AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She crossed the room and knelt in front of him, taking his hands in hers. “We’ll figure it out, love,” she said, her voice steady. “Together. I won’t let the council destroy everything. We just have to find another way.”
Osric’s eyes met hers, and in the soft, dawning light, she saw the last of his defenses crumble. He tried to show her the man he could be, the man he wanted to be.
He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The way he looked at her, as though she were the only thing anchoring him to the earth, told her everything she needed to know. And as he leaned in, his calloused hands framing her face, she met him in a kiss that tasted of tears and coffee and the promise of a new day.
Chapter
Seventeen
Hali’s heart pounded in her ears as she, Sooty, and Pippa crept along the shadowy recesses of the ritual chamber within the Forge of Vulkan. It was a space of grandeur and menace, the very heart of the Emberforged order, and the power thrumming through the obsidian walls, etched with fiery runes, made her skin prickle with awe. The massive anvil at the chamber’s center glowed faintly, calling to the blacksmiths as they prepared for the momentous ritual.
As the others took their places, Hali steeled herself. The time had come to put their daring plan into motion.
Hali raised her hand, signaling to Sooty and Pippa, who crouched low behind the towering stacks of ritual implements and tomes. With a nod from Sooty, Hali turned to Osric, who stood alongside the anvil, surrounded by his fellow Forge members. He caught her eye, and in that glance, she saw the storm of emotions raging inside him. Doubt. Guilt. But also, to her relief, determination.
As the other members of the Forge of Vulkan turned their attention to the upcoming ritual, Hali and her companions melted into the shadows, moving with practiced silence towards the chamber where the Obsidian Circle hostages were being held. The fate of the realm hung in the balance, and Hali’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest with the impending fear for their mission.
The Obsidian Circle members were dangerous individuals, even in captivity. As they drew closer to the hostages, Hali noticed the way their eyes never stopped moving, assessing, calculating. These were not meek prisoners awaiting their fate; they were fanatics, true believers in their cause. The kind who would stop at nothing to see their dark designs through to the end.
Hali hesitated. She and her companions had come this far, but now that the hostages were within reach, a wave of uncertainty crashed over her. Could they really trust the Obsidian Circle members to go along with their plan? What if it was all a ruse, a ploy to buy time for their compatriots to complete the Rite of the First Forging?
Sooty must have sensed her hesitation. He leaned in close, his breath hot and sticky in her ear. “Don’t go gettin’ sentimental on me now, boss. These are the bad guys, remember? The ones who tried to kill us and all that.”
It was true, and Hali knew it. The Obsidian Circle had already taken so much from her—her sense of safety, her peace of mind, and, in a way, even Osric. She owed them nothing, not even the slightest shred of compassion.
With a final, steely nod, Hali steeled herself, her resolve hardening. She might not like it, but she knew what she had to do.
Hali’s fingers worked deftly at the manacles binding the Obsidian Circle members, her smaller hands a better fit for the intricate locks and mechanisms. With a series of clicks and groans, the first set of bindings sprang open, and the prisoner’s eyes widened in surprise. Hali clamped a hand over their mouth before they could make a sound, and quickly repeated the process for the other captives.
As the last set of manacles fell away, the prisoner’s mouth moved in a silent ‘thank you’, and then they scrambled to their feet, their movements stiff from being bound for so long. Hali caught their arm before they could stumble out into the open, and quickly ushered them towards a concealed alcove in the chamber’s far wall.
“Quiet,” Hali hissed, her voice barely more than a breath. “You need to stay hidden. There’s about to be a lot of chaos, and we need to get you out of here.”
The prisoner’s eyes darted towards the chamber’s entrance, where the Forge of Vulkan members were beginning the preparations for the Rite of the First Forging. They looked torn, but with a final nod from Hali, they allowed her to guide them towards the alcove, where Sooty and Pippa waited, ready to assist.
As Hali guided the last of the prisoners into hiding, Osric and the other Forge members began the incantations for the Rite of the First Forging. The air in the chamber shifted, becoming charged with power, and Hali’s heart raced with a heady mix of fear and determination. They were running out of time. If their plan was going to work, they needed to act now.
She motioned for Sooty and Pippa to stay low as they crept back towards the ritual chamber, the stone floors cool and smooth beneath their feet. The chamber was a blur of activity as the Forge members channeled their magic into the ritual, the air around them crackling with raw power. But at the center of it all, Osric stood resolute, his face grim and stony.
Fleetingly, Hali saw him as the others must have, his Emberforged power on full display as he prepared to claim the Hammer of Earthblood. He looked every inch the hero, the champion, the leader that they needed, with his golden eyes smoldering and his tattoos flickering with an inner flame. But there was a rawness to him, too, a vulnerability that he only allowed Hali to see, and it made her heart ache with affection for him.
He was a man caught between two worlds, two loyalties that tugged at his heart from opposite ends. But in this moment, he had made his choice, and Hali could only watch in awe as he stepped forward to claim his destiny.
At least, Hali hoped so.
The chamber grew brighter as the ritual reached its peak, the anvil at the center glowing with an otherworldly light. The chamber’s stone walls trembled as the air filled with the stench of burning ozone. The Obsidian Circle prisoners tensed in the alcove, their eyes wide at the power on display.
And then, with a deafening crack, the ritual’s power was unleashed, a shockwave of raw magic that rippled through the chamber, shattering the anvil and scattering the Forge members like leaves in a storm. As the smoke cleared, Hali saw Osric at the center of the chamber, the Hammer of Earthblood clutched in his outstretched hand.
And then she saw the look on his face.
It happened in the span of a heartbeat, but for Hali, it was an eternity. A flicker of doubt. Regret. Determination. But was it enough? Had their love, their connection, been enough to sway him from his lifelong loyalty to the Forge?
The chamber was silent, save for the heavy thud of the anvil shards as they crumbled to the ground. The other members of the Forge of Vulkan stared up at Osric, their expressions a mix of awe and fear. For a moment, no one moved, the only sound the harsh rasp of Hali’s breath in her ears.
And then Osric’s hand clenched around the hammer’s handle.
The chamber went silent as Osric slowly straightened, the hammer held high. His muscles bulged, his tattoos igniting with a fierce glow. His eyes locked onto Hali’s. Her heart ached, torn between the love she felt and the loyalty she knew drove him.
