Invincible: The Curse of Avalon #4

by Skye, Sariah

  “Och, it’s not my fault I have a striking presence,” he retorted with an impish grin. I rolled my eyes.

  “See anything?” Bash inquired, ignoring our joking.

  “Aye. Large storm front coming in from the west. I didn’t want to fly too far out, but there appear to be high winds and it’s dumping plenty of snow,” he replied grimly.

  “A storm?” Bash asked, surprised. “How could you not see that before?”

  Trystan shrugged. “Came outta nowhere, I reckon. Near white out conditions in the distance. It’s traveling slow, but if we get stuck in it it’s going to make for an uncomfortable couple of nights.”

  “Shit.” Bash sounded exasperated as he scrubbed his hands over his face.

  “Time for a rest anyway, I think,” Mathias suggested, and Bash nodded in agreement. Mathias promptly tossed down all his gear, pulled mine off as well, and sat directly on the hard ground. He took my hand and pulled me into him, and I sighed contentedly as he wrapped his arms around me and perched his chin on my shoulder. With the adrenaline of anxiety spiking at what we were about to do, I hadn’t noticed that I was actually shivering from the cold. My feet felt like ice blocks, and I was pretty sure my nose was starting to freeze shut.

  Rhys clearly felt it as well, and as everyone sat, he opened his hand and a ball of what appeared to be a fireball, orange in color, showed up in his palm. It flickered and moved like a fire but gave off no smoke. It baffled Bash, who seemed to be sizing up the magic with his intense, steely-eyed stare.

  “—shit, is that like, a miniature star?” Bash inquired, looking impressed.

  Rhys’ grin, enhanced to look extra devious by the light of the magic in his hand, wiggled his brow. “Yes, it is.”

  “Fuck. I cannot even begin to grasp that kind of magic,” Bash muttered, shaking his head. “Your magic still stumps me, some of it.”

  Rhys shrugged. “Part of my… charm?” He suggested innocently.

  I laughed shortly. “Something like that.”

  “Fuck.” Bash was watching him intently, eyes narrow and jaw clenched. I knew he was probably doing his molecular sight trick but after a few beats he just growled and kicked at a large stick on the ground in aggravation. “I have no idea how you do that.”

  Rhys flashed an evil smile, closing his hand quickly, and waving a hand over himself. “Now try it. But don’t picture me naked. I don’t think I could handle knowing you were doing that.”

  Bash’s steely stare narrowed even more, ignoring Rhys’ quip as Rhys summoned another miniature star in his hand. The bright magic was reflected in Bash’s ice-blue eyes and as the coloring grew more intense and his pupils shrank, a slow smirk spread over his lips. He opened his hand, appeared to be concentrating briefly before he reflected the magic in his own palm.

  “Stars above… fucking literally,” Mathias muttered.

  “With all this badass magic, hopefully we’ll be unstoppable,” Xander mused with a shiver. “Shit… that storm is definitely going to be a nasty one.”

  “All magic has a weakness,” Bash reminded with a wry frown. “It just so happens Nimue is aware of most of ours.”

  Not all of it… The sword had been relatively silent so far, even though I could still feel its presence, always. Now it almost felt… smug. I stifled my large grin, and the thought of “she doesn’t know about this one” made me smirk. Mathias noticed this and arched a brow but didn’t inquire. Thankfully.

  Xander acknowledged him with a nod and a short laugh. “This storm seems to be mine. Weakness, that is, ” he muttered unhappily.

  “So, like with thunderstorms coming in and you can feel the energy off of them, you can do the same with blizzards?” I inquired, patting Mathias on the arm and nodding towards Xander. He grinned slightly as I brushed my lips over his, climbed out of his lap and went to sit with Xander, who definitely appeared uneasy.

  “Yeah,” Xander affirmed, shooting me a sideways smile of appreciation when I sidled up next to him. I lifted my hand to his cheek, noticing he looked paler than usual. Which was strange of course because with his olive complexion, pale was unusual for him. I flinched, brushing my fingers over his skin that felt uncharacteristically cool. He’d been chilled for a while. “I thought that I just wasn’t used to it being this cold but now that Trystan mentioned it, I can totally feel it in the air. It’s a lot more subtle than the energy of a thunderstorm but when it comes on?” He shuddered intensely, rolling out his shoulders and stretching his neck. “It almost hurts.”

  “Hurts?” Bash seemed unsettled, and he quickly jumped to his feet. He watched the storm wielder briefly, and then shuddered himself. “Shit. We better get moving. Mordred, is there any place you know of where we can safely take shelter until the storm passes?” Bash asked, as the rest of us slowly followed suit and stood.

  “There is a cave system nearby, about a mile away I believe. There is a thick rock formation that could be seen from the sky,” he said to Trystan, who nodded in understanding. “There is a village, but the caves are closer to Lancelot. The village is closer to us.”

  “Aye, caves it is, then,” Trystan said. “I did see the formation in the distance along the edge of the forest.”

  “Right.” Bash drew his sword again, and starting walking again, urging us all to follow.

  Xander had helped me to my feet, pulling me into him briefly. Just long enough to nuzzle his nose along the side of my neck, pushing my hair aside. I trembled slightly, feeling a shot of heat thrum inside of me like a lightning bolt.

  “Feel better?” I asked quietly, and he nodded, flashing me his sidelong grin.

  “When you’re here? Always.” With that, I nearly melted into a puddle on the forest floor.

  Mathias cleared his throat pointedly, motioning to the other guys who had already started to trek on.

  “But seriously though,” I continued, as Mathias slipped a hand in mine again, and not to be outdone himself, Xander took my other. The pair of them walked alongside me, only inches from my body, their arms brushing against me occasionally, causing my flesh to tingle and erupt in gooseflesh. Cold? Nah, not stuck in between two incubi.

  Another ten minutes or so into our trek, Xander shuddered violently again and stopped in his tracks. Mathias eyed him curiously.

  “It’s strengthening,” he said, his deep voice sounding dire. I bit back a whimper; his discomfort was incredibly worrisome to me. Not only me but Bash as well.

  “Shit. Trystan how long do you think we have until we reach Lachlan?” He asked and suddenly I felt my stomach swoop. I hadn’t thought about my father still being out there in the storm. If we didn’t reach him in time…

  Trystan paused, thinking. “Another couple miles, I believe.”

  “Shit.”

  “I don’t think we’re going to reach him in time, guys,” Xander said quietly, his gaze flicking upwards. We reached an area that was sparser, exposing the swirling dark clouds hanging low overhead. We were protected from some of the wind that bent the tops of the trees, but it was obvious by Xander’s discomfort it was getting much closer.

  “We’re going to make it,” Mathias encouraged, patting him in solidarity on the shoulder. “We just need to pick up the pace.”

  “I really don’t think so, man,” Xander urged, the expression on his face clouded with worry. I felt my heart jump in my throat.

  “What about my dad? He’s not going to last much longer—he said that, right?” I said, in a panic. Xander clutched one of my hands which normally would have been reassuring but right now, it was as cold as mine. I winced at his obvious pain.

  “Can’t Rhys just teleport?” Mathias inquired, but Bash shook his head.

  “In this weather he could easily get lost. Immortal or not, we could all lose strength easily. We can’t risk it. You heard what Lachlan said…” He eyed me sympathetically as I whimpered.

  “No…”

  “It’ll be fine, beautiful girl,” Mathias spoke quietly, taking my other han
d and squeezing it gently against the expanse of his warm chest. I shivered; the contrast between the two of them, hot and cold at once was confusing and uneasy at best.

  “There has to be something we can do,” Trystan mused, rubbing at the ginger beard at his chin.

  “Trystan.” Bash paused, pulling his pack off and rummaging through it. We all paused, and Bash produced a vial with a gray liquid in it and tossed it to him. Trystan caught it with no problem. “Think if you shift, you can carry this with that band and have it in your pocket?”

  Trystan gave a thoughtful look. “I think so.”

  “Nonetheless, go shift, and keep watch. Find Lachlan, and if he’s in trouble, give this to him. It’s a healing potion, but it probably won’t last very long. About an hour or so, but it should be enough extra time to get to him. But only if he looks like he’s doing really badly, because I don’t have many of these and need to conserve them. They’re not easy to make,” Bash instructed, and with a singular nod, Trystan shoved the vial in his jeans pocket, flashed me a quick wink, shifted effortlessly into his eagle, and shot upwards into the sky.

  “Thank you,” I told Bash in appreciation. I felt better knowing that at least my dad wouldn’t be alone if worse came to worst. Not that I wanted anything to happen to Trystan of course—but I knew it wouldn’t.

  He offered me a smile and we continued walking. I kept my hand in Xander’s, offering my support as he shivered and appeared generally uneasy. Mordred was clearly adept at hiking and kept a face pace just behind Bash, and Rhys somehow seemed to… float. More of his crazy magic, I supposed. Mathias walked behind us, and though he didn’t let it be obvious, you could tell he was irritated by the slight narrow of his brown eyes by our slow pace. Well… slow for him. He could probably be to Lachlan by now. But I knew he wouldn’t leave us, no matter what. Obviously he cared for Lachlan because of me, but we’d always be his top priority, so I didn’t ask him to go ahead. There would be nothing he could do alone anyhow, and even he could get slowed by the storm.

  Flurries started to flutter through the openings in the tree line and I shuddered, feeling a sharp blast of wind penetrate the forest. Xander’s hand tensed in mine, and I looked up at him with concern.

  “Guys… something’s not right here.” He dropped my hand and stopped in his tracks, holding up a hand and shaking his head, a thoughtful expression wrinkling his face.

  “What is it?” Mathias inquired, tightening his grip on my hand and pulling me into him as another strong blast of wind blew on through, more severe than the last. It was ice cold, and Xander shivered violently.

  “This storm isn’t normal!” The wind increased even more, as well as the flurries had turned into thick flakes that flew sideways through the woods.

  “What do you mean?” Bash called to him, but his words were stifled by the roaring sound of the wind pelting through the trees. The snow had begun to turn to sleet—ice pellets—and the wind picked up even more, whipping the ice around like little knives that stabbed my face and hands and any exposed flesh. It was so hard I wouldn’t have been surprised if I was bleeding.

  Mathias jerked my hand, enveloping me completely in his arms, pressing me against him as he turned us against the wind. But no matter where he turned, the wind and the little ice needles seemed to find us. Mathias flinched and winced every time the wind shifted and began pelting us again.

  “It’s too strong! I can’t see the others!” he called out, barely able to be heard over the roar of the wind.

  “What?” I demanded, in a shriek, balking as another gust of wind blew past us. Mathias said something then but the noise of the sudden storm was too much for me to hear through.

  I felt him jerk sharply as he clutched me near him, and the last thing I saw was the look of absolute panic on his face when an explosion of fireworks exploded in my vision… and everything went dark.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Trystan

  “Shite, that was a doozy,” I grumbled, peeling myself up off of the ground and brushing the snow that now coated my damned pants and shirt. “Wish I brought a jacket, goddammit…” At least I wasn’t wearing a kilt. Last thing I needed was snow-covered, frozen blue balls.

  From nearby, Bash and Xander struggled to emerge out of a pile of fresh snow while the wind still blew and squalled down upon us. “Uh, laddie—you can quit this now!”

  Xander struggled to stand, but with my help I managed to get him up, and helped Bash. They’d tumbled into an actual snowbank, and I’d just skidded on my arse and smacked into a tree. No big deal, I had a hard head. Not as hard as Mathias but… what was, besides my dick?

  Leave it to me to be thinking about sex while we’re going to war. I scoffed reproachfully at myself.

  Bash shielded his eyes with his hand, and we all cringed at the blinding, stinging blades of frozen ice pellets that poured from the sky in an icy deluge. “I think we went a little overboard here.”

  “No way. It had to be strong enough to blur any sight of us. If Nimue knew what was going on… she’d get the upper hand. We don’t need that,” Xander insisted, flinching as a particularly large chunk of snow flew at him. He flicked his hand, cursing, and dispersed the icy mass into a million snowflakes with his wind magic.

  “And we needed to distract Avie,” Bash said, with a frown.

  “You know for sure she and Mathias made it to that cave?” Xander asked, and I nodded.

  “Last I saw them he was about five hundred yards out.” Xander seemed satisfied with that.

  “What about Rhys and Mordred? Any sign of them?” Bash asked.

  I shook my head. “No, but with their bloody transporting skills I’m sure they made it there safely.”

  “I really don’t like the idea of keeping secrets from her. It’s clear she cannot tell us about the sword,” I continued, glowering. “Your little act was a wee too convincing.”

  “It had to be. I know, we don’t like it either,” Xander insisted. “And I really don’t think it’s anything nefarious, but you weren’t at the other end of her… swordfighting. At one point she charged me, like she was irritated.”

  “That wouldn’t be the first time though, eh?”

  “Not like that. This was… different.”

  I sighed resolutely. “Aye, I get it. I don’t like it…”

  “No, me either,” Xander agreed sullenly.

  “Guys let’s get the fuck out of this storm. How much longer do you think it is?” Bash asked Xander, and I snorted when the storm bastard licked his finger and held it up in the air.

  “What? It’s a scientific method,” he replied with a shrug. “It’ll be a while. I think you did too good of a job on those wards to make the storm stronger.”

  Bash shrugged. “It wasn’t really hard. Mostly it was Trystan for getting them in the right spaces. How were you able to close that much distance in that short of time?”

  “Eh, Camelot really isn’t all that big, as I said. Kinda like Arthur’s dick, I’m sure... a lot of posturing and looks intimidating at first until you take a closer look. Then you realize how diminutive it really is,” I replied with a laugh. “Besides, eagles fly fast, and I’m a little faster than the average eagle.”

  “Let’s get walking…” Bash said, turning to me. “You said that village isn’t far?”

  “No, just about a half-hour’s walk.”

  “Great. Let’s go,” Bash said, and we followed him into the storm, trudging through the piles of snow and keeping our heads down from the snow and ice.

  One good thing about my eagle “powers”? Besides talking to animals? I have an innate sense of direction. Bash was the better leader but he often asked for my advice. Even though the storm was so strong we had nearly white out conditions, I still knew where we’re going. Came in handy during wars and drunken benders, I promise you.

  “Brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Xander quipped bitterly, his hand in the front of his hair to prevent it from slapping him in the face.

/>   “Not good ones,” Bash said, and I snorted a reply of agreement. Countless wars we’d participated in over the years in bad weather; not always together, but we all had our experiences. Many a clan battle was fought on freezing cold fields and snow, though that seemed little more than a distant memory now. I could barely recollect my life so long ago, and it was better that way.

  We trudged on for a while longer; I wasn’t sure just how long. I could tell direction, not time. It felt like forever. My fuckin’ arse was frozen to the bone, and pretty sure my damned balls were nothing more than ice by now. Cold didn’t affect us the way it would a human or a cambion—which is why Mathias had to get Ava out of the storm—but it was still uncomfortable. Rhys had his crazy magic to keep him safe; hopefully he and Mordred had made it to shelter safely.

  The village Mordred mentioned was humble and small; resembling much like the one I grew up on in the Scottish Highlands. Stone-and-mud buildings with roofs made of wood planks, larger stone buildings containing taverns or eateries if you were lucky, dirt “roads”… pretty typical for the kingdom stuck in time. No one was outside because of the sudden storm that had onset, but we found our way to the tavern with little trouble.

  “We’re probably going to look strange with how we’re dressed going in there,” Xander mused glancing down at his sweatshirt.

  “Eh, perhaps it’ll be slow and no one will notice,” I offered.

  Fat fucking chance of that.

  I turned the heavy iron knob and pushed open the wooden door with a loud creak that announced our entrance to the decently full dwelling. And of course, everyone stopped to stare at us. Great…

  “So much for hiding and keeping a low profile…” Xander muttered, and I grunted in reply.

  Bash nodded towards the barkeep at a lone table, sipping on a tankard of… something and we made our way over to him.

  “You’re not from around here, are you?” He was a gruff bearded S.O.B. with barely any teeth and smelled like a landfill. I looked between Bash and Xander to see if they noticed it like I did, but they seemed indifferent. “Bloody hell…” I grumbled under my breath, trying not to gag. Enhanced sense of smell because of my eagle—great fucking times.