AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The Void Prince takes a step closer, his gnarled horns looming over me. I don’t flinch and instead remind myself of the bond between us. Until it is broken, he can’t harm me, his summoner. “What use do I have for the soul of a pathetic mage? Though I will certainly relish your eternal torture.”
I don’t know why I indulge him in his little speech when I can end it with a single word.
“Natharius Thalanor,” I say, brandishing his name as if it were a weapon. In many ways it is. The Void Prince’s true name is the greatest power I hold over him. “Youwillassume a far less conspicuous form. And that is an order.”
The demon’s expression warps into a vicious snarl, and I once more feel his power testing the extent of his restraints. His forehead creases as he battles the dark magic binding his soul to mine, but his resistance isn’t enough. In the end, he is forced to comply with my demand. A perverted satisfaction trills through me, and I enjoy the demon’s submission more than I should. Perhaps that makes me as monstrous as him, but how can it be wicked to force evil into servitude?
The shadows hiss as the Void Prince’s form dissolves and is born anew.
Gone are his horns and wings and hooves. Now the creature standing before me is undeniably beautiful. Long silvery hair streams down his shoulders, softened by the amber rays of dawn. His near translucent skin is also tinged with a golden sheen and shimmers in the gentle light. His angular features are also less severe, though his chin is as sharp. The only remnants of his demonic corruption are his glowing red eyes and the markings entwining his arms and torso. Other than these, he appears exactly like the moon elven ambassador I remember Father meeting years ago.
A moment passes. Then another. I stand there and blink, unable to believe a being so horrifying could become so beautiful in mere instants. How can this be the same demon I summoned from the Abyss?
But the hatred carved into his otherwise flawless face undeniably belongs to the Void Prince of Pride.
His lips twist into a sneer. “Satisfied?”
I consider requesting him to conceal his blood-red eyes, but then I notice the rest of him. Namely, that he stands there barefoot, dressed only in a loincloth. I turn away from the nearly naked elf and remind myself of the draconic wings and fiendish horns present only seconds ago. His demonic appearance was less startling than this.
“Put some clothes on,” I snap, and then continue down the street. I don’t look back to see whether he obeys, but the swishing of shadows suggests he does.
Our footsteps echo like thunder through the deathly silence of Nolderan’s ruins. Heaps of rubble blanket the lonely streets, and I pick my way around the broken glass. Zephyr’s weight is distributed unevenly on my shoulders and makes nimbleness a challenge. Despite my efforts, a few shards find their way into the soft flesh of my feet.
The rain thickens, and fat drops splatter onto my tattered and bloodstained dress. It’s the same gown I wore to the ball two nights ago—the ball which marked my transition from an adept to a fully qualified Magi of Nolderan. Achieving my dreams was supposed to change my life for the better. Instead, it ruined everything.
My steps falter. I grip my staff tighter, feeling the thrum of aether beneath my fingers. The staff which was once my father’s, which distinguished him as the Grandmage of Nolderan, has now fallen to me. Along with this dead city I alone am responsible for.
I draw in a slow breath, filling my lungs with the bitter scent of destruction. I can almost taste the ash and embers whirring through the streets as they did on that fateful night. It’s as if the dark magic which seeped through the city has left the white walls, dappled cobblestones, and cobalt rooftops stained with its touch.
I’m not the only one to suck in a sharp breath. The Void Prince’s nostrils flare as he too breathes in the residue of Nolderan. Unlike me, he enjoys it so very much. Wicked delight sparks in his crimson eyes. I would expect one of the seven most powerful demons in the Abyss to revel in the taste of death and destruction, but this seems deeper. Unless the demon is merely relishing all his captor has lost and suffered.
He adjusts the top button of his high-neck robes. “After one thousand years, it appears Nolderan has received its due.”
The demon’s words shatter my thoughts, scattering them far and wide. At first my shock is so great that I can say nothing. Or do anything.
And then my shock melts away. With the dam breached, my fury rushes out in a violent storm of fiery waves.
Ferocious though my temper is, it only incites the Void Prince’s laughter. That dark, velvety,evilsound is enough to shove me over the cliff and send me plunging into the blazing sea beneath.
Wrath consumes me, and the aether flowing through my veins ignites. Tendrils of flames lick at my fingers.
Once again, I have conjured fire without uttering a single spell-word. The resulting magic is wild and dangerous.
“You think it’s funny,” I seethe. Power pounds through me. “You think it’s funny a cult of necromancers ravaged our city, slew all in their path, and raised them from the dead?” My brittle voice cracks at the end, revealing the well of emotion within. My fury, my grief, my hatred.
“Funny?” the Void Prince echoes, arching a silvery brow. His malicious sneer doesn’t diminish. “No, I find it hilarious that Nolderan has been destroyed by the abominable magic it birthed. That the magi have finally paid the price of their many sins.”
“You—”
I want to say so many things. That a demon as heinous as he, who traded the souls of his entire city for power because being the High Enchanter of Lumaria wasn’t enough, has no right to blame anyone for their sins. That even if my ancestors are responsible for the curse of undeath, they have been dead for a thousand years and someone as bright and beautiful as Eliya, my best friend, never deserved to pay for their sins.
And yet I can say none of this. The words are tangled on my tongue, muddled in a knot too tight for me to unravel, and the rage drumming through me is so overwhelming it deafens my thoughts.
Fire crackles. It spreads from my fingers, desperate to escape the fragile cage of my remaining resolve and yearning for release.
Zephyr uncoils himself from my trembling shoulders and darts for safety. I barely feel the shift of his weight. I am a quaking volcano moments away from eruption. And when I explode, I want to takeeverythingwith me. Especially this demon and the ugly sneer on his face.
“Do it,” he hisses, taking a forceful step closer. “Unleash all that wrath. End me, as you so desperately desire. Banish me from this mortal-infested world.”
