Huntress Clan Saga Complete Series Boxed Set: Books 1-6

by Jamie Davis

  A bulge of water in the middle of the lake drew Quinn’s eyes. They widened as the surge of water started in their direction. Something huge moved just under the surface, pushing a wave ahead of it toward the shore.

  Quinn took a step back and reached for her Bowie. Clark laid a hand on her wrist.

  He said, “Easy does it. This makes sense now.”

  “What does?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Filippa’s satisfied grin widened.

  Quinn wondered what the two of them weren’t telling her. Clark didn’t seem scared, so she took her cue from him and tried to assume a relaxed pose as the bulging wave approached.

  That lasted all of two seconds until an enormous reptilian head rose from the water. A long curved neck covered in smooth blue scales arched down into the water. As the creature drew closer, the body became visible through the water.

  The creature, bigger than a small delivery van, walked onto the shore supported by four short legs ending in webbed claws. A long tail with a double fin at the end emerged from the lake last.

  Filippa nodded at the creature and gestured at Quinn and Clark. “Gil, this is the girl I was telling you about. The other one is called Clark. She’s his ward.”

  Quinn bristled at the description but didn’t get a chance to say anything. In two seconds, the giant reptile shrank and shifted into a man about five and a half feet tall. He had shoulder-length white hair surrounding his mostly bald head. A slightly pointed ear poked out from the hair on one side. He carried a length of rope from which hung three large fish.

  He studied Quinn for a second before saying, “So, you think you can learn to deal with wild magic?”

  “I do,” Quinn replied.

  He nodded as if she’d given the correct answer. “We’ll see, we’ll see. Come on up to the cabin so I can get these ready for frying. While I’m at it, you and your gruff friend can try to convince me why I should take you on as a pupil.”

  Gil marched toward the cabin, Filippa by his side as the two of them chatted quietly about something to do with the fish.

  Quinn turned to Clark. “What was that?”

  “He’s a lake dragon. I didn’t know there was one out here, but apparently there is.”

  “What’s a lake dragon?”

  “I’m not sure of the lore,” Clark said. “I know you’ve heard of them, just not by that name. You know, like the Loch Ness Monster, or the Brosno Dragon?”

  “I’ve heard of Nessie, I guess. Not the other one.”

  “From what I recall, they’re cousins to the other dragons, the real ones. Probably not a good idea to make too much of that, though. It might offend the guy.”

  “Why bring me to him?” Quinn asked. “I thought there’d be a magic teacher, not a dragon.”

  “I think it’s because he can work wild magic. Dragons are among the most ancient races on the planet, along with the Fae. It makes sense they’re one of the creatures Jared referred to.”

  Quinn thought back to her dragon egg and connected the dots. If this lake dragon could wield wild magic, her baby dragon could, too. However, the egg had channeled the wild magic through her. She now had the chance to learn to control it. Perhaps she could pass on the lessons to the tiny dragon, at least enough to keep anyone from hurting it.

  Quinn walked back to the cabin with Clark. The door was ajar, and Quinn went inside. Gil stood at a wooden sink with a filleting knife in hand, cleaning the fish.

  “Come in and make yourself at home. I’ll just be a minute or two. Then we can talk about what you want me to do.”

  Filippa had already sat down in one of the chairs by the table. She lifted a kettle. “Would you like some tea?”

  Quinn decided to play nice and nodded, taking a seat across the table from the princess. The Fae reached behind her to a shelf along the wall and grabbed two more of the tin mugs. “Clark, I know you’ll want this. Gil found a remarkable blend somewhere.”

  “With a description like that, I have to try it,” Clark said as he took one of the remaining seats.

  Filippa picked up a metal ball with holes in it to infuse the tea. She opened it and spooned some loose tea leaves from a ceramic crock in the center of the table. After depositing them in the infuser, Filippa closed the ball and dropped it into one of the mugs.

  She poured steaming water in and slid the mug toward Quinn. “There are sugar cubes in the bowl beside the crock, but no cream, I’m afraid.”

  “Black is fine with me,” Quinn replied.

  “Really?” Filippa said, an amused smile appearing on her lips. “Perhaps you’re not the barbarian I thought you were. I so hate to see people ruin a nice cup of tea with too much cream and sugar.”

  “Growing up, I didn’t usually have anything but the tea bags. That’s how I grew to like it, I guess.”

  Quinn bobbed the infuser for a minute or so, then lifted it out of her mug by its thin chain. Filippa passed over a small bowl, and the Huntress set the ball down in it.

  The princess had already produced a second infuser and poured Clark a cup, too. Quinn lifted the cup and sipped at the hot tea, her eyebrows rising in surprise at the pleasant aroma and taste.

  “Is that cinnamon?” Quinn asked.

  “It seems like it,” Filippa said. “Did you detect mint, too?”

  “I did.”

  Clark said, “It is quite remarkable.” He set his mug down, a pleased grin on his face.

  “Gil refuses to tell me his source. I think it’s because he likes to know I’ll visit for a cup whenever I’m in the area.”

  Over by the sink, Gil laughed. “It works, don’t it?”

  “If you don’t like living alone, darling, why don’t you move back to the city? You have the house there next to the reservoir, after all.”

  “I don’t like all the people around nowadays. Besides, I’m a lake dragon, not a reservoir dragon. Whoever heard of that?”

  Filippa shrugged. “Suit yourself. Don’t complain about being lonely then.”

  Gil stared at Filippa. “When have I ever complained about that? I said I wanted a companion. That’s not the same thing as wanting full-time company.”

  “Whoever heard of a lake with more than one dragon in it? It would be scandalous.” The princess winked at Quinn, and despite the way she felt about the woman, she found herself smiling.

  Gil turned back around and picked up a wooden platter with prepared filets of fish arrayed on it. “It happens from time to time. Where else are baby lake dragons supposed to come from?”

  “Like I said, scandalous,” Filippa replied.

  Gil shook his head but didn’t respond to her. He turned to Clark instead. “Would you mind scooping some of the coals from the wood stove into that metal bucket? We’ll cook these outside while we chat about your girl there.”

  Clark got up and grabbed the small metal bucket beside the stove. A pair of leather gloves rested on the bucket’s rim, and inside was a small hand shovel.

  Putting on the gloves, Clark opened the front of the stove and scooped several shovels full of red-hot coals into the bucket.

  “Here, Quinn. Carry this out to Gil.”

  Quinn took the bucket and went outside. Gil had settled by a small fire pit, where he’d taken out six narrow wooden planks of some reddish wood. Using a small hammer and a few nails, he tacked a filet to each of the planks.

  “Dump those in the center of the pit, girl. Then add small split wood blocks atop them.”

  She did as he asked and then settled down on the ground to watch as the wood on the coals blazed to life. Gil walked around the pit, setting the planks of fish in a circle around the blaze by jamming the ends into the dirt until the wood stood upright.

  When he finished placing the fish, Gil crouched beside the fire opposite Quinn. He picked up a metal rod with a wooden handle from the ground and used it to stoke the coals, repositioning the chunks of wood so their burning sides faced outward.

  The wave of heat radiating
outward surprised her. She didn’t think it would take the fish long to cook.

  Beside her, Clark said, “I haven’t had planked trout in a long time. This is going to be delicious, Quinn. It’s a real treat.”

  Filippa stood. “Clark, come help me put together a salad with the wild greens I collected this morning. That should give Gil and Quinn a chance to get acquainted.”

  “Sounds good.” Clark stood and followed the Fae princess back into the cabin.

  Gil poked the fire a few times. Without looking up, he said, “You’re playing with fire, girl.”

  “My name is Quinn.”

  “Very well,” Gil agreed. “Quinn it is. So, Quinn, Filippa told me you’ve managed to absorb some wild magic and need to learn to control it. I want to know why you lied to her.”

  Quinn shot the old man a stern glare.

  He held out a hand palm down to calm her. “Relax. I doubt she knows, but it’s plain to me you’re lying. I can smell the taint of wild magic on you, but you’re not the source, nor have you absorbed enough of it to be more than a nuisance.”

  Gil’s eyes came up from the fire and met hers. “It’s another dragon, isn’t it?” His nostrils flared, and he drew in a deep breath through his nose. His smile broadened after a second of thought. “A young ‘un, then. One near hatching if I don’t miss my guess. How’d you come by that? The Fae guard all the remaining dragon eggs I know of.”

  Quinn shrugged. Clearly, there was no point in hiding anything. “It was an accident. The egg imprinted on me before I knew what it was.”

  Gil let out a cackling laugh. “Was it hers?” He hooked a thumb toward the cabin.

  “No,” Quinn said. “At least, not right now. She and Aurora have been passing it back and forth, I think.”

  “Well, you did the right thing by keeping this from her. If she knew that egg was about to hatch? Well, let’s just say she’s a vindictive one. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy her company once in a while, but I wouldn’t wish her ire on anyone.”

  “That ship has sailed, I think.”

  “Maybe, but she brought you here, so she doesn’t want you dead just yet. That means she doesn’t know about the egg.” Gil went back to poking the fire. “One thing I don’t understand. Usually, it takes a mature dragon to conjure the amount of wild magic to do what Filippa tells me has been happening. You have any idea of how the young ‘un became so energized?”

  Quinn thought about keeping it to herself, but Gil had been straight with her. She paused for a few seconds, then told him about her vision during the spell the night before.

  He shook his head, a frown on his face and his brow furrowed with concern. “That’s not good. I had hoped whatever transferred the power was still in contact with the egg. Then it would be a simple matter of reversing the flows. Since the initial transfer contact was interrupted, though, things are dicier. This could kill that little dragon and you along with it since you’re linked. It could also cause quite a bit of havoc along the way.”

  “No,” Quinn said, fearing for the little dragon. “You have to save it. I mean, I’d like to live too, but that little one didn’t do anyone any harm. It should get to live its life.”

  Gil smiled. “Good answer. You have a good heart, and while that might be enough to make this work, it won’t be easy.” His eyes met hers again. “You get that, right?”

  Quinn nodded. “Nothing about my life has been easy. Why start now?”

  Gil chuckled. “Good. We’ll eat lunch and then send your man and the princess on their way. What we have to do requires privacy. I don’t teach what I’m going to teach you in front of prying eyes.”

  “How long will it take?”

  Gil’s eyes turned as cold as ice, and a deep blue glow emanated from them. “Long enough that you’ll either learn or you’ll die. Once you begin, there can be only two possible outcomes.”

  Quinn squared her shoulders. She wasn’t going to allow him to intimidate her. “Bring it on.”

  Gil’s eyes softened again, and a slight grin crossed his lips. He nodded and went back to tending the fire.

  Chapter Nine

  Quinn took the duffel bag from the trunk.

  “You’ve got your phone,” Clark said. “Call, and I’ll come back out to get you.”

  “I will. Gil didn’t say how long it will be.”

  “At least you’re with someone who knows how to help you. I recommend you be honest with him, even if you won’t tell me everything that’s going on. He’s a powerful creature, and I suspect he won’t take well to someone lying to him. Remember that.”

  Quinn nodded and followed Clark to the driver’s side of the old sedan.

  Inside, Filippa leaned over from where she sat in the front passenger seat. “Clark, darling, we need to be going if we’re going to get back to the city by nightfall. I have another engagement this evening, and I sent Alistair back after you said you’d give me a lift.”

  “Coming,” Clark said, a wry grin on his face. He whispered to Quinn, “You got the better end of this bargain.” He pulled out his keys and slid into the driver’s seat.

  “I heard that, Clark Hunter.” Filippa tapped her pointed ear. “Fae hearing, remember? I might have to come up with a penance for you on the way back to Baltimore.”

  “Oh, joy,” Clark replied as he closed the door.

  Quinn moved back a few steps as the car backed up and turned around. She watched them drive down the lane until they turned a corner and moved out of sight.

  Lifting the duffel bag with her clothes over her shoulder, Quinn headed back to the cabin. Gil waited for her down by the lake. He’d told her to meet him there after the others left, saying to be ready for a swim. She hadn’t packed a suit, but she did have a pair of running shorts and an extra sports bra. It would have to do.

  She went upstairs and changed in Gil’s loft bedroom. He’d offered her a padded pallet mattress on the floor in the corner downstairs, which was fine with her as long as she could change in private.

  When she came back downstairs, she left the duffel atop her mattress with all her clothes. She took a few seconds to reconfigure the sheathed Bowie knife onto a nylon web belt, then snugged it around her waist with the leather sheath resting against her left thigh. She tied the loose leather thong around her leg to keep the knife from flapping around when she ran or swam.

  Realizing she’d been procrastinating, Quinn took a deep breath and headed down to the shore to get started with whatever the lake dragon had planned for her.

  The old man was nowhere to be seen when she got down to the lake. She stood on the shore with her hands on her hips and looked around. Wondering if he’d gone ahead into the water, Quinn took a step forward to stand ankle-deep in the cold mountain lake.

  “Don’t dive in yet. I want to try something with you first.”

  Quinn barely managed to keep herself from jumping in surprise. Gil had snuck up behind her and was standing there with a big grin on his face.

  “I thought you might have gone into the water when I didn’t see you right away. Where were you hiding? There’s nothing for a dozen yards in any direction.”

  Gil laughed. “A lake dragon that don’t want to be seen won’t be seen. It’s one of the ways we harness the natural aspects of wild magic.”

  “So, you used a wild magic spell on me?”

  “No,” Gil replied. “You don’t use the wild magic the same way people have harnessed the formal arcane forces. Wild magic does whatever it wants, so you have to convince it to do what you want.”

  “Wild magic has a mind of its own?” Quinn asked. “You can reason with it?”

  “Oh, no, there’s no reasoning with wild magic.” Gil looked around and bent over to pick up a flat stone. “Think of it this way. Can you walk on water and cross the lake to the far shore?”

  “No, of course not. I’d sink or have to swim.”

  “Exactly. You can’t unless you know a trick to use the lake’s properties to your advantage wi
thout actually changing anything.”

  Gil brought his arm back and threw the flat stone side-armed at the lake. The spinning stone skipped three, four, five times before it disappeared beneath the waves a good hundred feet from shore.

  “That stone should sink every time, but if you know the trick, you can make it pretty far out before the lake’s properties resume dominance and stop supporting the stone. Wild magic is the same. You can fool it sometimes to do what you want, but you must not press your luck because it’s an unforgiving mistress that will swallow you whole if you’re not careful.”

  Quinn bent down and selected a stone. She’d never done this before, so she picked up a smooth and very round one. She tried to mimic Gil’s toss.

  Ploop. The stone hit the water and sank out of sight. “Okay, there’s a trick to this, then.”

  “Yes, but hopefully, with a little practice, you will get a stone to skip a few times. Practice more, and you could theoretically get it to the far shore.”

  Quinn looked at the dim outline of the distant shore. “You’ve skipped a stone all that way before?”

  “No, of course not. Why would I need to do that? There are plenty of stones over there.” He frowned. “You’re missing the point. The problem most humans have is that they have to be in control all the time. It’s one of the reasons they are so good with the formal magical arts. When you touch wild magic, you’re never in control. That’s what the stone teaches, too. The wild magic will always win in the end.”

  “I thought I was here to learn to control the wild magic coming from the egg? You’re telling me I cannot do it, and the harder I try, the more dangerous it will be. If that’s true, why am I here?”

  Gil walked to the edge of the water to stand beside her. “You must learn to guide your young dragonling until it learns to flow with the wild magic passing through it. I have to warn you that this is uncharted territory. It’s perilous stuff. I know of no other instance of a dragon that young accessing wild magic. It shouldn’t be possible until it fully matures.”

  “So, what do I do?” Quinn asked.

  “I’ll train you the way I’d train a young lake dragon. Our kind doesn’t have the power of our greater cousins, but I can show you the basics. You’ll either get the hang of it, or you won’t. In either case, I’ll have you out of my hair, one way or another, within a few days.”