glyph, disturbing the first line. The skeleton shuddered, and the depths of the portal gate shimmered with unnatural light. I scraped my hand over the second line, further unravelling the connection. But before I could reach the third, a darkness surged out, its cloying tendrils encircling me and halting my hand.
‘Such a savage little mage,’ he sneered. ‘Have a taste of what awaits you if you insist on resisting, then.’
I struggled against the viscous tendrils as the Lich King’s aether spilled relentlessly through the portal. Black strands coiled around me like a venomous vine, contorting my body until my head was forced back. I fought desperately against the suffocating embrace, terror gripping me as the inky tendrils slithered into my nose and pried my mouth open.
‘I will burn the aether of a thousand souls until I have you. How does it feel, Annika, to be helpless in my grasp? This is a small fraction of the power you will face, little mage. You have no hope of enduring. I wanted to give you a choice, to join me as my queen, yet you choose to be broken like a slave.’
The sable vines pulled me closer to the portal, and I felt the void dragging me in while I choked and spluttered, fighting to breathe as the vile, corrupted magic pulsed obscenely in my throat.
‘Should I show you what I make Alaric suffer through to entertain myself? Why he hurts himself to avoid my nightmares?’ he continued.
Laughter echoed through the room, and the pressure in my throat eased as the tendrils pulled out of my mouth, another sliding up my thigh as I inched closer to the portal. I could feel the twisted aether powering the glyph, and the shimmering hatred behind it.
The bastard was going to rape me while pulling me through the portal.
‘Go to hell,’ I croaked, parting my legs as if inviting him in. I used the brief flicker of distraction to unfurl the chain and smash it onto the glyph, destroying the third line. The Lich King’s grip faltered, his power momentarily slackening, and I threw myself to the side of the portal, scratching through whichever line came within reach.
The purple light in the skeleton’s eyes dimmed as the portal weakened, then disappeared altogether. I refused to stop,destroying every trace of the foul magic in a desperate frenzy, trying to erase the memory of his sickening laughter.
Soon, the glyph was nothing but stone dust coating my skin, making me shudder with revulsion. My hands were raw and bloodied from the frantic destruction, and only when the last line was obliterated did I collapse to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. I felt violated. It had only been a shadow, yet it had felt so real . . . as if the Lich King had—
Tears blurred my vision as I dragged myself to the wall and curled into a ball. I sobbed until my throat was raw, the sound echoing in the surrounding emptiness. I felt dirty—tainted in a way no amount of bathing could ever cleanse. But the worst pain came from the knowledge of what he was doing to Ari, and the crushing guilt that I wasn’t there to protect my fae.
