“The commander, where is he?” Raxx asked. When no answer was forthcoming, the shadow demon scowled and turned to address the rest of the group. “Has he spoken since he returned?”
“A few garbled words, only enough to know there was an ambush. He’s soaked in blood and frozen to the bone.”
Raxx nodded and took a few steps forward. “This is going to hurt a little,” he muttered and reached out to press his thumb against the soldier’s forehead.
“What are you—”
Majick flowed from Raxx’s body and the world around him disappeared.
When Raxx opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a snowy woodland clearing. The area was silent and frozen in place, a simple snap-shot in time. Snowflakes hung suspended in mid-air.
Raxx cast his eyes around the scene before him. There was dark red blood everywhere, mottling the snow around his feet. The fight here had clearly been a ferocious one. The battle was over and the clearing was void of anyone but the dead. Griff had very little memory of anything before or after this, if Raxx’s majick had only been able to take him back to a particular point in time. It was unfortunate, but it would have to do. Raxx stepped over a disembowelled body and began searching for his friends in the fray. Haros and Lephas had to be here somewhere…
He didn’t find them and Raxx was unsure whether to be pleased or concerned about that. He did, however, find Griff. The man was cowering behind a log, holding a wound at his side with fear in his eyes. Judging by the bloodied furrows in the snow, the demon had dragged himself there and hidden out of sight. Lephas, Haros and the princess were nowhere to be seen.
Raxx’s head began to pound and blood rushed in his ears. His time was almost up. He took stock of the forest, making a mental note of any landmarks that would help him navigate back to this spot at a later date. The shadow demon closed his eyes and when he reopened them, he found himself standing in the warm compound once more.
“Wh-what did you do?” Griff gasped and grabbed his head with a pained grimace.
“Just had a look around, that’s all. Did the commander and the princess escape?” Raxx asked, resisting the urge to brush snow from his shoulders that he knew would not be present.
“Yes, I think so,” Griff mumbled, rubbing his temples.
“And Haros?”
“I… I don’t know. We were outnumbered and--” The soldier’s face crumpled with dismay and Raxx quickly changed the subject.
“Get him to a healer. He’s got a serious injury to his right side that will need attention as soon as possible,” Raxx instructed.
One of the soldiers inspected Griff, gazing back at Raxx with astonishment when they located the deep gash at the demon’s side, hidden beneath layers of armour.
“How did you—”
Without a word, Raxx slipped back into the shadows and strode away towards Zelrus’s chamber. He took two steps at a time. The king needed to hear about this. When Raxx re-appeared in front of Zelrus’s desk, the king was pacing back and forth behind it.
“What news?” Zelrus asked, stopping to turn and face Raxx.
“It’s one of the men you sent with Lephas. It appears the commander and his men had the misfortune of running into the King’s Guard.”
“Shit,” Zelrus hissed, scrubbing a hand down his face.
“The sole surviving soldier is injured, but I am confident he will be fine once he gets the attention he needs. The other men were not as lucky,” Raxx grated.
“And what of Lephas and Haros?”
“That’s where things get complicated. The good news is they located the princess and have both seemingly escaped harm. The bad news is I have no information on their location at present.”
Zelrus slammed his hands down on his desk and parchment rustled, a pot of ink wobbled precariously. The king hung his head and growled with frustration. There was a long moment of silence before Zelrus spoke.
“I could do without this.”
“No argument here,” Raxx agreed.
Zelrus stood back up straight and pinched the bridge of his nose. He continued to pace back and forth for a few minutes, brows furrowed in thought.
“You need to find them. Take Oriel with you, two heads are better than one,” he eventually instructed.
“What about Cirro and—”
