By the Pact

Chapter 1-2

“There!” She ducked as Veelk’s weapon drew an arc in the air, delivering another blow. It didn’t escape her that blood trickled down his arm. The gash seemed shallow enough, but over time the creatures would wear him down.

He glanced at the tunnel and nodded. “Go.”

Without hesitation, she slid along the wall while the closest construct was preoccupied with its main opponent. She didn’t look back until she reached the tunnel. Veelk was right behind her, so she ducked into the uneven, damp walls of the tunnel. Her fingers dug into the thick soil as she fell to her knees to crawl through, and her lumisphere flickered when several lumps of wet sand loosened from the low ceiling, but the tunnel seemed stable enough, and the air inside smelled fresh. A short distance farther, and she was able to stand up, but the rumble behind her held her breath of relief.

Too big to follow them inside, the creatures kept clawing and pounding at the corridor’s stone wall, disturbing the wet earth with steady tremors.

“We better get going,” she muttered.

The image of the desert collapsing all around them always accompanied her whenever they delved into underground, forgotten ruins, and even though she’d learned to brush away such concerns, she couldn’t fight her own imagination. At least the air, though filled with the scent of wet ground and traces of unsettling magic, moved with a slight breeze, offering comfort and reminding her that she wasn’t buried alive or stuck in a giant sandworm, if such things could exist. One glance back, though, where the creatures relentlessly fought against the stone, made her take back that last thought. If someone was capable of creating constructs like that, sandworms seemed just as possible.

Upon Veelk’s insistent gaze, she sent her lumisphere ahead, and he squeezed past her. Even with the tunnel being taller, he couldn’t fully straighten up, but his keshal remained at the ready nonetheless. The path weaved through the ground, and as it sloped downward, Kamira paused to look back. Maybe the creatures had abandoned their pursuit, and the exit would be clear again. Backtracking seemed a better idea than venturing deeper into the ground, possibly away from their goal if the tunnel didn’t lead back to the structure.

“There’s an opening ahead.” Veelk slowed down.

Kamira didn’t have to ask why he stopped. The familiar, unsettling magic emanated from the tunnel’s end, more intense than back in the corridor. She swallowed the suggestion to turn around and instead sent her lumisphere in. Its faint light revealed a spacious chamber, partially covered with rubble and sand, especially by the walls, where the desert broke through the tall windows, but the patch of dark opposite them suggested another exit. Deeper in the chamber stood a strange milk-white crystal reaching high up to the ceiling.

“I’ve never seen anything like that.” She stared in awe, but the magic surrounding it resembled the one radiating from the constructs earlier, and it had the same malicious flavor she’d been tasting in the air since they had entered the ruins. “Ready?”

Veelk poked his head into the chamber. “Do you really think the arcanists would leave traps in a place like this?”

“It’s not the traps I’m worried about.” Kamira indicated the crystal with a slight point of her chin. “With all the weird magic around, this must be some remains of the battle that took place here before…” Her voice creaked, but she didn’t need to finish. Veelk knew the tale of the Cataclysm. “Besides, I’m not sure how, but the constructs we’ve met are connected to this thing.” Looking back at the tunnel and the shape of its walls, she’d think the crystal creatures could have been the ones to dig it out… if they were small enough to fit in.

Veelk arched his eyebrow in a mockery of polite interest. “If it comes alive when I enter, leave it to me and get to that exit.”

At the thought of her companion facing a construct of that size, Kamira opened her mouth to protest, but in the end, all he had to do was hold its attention and survive while she made it through the chamber. “Ready when you are.”

As soon as he exited the tunnel, Veelk stretched his back and flexed his muscles, twirling his keshal. Kamira stood in silence, but nothing happened, and after several drawn-out heartbeats, he glanced back at her and smiled.

“There’s something around the stone.” He took cautious steps toward it, and she could swear no speck of dust rose at his passage. “The markings are odd, but look a bit like a summoning circle. Old arcanist ways, maybe?”

“Maybe. Stay away.” She entered the chamber, eying the crystal, but it didn’t react to her presence. It must have been as Veelk said: a dormant relict from the Cataclysm, harmless but still echoing with past magic.

“You aren’t going to inspect it?” Veelk asked as she made her way through the chamber.

Her hesitation didn’t last long as another gust of magic breeze swept over her. No discovery could be tempting enough to take such a risk. It was one thing to venture into half-buried ruins in search of artifacts, avoiding traps left by the previous explorers or maybe even the place’s lost owners, but entirely different than willingly facing the unknown aftermath of the magical battle from centuries ago. “I’d rather get out of here before we have to fight something as nasty as those things. Let’s see if that exit connects to the surfa—”

“It doesn’t, little mage.” The deep, masculine voice echoed from the stone through the room. “But you won’t need it anyway.”

Kamira curled as convulsions shook her body, unable to call for help. She fought for words, but only a vicious cough came out of her mouth. Veelk shot to her side. He stood with his arms wide, facing the crystal as if barring the way, and the net of scars on his skin lit up with a golden glow, absorbing the energy and disrupting its flow.

“Step aside, mage killer. I have no quarrel with you,” came the voice again. “But I’ll kill you if you keep protecting that pitiful gaharra.”

Kamira allowed herself a sigh of relief as the debilitating pain faded enough to move, but she didn’t waste time. Veelk could only protect her for so long, so with trembling hands, she drew several symbols in the dust around her. Even shaky lines on an uneven surface would suffice… With one mental command, she activated her meager circle, and a wall of energy rose around her, cutting off the pain and malicious magic.

“Done,” she said, and Veelk stepped aside.

“Ah, a pactee… That I did not expect.” The crystal vibrated as the voice continued.

At Veelk’s questioning gaze, Kamira said, “It’s an old name for an arcanist. I thought your folk would know.”

He didn’t take the bait, but the corner of his mouth creased into a smile, letting her know he appreciated the attempt. Had they not been in a life-threatening situation, he’d likely have reciprocated with a witty remark. Instead, he turned toward the crystal with his keshal at the ready.

“I have no quarrel with you, mage killer,” repeated the voice.

“But I have quarrel with you.”

Laughter echoed through the chamber, and the lumisphere trembled in the waves of magic that followed the sound. “Your people were always brave, but in the end, Suzhaul picks no weaklings.”

Kamira and Veelk exchanged surprised glances, since the name was not common knowledge, at least in their world. Kamira stiffened. The truth she’d been refusing to consider forced its way back into her thoughts. It wasn’t a human they were dealing with. And if a demon indeed resided within the crystal, it meant the tales of the past weren’t as accurate as the high mages claimed them to be.

Curling her hands into fists before they trembled too much, she said, “You’re Veranesh.” Of course, it could have been another demon, but it seemed much too coincidental.

Another burst of laughter sent ripples through the waves of magic washing over the chamber. “So mages told stories? Delightful. What were they? Tell me.”

Kamira pressed her lips into a tight line. The odds of surviving disappeared like water in the desert sun, but she couldn’t give up, not yet.

“Kam?” Veelk prodded her.

“He’s the one who destroyed these Towers and all the lands around them. A cautionary tale for those who dare to choose the arcanist path.” She tried to control her voice, but fear tainted her words. “The purest of evil, the most malicious of the kind… You know how it goes.”

“They left out some details, but didn’t exaggerate much.” An arc of blue lightning flashed within the crystal as Veranesh spoke, and revealed a dark silhouette of a massive body with blurred shapes of wings and claws.

“They did forget to mention you’re still here,” Kamira replied, but her gaze darted to Veelk.

He gave a slight nod, and as soon as the demon spoke, he began moving slowly through the chamber.

“That’s indeed something they wouldn’t like to reveal,” Veranesh said. “I’d guess their so-called victory over me was too big of an event to admit the truth. So what happened? They pronounced themselves saviors?”

If anyone asked Kamira, talking to demons was like willingly walking into an assassin’s blade. She might have made a pact with one, but both she and her demon were happy enough to reap the benefits of the pact without engaging in too many conversations. Yet this time it meant keeping Veranesh distracted. She’d rather not risk he’d be able to breach her lousy circle.

“Something like that,” she replied. “Hunted down a few surviving arcanists, chastised others, and spread the demon hate. Come to think of it, they might have been right, at least in the last part, don’t you agree?”

“From their perspective, most definitely,” Veranesh said. “But that’s a long discussion, and meanwhile you could try something… unwise. I wouldn’t bother with a mage, but a pactee is a different matter. I shall make you an offer, but if you try to leave this chamber, you’ll die. And with you—a large part of this land.”

She swallowed at the thought of the Cataclysm that destroyed the continent centuries ago. She had to keep him talking and ease his suspicions, so agreeing to anything was out of the question. “You’re bluffing.”

“Am I now? I had four hundred human years to devise this spell, and it’s the key to my freedom.”

Veelk had stopped and was standing midway between Kamira and what they hoped was a way out, relaxed but ready. All Kamira had to do was get to the exit while Veelk kept the demon’s attention, but Veranesh’s suspicion made such a simple task seem impossible.

“It’s hard to believe in your generous nature,” she said. “You must have a reason to keep me in here, and it’s not the caring for my life, so cut the game.”

Veranesh spoke, but she didn’t listen. At his first word, she sprang to her feet, and even though her instincts screamed against the dissolution of the circle, she gave up her protection and dashed toward the exit. At the same time, Veelk mocked an attack at the crystal.

“What a pity,” Veranesh said.

Before Kamira realized the shift in magic, her lumisphere dispersed, drowning the chamber in darkness, and she collapsed to the ground, shrieking. This time the attack felt different. The physical pain mixed with the sudden emptiness within her, and even though the torture took away her focus, it couldn’t conceal the hollow space in her mind… the space where her magic and pact used to be.

Veelk abandoned the pretense of the attack and made it back to her. He dropped to his knees and curled around her, yet she kept shivering and moaning.