Dark Descent: The Arondight Codex - Book One, R Nicole [best feel good books TXT] 📗

a full-on barricade. The other exit was piled with gym equipment, blocking the way out, and a group of black-clad, arondight-wielding Naturals were milling about with their backs to me.

I recognised Romy, Valeria, Alo, and Martin amongst the group, as well as a few Naturals I knew by name only and others from my countless hours training in this very room. I studied all their faces, but the one I wanted to see the most wasn’t here.

“Where’s Wilder?” I asked, grabbing Romy’s sleeve.

“Scarlett,” she exclaimed, clutching her heart, “where did you come from?”

“I was on the roof when the dome exploded,” I replied. “What’s that pillar of light?”

“A greater demon has infiltrated the Sanctum,” she explained. “Something or someone let it in, and now there are lesser demons all over the place.”

“The Infernal. Has to be.” I glanced at the door, and right on cue, it shuddered as something heavy slammed against it.

Romy nodded. “Alo was on duty when he saw the Infernal break free. It played us, Scarlett. It played us all.”

“Greer?”

“It possessed her,” Alo said, appearing out of the shadows. “Took control of her and forced her to drop the wards.”

“We need to get her back!” I exclaimed.

“I know,” Romy agreed. “If they have Greer, they can get to the Codex.”

My body erupted in a cold sweat. I wondered if that’s what the demons wanted, or if it was a smokescreen for something else. They were desperate to find Arondight, after all, and here I was, all purple and shit.

“Where do you want me?” I asked, ready to step up and fight.

“We’re pinned down here,” Valeria said. “We need to forge a path to the conservatory and form a ring of protection around the Codex. That’s our first priority.”

I glanced around the room, counting a dozen Naturals, but Wilder wasn’t amongst them. If I knew him like I thought I did, he would have already gone after Greer. All he’d have to do was stab her with a cold iron dagger and the Infernal would be excised… but it wouldn’t stop her from mutating. If the demon had sunk its claws in deep enough, it might already be too late.

I shook my head. If the demons wanted the Codex, then they wouldn’t risk harming her. Wilder said she had to be pure of heart to even touch it. If her DNA was altered, they wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Here,” Alo slid an arondight hilt into my hand, “while it’s not made for you, it’ll work.”

I stared at the hilt and bit my bottom lip. If I used it in front of the others, they’d know. Purple Light wasn’t exactly normal, but I wasn’t sure I’d get a choice.

The door shuddered again, and Martin and Alo rushed forward to brace it.

The remaining Naturals formed a line, brandishing their arondight blades. Romy shoved me behind them and braced herself. The door rattled violently, then screams pierced the air. The sounds of a fight echoed through the makeshift barricade, then as abruptly as it began, everything fell silent.

“Naturals, stand down!” a voice bellowed from the hallway beyond.

Alo and Martin glanced at one another, and then began to dismantle the barricade, dragging away the gym equipment. When the door finally opened, Brax and Aldrich burst into the room, both brandishing fully extended arondight blades coated with blood.

Aldrich spotted me and strode over, his fatherly demeanour gone. A ruthless warrior had taken over and he was kind of frightening. Behind him, the others were staring at the pile of lesser demons left sliced and diced in the hallway beyond.

“Wilder?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I haven’t seen him since the dome exploded. I assume he’s gone after Greer and the greater demon.”

“How many?” Romy asked.

“Unknown,” Brax replied. “We need to do a full sweep, but the Codex must be secured first.” He barked orders, getting the Naturals into groups. Most were sent to the conservatory, and two pairs were labeled search and destroy, their mission to eliminate the lesser demons loose in the Sanctum.

“What about me?” I asked, glancing between the two men.

“You need to stay here,” Aldrich replied. “I know you want to fight, but you’re not trained for this.”

It was a nice way of saying I was a liability, and I narrowed my eyes. “There’s something else out there,” I said grasping his forearm before he could stalk off. “Something… different. It was out in the hall that way.” I pointed towards the exit I’d sealed with my Light. “It sounded tall and heavy, not like a lesser demon at all.”

Aldrich nodded, his expression grim. “Thank you, Scarlett.” Gesturing to Brax, he said, “Go secure the Codex. They’ve brought a Colossus with them.”

Brax’s eyes widened, which didn’t instill much confidence in me. Seemed like I’d made it in here just in time.

“What’s a Colossus?” I asked.

“There’s a bloody Colossus now?” Romy exclaimed.

“I’ll take care of it,” Aldrich declared. “Now, go!” Turning to me, he grasped my shoulders. “Barricade yourself in the training room. I’ll come for you once I’ve taken care of it.”

“But—”

“Scarlett,” he said, lowering his voice as the other Naturals broke away into their assigned details, “you and I both know this is more than an attempt to take the Codex.”

“You… you know?”

He nodded once and then urged me towards the back room. “Arondight must not fall into their hands. Do you understand?”

I nodded. “Aldrich… I don’t know where it is.”

His eyes lowered. “I know, but it doesn’t matter. They think you do.”

Backing into the room, I didn’t know what else to say. Aldrich closed the door and it slammed home with a thud, making me flinch.

It’ll be okay, I promise. My mother’s voice echoed in the back of my mind as I began to tremble. Stay very quiet, and I’ll be back soon.

Aldrich was worried. I could see it in his eyes, but the way he’d cut through those lesser demons was phenomenal. He was a warrior in the literal sense of the word. He’d be fine.