Chapter One
“Run!” someone screamed.
It was unnecessary. We were all running. The whole fucking village. No one stood still while the Corrupter drew near. I'd had one glimpse of him and it was enough to send me dashing like a bunny. Perhaps if he hadn't been using his magic at the time, he would have looked like a normal Varraen man. But he'd been corrupting poor Welsen with his Death magic when I caught sight of him. The image of the Corrupter's eyes, glowing icy blue in his skeletal face, would haunt me forever. As I ran, I prayed that my forever would be longer than a few minutes.
Most of the villagers were fleeing in clumps, but I had no family left, so I ran alone. My mutation compelled me to keep away from others and never reveal the strange powers I'd been born with. If I thought my magic would have any effect on the Corrupter, I would have tried to help Welsen and all the other people of Fress. I would have revealed my secret to save them. Of course, I would have. But only the Wraith Lords could stop the Corrupter, and they hadn't come, despite our distress summons.
So I fled into the woods, past the pond where I had learned to swim, going as deep as I could into the safety of the trees. I heard others around me and diverted my path from theirs. It was wiser to spread out. The Corrupter may be the most powerful mage on Varr—with the exception of the Emperor—but he was still just one man.
A beefy arm shot across my path and knocked me to the ground. I gaped up at a human man, then gasped when I saw his blank stare and flaccid face. One of the Corrupted. I was wrong. The Corrupter wasn't alone. He'd brought his army with him.
My shock was my downfall. It cost me precious seconds that I could have used to form a fireball or perhaps launch stones at the man. I could have even blown him off his feet. To be honest, I didn't have the greatest control over my magic. But when it was life and death, what did that matter? Regardless, by the time I reached for my magic, it was too late.
His huge fist came down, and I lost consciousness.
When I came to, I was lying on the packed earth of the town square, in a line with my neighbors. Some of them were coming awake as I was, but most were out cold. My first instinct was to sit up, but then I saw Andy a few feet down from me. He did sit up and was instantly knocked in the head with the butt of a sword.
I decided to stay put.
But Great Goddess, it was hard to remain still while around me the Corrupted paced, guarding us as their master came down the line, infusing the people of Fress with his evil one by one. Could I just lie there as he infected me? Should I try to run? I didn't want to be unconscious when it happened. I wanted to be awake for every last second of my freedom. As soon as that corruption took hold of me, I would cease to be me. I'd be his slave.
My palms tingled with magic. If I had a choice of being made into one of the Corrupter's mindless soldiers or dying, I'd take death. And I might as well go out fighting. But I didn't want to waste my attack on one of his minions. I would doubtless be restrained after my first strike, so I wanted to make it count. If I was going to die, I'd go out delivering a blow to the bastard who had turned my people into mindless slaves and outcasts. So I waited.
The Corrupter drew closer. Closer still. As he came, the people he infected stood up and joined his other minions. I started to tremble. This was it, the end of my short life. I had hoped I was meant to do something important. My father believed I was cursed, but Mom used to say the Goddess had a plan for me. To be the only human gifted with magic—not just one element, but all of them, like a Varraen—meant I was destined for greatness. That's what she said. Until she and Father were murdered in the last Ladrin attack nine years ago. The Wraith Lords might defend us from the Corrupter (at least, they were supposed to), but they didn't waste their magic on protecting us from the other races.
I understood. There were only so many of the Emperor's Wraiths, and they had to fight the most important battles. They didn't have time to defend us against racists who thought it was better to kill all humans than risk us getting corrupted and added to the Corrupter's army. No, we weren't the Corrupter's true target, just his pawns—people he made into weapons to be used against the immortal races. But this wasn't just a Ladrin attack. It was an important battle. The Corrupter was three feet away from me. And I know the summoning crystal had been activated. I wasn't sure how long ago that was, but with the Wraith Lords' ability to turn incorporeal and travel anywhere in seconds, they should have arrived within a few minutes. So, where the fuck were they?!
All thoughts of the Wraith Lords vanished as the Corrupter finished with poor Nell beside me and moved down to loom over me. The time had come to make a stand. Perhaps this was why the Goddess had given me magic. This moment right now. She meant for me to—
A paralyzing force took control of my body, and my hands fell to my sides. My eyes locked with the Corrupter's, those icy blue orbs seeming to expand, their glow blinding me to the rest of his thin face, then everything else. But as evil came for me, something tingled inside my chest, then swirled. It spread through my body, then rose to cover my skin like a shield, pushing away the corruption. The pressure of that stark gaze eased, the glow pulling back into the Corrupter's eyes, and I could suddenly see again. Move again.
Just as I began to gather Fire to launch it into that bastard's face, a chill wind rushed through the square.
The Corrupter drew back, his gaze going to his right, the direction the gust had come from. The corruption receded, and as it did, his true face was revealed. I nearly gasped at its fragile beauty. Such fine bones and full lips. Long lashes swept down as he narrowed his eyes and pale hair gleamed in the shadows of his hood.
The Corrupter slashed an elegant hand at those of us still lying on the ground as he shouted to his minions, “Take them back to the castle!”
As the slave soldiers gathered the remaining humans, throwing the unconscious ones over their shoulders and herding the rest like cattle, the Corrupter strode forward, his arms spreading. I was yanked to my feet and shoved in the opposite direction of the Corrupter. I stumbled purposefully, fell, and looked back while I was on the ground.
The Wraith Lords had finally arrived.
There were only two of them, but they'd already taken their wraithforms and were launching magic at both the Corrupter and the Corrupted. Like vengeful spirits, the Wraith Lords stalked forward, their warrior bodies clad in black leather and steel armor, deadly swords in their hands, and fierce expressions on their faces. If I hadn't known who they were and had stumbled upon them fighting the Corrupter, I would have thought that they were the villains and he was the hero.
Even their liberating magic seemed menacing. Shadows separated from them, billowing out from their bodies and taking their forms so that it looked as if they had created dark copies of themselves. The wraiths that gave the Lords their name. Those eerie shadow-twins flew at their targets and rushed through them in seconds. Corrupted humans fell like cut wheat under the blasts of Spirit Magic, the evil inside them filtered by the wraiths and taken with them, out the other side. Corruption died within the wraiths and then the shadows returned to their masters. But the Spirit Magic didn't work against the Corrupter. He merely lifted a hand and deflected it. One of the Wraith Lords focused on the dark mage as the other continued to free the Corrupted.
A hand grabbed me and hauled me to my feet.
I spun and punched the man with Fire magic and my fist.
The Corrupted human barely blinked at my attack, despite his flaming chest. Corruption made humans stronger, more resilient, and also immune to pain. But he still burned.
The other Corrupted paused and glanced at their flaming comrade, but they couldn't function without a direct order from their master. So, they continued their task, leaving him to burn. As he did, I glanced at the Wraith Lords again.
Then did a double take.
One of them was in hand-to-hand combat with the Corrupter. His skill was evident and amazing, his hands moving so fast I could barely track them. He fought with two swords, the blades becoming a deadly windmill that should have sent the Corrupter to his grave. And that wasn't all he fought with. The Wraith Lord was a Varraen. I would have known his race even if he hadn't worn his hair pulled back to show off his pointed ears.
Fire shot down the Wraith Lord's blade and whooshed over the Corrupter. The Wraith Lord jumped, Air holding him aloft to give him a height advantage. Then the ground buckled beneath the Corrupter, Earth making itself known just before Water made an appearance, rushing for the Corrupter's face. All the elements used so masterfully, one after the other. Only a Varraen could do that. A talented Varraen.
