Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

M alissa's heart skipped. The demon was right. That rumble was the sound of hooves beating the ground. Not just a single rider, but many. A few dozen from the sound of it.

And they were coming from the direction of the castle.

"How?" she gasped.

"Doesn't matter," Beliath said, his voice growing slightly louder as he moved around the altar to stand beside her. "As long as you're inside the ring with me, you are safe."

Malissa sensed the demon's wings spreading around her like an invisible shield.

"Go on," he said gently. "Start again from the beginning. I will protect you."

Malissa lowered her head to the book and started to read again, but it was nearly impossible to concentrate. The riders were much closer now, and she could hear them calling out to one another through the trees. She barely got past the first line of the incantation before her voice faltered, and she had to start over again.

"It's alright," Beliath reassured her. "You're safe with me, Malissa. Just block everything else out."

She tried, but it was no use. The blood was rushing in her ears like a storm, and her throat was so tight with fear, she could hardly breathe.

How had this happened? How had they followed her?

Focus!

She started to read again, slowly this time. She wanted to rush, but she forced herself to take it a word at a time. If the damned incantation had been written in her own native language, it would have been a simple matter, but it was written in the elder script that seemed specifically designed to tangle human tongues.

She was about a quarter of the way through the spell when the first riders burst from the trees. The horses must have sensed Beliath's invisible presence, because they whinnied and reared. One rider was thrown from his saddle, and he crashed to the ground with a rattle of chainmail and a shout of pain.

The sound broke Malissa's concentration, but somehow she managed not to misspeak. She continued reading, forcing herself to go slow and steady.

More riders were emerging from the woods now. She could hear the men talking. One of the voices stood out among the rest. It was Dr. Jaeger.

"There she is, Your Highness."

Your Highness? Great hell, had Wulfgang actually ridden out here with them? Malissa was surprised he could even walk.

She kept her eyes on the pages in front of her and continued to read, slow and steady, slow and steady.

"Seize her," Wulfgang's voice slurred.

Malissa didn't look up, but she could hear several of the riders dismounting. She heard their heavy boots treading toward her across the grass. They paused just outside the darkstone ring.

"Your Highness," one of them called to her.

"I said, seize her!" Wulfgang shouted drunkenly.

Malissa blocked him out and kept reading.

The footsteps started moving again. The men were inside in the darkstone ring now. They were right behind her, almost within arm's reach.

The sounds that came next were harder to block out. The shriek of rending metal. The crunch of splintering bone. Screams of pain that were quickly cut short. A few red droplets flecked the pages of her book, but somehow she kept reading through it all.

Nearby, voices were shouting in a panic.

"Did you see that?"

"Ripped them to pieces."

"Something in there with her."

"Cut through their armor like it was nothing."

"Stand back!" another voice said, and Malissa recognized that one as Dr. Jaeger. "I have the situation under control…"

Then he started chanting in perfect, flawless elder speech, and that was enough to finally snap Malissa's concentration completely. She stumbled over her own incantation and said the wrong word. She had been two lines away from the ending.

She cursed under her breath.

"It's alright," Beliath whispered. "Start over."

But she knew it was already too late. Jaeger had already finished his own spell. The air within the darkstone ring seemed to swirl around her like a whirlwind, and she sensed Beliath's presence being drawn away from her.

"My angel," the demon's voice whispered.

"No!" Malissa screamed. "Beliath!"

But he was already gone.

"It is finished," Jaeger said calmly. "The demon has been contained."

Malissa blinked and looked around her, taking in the scene for the first time since the riders had arrived. The pillars of the darkstone ring were spattered with blood from the soldiers Beliath had killed, and pieces of their armored bodies littered the ground.

Just beyond the edge of the ring stood Jaeger. He was holding a large red crystal in his hands, and it glowed from within like a lantern. Behind him, a few dozen men on horseback watched. One of them was Wulfgang. He was still drunk and looked as if he might fall from his saddle at any moment.

Then Malissa noticed the maidservant who was sitting behind one of the mounted soldiers. As soon as the woman saw the queen looking at her, she cowered behind the rider in fear.

Droanna?

What the hell was she doing here?

Before Malissa had a chance to think about that question very deeply, the king let out another angry, drunken shout.

"Seize her!" he said. "Seize the queen!"