Page 95 of Oath of War
Annika’s spell didn’t stop, branching out like lightning and saturating the clouds until ash poured from the sky. The soft powder fell on my face as the spell spread, incinerating the spectrae and decimating everything dead and undead. It even burned the corpses untouched by the Lich King’s magic. Everywhere I looked, dragons were free to fight the living monsters, and they roared in challenge, chasing after their winged foe.
The ash turned into a bloody haze filled with the screams of dying harpies and the maddening song of latawce. They all died, ripped to shreds by our raging dragons. Thunder shook the sky, and the heavy clouds thickened. Bloody ashen mist became blackened rain, clinging to clothes and dragon scales alike.
I’m riding the storm, I thought, taken aback by the display of power.
Vahin seemed to grow stronger, as if the clouds were replenishing whatever the spectrae took of him. But he didn’t engage in the fight. He flew above Ani, his worry growing with each passing moment.
‘I cannot reach her, Orm. Our bond is there, but her thoughts are obscure, and I can’t read them. I thought I was doing us both a favour when I blocked her, allowing myself only one last goodbye. Now she doesn’t want me back.’
‘She may be angry that we left her on the ground, but she will always want you back,’ I said. ‘It must be something else. Stop fretting and land. We can’t help her from up here.’
He folded his wings, plummeting to the earth, but before we touched down, he snapped his wings open once more, pulling us back into the sky.
‘What are you doing?’ I barked, feeling the uncertainty in his mind.
‘Tomma’s dragon requests our presence. Rarógs2are heading for the centre of the battle and my Little Flame’s circle.’
I cursed. The last thing we needed were those damn fire demons. They were massive raptors with burning feathers, wickedly sharp claws, and deadly beaks that could even tear through a dragon’s scales. They were so agile that it would take a concerted effort to defeat them.
‘How many?’ I asked sharply, remembering how many men and dragons they’d wounded during our last skirmish.
‘An entire flock. They are coming from behind the mountain ridge,’ Vahin answered, ‘We need to help the others, but my Little Flame ...’
‘I know, but we need to keep them away from the battlefield. It’s our best chance at keeping Ani and the army safe.’
I could sense the conflict in his thoughts—the same conflict I was fighting within my own heart—but he couldn’t dispute the logic in my words.
We looked down one last time. Carnage reigned over the battlefield, but the space around Ani was eerily quiet, as if the monsters feared approaching her. Annika’s valkyries took full advantage, slaughtering their way across the battlefield.
My thoughts of protecting the woman who was single-handedly dealing with most of the enemy’s forces felt so ridiculous now that I laughed. I didn’t know what her plans were, but I knew she’d cleared the sky for the dragons, and whatever else she was planning, my presence didn’t seem essential or required.
‘Look down,’ I said.‘All we have to do is ensure nothing attacks her from above. She is perfectly fine there with her women.’
I felt Vahin’s intense focus before his thoughts filled with contentment. ‘Yes, my beautiful destruction; sometimes she terrifies me,’ he rumbled with such pride that I smiled, grasping my sword.
‘That makes two of us.’
I remembered how I’d dismissed Ani’s circle of homegrown warriors, suddenly ashamed. Those women, barely trained and unused to battle, truly resembled the All-Father’s mythical warriors as they protected not just Ani but each other. If we survived this, I’d make sure to raise a monument to those brave souls. I raised my sword in salute as Vahin changed directions.
‘Homegrown warriors? She will rip out your tongue if she hears you calling them that,’ Vahin rumbled in my thoughts.
It was nice to feel his strength returning. Dragons recuperated fast, and Annika’s strange magic and rumbling storm clouds had bolstered his recovery. I couldn’t be happier, even if it raised the hair on my body, which was not a pleasant experience.
‘They are valkyrie warriors, and I shall deny calling them anything else from now until my dying day,’ I said.‘Now, are you ready to rip out some feathers?’
‘I thought you’d never ask. Come, Ormond, let’s prove our worthiness to her.’
The pride in Vahin’s voice made me smile, and I held onto the pommel as he made a sharp left. Flying towards our next battle, Annika cast a spell that silenced the battleground like the tolling of funeral bells.
‘Asaro!’3
My sweet, loving Nivale was death incarnate.
1.Nyja— goddess of war and death and guardian of souls that have died a violent death.
2.Raróg (s.)/rarógs (pl.) /Pron: ra-roog/ —a fire demon that appears as a horse-sized falcon with a beak and claws made of burning embers, and wings that start fires while in flight.
3.Die!
