The Dark Blooded Duchess. Ep1

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The hound reanimated a while ago.

To the bewilderment of hell and all things evil, the thing ran off, with only 3 legs. The leg that lost an ankle bone had not grown back. That slowed it down a tad at least.

The spell to reanimate the portal, however, was another matter entirely.

It was long-winded, complicated and dammit, I should have practiced it more.

The incantation is 3 pages worth of ancient Babylonian verses.

I try one last time. Inciting like my life depends on it since it does.

I make sure my pronunciation is perfect, my prose heroic.

This time, the spheres light up. From the very outer bands, a brilliant blue light comes alive.

The more I speak, the more the light grows, winding inward like the white snake in the garden that brought knowledge to mankind.

‘It’s almost there!’ Cora shouts over the rush of wind and earth and fire fold in upon themselves to make way for the portal ‘Keep going! I will be right back’ I could have sworn she dropped something as she says it.

I follow her gaze, as she looks back over her shoulder ‘You must go on!’

She breaks into a run.

The agility she displays as she takes down Gadreel, my betrothed, who showed up in vengeful anarchy, is truly a thing of wonder.

So that’s who the hound is loyal to.

I keep chanting.

The ground had barely split open underneath the avenging angels’ feet and she was on him.

Gadreel yells as he falls. ‘Morgen, listen to me’

Cora lands blow after blow, but it barely makes a difference. Not to an angel.

Gadreel throws her off like she’s a stray feather fallen from his wings.

The portal is complete, it opens up and all there is is near-deafening noise. The portal is not simply a doorway, it’s a raging tornado waiting to swallow me up.

‘Morgen you must not!’ Gadreel yells.

Cora tackles him from behind. ‘Go!’ she yells ‘go now! It’s your only chance!’

I don’t wait, I grab my stuff and say ’Mandatum Venire’ to enact the next step.

The last thing I hear as I jump into oblivion is ‘I will come for you’

because it doesn’t seem to want to.