Chapter 7 What Kilan Hid

Hectevia

Every blue flame in the corridor goes out.

One heartbeat later, power tears through the walls. Red lines ignite beneath the stone, racing away from the sealed archive doors and climbing towards the floors above us.

The Council building is on alert.

I thought the remains of the summoning circle would open the archives. Any spell recorded inside should recognise traces of its own magic and open the doors.

The wards have recognised a forbidden realm crossing instead.

Shit.

Stone grinds overhead as alarm bells shake dust from the ceiling.

I shove the vial into my jacket and reach into Kilan until my hand finds Nora’s wrist.

“Run.”

I pull her towards the stairs.

Kilan spreads ahead of me, slipping through the corridor and beneath the doors. Six guards are already descending. Two tracking beasts run ahead of them, their claws cutting into the stone while the mouths beneath their throats open and drag scent from the air.

Nora’s spray will slow them briefly.

We reach the stairs as an iron barrier drops from the ceiling. I push Nora ahead of me, forcing her beneath it while the gap is still wide enough for her body. She hits the floor on the other side and scrambles forward.

The barrier reaches my shoulders.

I dive.

Iron tears across my jacket as I slide beneath it, and the metal slams down close enough to catch the heel of my boot. I pull free and rise without releasing Nora.

The tracking beasts strike the other side.

Their heads force between the bars, black eyes fixed on us as their split jaws stretch wide. One inhales, and its gaze follows the place where Nora stands beneath Kilan.

I drag her up the remaining stairs.

The entrance hall has fallen into chaos. Demons crowd around the counters while guards force them away from the lower corridors. Chains whip through the air, carrying sealed messages towards every exit, and red symbols burn across the doors.

Kilan covers Nora completely and folds around me as I enter the crowd.

We cannot move quickly here. Bodies press from every direction, and one touch against Nora will tear through her concealment.

A winged demon steps backwards into our path.

I pull Nora against my chest before the edge of his wing cuts through her. Heat surges wherever her body meets mine, sending Kilan rolling across the floor.

Several guards turn towards the movement.

I hold still.

The iron barrier crashes open below us.

The tracking beasts enter the hall with the mouths beneath their throats spread wide. Both beasts sweep their heads over the crowd before snapping towards my jacket.

The vial.

It carries the scent of the spell.

I pull it free beneath Kilan, wait until a chain carrying documents passes overhead, then throw the vial into its open box. The chain races towards a corridor on the opposite side of the hall.

Both beasts launch after it.

The guards follow.

I move Nora through the gap they leave behind.

The main entrance is already sealed. Blue fire runs from one side of the doors to the other while guards lower the final locking bar into place.

There is a narrow service passage beside the public counters. I lead Nora into it and find another gate descending at the far end.

We sprint.

The gap narrows with every step. Nora’s fingers begin slipping inside mine, her shorter legs struggling to match my pace, and I tighten my grip before she can fall behind.

The gate reaches her chest.

I drop, catch her around the waist and throw us both beneath it.

We strike the street together. Pain drives through my shoulder, but I force myself up and pull Nora with me as the gate seals behind us.

The square is worse.

Council guards flood the stairs. Tracking creatures spread through the crowd, sniffing clothing and snapping at anyone who refuses to stop. Red light pulses across the surrounding buildings, warning every patrol in the city that someone has breached the restricted level.

Kilan strains around us.

I take Nora into the nearest alley and run.

We cut behind shops, climb over a low wall and cross a courtyard where steaming water pours through open gutters. Nora slips twice. Each time, I pull her upright and keep moving.

The streets ahead fill with guards.

I press Nora into a doorway and cover us with every shadow I have left. A guard passes close enough that his coat brushes my arm. The tracking beast beside him stops.

Its long body lowers. Four nostrils open along its snout, drawing in the air around us.

Nora’s pulse beats against my hand.

The creature steps closer.

Kilan trembles.

A distant howl carries from the Council square, and the beast turns towards it. The guard jerks its chain, dragging it away before it can take another breath.

I wait until they disappear, then run again.

By the time our street comes into view, Nora is stumbling beside me. Her breath comes in broken pulls that Kilan swallows before the sound can escape, and her weight drags harder against my hand.

The house is less than a hundred steps away.

Something crashes from the alley beside us.

A graveback lands across the road, its six legs spreading beneath a body as long as a vehicle. Black plates cover its head and shoulders, while a fan of hollow ivory spines rises along its back.

Venom drips from every point.

The city alarm has driven it out of the tunnels beneath the street.

Its back arches.

I throw Kilan between us as the spines fire.

They tear through the shadows and strike the walls, road and fence around us. One passes close enough to cut through my hair.

I feel Kilan split near Nora, then seal again.

Nora keeps moving without looking back, and when her weight grows heavier against my arm, I assume exhaustion is finally catching up with her and pull harder.

There is no time to check her.

I send a blade of shadow across the graveback’s eyes and pull Nora past it while the creature shrieks and claws at its face. She stumbles once more, but the front gate is already within reach.

We cross the garden. I drag her through the door, slam it behind us and lock every ward around the house.

Only then do I release Kilan.

The shadows peel away from our bodies and spread across the floor. I bend over, bracing both hands against my knees while my lungs fight for air.

We escaped.

The guards never saw her. The beasts did not follow us home.

The fear slowly loosens its grip on my body.

Then I look up.

Nora stands several steps away, her face drained of colour, one hand pressed to her hip. Blood runs between her fingers, held close until now by my Kilan.

A graveback spine is buried through her side, its barbed ivory tip protruding from her back.

Dark veins are already spreading beneath her skin.

The venom will stop her heart within minutes.

I have had my Xarus for less than a day, and already I have failed her.