Soul Forge (Book One of the Soul Forge series)

The next day of flight was miserable. The weather turned as Sypher and Syd covered enough ground to cross territories, sending them back through regions plagued by rain and thunder. Thankfully, no wraiths hid in the clouds this time. Elda was disappointed that they were only skirting Eden’s border as they travelled north, but she knew stopping at home would only delay the journey.

As they got closer, the pull in her chest grew more insistent. The premonition plagued her like a ghost haunting a graveyard, the phantom screams ringing in her ears. She shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders.

“This fucking sucks,” Julian said into her ear, hunched over against the rain. His old leathers were doing very little to keep him dry. “The water weight is putting too much strain on Syd.”

“I don’t think Sypher is faring much better, especially carrying Gira,” she commented, looking ahead and noticing the way both of them kept their heads dipped against the torrential rain. He was visibly straining with every wing beat but he flew dutifully onwards. She knew he’d continue flying until he could barely breathe and she knew the tulpar demon would do the same.

“Is there anywhere we can stop for the night?” she asked.

“Riordan is about half way between Varthal and Cenet. Sypher will probably try to get us there before nightfall.”

“How far from Cenet do you think we are?”

“Not half way yet. When you see the Aldani River below us, that’s when we’re half way. The rain isn’t helping our progress at all.” Julian shivered, the downpour soaking through his worn jacket and into his bones. “I don’t think we’ll even make it to the river at this rate.”

“Are there any smaller settlements in between?”

“One or two small farms but nothing substantial. Don’t worry, pipsqueak. We’ll be just fine.” She heard the teasing smile in his voice without having to look at him.

Eventually the rain petered out from a torrential downpour to a light drizzle, but both Sypher and Syd were exhausted. The tulpar demon exhaled heavily with every wing beat, her sides heaving against Elda’s thighs. Up ahead, Sypher signalled to land, angling down through the low hanging mist the rain created.

“Finally,” Julian groaned, his teeth chattering so hard Elda was surprised they didn’t break. Her hair was plastered to her cheeks where the rain and fog made its way beneath her hood, but the strange material of the cloak had done an excellent job at keeping the rest of her dry.

“We made it to the river!” she gasped, the sight of the glittering water winding its way towards Eden making her smile.

“Don’t get too excited,” Julian warned, leaning round her. “I see smoke. Look.”

He was right. Cloudy plumes of oily blackness swirled up to greet them as they passed over a settlement in the middle of a siege, the scent of fire tainting the air. Shouts reached her ears as Syd drew close enough for the clash of swords and snarls of demons to be heard.

“We have to help them!” the elf gasped, leaning forwards in the saddle to get a better look.

“We will,” Julian vowed. “Stay back. If you have to fight, do it from a distance. Sypher will tear my legs off if you get hurt.” Elda nodded and readied herself to dismount, watching Gira shift halfway between beast and man as he dropped towards the ground with a howl.

Sypher chose to fight from the ground, his wings too strained to offer him much help after the long flight. Elda watched him tuck them in right above something that could only be described as an enormous, fleshy spider. He dropped into its back, severing its head with his sword in one quick swipe before moving on to the next. A fountain of brackish grey blood splattered the mud as it collapsed. His chest was heaving, but he fought with determined zeal, moving between each crushing body like smoke and felling a dozen of the beasts before Elda even landed.

Syd hit the ground heavily but stayed upright, snorting in relief when she was finally able to use her legs instead of her wings. Julian reached into the saddlebag at her side as she trotted forwards, pulling out an axe.

“Stay on her back. The Arachna are fast,” he warned, and then he was gone, leaping off of the tulpar demon and slashing at the nearest spidery demon with a snarl. Syd snorted and made a beeline for what looked like a barn close to the village centre, noticing flames spilling from the roof at one end.

“We’re supposed to stay back!” Elda yelped, but then she heard the petrified cries over the roar of the fire. People were inside and the door had been jammed closed by a crashed cart. The whole thing was ablaze, the flames licking their way up the barn door with frightening enthusiasm. “Everybody inside should get away from the doors!” Elda yelled, hoping they could hear her. She gave them several seconds to move and then she unhooked her bow from her shoulder, taking a deep breath.

I’m with you, little friend. Feel the ice that coats me, the mist that forms of my breath. Irileth’s voice inside her head was a calming blanket, dampening the chaos, allowing her to think clearly in spite of her fear. I will be your power. We are one and the same - all you have to do is trust me.

“I do,” Elda said aloud, knocking an arrow. She felt the energy, cool and icy, building inside her and streaming into the bow until a glowing blue arrow hummed with power. She released it when her fingers began to buzz, watching ice eat through the fire at an astonishing speed. The flames were impossibly frozen in place, forming an intricate barrier between the people in the barn and the demons outside.

Syd reared up and kicked at an Arachna with her front hooves, caving its head in with her body weight and almost unseating Elda. The elf grabbed for the reins at the last second, just managing to hang on when the tulpar demon set off to look for more people in danger.

Irileth’s power continued to flow through her veins as they tramped through the village, listening and searching for people who needed help. Gira leapt between buildings via the rooftops that were intact enough to take his weight, chasing down demons that scuttled on pointed legs.

Sypher and Julian worked in tandem, cutting down the thickest throngs of the monsters where they sprung from a sinkhole in the centre of the village. The Soul Forge showed no signs of slowing down despite his obvious exhaustion, his sword singing with every spin.

Elda herded anyone she found back towards the barn, snatching glances at her fighting friends whenever she got the chance. Syd kicked in a secured side door with her back legs, smashing the padlock on the outside like it was made of butter. Elda had to reassure those trapped inside that they were safer hiding in the barn, but eventually they fell back and let the other stragglers in to shelter with them instead of forcing their way out.

When she was sure the last person had been found, Elda tapped her heels against Syd’s sides, encouraging her to turn back and help their friends. They were almost back at the village square when a particularly large Arachna clamped its jaws around Elda’s shoulder and dragged her into the shadows. Syd let out a startled neigh, unable to follow when two more demons tried to bite into her haunches.

The teeth piercing Elda’s armour burned, grinding down into her skin and shaking her in an attempt to separate flesh from bone. She tucked herself up instinctively and whacked the blue gemstone on the bow still clutched in her hand. The dagger dropped from the weapon and she caught it and slashed, opening up a deep slit in the face of the Arachna. Its jowls opened in a scream, dropping her at last.

Elda’s shoulder was bleeding profusely, her fingers already turning numb. The bow was useless if she couldn’t draw the string, so she tucked it over her uninjured shoulder and backed away from the whining demon. It shook its head and hissed, three of its eight beady eyes ruined. Six rows of dripping, bloodstained fangs gnashed with every step it took on its awful, fleshy legs. The smell of rot and smoke made her eyes water as another part of the village smouldered and the monsters continued to swarm, their fetid stink turning the air putrid.

As long as you hold the dagger, my strength is still yours, little friend, Irileth whispered.Her fingers tightened around the hilt in answer, thankful her dominant arm wasn’t the injured one.

Slipping into a fighting stance, she squared up against the half-blind beast. It hissed a challenge and thundered towards her, but Elda didn’t hesitate. She kicked off and sprinted right at it, dropping to her knees at the last second and skidding beneath it, thrusting the dagger upwards with the intention of sticking it into soft underbelly. It bounced off armoured plating and almost slipped from her grasp, drawing a curse from her lips.

The creature issued a series of clicks and spun to face her again, almost like it was mocking her. Elda bared her teeth at the Arachna and changed tactics, anger and energy raging in her chest. She felt the dagger cool in her palm, that freezing magic snaking up to her shoulder and strengthening her muscles.

She couldn’t channel the power she was being fed, and it continued to build while she searched for a way to kill the spider demon racing towards her. Her left arm was useless so she couldn’t leap onto its back and take its head. It’s vulnerable underbelly was plated with a thick exoskeleton that her dagger couldn’t pierce.

She dove out of the way, crying out in pain when her wounded shoulder hit the dirt, but she rolled and staggered to her feet to face the beast again. She watched how it moved, looking for weak spots each time it came at her. It felt like an eternity had passed, though she knew it was mere minutes that she’d been fighting for her life. Blood loss made her slow, the red liquid seeping down her arm through her saturated sleeve and dripping from her fingers, but the power in her right hand was still there.

The next dive meant she only narrowly missed the gnashing teeth aiming for her head, landing roughly in the sloppy mud and struggling to regain her footing. Her vision was beginning to dim, the night starting to spin slowly around her. She saw the blurred outline of the Arachna coming at her once more, and she did the only thing her body had the strength to do.

She threw the dagger.

Elda woke up in a bed she didn’t recognise, bandages wrapping her arm from her elbow right up to her neck. The drapes were drawn, only letting enough light in to make out vague shapes. There was a chair in the corner, something that could be a wardrobe on the opposite wall and dark beams across the ceiling. Someone stirred in the chair.

“Pipsqueak?” they asked cautiously.

“Julian?”

“Oh, thank fuck for that,” he sighed, dropping his head into his hands. “Maybe now your idiot husband will come back.”

“Where is he?”

“He went down the hole to kill the rest of the hive.”

“Vel and his ridiculous overreactions,” Elda groaned, her throat closing up at the thought of him exhausted and angry, fighting his way through the dark alone.

“Not Vel. Sypher. Vel didn’t even make an appearance.”

“He didn’t? Why?”

“Beats me. Sypher healed what he could of your blood loss for the night and fucked off down the hole.”

“You mean he’s down there with my injuries too?!” She sat bolt upright, her voice smashing through three octaves in less than a second.

“Just the blood loss. He’s had worse.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Elda snapped, swinging her legs out of the bed. “He’s had worse? He’s immortal, not invincible!” She dragged her trousers on beneath the nightdress, ignoring the sting in her shoulder. Her fingers were still numb but she could move them enough to fasten her boots. “Close your damn eyes,” she commanded, turning away from the Vampire to switch her nightgown for a tunic she found folded on the dresser with the new trousers.

“Now hold on a second, you’re still injured! Where do you think you’re going?” Julian spluttered when he was allowed to open his eyes again.

“To find my idiot husband.” She stormed out before Julian could stop her, grabbing her bow where it leaned against the dresser.

“Your shoulder looks like mincemeat, Elda! There is no way I’m letting you down that hole.”

“If you put one hand on me, so help me, I will snap it off.” Julian blinked, brows creeping upwards when the tiny elf fixed him with a glare that could melt steel. He held his hands up, palms out, to ward off her anger. She turned on her heel and stalked outside with her hair loose around her shoulders, not a single piece of armour on to protect her.

The villagers stopped their rushing around, many of them pausing with heavy chunks of charred wood and stone in their hands, half way through work to repair their homes. All of them stared at Elda as she marched through the streets, saluting her for her efforts the night before. Gira cast her a familiar nod, his hands full of what looked like half of the entryway to a home.

The hole leading down to the hive was huge and pitch black, right in the centre of the village square. It seemed to swallow every bit of light that reached it. She stopped at the edge and leaned down, scowling into the darkness.

“Sypher Gild!” she yelled. “Get your ass out here before I come down there and drag it out!”