Almost as if our words conjured it, all of our pendants began to glow and vibrate.
“Holy shit!” I jumped up. “It's time! It's time! What do I do?”
Rath and Xae looked at each other before getting up.
“Can you fade to your room?” Xae asked.
“Sure.” I nodded a little wildly.
“Go. Put on the leather armor I gave you. We'll meet in the corridor.” Then Xae faded away, becoming a shadow before vanishing.
Rath and I did the same, fading upstairs to save precious time. I'd been practicing since my Spirit training and fading had become easy for me. Like everything magical. Yeah, Xae was right. I'm spoiled by magic.
After I appeared in my room, I went to the armor stand in the corner. Then I grimaced at the short sword Xae had given me along with my lightweight leather armor. I still couldn't use the thing, not even to save my own life, which was pretty much its purpose.
I hurried into the armor and strapped on the sword despite my complete lack of ability with it.
“Ember?” Rath opened my door. He paused when he saw me in my armor. “Fuck. Maybe you should sit this one out.”
“What?! No! We need to test our unity thingy!”
“He'll be fine,” Xaedren said as he joined us. “Let the pendant guide your fade, Ember. You'll feel it pull you.”
“All right.” I closed my eyes and summoned Spirit.
“He can't use that damn sword,” Rath said to Xae.
“Then get over there before he does.”
With that, the darkness drew me in, and I felt the pull of the Wraith Lord pendant. Letting go of my will, I let it lead me, drawing me through that other place and depositing me where I needed to be.
In absolute chaos.
I cringed as the acrid scent of smoke hit me along with the sound of screams. I was right back in my village. Not actually, but mentally. My mind replayed it all in seconds—my neighbors being chased down, getting caught myself, lying before the Corrupter.
“Hello, Ember,” someone said.
I spun to see him standing there as if my thoughts had conjured him, his hood thrown back and his true face revealed. That beautiful face.
“Corrupter,” I whispered.
“Get away from him!” Rath roared and launched himself forward.
As Rath passed me, I felt our connection flare, and magic erupted from him, sending the Corrupter flying backward. Rath kept going, Xaedren joining him, and I instantly thought that this could be it. This could be the end of the war.
If I snapped out of it and helped.
Holding out my arms, I sent my magic forth, and this time, it wasn't buckling out of control. It surged into the Corrupter's chest steadily, holding the full strength of my power. He grinned as our magic—all three blasts—hit him at once. And then he was gone.
I ran forward to stand beside my men and stare at the spot the Corrupter had occupied. “What the fuck? Did we incinerate him?”
“No. He fled,” Xaedren growled. “Fucking coward.”
“We'll have another chance at him,” Rath said. “But right now, we need to help these people.”
We turned around and found the village empty of Corrupted. Only fleeing immortals remained, and they were quickly realizing that they didn't have to flee.
“What the fuck?” I asked again, then broke into a run.
