AllFreeNovel
Share Us
16
Asmodeus
Seated within the saltcircle, I close my eyes, letting the hushed silence of the forest seep into my being. The crisp night air chills my skin as it caresses my face, carrying the earthy scent of damp leaves and pine. I feel every limb, every nerve within my body, moving from head to toe. My pulse beats steady and slow, as energy kindles deep within me, growing with each inhale until my veins burn with power.
I plunge my hands into the soft ground, burrowing through the leaves until my fingers can curl into the dirt at my sides. The elements embrace me, and as I breathe deeper, they ground me to this plane of existence, creating a bridge between life and death.
My exhales become frosty plumes, chilling my cheeks as the air turns frigid, laden with the sweet taste of magic and something ancient that’s woven the realms together. Power surges through me, scorching my veins until I fear I'll burst. My mind stretches outward, probing the darkness as I unleash the energy in a demanding tide. It roars through the silent forest, beckoning to lost souls, looking for my friends.
Whispering their names loud enough that only I can hear them, I envision each set of eyes, each smile that graced the halls of my keep so long ago—the servants, the guards, the kitchen staff, the gardeners, each and every one of the people I knew when I lived here. As I open my eyes, spirits swarm me in a shimmering vortex, their essence caressing my skin with a gentle glow.
They spin so fast, my hair whips in every direction. All I have to do is remind them of who they are, like I did Chester. I’ll relive our shared memories to stitch their souls back together. Brows drawn, the world around me disappears until I’m reliving those moments along with the spirits.
Tears trace hot trails down my cheeks as visions of bittersweet days gone by flood my mind. Laughter in the kitchen, dancing under the stars, lessons in the training yard… each recollection a shard of glass in my heart.
With an agonized gasp, I wrench myself back to the present. The glowing orbs screech to a halt, hovering in the air around me, no longer orbs but people. Ghosts.
They stare at me, confused no doubt. Then a woman drifts through the crowd, and the sheer sight of her threatens to shatter me.
“What are you doing, sweet boy?” she asks, voice achingly tender. Settling in front of me, she reaches a glowing hand out, attempting to wipe away the tears streaming down my cheeks.
I lean into her touch, even though I can’t experience it. “I’m fixing this,” I choke out. “None of you should’ve died.”
Mirella was the head of the staff in Grim’s Keep all those years ago, and a mother to me more times than I can count. She filled the void my own flesh and blood left, and showed me what it should feel like to be loved.
Her voice is so soft, such a contrast to her strong features. “This…” She gestures to the air. “This isn’t the answer. You can’t do this to yourself. You made us whole, let that be enough.”
“I can do more.” Burning with determination, I summon the Book of the Dead, one of the grimoires I’d stolen from the blood witches. The leather-bound tome appears out of midair, falling into my lap, open to the spell I need to turn the bones into gargoyle bodies.
I mumble the incantation, one hand outstretched toward the body, the other toward the first ghost. With a deep breath, the stones around his skeleton grow in size, sliding toward the bones and wrapping around them until not an inch of ivory can be seen. The stones swell until they form a body that’s a spitting image of the ghost before me. All except for the large, webbed wings that span from its back.
An agonizing scream cuts straight to my core, but I can’t break my focus to see who it’s coming from. Though, the pitch alone already gives me a good idea. Chester.
No one said this process wouldn’t hurt. As the spell sears through my veins, I take the boy’s pain as my own, guiding his spirit into his new body. Teeth grinding together, my heart flutters in a rapid cadence, my head pounding as if it’s being crushed. Then the scream is snuffed out and I release the magic, unable to look away from the body I just created.
Move… Come on… MOVE.A stone hand slides just an inch—the first sign of life—and slowly, ever so slowly, the boy rises, stretching his new wings.
One after another, I repeat the process until it’s a struggle to hold up my head, to lift my arms, to breathe. Blood spills from my nose, my demon half taking over when I become too weak to suppress it. The magic consumes me, the ravenous energy gnawing at my very essence. Pain lances through my middle, butI grit my teeth harder, determined to see this through, for them, for all we’ve lost.
I can do this. One more body. One more soul.
Just as the darkness threatens to overwhelm me, a speck of light glows on the ground near my legs. It pushes and pulls like blown glass, stretching into a tiny dragon made of light, prancing along the length of my thigh. The magic seems to sing a melody, so pure that I know exactly what kind it is without looking up. It's elven magic.Valeria’s.
Something flutters inside me at the sight of it. A bead of sweat traces a path down my brow, along the length of my nose, until it drips away, lost to the ground below. The creature nuzzles against me, pushing me as if it’s real, but for a moment it takes my mind off the pain. It gives me the strength to finish this.
My soul quivers. My awareness shrinks as my head spins as I channel every ounce of my shadow into the spell. It’s more tasking than I predicted, and that knowledge has my gut clenching tight. To control the dead is one thing; to bring souls back, to reunite them with bodies made of stone, is to venture into uncharted territory. Yet I’m teetering on the edge.
I should’ve broken that deal with Valeria before doing this; I shouldn’t have risked it. I’m immortal which means I’ll come back, without a soul albeit, but I’ll be alive. However, with my life tethered to hers, Valeria might not be so lucky. It’s never been tried. And though I could do this same process for her, there are rules. These people will never be able to leave the grounds of Grim’s Keep. To do so, would rip their souls from these new bodies and shred them out of existence entirely.
I shouldn’t have chanced this…But being tethered to Valeria is the only shot I have of saving my soul after this. It needs something to cling to while Griffin’s fae blood heals it. Otherwise, the fragments that will be left when the spell is overwill fade and be long gone before his blood has a chance to piece it back together.
It had to be this way.
The little dragon purrs like a cat as it climbs and curls into my lap, and I trace the edges of its wings with my gaze, letting the spell steal what it needs. With a final agonized cry, the last spirit stirs to life. Its gargoyle body lifts from the dewy ground and the magic in my veins sputters and flickers out, leaving me gasping.Hollow.
Pressing a gentle hand to my aching chest, a void spreads there, a darkness so deep, that no light can reach it. Reserves dangerously depleted, my strength gone. I stagger, climbing to my feet, and meet Griffin and Valeria’s worried glances, the small dragon fizzling out at my feet.
“See, and you were worried. Piece of cak—” My knees buckle, every muscle going limp as the world spins. Griffin catches me, using his beast’s speed to cross the space before I can slam into the unforgiving ground.
