Private Tales Pact of Flame

Six was their number - the Veilguard, blades sworn and blessed, moving as one through the bowels of the mountain.

The tunnels stank of rot and damp. Mud and ichor clung to her boots, the splatter of black and red blood on her skin cooling against pale flesh. Every kill was quick, clean; the golden flare in Saeris’ eyes the only sign of the borrowed power running beneath her veins.

Orc. Goblin. Wretched hybrids of the two. None lasted long under their assault. Their bodies lay twisted in the gloom, their blood pooling in the dirt.

They pressed on, and soon the tunnel widened, air shifting with a faint tremor that Saeris felt in her ribs. She held a hand up for the others to halt.

Ahead, faint light, not the flicker of torchfire, but the unnatural, shifting glow of something far older, far hungrier.

She glanced to her second. “Stay sharp,” she murmured, though her voice was low enough to be meant more for herself than them.

Her fingers closed around the Shard of Kael’Syth, the silver filigree biting into her palm as the whisper came and the air chilled around her.

He's here.. Waiting..

Saeris had seen demons before. Some twisted, some towering, some cunning, all terrifying in their own right. But none like the one that sat upon the black throne. He was taller than any she had ever seen, his sheer size making the cavernous room feel smaller around them.

She stepped forward along side the others, their weapons drawn, ready. The demon's voice skittered over rock and slithered over her skin, a shudder racing down her spine in its wake. A spike of cold shot through her gut fear, sharp and sudden. She locked her jaw against it, forcing her shoulders square, but the thrum in her chest refused to slow.

He asked his question, and the silence that followed was long enough to make the hair on her arms lift. She didn’t answer. None of them did. Whatever prophecy he spoke of, it was his madness, not theirs.
Her golden eyes locked on the Hollow King’s towering form, but her grip never wavered on her sword’s hilt.

Behind her, beside her, the Veilguard stood like shadows, their faces tight with grim determination. Yet, beneath the armour and whispered prayers, she caught the flicker of hesitation, a breath held too long, she felt their eyes shift to her in mute answer to the demon's question.

"We know not of your prophecy, Demon. We've just come for your head." Teren spoke beside her, stepping forward, his twin swords ready at his sides.

The Shard of Kael’Syth pulsed against her throat, once a steady heartbeat in the dark, now a jagged rhythm that felt almost alive. Saeris narrowed her eyes, sensing a shift in the whispering voice within. It was no longer a guiding light, but something darker, more demanding, its secrets curling like smoke in her mind.

I showed you the way.. it breathed, and she swore she could feel it's amusement. Because you are the key..

Saeris' knuckles paled on the hilts of her shortswords as the demon rose to his feet, as his gaze settled on her in such a way that she hadn't expected. Her pulse pounded in her ears as her adrenaline surged through her, brow furrowing in confusion as the Shard against her throat burned, its thrum quickening in a rhythm that wasn’t her own. Something was wrong..

Key?..

'At last?..'

What the fuck was happening?

When he snapped his warning about 'respect', she almost laughed. A demon king demanding courtesy from the people he’d slaughtered generations for. Her lip curled into a sneer, sharp and cold. She walked forward, her blades glinting in the firelight as she twisted them in her palms. The runes etched along the steel held a faint glow, the same molten gold of her eyes as she looked up at him, defiant.

She wasn't alone for long. Two of her number were already chanting as they moved behind her, calling open the void that they intended to cast the demon back into. Another, armed with vials of liquid she'd seen burn demons through, and two more flanked her with weapons of their own.

"I agree.. Let's." she answered with more confidence than she felt right now.

Around her, the Veilguard tightened their formation, but Saeris didn’t take her eyes off him, not when every instinct screamed that the real danger wasn’t just the monster in front of her, but the thing burning into her skin at her throat.

Let me out, let me out, let me out...

She was too distracted, and it was going to get her killed. The weight of Azrakar’s presence pressed on every sense she had, but it was Marcia’s scream that ripped through her focus like a blade.

It happened so fast. One moment the woman was chanting, the next she was writhing in the grip of some unseen force, straight onto the demon’s waiting blade.

Her golden eyes went wide. “No!” The cry tore itself from her before she could stop it.

The sound of steel shearing through flesh and bone jolted her into motion. She and Teren broke from the line in the same breath, boots pounding against stone as they closed the distance.

Saeris came in low, her blade a swift arc aimed for the hollow between his ribs while Teren struck high, his blade aimed to drive the demon king back. Behind them, one of the others still chanted, their voice rising in a desperate attempt to tear open the void and swallow him whole.

Yes… closer… The demon in her mind whispered.

She gritted her teeth and drove her strike home.

Had it not been for the Shard at her throat, burning power into her veins, the Hollow King’s strike might have cut her clean in two. Pain rattled through her bones and she braced, hissing through gritted teeth as she held her ground.

She had been readying for another strike when the air shifted. Her golden eyes snapped upward to the mass above him, and the chamber itself seemed to hold its breath.

Saeris staggered back, boots scraping against stone. All around her the remaining Veilguard did the same, some keeping their chants going through clenched teeth, others throwing up desperate wards of light and steel. She threw her own shield together, and her arm raised against her face as the world split in white fire.

Then his voice cut through it. Words meant for her. Her attention wrenched back to him in confusion, her jaw clenching so tightly it ached. Progeny. The bile rose in her throat, her face twisting into a snarl of pure disgust.

"Our progeny??"

“You think I’d ever carry your corruption?” she spat, fury cracking through her voice. “I’d sooner bleed myself dry on this floor than bear one drop of your filth.”

The last word was still leaving her lips when the sound of coughing broke her focus. She turned just in time to see Kallis crumple, the book slipping from her hands and clattering against the stone before her body folded into the spreading pool of blood.

Shit.

They were losing this fight. She and Teren shared a look. They each drew the bottles, blessed with pure and natural magic, the kind that hurt monsters like the Hollow King. He threw one, then another as Saeris moved back, slicing her palm quickly before wrapping her hand tight around the shard as she spoke to it, drawing on it's power.

The language she spoke was long dead, words her mother had taught her to cast demons away.

“Veyrith shael’koran,
Naresh’tul voran,
Kael’Syth, vres annas res,
Veyrith! Veyrith! Veyrith!”

....

Nothing. Saeris paled, feeling the chill of dread rush down her spine. She gripped the shard tighter in her bleeding palm. "Kael'Syth, vres annas res--" she said quickly, calling to the shard to answer, but it was silent. It refused her.

"Veyrith shael'koran... Naresh'tul voran... Kael'Syth, vres annas res... Veyrith, Veyrith...Veyrith..."

The shard went cold, and the glowing, molten gold of her eyes dulled. She blinked, her heart pounding as the power abandoned her.

"Get out - now!"