She ignored the demon’s words and compressed Faolan’s chest repeatedly. “Breathe!”
Telfaldetrous laughed. “What do you think will happen? He breathes again, and I die?” It laughed once more. “Neither of you will escape these walls. Your dust will drift in these ruins soon enough.”
Suddenly, Faolan breathed in and filled his lungs, though he remained unconscious. His lungs kicked back into a natural rhythm.
Aili gasped in relief and fell on top of him, draping her body over his chest. She could feel it; it was faint, but he was breathing. In and out, small breaths met her ear pressed against his chest.
“Please, stay with me,” Aili cried. Her tears dripped onto his face. Aili closed her eyes and hugged Faolan.
Telfaldetrous walked over to them, opening its claws wide and readying for killing blows. It smiled but hesitated when it felt an unfamiliar tingle in the air, and the atmosphere changed.
Ice formed around Aili and Faolan, creating circles around them and rapidly building up into a protective dome. The ice dome thickened and hardened, encasing Aili and Faolan within its shell. Aili wept inside over Faolan’s still form as the ice dome solidified over them.
“Wake up.” Aili’s sobs intensified. “Please, I do not want to lose you again.”
Abruptly, her demeanor changed, and she stopped crying. Her pupils narrowed to pinpoints, and the air in all of Lesley chilled. Telfaldetrous could see its breath, and its skin tingled as the air became sharp and bitterly cold. Snow began to fall, and soon a blizzard descended around them.
Ice started accumulating in four distinct spots around the protective ice dome. The ice built up and collected into humanoid forms, from the toes to the waist and then up to the head. Four ice guardians formed with sharp ice swords and thick ice shields.
Telfaldetrous watched in confusion as it all happened so fast, struggling to understand the events unfolding before it. The newly formed ice guardians stepped forward and broke their icy bonds from the stone road. The ice guardians aggressively and formidably attacked Telfaldetrous.
Four swords worked in cohesive alternating strikes in a unique rhythmic fashion. Telfaldetrous stepped back and haphazardly defended against the advancing Ikalreev magic.
The front section of the ice dome shattered. An ice replica of Aili shot out from the opening. The real Aili remained inside with Faolan’s head in her lap, eyes glowing blue. The ice Aili raced toward Telfaldetrous and joined the assault with a pair of ice daggers in her hands.
Telfaldetrous smashed one of the ice guardians to pieces while taking a direct strike from another. An ice sword sliced into its left shoulder. Black blood flowed from the fresh wound, and its igneous flesh melted the ice that entered it.
Telfaldetrous pivoted and smashed the second ice guardian, this time taking an ice blade to the abdomen and another to the left thigh. Telfaldetrous broke off the sword piercing its stomach and smashed the third ice guardian as the clear crystal melted inside it.
The ice Aili leaped and stabbed Telfaldetrous in the back. The demon spun around and saw the swift ice girl as she retreated a step, presenting its back to the last ice guardian as it sliced across its body with its ice sword.
Telfaldetrous roared in anger, and with a heavy fist, it rotated back around and smashed the final ice guardian, leaving only the ice Aili remaining.
“You should run, child,” Telfaldetrous roared. “I will tear you apart.”
The ice Aili gave a war cry as her small blades jabbed at the demon. Telfaldetrous brought down its heavy arm on the ice replica and smashed it into shards as its pieces spread out across the stone below.
Telfaldetrous walked over to the small opening in the ice dome and slammed a heavy fist down on the protective barrier.
A web of cracks radiated outward from the strike; a brief silence ensued. The demon began to reel back for another attack, but sharp ice spikes jutted out from the dome’s exterior, piercing fully through Telfaldetrous’s leg.
The beast roared in pain and smashed the spikes penetrating its flesh, then ferociously attacked the dome, causing the web of cracks to lengthen. Its clawed fists raked into the dome and finally shattered it.
Ice shards rained down around Aili as she wept with Faolan’s head in her lap. Her sorrow was overwhelming, and her hope slipped away.
Telfaldetrous smiled at its coming victory as it gazed down at the helpless elf.
◆◆◆
A surreal glow filled the air as a luminous haze surrounded Faolan. He looked down at his physical body lying in Aili’s lap and saw that his eyes were closed. His spirit gazed down at himself in a distant dreamlike state.
Faolan backed away from the tragic scene before him. He was perplexed and struggled to understand what was happening. He walked around the ethereal plain, glancing at the scene surrounding him, and witnessed time moving the slowest it could possibly move without stopping. He could see a tear rolling sluggishly down Aili’s sorrowful face.
A female voice rose in the air. “Do you see what is to come?”
An angel appeared next to his ethereal body, bright and radiating pure light. Her white wings were brilliant, expanding out to either side.
Faolan backed away in fear, reaching for hilts that did not exist in the ethereal realm.
“Fear not, for I have not come to harm you,” the female angel sang.
“Who are you?” Faolan asked as he kept a fair distance between them.
“I am Igtharia,” the angel sang.
He remembered her name from the dungeon, but she appeared different this time. She had an adult form with long blonde hair, each strand coated with holy fire, piercing green eyes, and bright red lips. Her skin flowed like sheets of lightning, controlled but powerful.
Faolan turned his gaze toward her. “You are the little girl?”
“Yes, my appearance can be what I wish in the eyes of mortals. His power flows through me and grants me dominion when necessary.” Her pleasant voice calmed his nerves with a divine influence of peace.
“Speak the question plaguing your mind,” Igtharia sang as her lightning skin glimmered through her radiating light.
Faolan hesitated, still afraid of the powerful being before him. “Did I die?”
“No,” Igtharia’s soft voice whispered.
“Then what is this place?” Faolan motioned around them.
“I have torn your soul from your body, so we may speak without constraint.” Igtharia’s melodic voice brought him comfort, though her words terrified him.
“What do you wish to speak about?” Faolan asked.
Igtharia gracefully walked into the building where Ehreion had disappeared, and Faolan followed. She walked over to the dwarf, placing a soft hand on his bloodied armor. A dead demon lay next to the dwarf; his ax was buried in its chest. Two other demons loomed over him, poised to strike.
“What you see . . . what is to come . . . will not be in your favor, unless you unshackle yourself from your lust for vengeance. If you imprison yourself in darkness and chain yourself to hate . . . all will fall,” Igtharia’s voice sang in the ethereal wind.
“But they tortured me, tormented me. They killed my parents. They killed Gavina. What they did to me, how can I let it go?” Faolan said.
Igtharia gazed at him. “Let the love of your friends fill the void of loss within your heart. Let their safety be your purpose. Not vengeance.”
She glanced down at Ehreion’s pained face in his frozen struggle. “His last breath shall be in five minutes and thirty-four seconds, if you should remain on your current path.”
She gazed back at Faolan as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“I will not let him die. I am strong enough. I give my word,” Faolan said. “I will kill them all!”
Igtharia shook her head in disagreement and walked out of the house. “Your word will not protect him. Only a change within yourself will save him from death.”
She motioned Faolan to follow her, and they maneuver
ed around several corners to a girl cowering in a corner between two buildings. Ireli. They came to a stop next to her, and Igtharia pointed to the demon looming over Ireli.
“Her magic shall save her from this lone demon, but her final breath shall come to pass in four minutes and two seconds from this frozen moment in time as she flees from another,” Igtharia said.
Faolan grew angry as she spoke. “How do you know this?”
“The Divine One has given me knowledge of what is to be, for this current line of time. I am telling you what time your friends have left upon this world because your actions shall decide their fates. No malice laces my words.”
She led Faolan over to Caedmon’s location, back on the main road. “Even the stoic Caedmon Conn, who has lived for so many years, shall die this day. In anger at your friends’ deaths, Caedmon shall make a series of careless mistakes, which shall lead him to his last breath in seven minutes and forty-seven seconds.”
“Caedmon dies . . .” Faolan’s demeanor shifted and grew sorrowful at the dark predictions. Her words pulled on his emotions.
Igtharia walked toward Aili. The sobbing healer still held Faolan’s head. Her immense sorrow transcended the seams of time for the scene itself caused the heart to cry in witness to what lay before them.
Faolan noticed Igtharia was making her way toward Aili, and he shook his head in defiance. “No, not Aili . . . not her.”
Igtharia paused when she reached Aili and gazed at Faolan’s sad face.
“Yes, all will fall. Her love for you runs so deeply that she will sit by your side without regard for her own life. She wishes to protect you, and her life will be forfeit for it.”
Igtharia glanced down and wiped a tear from Aili’s cheek. The angel peered into her glowing blue eyes as if staring into Aili’s soul.
“Her last breath will pass in eleven seconds from this moment. You will still be alive, but her lifeless body shall lie beside you.”
Faolan’s eyes began to well up with tears. “No, it cannot be. I cannot save her?”
Igtharia grew silent.
Faolan dropped to his knees and stared at Aili’s beautiful face. “Not you . . . without you I will have no reason . . .”
Igtharia stood next to him. “There is only one way to save them.”
Tears rolled down Faolan’s face as he caressed Aili’s cheek.
“You must leave your lust for vengeance here. Where you kneel before me now. The Divine One above will place his retribution upon the dark forces. Their fates will be indescribable to any mortal.”
Faolan looked up at her. “I will try.”
“And you must accept . . .”
Faolan listened. “Accept what?”
“You must accept my power. My strength. Mine will become yours, though not for long. It will serve you temporarily and will fade because it is not your own. Move quickly. The Divine One has commanded this to be. You shall not see me for some time to come. The power will be vast and may corrupt you at first; a darkness still dwells in you. You must fight the growing shadows inside. Remain steadfast and vigilant,” Igtharia sang.
“Will this kill you?” Faolan said.
Igtharia knelt before him and gazed into his eyes.
“The trials before you are many. Your mind may delve into the deepest darkness as this world claws at it, but if your heart remains pure and untainted, you will have nothing to fear. Your heart is your shield, and your mind is your sword. Let your mind carve into the darkness; let your heart protect you with the mightiest of lights. For the smallest light will make the darkest darkness recede. Have faith and look to the Divine One above . . .”
Faolan heard her words but failed to fully comprehend their meaning. He was concerned with her safety as she did not answer his question.
“Fear not. The world will look different to you now,” Igtharia sang.
His spirit faded from her sight and left only the frozen scene around her.
“Please, do not let it corrupt you . . . come back to us,” Igtharia sang into the ethereal wind. “The vengeance in you may save them this day, but the light will protect them for eternity . . . remember, and unleash your power. I hope we fight beside each other again, Razbijen von Besvarad.”
A white light consumed her, and she was gone.
◆◆◆
Telfaldetrous loomed over its prey and smiled at its coming victory. It was poised to strike Aili, and its right hand descended with its mighty claws.
She screamed in terror and closed her eyes, waiting for the killing blow. The moment of death came and passed, but she was not dead. She still breathed, and she slowly opened her eyes in wonder as a spectacular sight overwhelmed her.
Faolan stood before Aili. His presence was overpowering. Two great wings spread out from Faolan’s back. The left wing was covered in white feathers. The right wing was covered in black feathers.
He still wore his Shadow Guardian uniform, red thorny vines on black. His unique swords were held loose in his hands. He turned around to look at Aili and revealed only his left fallen eye over his left shoulder, just as in her visions, but it was real now; Aili was not experiencing the same surreal atmosphere she had seen during the visions.
“Fear not. Be still. I will protect you,” Faolan said, with a powerful voice she did not recognize.
Faolan stepped forward, and a barrier of narrow white beams surrounded her, barring any danger from reaching her. The barrier extended upward, all the way through the clouds above her. It stood as a pillar of light in the darkness.
Aili stared at the winged warrior through the thin, latticed beams as Faolan swiveled his head to the right, and a second latticed light barrier extended out of a roof and reached high into the clouds, surrounding Ehreion.
Demonic screams could be heard from the house a second later as demons tested the protective barrier around the dwarf and met their demise.
Faolan swiveled his head to the left, and a third barrier of white beams shot high into the sky, surrounding Ireli. Demonic screams cried out from her location as well as demons burned on contact with the latticed barrier of light.
Faolan lowered his head and turned to the side as a fourth tower of bright light beams extended into the sky, surrounding Caedmon Conn.
The winged guardian rotated forward once more. His fallen left eye and right Ikalreev magic eye focused on Telfaldetrous, who backed away from Faolan one step at a time.
Faolan’s vision was blessed by the accompaniment of an angelic foresight; it was an extension of Igtharia’s power given to him. He could not explain it, but he could feel what was coming, an attack from behind.
He turned and lifted a blade, parrying the deceiver’s flanking attack. He looked at it without mercy, and his second blade ended its life. The deceiver collapsed to the ground as the guardian slid his blade from the demon’s chest.
Faolan shifted his gaze to Aili, and she looked into the otherworldly eyes, realizing deep down that Faolan might not be Faolan anymore.
He turned around and lifted a sword in the direction of the retreating prime evil.
“Stay,” Faolan commanded with a powerful voice.
A barrier of latticed light beams surrounded Telfaldetrous and Faolan in a wide circle, creating an isolated battlefield. The demon realized its escape was no longer an option and waited for the empowered being.
A laugh resonated from Telfaldetrous. “You cannot kill me.”
Faolan walked toward Telfaldetrous.
“Even if you strike me down, I will return. I will rise again,” Telfaldetrous said.
Faolan approached, calm and unwavering.
“Foolish angel! Where do you think our spirits go when our flesh dies? Where do you think I will go?” Telfaldetrous laughed. “We do not just disappear. My spirit will return to the underworld, and when I regain my strength, when I grow stronger, I will return to this world.”
Faolan neared.
“The black river will never dry as long as the seal remains
open,” Telfaldetrous roared. “I will return with the worst, and the war will rage as every mortal perishes.”
“Then I will rise for war,” Faolan said as he stared into the demon’s eyes.
Telfaldetrous roared and charged Faolan.
Igtharia’s blessing of foresight informed Faolan of the coming attacks split seconds before they occurred. Faolan deflected Telfaldetrous’s attacks with ease. The present was a visual echo of the future.
Faolan pierced Telfaldetrous’s side with a set of tri-teeth. His strength had grown. Then he sliced the demon across its chest and back. His speed had grown.
Telfaldetrous roared, and Faolan spun beneath an attack from the beast, slicing the back of the demon’s legs. Telfaldetrous dropped to its knees, and Faolan rotated around the demon, stabbing the demon in his chest with both sets of tri-teeth at the same time. Telfaldetrous fell on its back from the penetrating blows.
The demon laughed as black blood burst from its mouth. “This is just the beginning.” Telfaldetrous smiled. “Do you want to know what the seer told me?”
Faolan gazed down at the demon.
Telfaldetrous struggled to talk. “You were once called Volam.”
Faolan staggered back as memories assaulted his mind, memories of Volam. He shut his eyes as the memories came without welcome. He grabbed his temples and tried to steady himself.
Telfaldetrous laughed. “This world is doomed.”
The flood of memories abated, and Faolan opened his eyes, ripping the swords out of Telfaldetrous’s chest. He stepped back, and a wave of fire rippled down the length of his swords, then dispersed and faded away.
Telfaldetrous witnessed the change coming over Faolan. “If this world will not be mine, then you will destroy it for me.”
Faolan’s eyes refocused on Telfaldetrous, and he lifted his swords. He brought them down with vengeful fury, killing the demon where it lay. Faolan’s eyes glazed past Telfaldetrous, and his vision blurred. His shattered mind was reeling from the distant memories of another life, of a life long past. From afar Aili could see the base of Faolan’s left wing changing, several white feathers turning black.
The First Seal Page 26