The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (48 page)

“Do you know where they are?” Neph asked
quickly as he released a Windscythe at a man that had been closing
on Marrow.

“I can’t pinpoint them. I think they are
scattered in the room rather than together,” Jala answered, then
pressed closer against him as a wave of fire washed over them. Heat
tore at his shields, but his spells of protection held. He wasn’t
sure how much longer he could count on that, though. With the
amount of damage they were taking from arrows and occasional
spells, combined with the Magebreakers draining, things did not
look good.

“You good?” Neph called quickly without a
glance back. He didn’t have time to glance back. More Rivasans were
closing on them and they were about to be surrounded without much
of a prayer of getting out of the mess. Magic roared from his hands
as he sent his most destructive spells arcing toward the
approaching enemies only to watch in bitter disappointment as the
siphons drained the spell just before it reached its target.

“For now, but I’m not sure how much longer I
can say that,” Jala replied in a pained voice. “Valor is still up,
but Foster is down and I can’t see Vaze anywhere.”

The sound of fighting rose behind them as she
spoke and he heard Jala inhale sharply. “What? Did things just get
worse?” Neph snapped as he sent several spells in rapid succession
at the closest Rivasans. With luck the Magebreakers wouldn’t be
able to drain so many at once and a few of them would actually hit
their mark.

It was incredibly taxing to use magic in that
fashion, but he didn’t see many other options beyond drawing his
own sword and charging into the combat as Valor had. He didn’t even
consider that approach. Valor was more skilled with blades and he
was having difficulties; for Neph it would be a much different
story. Magic was his strong point and his best chance lay with his
spells.

“Dray and Vosha just joined the fight and
they are actually clearing a path to Valor. They have already
dropped at least six Rivasans,” Jala replied finally. By her long
silence Neph knew she had been too busy with her own barrage of
spells to answer quickly. would have arranged forces behind them as
well to cut off retreat.

“Zoey is trying to get to Foster, I think,”
Jala muttered through clenched teeth. Fire roared over them once
more and he heard a hiss of pain escaped her lips as she fell back
between him and the wall. “They hit my bloody shields right before
that wave,” she explained quickly, though Neph didn’t truly need
the explanation. He understood perfectly. His own shields had
faltered and pain coursed through him from the fresh burns, but
then that was a good thing for him.

Renewed power rushed through his limbs and he
stepped farther in front of Jala and spread his hands. With gritted
teeth he refocused himself and split his spells to form two waves.
He could hold back Jala’s opponents for a few moments and buy her
time to recover, but he couldn’t keep it up long. It was incredibly
difficult to cast two spells at once and even harder to send them
in different directions. Most mages never mastered the talent, let
alone the ability to cast in rapid succession such as he was doing
now.

Another explosion ripped through the room
behind him and the air broke with a feminine scream. Neph’s throat
clenched at the sound, but he forced himself to keep fighting. The
scream had to have come from Zoey. He could feel Jala against his
back and knew she was still fighting. “How bad?” he gasped, but
Jala didn’t have a chance to answer. The moment the words left his
mouth the room grew icy cold and the shadows themselves seemed to
come alive. Hope rose in Neph’s chest. It had to be Vaze joining
the fight, he was the only Shadow mage left on Sanctuary.

Screams of pain rose like music behind him
and the Rivasans drew back quickly with expressions of uncertainty
painted on their faces. Swallowing heavily, Neph dared a look over
his shoulder just in time to see a flash of black before two
Rivasans hit the ground bonelessly near Valor. “What the hell?” he
snarled as he pulled his attention back to his own problems and
used the distraction to land several more spells. “Why the hell
didn’t Vaze do that sooner?” he snapped. If the man had been
holding a card as powerful as this he should have acted sooner and
perhaps Foster and Zoey wouldn’t be lying on the ground
bleeding.

“That isn’t Vaze,” Jala whispered hoarsely
behind him. There was fear in her words, though he couldn’t
understand why. Another scream tore through the air behind him and
then there was utter silence. Not even the sound of clashing blades
broke the stillness.

The Rivasans ahead of him backed away quickly
and Neph’s spells slowed as he tried to figure out what had caused
the expressions of terror on their faces. Even with the added help
the Rivasans still held the advantage of numbers. It made no sense
for them to be retreating. Movement caught his eye and Neph barely
glimpsed a flash of black as three of the Rivasans ahead of him
dropped to the ground. Another breath and two more were bleeding on
the floor beside their comrades.

“What the hell?” Neph repeated, but this time
his words were filled with confusion rather than anger. In just the
short time it had taken him to speak more enemies were sprawled on
the floor and the remaining Rivasans were scrambling for the door
in full retreat.

“Seth,” Jala murmured behind him.

The Rivasans had packed themselves into a
corner in their blind fear and even as they struggled to escape,
Seth was moving among them. With each breath another body hit the
floor. Neph let his magic fade and fell back against the wall
beside Jala. He had never seen anything like the display before
him. Even Finn Sovaesh hadn’t moved with the kind of speed Seth was
showing, and Neph had never seen anyone show such brutal efficiency
with killing.

In moments, the room was utterly still and
silent. Seth stood for a long moment with his back facing them. His
daggers were lowered to his sides now and blood dripped from the
blades in a steady stream.

Jala stirred beside him and Neph glanced over
at her and knew his own face was a mirror of hers. She had paled
drastically and her expression was caught somewhere between relief
and terror. Licking her lips, she looked up at him with uncertainty
lighting her violet eyes and then back to Seth. She had said once
that she trusted the demon, but then she had never seen Seth fight
before.

It was difficult to smile and welcome someone
after watching them massacre an entire room of people, even if the
people were your enemies. It was more than just the killing,
though, Seth’s posture alone screamed fury and even Neph was unsure
if they should speak to the demon. If Seth turned his anger on
them, Neph had no doubt they would all die. After what he had just
witnessed, he wasn’t sure if anyone on Sanctuary could live through
Seth’s unleashed anger.

Silently Seth turned and replaced his daggers
to their place on his belt. His gold eyes lingered on them for a
breath and Neph could feel the anger and hate wash over him. His
attention moved past them to Zoey’s crumpled form and the demon
stalked toward her. He knelt at her side and his black gloved hands
brushed her pale hair back from her face gently before he lifted
her into his arms and stood once more.

“You were supposed to protect her, Jala. She
was your ward and trusted you to keep her safe.” Seth’s low voice
shattered the silence of the room and Jala stirred once more.

“She wanted to be here, Seth. I didn’t ask
her to come; she asked me if she could,” Jala replied softly. Neph
could hear guilt thick in her voice as she spoke and knew the
demon’s words would weigh on her mind for a very long time.

“If she dies, there is no return for her
Jala. She is Undrae and she doesn’t have the option of returning as
we do. You should have protected her better. I trusted you to take
care of her,” Seth pressed in the coldest voice Neph had ever
heard.

“Jala is not at fault here. Zoelyn knew the
risks and chose to come anyway,” Neph snapped as he stepped forward
once more to shield Jala. Facing the demon was the last thing he
wanted to do, but he wouldn’t simply stand in silence as Jala was
wrongly blamed. It had been Zoelyn’s choice to come and Seth had no
right to lay all of the blame on Jala.

“You?” Seth snarled in fury. “You dare to
bring my attention to you after what you have done?” he continued
and stalked toward them. Seth’s gold eyes were locked fully on him
and Neph could see the Demon’s anger rising once more. “Do you
think I don’t know what you did, Delvay? Did you think I wouldn’t
discover it was you?” he hissed.

“What is he talking about?” Jala asked
hesitantly and gazed up at Neph in confusion.

Neph shook his head slowly in bewilderment,
but remained silent. He had no idea what Seth was talking about,
but now didn’t s eem like a good time to correct the demon.

“What am I talking about?” Seth asked loudly,
his gaze flashing to Jala for a breath before they snapped back to
Neph with renewed fury.

“If not for Neph, she wouldn’t exist. He
created her as she is and left her to fend for herself,” Seth
growled as he stopped just in front of them. His arms tightened
around Zoelyn’s still form, pulling her closer to him. “It took me
a while, Delvay, but now I know it was you. I had suspicions, given
your talent with dark magic, but I didn’t truly believe that you
would create a Broken one,” he finished in a disgusted voice.

“That spell failed,” Neph whispered, shaking
his head at Seth as realization dawned on him. He had only used the
forbidden magic once in an attempt to return life, and it had been
a bitter failure. The demon had to be wrong. If he was right, Neph
wasn’t sure how he could ever live with himself again.

“What?” Jala whispered beside him and he
could hear disgust in her voice. “Neph, that spell requires a
sacrifice,” she added with a note of pleading in her voice. She
needed him to tell her Seth was wrong, but he wasn’t sure he
could.

“The spell didn’t fail, Neph. Did you truly
believe a little half-blood whore’s child was a worthy sacrifice
for your sister?” Seth snarled as Neph paled and backed away once
more shaking his head in denial.

“The spell failed,” Neph repeated hoarsely.
“I waited for the entire day and she didn’t rise. It failed.”

“It takes longer for a Broken one to rise,
but they still rise. The girl you killed to raise your sister was
unworthy and you know it. You can hear the truth in my words and
you know I’m right.” Seth paused and glared at him with more hate
than he had ever seen before. “Zyi was stronger than most Undrae
I’ve known, though. When they found her wandering, she still held
fragments of herself. She tried to tell them who she was, even as
her memories were fading. The name Zyi Delvayon was too much for
her, as weak as she was, though, and the best the hunter could make
out was Zy Lyn. So Zoelyn was born by your abandonment. Because of
you, she has suffered.” Seth paused once more and his gaze turned
to Jala. “And because of your failure to protect her, she is
suffering more. You are both unworthy of her and I am taking her
with me. Neither of you faded with his last words and the room
returned to silence.

The icy breath of the air faded, but Neph was
too stunned to take notice. He had lived for the past seven years
believing Zyi was forever lost from him, and the knowledge of what
he had actually done was like a hammer to his stomach. Wordlessly,
he raised a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes. He wanted to deny
the accusation, but Seth’s words had made too much sense. He didn’t
know anyone else that knew as much Forbidden magic as he did, and
the area they found her in was very close to where he had attempted
the spell in Gaelyn.

“Tell me he was wrong, Neph,” Jala whispered
beside him. Neph looked over at her slowly and swallowed heavily at
the desperate pleading that was written so clearly on her face.
“Tell me he was wrong, Neph,” she repeated more firmly when he
remained silent.

Neph looked away from the accusation in her
eyes and let his attention trail across the corpse littered room.
Valor lay sprawled near the wall and the sight of him made it very
apparent how important his answer was to her. Had Jala been
thinking clearly she would have been rushing to her husband’s side,
but instead she was standing frozen and waiting for him to
speak.

“You should see to Valor,” Neph said at last
and the words faltered in his mouth. He was still too stunned for
conversation and wasn’t truly sure what he could say. He wouldn’t
lie to Jala, but he wasn’t ready to speak the truth either.

“Tell me he was wrong, Neph!” Jala repeated
once more with anger rising in her voice. “Tell me you didn’t cast
that spell. Tell me you didn’t sacrifice an innocent. Tell me you
didn’t abandon her in Glis!” With every word spoken her voice
gained volume and Neph felt his own anger with her words.

Rounding on her he matched her glare fully
and narrowed his eyes. “Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same to
bring back Finn, Jala!” he snarled and shook his head at her as his
emotions rose past the point of reason. “If I had taught you that
spell, you would have moved in a breath to return him, no matter
who you had to put to the knife.”

Jala blanched at his words and shook her head
slowly as sadness washed over her face. “I don’t think you know me
at all, Neph,” she whispered as she backed away from him slowly
with tears brimming in her eyes. “And I know I don’t know you,” she
added in a hoarse voice. Her hand rose to her face and wiped away
the first of the tears. “Death gave me that option, Neph. She told
me I could bargain souls with her for Finn’s life, but the only
life I would have traded for him was my own. I would never kill an
innocent intentionally and I would never sacrifice another’s life
to salve my own wounds.” She shook her head sadly and more tears
poured down her pale face. “We are done, Neph. I may forgive you in
time, but for now I can’t even stand to look at you.” Her words
were barely coherent through her sobs and Jala shook her head once
more as she quickly crossed to Valor’s side. “Marrow, find Vaze,”
she ordered in a thick voice.