By A. M. Reynwood
Kurt fastened the Valor in Combat medal to the lapel of Sebastian’s uniform, its gold reflecting afternoon sunlight from the dorm window. “Good grief. Don’t you look all posh now?”
“Whatever,” Sebastian scoffed. “You should’ve gotten one, too.”
Kurt laughed and pointed out the ebon horns sprouting from his mop of pale hair. “Think they’d go for it? To them I’m just your Bloodbonded demon.”
“But it’s not true.” Sebastian clenched his jaw as frustration seethed in his chest. It wasn’t fair.
Kurt grinned. “Who cares what everyone else thinks? We’re still partners and kick serious enemy butt together. The two of us are unstoppable!”
Sebastian opened his mouth to reply when the air around them shuddered. Something crashed through the wall, and the two friends dove to the floor as bits of rock and plaster flew everywhere.
“What the─?” Heart racing, Sebastian scrambled to his feet and dashed to the jagged opening.
Kurt was close behind him. “That’s not good.”
From their position on the third floor, Sebastian could see out across the manicured courtyard of the College of Advanced Mage Arts, where an Abyssal Rift now gouged a black pit through the gardens. It spewed discordant energy like a geyser, and more cracks split the ground beyond the other buildings. Voidborne slithered from them looking like giant, half-plucked birds with twin beaks and reptilian tails.
Sebastian’s stomach lurched. Why was an attack happening here, of all places? How could so many Rifts open at once?
Moments ago, the mages had been preparing for Sebastian’s honor ceremony, but now they were scattered, some fleeing while others hurled explosive magic at the Voidborne. The sky darkened, and the air was choked with dust and fear, screaming and roaring, shattering glass and crumbling stone. Already there were bodies strewn throughout the wreckage.
Beside Sebastian, Kurt stiffened. “It’s him again.”
“What?” Sebastian followed Kurt’s gaze.
Staring up at them was a man-shaped miscreation of the deepest black, and it radiated such malice that Sebastian’s throat constricted. Glowing red eyes pierced the cloudy shadows, and a mouth curled into a sinister, hungry smile.
Anra Mainu, the ruthless demon and mastermind behind the recent attacks. And he was obsessed with enslaving Kurt.
His voice, crackling and guttural, rose on the air. “I’m done playing games.” His lipless mouth did not move despite the words echoing around them.
Kurt hollered, “Then go back to your rotten castle!”
Anra smiled wider. “Not without you. I am the lord of the Abyss, and everything that belongs to it is mine—including you. We share the same curse, having once been human, but I have embraced the darkness and mastered it while you still strive to cling to your pathetic humanity.”
Kurt clenched both fists. “So what? Your world isn’t the same as mine, Anra, and it never will be!”
Anra’s smile sank into a glower, eyes narrowing into slits. “Then I will end your world.”
Another blast of Abyssal energy smashed into the building, collapsing the floors and dropping Kurt and Sebastian to the ground level. Kurt burst through the rubble and ran headlong into the attack.
“Idiot.” Sebastian reached for the book that hung from his belt. The book everyone thought was a grimoire but was actually the gateway that tied Kurt to this world.
Sebastian raced after his friend, opening the tattered pages. A streaming trail of smoke poured from them. He’d only need a second for Kurt to reach in and grab his spear, then they could—
Anra shot another pulse of Abyssal energy, and Sebastian went flying.
For a moment the world flipped, and he felt like a storm-tossed leaf. Pain ripped through his body as he crashed back into the rubble. Vision blurring, Sebastian saw the book laying several yards away, torn in two. Ahead, Anra held Kurt by one of his horns. Kurt struggled against him, spitting with rage.
Anra dragged him toward the Rift. “If it weren’t for that human, you’d be wholly mine.”
No! Sebastian’s body screamed with pain as he crawled to his feet, panting. If that demon took Kurt away, he’d never be able to come back. The book was destroyed, forever closing the gateway. Anra would win.
Sebastian couldn’t let that happen. Fear and desperation constricted his chest until he could barely breathe. He ran after them, gathering light around his hand until it formed a spear as bright as the sun. Then he threw it. The spell shot fast as lightning, but at the last possible moment, it all went horribly wrong.
Anra whorled around, pulling Kurt before him like a shield, and the gleaming, burning spear pierced Kurt’s chest. It went clean through Anra’s, too, with enough force to knock them both backward. Into the Rift.
Sebastian lunged, skidding head and shoulders into the poisonous hole, and caught Kurt by the ankle. Anra fell, crumbling apart like sand. Yet he was laughing, and the laughter echoed in Sebastian’s mind over the bone-piercing agony of the dark energy surging through him.
Grey eyes turning glassy, Kurt was conscious enough to croak, “Let me go.”
Sebastian’s words slipped through gritted teeth, “No. I won’t lose you a second time.”
Kurt closed his eyes. “I can’t let my best friend die in here, too. Go celebrate that fancy medal for the both of us.” Swinging his free leg, Kurt drove his heel into Sebastian’s wrist.
Sebastian reflexively let go, and Kurt plummeted into the Abyss.
Anra defeated, the Rifts no longer had the power to stay open, and the Voidborne dissolved with them, leaving the courtyard in silence. The demon’s threat was gone, but so was Kurt.
Sebastian rolled onto his back, heart splintered into a thousand pieces. He tore the soiled medal from his uniform and threw it away, then covered his eyes with his arm.
The human world was now safe and whole, but Sebastian’s was utterly broken.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Great story! What happens next?!?!
Bloodbonded demon – I’m checking your web site to see if there is a backstory. So many questions, great read!
Nooooo!!
Tell me this has a sequel, because I love Kurt and don’t want him dead :(
I like the subtle way you build the depth of their relationship, it makes the ending much stronger.
Short, concise, and packs a punch. Maybe this will evolve into a larger manuscript with time. Great work.
Nooooo!! That ending!! There’s so much emotion in this, great job!