“Please, just let us go first,” Rath said.
“Fine,” I huffed but continued to pull on my armor. “But hurry the fuck up.”
The men were seasoned Wraith Lords and got ready much faster than I. I was still buckling straps when they faded away, using their pendants to guide the Spirit Magic. I finished armoring up, then stewed in irritation. I knew it was foolish, that they were right and only acting out of love for me, but that only made it worse. My entire purpose was to empower them and fight beside them. But I guess they didn't need me now that I'd given them some of my magic. They could—
Rath reappeared, looking annoyed.
“What is it? Is he there?”
“No, there's no sign of the Corrupter, but I tried to free some of the Corrupted, and my magic didn't work.”
“It didn't work?!”
“No, I mean, it worked, just not as it did before. I could only free one at a time.”
“First of all, you were supposed to come back for meimmediately.” I pointed at him. “Second, are you saying that I can only empower you when I'm with you?”
“It appears to be a possibility.”
“But—”
“We don't have time for this. Xae is over there alone!” Rath faded back to the site.
“Fuck!” I grabbed my Wraith Lord pendant and faded too, letting the summoning magic lead me.
I appeared on a flagstone path, homes rising to either side of me, their walls of stone and timber surging up between ancient trees whose trunks were just as wide as those homes. I blinked, looked around, and found Rath just a few feet away from me, blasting some Corrupted with his Spirit Magic. This time, his wraith—a shadow version of himself that left his body—split and hit the entire group at once, freeing them of the Corrupter's spell as it passed through their bodies.
Rath glanced at me and nodded. Theory confirmed; I had to be with them to magnify their magic. But he didn't have time to confirm my other suspicion—that we were in Levari, a Varraen city on the continent of Krix. Levari was where Rath had once taken me for a meal that never happened.
Screams caught my attention, and I spun to see a few Varraen tossing magic at a much larger group of Corrupted. But the Corrupted didn't stop, not when they were struck with rocks or even fire. Resilient motherfuckers. The corruption made them stronger, immune to pain, and hard to kill. But I didn't want to kill them. These were normal humans who had been corrupted to do evil. They were as much victims as the Varraen.
I threw out a hand, calling to Earth, and the element responded instantly. Yes, it was an old trick to open the ground beneath the Corrupteds' feet, but I knew I could rely on it. Sure enough, the Corrupted fell into the pit, and the Varraen were able to escape. Before they did, they looked at me, expecting to find a Wraith Lord of one of the immortal races. When they saw that I was human, their jaws fell open. One woman gaped a little louder than the others.
When I saw her face, I knew my suspicion about our location was correct. The Varraen woman was a hostess in the restaurant where Rath had taken me to dine. She refused to seat me. No humans allowed. I guess it would have been insulting for their Varraen staff to have to serve a lowly human. Her racism had infuriated Rath, but I hadn't been surprised, nor did it bother me all that much. What surprised me more was Rath's fury. He had started to tell the woman who I was, but I stopped him. If those Varraen didn't want to serve humans, then I didn't want to be served by them. Besides, she may not have believed Rath, which would have insulted him personally. And even if she had, my experience was already ruined. Before we left, I told Rath that maybe one day she would realize who she had turned away. Who exactly she had been so cruel to.
It looked as if that day had arrived.
I nodded to the woman, but she only lifted her chin, made a moue of distaste, and ran off.
“Fucking bitch,” I hissed. “I just saved your ungrateful ass.”
Some people just get meaner when you prove them wrong.
Then I heard Xae's roar.
I turned back to the chaos and dashed toward the sound. After all, the whole point of going with them wasn't to fight. Well, it was, but it wasn't my main reason for being there. That was to ensure the safety of the men I loved. Because I couldn't stand waiting for them to return, wondering if something had happened to them. And now, I had another reason to be there, a reason they couldn't deny.
I made them stronger, but to do that, I had to be with them. Ha! Now, they couldn't leave me behind.
I found Xae pulling the same move that I had, opening the ground to trap the Corrupted. It opened more slowly for him. Xae was still learning elemental magic. Still, it worked, and that meant I didn't have to be standing right beside him. I just had to be nearby. Maybe on the same continent.
I didn't join Xae. He needed the practice, and I could see that he was doing fine now that I was in the vicinity. So, I went in search of Rath, heading in the direction I'd last seen him go. Along the way, I did my job, trapping the Corrupted and saving Varraen. But my heart raced. I needed to find Rath. I had to know he was all right.
“Fuck!” I snarled as I ran. “When we get home, I'm laying down the law. We stick together on missions!”
Then I found him.
“Holy fuck,” I whispered as I came to a halt.
