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Raindrizzlesdownonthe ruined streets of Nolderan, the heavens weeping for the thousands of lives lost. Blood streaks through the clouds as the first rays of dawn pierce the sky like a fan of daggers.
A new day.
I clench my jaw.
Two nights ago, Arluin and his necromancers stormed this city and laid waste to all in their path. Two nights ago, he stole everything and everyone from me, including my father and my best friend. Yet it feels like an eternity has passed since then. Now I can no longer imagine a Nolderan which isn’t ravaged, a Reyna who isn’t broken.
No.
I can’t allow myself to be broken. I must fuse together the shattered pieces of my heart and force myself onward down this path I have already chosen. The path of vengeance. My choice was sealed when I sold my soul. All that remains is to put one foot after another until I reach my destination: Arluin’s death and Father’s freedom.
I tear my gaze down from the mournful heavens and look at the archway marking the Arcanium’s entrance. The words etched deep into the stone stare back at me.
QUEL ESTE VOLU, PODE NONQUES VERA MORIRE.
That which is aether may never truly die.
A wry laugh bubbles in my throat at the irony, but I swallow it down in a thick lump, lest my new demonic companion hears it. I fear if it were to escape, it would sound more like a strangled sob than a laugh.
But Zephyr, the faerie dragon curled around my shoulders, seems to hear the noise. He lifts his head and peers at me. I say nothing as I pass under the archway. Zephyr nestles back into my neck, his serpentine body coiling around me like a scarf. The sharp tips of his folded wings poke into me, but I welcome the light pain. It reminds me I’m alive. That only I can avenge Nolderan and bring Arluin to justice.
I glance at the Void Prince reluctantly stalking behind me. His onyx horns glint in the emerging sunlight, and his cloven hooves clatter across the stone slabs. Crimson light snakes across the marble ridges of his torso, and rage smolders in the fathomless depths of his eyes. Those same eyes snap up to meet mine. His jaw tempers into steel. Hatred blazes across his expression in a storm of molten fury. His power lashes out at the invisible cord tethering our souls together, but even the mighty Void Prince of Pride can’t overcome the dark magic binding us. The unrelenting chains only further enrage him. A murderous snarl writhes on his lips, silently promising me all the horrifying ways he will torture my soul upon my death, when I will belong to him as he now belongs to me. I can only hope his bindings will be strong enough to hold him until I kill Arluin. I dread to think what would happen if he breaks free. The threat he made when I summoned him rings in my ears as loudly as it did down in the small chamber deep within the Arcanium’s vaults: ‘Little mage, I will tear you limb from limb, carve the flesh from your puny bones, and feed you morsel by morsel to my Void Hounds.’
Fear slithers up my spine, its icy touch more chilling than the frigid wind blowing over us. I shiver, unable to stifle my reaction. All I can imagine is the Void Prince breaking free from my command and tearing through me as if I am made from paper and not from flesh and blood. I wonder if he can see the fear in my eyes. If he can smell it.
Zephyr’s whimper snaps me from my trance. He too must sense the terrifying dark power oozing from the Void Prince. The faerie dragon’s fear reminds me of the need to banish my own. This demon is my weapon, and I must be strong enough to wield him.
I smother the dread swelling in my heart and desperately search for a reason to explain my staring. One which doesn’t involve fear.
Though the Void Prince towers over me, he now stands three heads taller than me rather than thrice my height. In order to fit through the narrow staircases leading from the Vaults and up to the Arcanium’s central atrium, the demon was required to use his magic to assume a stature more befitting of an elf than a demon.
“Your appearance,” I begin slowly, at first not trusting my tongue to hide my unease.
The Void Prince’s crimson eyes narrow, daring me to continue.
I do.
“Since you could adjust your height, I assume you can alter”—I pause, wrinkling my nose at his draconic wings—“otheraspects as well.”
“What other aspects?” the demon growls, his words rumbling in the back of his throat.
My lips curl. I hope it masks my unease. “Everything.”
I know my remark will shove more fuel onto an already roaring fire, but only by this way can I disguise my fear. It reminds me I’m in control. Right now, the demon is mine to do with as I please. Though I will bear the consequences of my actions in the afterlife.
Nonetheless, I decide not to push him too far. Just in case those magical restraints aren’t quite strong enough.
“I say this only as a matter of practicality,” I continue before the Void Prince can erupt. “There are few places in this world where demons are tolerated, let alone Void Princes. It’s best you conceal your true nature to avoid drawing unwanted attention.”
The demon glowers. “Unwanted attention is of no consequence to me.”
“You forget your place,demon. You serve me now, and that which is of consequence to me is also of consequence to you.”
“And you forget,mortal, that you will belong to me thousands of years longer than I will serve you.”
“Then you should stop acting like a spoiled child, since this bargain is far more favorable to you than it is to me.”
