by D. D. Chance
“We’ll announce you,” Rhiannon agreed, and she led the way with the older male, the five of us falling in line in the middle, and we were trailed by the final warrior. Grim was in our midst, not leading us, not following. The message couldn’t be clearer. He stood with the hunters. We were a team.
I didn’t expect the reaction to that statement to be so profound, but as we entered the dining hall, which was now empty of anything but a line of golden-eyed Akari at the front of the room, the entire ruling council came to their feet, their fists balled tight as they crossed their arms over their chest. They bowed. And the warriors who had accompanied us also bowed. Not to us, though. To Grim.
We all stared in stunned surprise, when a woman’s querulous voice sounded over the room. “Oh, for pity’s sake, Grim. You still haven’t told them? Not even your heart mate, who is trusting you with her life?”
“Sheori,” Grim warned, but the elderly Akari was having none of it. She bustled forward and planted her hands on her hips, her white hair flowing over her deep-sapphire long-sleeved tunic and tights.
“Welcome, all of you. We appreciate you helping us rid the realm of our human problem. But you should know that our commitment to you is absolute, because you are the chosen warriors of the Asante, though he has long since forsaken his position among us in order to save our people. But he is who he is. The sacred Akari who rules us all.”
She bowed to Grim. “Asante,” she said simply.
“This is so cool,” Liam muttered, but Grim merely waved impatiently.
“I’ll be the ruler of nothing if we don’t act quickly. What’s the report?”
“Word of the gray wizard’s involvement has spread throughout the realm. Along with the possibility that Nina is his daughter. It has bolstered our position, frankly. The lore surrounding the harbinger is obscure, and nothing is more obscure than a half-breed who wasn’t killed before she took her first breath.”
By now, Liam had shifted toward me, gaping but blessedly speechless for the moment. Thank heavens for small favors.
“Where is the gray wizard now?” Grim asked.
“To all appearances, he’s still in his stronghold at the western edge of the realm. But we suspect he won’t stay there long. If you mean to force a confrontation, you should do it now.”
“What benefit would a confrontation have?” Tyler asked.
“Confusion, mostly,” Grim said. “We bring Nina to him, force him to face the reality of her, it may throw him off his game. He certainly didn’t throw everything he could have at us last night. He’s in league with the Hallowells, but this…this, he wasn’t expecting. He’s still not sure how to handle it.”
“He isn’t?” I asked. “I thought he was a mighty wizard.”
“It’s…a complicated situation, and he’s undoubtedly assessing all the angles. So, we go. Myself and Nina, and three Akari warriors.”
“No way,” Liam immediately countered. “We go together. We’re a team.”
Even as he protested, I caught the movement of Sheori and Niali as they stood at the edge of the ruling council, beaming with delight. They lifted their hands and focused on Tyler, Liam, and Zach, and when they spoke, everyone jumped except Grim.
“What we do is beyond a spell of illusion,” Sheori announced. “We give you the full embodiment of the Akari, if only for a limited time. You will run, leap, and soar as one of us. You are the treasured companions of the Asante, and this is our gift to you.”
A blast of cold wind shot across the floor, strong enough to make my eyes water. A moment later, three giant snow leopards stood with us in the council room, one with blue eyes so dark, they were almost purple, one larger than the others and bristling with authority, and one whose head swung around, his hazel eyes wide, his mouth open as he pranced from one foot to the other, a small dark backpack at his feet.
“This is awesome!” Liam announced in our minds, as his howl echoed off the walls.
19
The meeting broke up shortly thereafter, with Grim studying me. Liam refused to leave without his pack, which led Rhiannon to sling it against his chest and between his forelegs, lashing it tight with white rope that blended almost perfectly with his thick fur. As long as Liam kept his head down, no one from a distance would see the pack or understand what it was.
I was supposed to lead the guys, still in their Akari guises, out of the room. That made sense, since I doubted there were any portals in the actual council chambers. I headed through the passageways Grim had taken me through the night before, exiting out of the rear of the building, and had gotten as far as the wide terrace when he growled softly, the words forming in my mind.
“We’re being watched. Everyone’s markings have been checked to determine which of the Akari I am bringing with you on this venture. Your guises mimic those of my trusted lieutenants, but draw no attention to yourself. Especially you, Liam, with your pack. Follow my lead.”
I could practically hear Liam humming with questions, but he stayed silent, all four paws braced, his legs taut.
“Nina, I’ll have you on my back, but there needs to be a shift in the power dynamics here. You’ll walk ahead of us until we reach the forest. That will be the greatest point of danger. If anyone chooses to attack there, they would be smart. We’re banking on them not being smart.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed. Without waiting for further permission, I moved ahead. The sooner we got under the cover of trees, the better. I had a feeling I knew where we were heading, and it was a long journey. The guys would have plenty of time to practice running in their new forms.
I moved down the stairs, and Grim stayed just behind me, the other three guys following slightly behind him.
“This is so cool,” Liam murmured again in our minds, though there was no other sound from any of the guys. Even their footfalls grew more muted as we walked across the open field of grass. They were already learning the strength and grace of their new bodies.
A shadow fell across the sun, but I didn’t pay attention to it until Grim hissed out a low breath.
“They’re close. They’re thinking about it,” he muttered to us.
“Who?” Tyler asked. “Or does it matter?”
“In this case, it does. The fire drakes are the most protected species in the realm, largely immune to the Hallowells’ magic. It’s difficult to catch them because of their gift of flight, same with the fire lizards. The drakes are far larger though, and the Hallowells actively hunt them—you’d call them dragons, so you can imagine the demand in the human realm. The human infestation in our realm hasn’t affected them much, though. They’ve only lost the occasional weaker member. No more than they would lose to predators from this side of the veil. They have no appetite for war, but they are ancient allies of the Akari. And even more ancient enemies. They’re weighing which side they’d prefer to land on.”
My nerves wound even tighter, but we reached the end of the grassy clearing without incident, slipping into the cool shadows of the forest’s embrace. Grim refocused on me. With growing familiarity, I clambered up on his back, edging my legs high on either side of his spine, leaning forward to wrap my arms higher against his neck. It was less of a rag-doll position for me, and he adjusted his stance to accommodate the change in my position.
“So where are we headed?” asked Zach, his head up, his nose twitching as if to sample the air. Liam noticed the move.
“Can you read the magic here?” he asked.
Zach chuckled in our minds. “Only that I can read that there’s so much more magic than anything we’ve ever experienced at Wellington Academy. This place is incredible. There are so many different circuits of power from the tiniest creatures to something large and sweeping above us, maybe the fire drakes or maybe something else.”
“Not the fire drakes,” Grim said. “They wouldn’t reveal themselves a second time. But there are other species, even more ancient that may have taken an interest in our fight. We should go.”
&n
bsp; Without any further warning, he took off into the canopy of trees, the huffs of excitement behind me the only indication that the guys were hot on our heels. We streaked through the forest, and because of my improved positioning, I could see more this time. Grim ran with surefooted confidence, in part because he knew the path so well, I was sure, but also in part because of his advanced senses in this form and in this realm.
After about twenty minutes of running, showing absolutely no sign of strain, the guys began taking note of their movements, abilities, and sheer power. Listening to their tight, excited chatter made my heart swell in my chest. These were my guys, my team. Together they—we—were infinitely stronger than we were apart, but each of them brought such an extraordinary gift to the mix. Tyler with his charisma, deep history in magic and spell craft. Zach with his mental connection abilities and extraordinary empathy. Liam with his resourcefulness, his gift with tool magic, and a heart that never quit. With every new discovery, I loved them more, wanted to help them more. And now, here was Grim, giving them all a gift that none of us would ever have expected, a gift of understanding they never would have received if the Hallowells were able to complete their mission.
A gift they’d also never experience again if Grim succeeded in closing the borders to the monster realm. Even the thought of that made my heart quail, but who was I to pass judgment on a realm I’d never known existed until I’d come to Wellington Academy?
If Grim followed my rabbiting thoughts, he gave no indication. We ran on and on. What seemed like hours passed before we emerged on a grassy clearing that dropped off over the wide Lake Bashai. Grim stopped, and I wasted no time sliding from his shoulders, eager to stretch my legs. I walked forward several steps as the guys came up behind us, their shouts of excitement ringing in my ears, though they kept their Akari forms.
“There’s more magic here,” Zach said, “Consolidating all around this cliff.”
“It’s the outdoor equivalent of the portal chamber where you entered the realm,” Grim said. “The doorway to the gray wizard’s fortress is back through the forest. You’ll see it shortly.”
“So unbelievably cool, I’m just saying,” Liam muttered, as Grim swung his head toward me.
“You can walk, but stay close to me. If any of Cyrus’s guards make a move toward you, go limp and don’t fight me.”
I nodded quickly, swallowing with apprehension. This was my father’s house, after all. Would it seem familiar, somehow? Would it seem like home? Surely not, and yet…?
Together, the five of us shifted toward the forest once more. Guided by Grim’s quiet directions, I broke into a trot, and then a full run, aware and exhilarated as the guys were able to pick up their pace to a trotting lope. Then, in unison, we all leapt as we reached the edge of the grassy field, hurtling through a portal that only flashed open as we breached it.
We landed a second later on a hard-packed road along the face of a mountain, the wind howling around us. The guys all landed easily, while I, of course, sprawled forward, the momentum of my leap not calculated for the new terrain. Grim was immediately at my side, and I used his heavy shoulder to pull myself up, brushing off the dirt from my knees as I peered up the mountain path.
“Is anybody here?” I asked, but Grim didn’t respond. We were only about fifty feet from the gates of a tall, unexceptional-looking keep that had been built into the side of the mountain, and we made short work of the distance. I wasn’t thrilled with the straight-up hike, but the guys attacked it with gusto. I was blowing heavily by the time we reached the gates, fully aware that I’d done this to myself with my insistence on being on foot. But I didn’t feel like being carried into the home of my father, if that’s who this man…wizard…mollusk was. I wanted to enter on my own two feet.
The gates stood firm as I tried them, locked.
“There’s nobody here?” Tyler protested. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“No one will open the gates for us,” Grim said. “If we enter, it’s by our action, not the gray wizard’s. That’s important.”
I gestured to Liam and his pack. “I’ve never used your lockpicks, but…”
“They’ll work,” he said confidently. “Even here.”
As I moved over to him, he swung his big head to the side, allowing me access to the pack lashed to his chest. Unzipping the top, I slid my hand in and instantly felt the cool press of metal against it. Withdrawing my hand, I held up the picks, and he gave me a huge feline grin.
“Go get ’em.”
Rolling my eyes, I moved over to the doors. I set the picks into the keyhole, and a moment later, the gates sprang wide.
“They don’t make locks like they used to,” Liam commented drily in our minds as we moved into the abandoned courtyard.
“Not abandoned,” Grim corrected my unspoken thoughts. “When the gray wizard isn’t in residence, he transforms his staff into wraiths. We know very little about them other than that. They’re watching us now, but I suspect they won’t attack until we transgress against the gray wizard’s specific orders. He’s a scientist and a magician, and he craves data more than he craves security.”
Grim’s derision was clear, but Liam nodded in understanding. We headed into the building. All around us were signs that this was normally a bustling environment, with several small structures lining the outer walls of the courtyard. Maybe homes of the caretakers of the keep? Inside, the keep itself was starkly clean, but it seemed lived-in, to an extent. We moved swiftly through the first floor and then up to the second and then the third. Along the way, we passed functional rooms—libraries and studies, a dining room—all with large windows that opened out either over the valley behind us or the jewel-toned Lake Bashai.
None of the wraiths bothered us, though after the first few minutes, I thought I saw them out of the corner of my eyes, hanging in the darkness, peeking around the corners.
“This is unusual,” Grim murmured. “They should at least have blocked some of the rooms.”
Tyler rolled his large shoulders, glancing around. “Maybe the old guy was hoping Nina would come here?”
“If so, we should expect a trap. Probably sooner rather than later.”
“What are we searching for?” I asked aloud.
“The gray wizard’s study,” Grim said. “It’s the only room any of us have seen through the portal. If he has any information of value to us, it will be there.”
The rooms on this floor had no doorways, only arches, similar to the entryways in Grim’s stronghold, but nowhere near the size. We passed room after featureless room, all of them small, stone, and cell-like, with no furniture within, and, on this floor, only tall skinny windows to let in the faintest trickle of light.
The corridors dwindled in size as we moved up a floor, I noticed. Grim noticed too. “This isn’t a man who wanted to be attacked by an Akari, I can tell you that,” he said.
He muttered something else in a language I didn’t know, and the chill wind that suddenly whooshed down the corridor knocked me back several spaces. I reached out and grabbed the doorway we’d just passed, holding on as the transformation completed and the guys stood or sprawled in the hallway of our enemy. But as I wrapped my fingers around the doorframe of the arched passage to my right, my eyes shot wide. Because the room had shifted into something completely…insane.
It was a solarium, surrounded by tall, wide windows that let in wide swaths of brilliant sunshine. The room bristled with plants and flowers of every description—lush and colorful, many in full bloom. And in the center of all this, on its own gilded stand, stood a six-foot-tall oil painting framed in gold.
All the blood drained out of my head as I stared.
“Mom?” I whispered.
20
I started in, but Grim’s low murmur of warning stopped me, spoken aloud and no longer in my head.
“It’s a trap,” he said definitively. “Whatever you’re seeing, it’s an illusion wrought by Cyrus. It’s not real.”
But I couldn’t stand at the threshold of this room and not go farther. “That’s her,” I said. “He had to have known her. There’s a painting of my mom inside this room, plain as day. Can’t you see it?”
Grim sighed, but his warning tone stayed firm. “I can’t see it, and you have to understand, Nina. He didn’t need to know your mother, he only needed to plunder your mind for the briefest moment at any time while he fought us. You wouldn’t even have noticed him.”
“You’re wrong.” But I didn’t move, though it took everything I had to stay where I was. The room itself was a revelation, with plants everywhere, growing in tiny containers, spilling over pots, fed with bubbling fountains that were apparently powered by magic alone. And in the center, the painting of my mother oversaw it all. She would have loved this.
Why would this be here if she was supposedly dead to him? Why would it only be triggered by me? What kind of trap could this Cyrus person possibly be setting for me if my mother hadn’t mattered to him?
The questions rushed through my mind, but I didn’t speak them aloud. I didn’t want to interrupt the magic of what I was seeing. I stared at the painting of my mom as if I’d never seen her before. I had one or two pictures of her from the age she was in the painting, but I’d never seen her look so happy. The artist had painted her surrounded by flowers, all of them taller than her, her hands outstretched to cradle the nearest bloom and bring it to her face, as if she was going to kiss it. But at the last minute, she’d turned back toward the person who was painting her portrait, allowing him or her to capture her delighted grin, her laughing eyes.
Tyler said something behind me, but I couldn’t hear him anymore. The blood was rushing too loud in my ears.
“She was a botanist,” I whispered, faltering, and I opened my eyes wider as I tried to imprint the painting’s image on my brain. Because it fit…it fit. My mother had loved plants more than anything. She’d surrounded herself with them in our house, though they’d been nothing like this, nothing so beautiful and big.