He sighed a second time, giving her a long-suffering look. “Yes.”
Whitethorn bowed to them both. “I will ask all available sidhe metalsmiths to come to your aid, and Greenborrow will do the same among the rest of the Clan.” He tilted his head in the leshii’s direction. Greenborrow nodded his head in acknowledgment.
“In the meantime, until the metalsmiths have arrived, I will construct some defensive spells to warn us should the Riven attempt to invade our lands. While the spells will cover a vast area, they will be temporary, lasting mere days in this Realm. However, they will help until the next Wild Hunt can run.”
“We are honored to have your protection.” Whitethorn folded his arms across his chest and bowed at the waist.
“Until later, then,” Gregory said and started away from the small clearing where they’d talked. Lillian followed, curious about how he would place magic enchantments over a large area. She might lack her own magic at present, but that would not always be the case, and at the very least she could watch and learn.
Gregory walked a short distance and dropped to all fours. He circled back and sidled up next to her. His one wing dipped in an invitation, baring his broad shoulders and back. His tail snaked around her hips before she thought to try and backpedal out of immediate danger. But it was too late, and his muscular tail dragged her closer to his back.
“I’m not tired. I can walk! Really!”
Gregory coughed, or it might have been a laugh. Lillian failed to find the humor in the situation. He wanted her to ride gargoyle-back, as it were, and she wanted nothing more than to avoid that fate.
Last time she’d found the whole situation too bumpy, too fast, too scary, and far too intimate—equal parts awkward and thrilling at the same time. And this time, she feared she might not find it so bumpy or scary.
“This is probably a bad idea.” Lillian ran possible scenarios through her mind. “If we get too near humans, you might have to bolt in a hurry. I’ll fall off and break something for sure.”
“Now who is lying? Besides, I would hear humans long before they were a danger to us. And I won’t let you fall.” Gregory forced her closer. It was get on his back or be flipped over it to land painfully on the ground on the other side.
Lillian decided to save what dignity she still possessed and tossed a leg over his back and settled in place. Gregory’s wings folded tight to either side of her thighs, locking her in place. She knew from previous rides she was as secure as she would be if she buckled herself into a car. Probably more so. Gregory looked out for her welfare—a car was far more indifferent.
Chapter 5
THE SIREN GLANCED UP uneasily at the ocean’s ceiling. A mirror-bright, cerulean blue reflected from the upper realm, a world of air and strange destinies; a world she’d soon have to explore.
She swam for hours, unable to find the source of the oily taint she inhaled with each flutter of her gills. It was everywhere, had worked its way into every reef, school of fish, and patch of kelp she encountered. While she did find life, it was not thriving as it should. The underwater world, her realm to protect, was changing, its magic diminishing, its species no longer as numerous as they once had been.
Even the great whales were not untouched. From them, she gathered more knowledge. As she’d suspected, humans were responsible. The whales’ perception of the source of the taint—some cataclysm—was vague, the details scattered and full of holes. They could only relate what they had heard, but they spoke of a family of dolphins that had witnessed the event.
With greater determination, Tethys set out to find the dolphins.
FOR LEAGUES, THE SIREN swam, her anger banked, but still glowing like a land-bound’s fire. Around her, the ocean’s waters raged in sympathy. White-capped waves rolled away from her location with greater and greater frequency.
A soft clicking sounded in the distance. Twisting her body, she whipped around, homing in on the location. The water carried the sound from a long way, but it was still distinguishable as dolphin speech even over the deep drone of the raging seas.
They sang their approach across the vastness of the ocean. A small pod of six pale-grey shapes drew closer, their compact bodies elegant in the water. As the dolphins neared, the ocean calmed, and Tethys let the last of her rage go. She’d never been able to remain angry in the presence of the playful ones.
With a lighter heart, she went to meet them. The first dolphin broke rank and bolted ahead of the others. A young male, his curiosity clear by his body language and chattering clicks. He swam close enough to bump his nose against her tail before his bravery deserted him, and he darted back to the rest of his family pod.
The other members of the family, perhaps older and wiser, held back, studying her. The young male broke rank a second time and slid closer. He continued to chatter at her, questioning what she was. She answered in kind, the clicks and whistles a language she’d mastered long ago.
At length, she explained to the dolphin family who and what she was, and they gave her their names in return.
A deluge of playful greetings distracted her from other, darker questions. It wasn’t until they had hunted together and were well fed that Tethys asked about the condition of the air and water. Her line of questioning was too complicated at first. The results were a mix of confusing clicks and meaningless whistles.
She tapped the fingers of one hand along her flank and tried another question.
“What makes the water taste bad?”
There were more clicking and swift, darting bodies as the group worked out a spokesperson.
The young male ignored his elders’ debate and answered the siren. “The Not-Island sank.”
“Not-Island?” she asked, hoping for something more conclusive.
The oldest matriarch of the pod bumped the young male aside, scolding him in the process. Once she was finished, she came alongside the siren. They swam with near-perfect unity for several body lengths, and then Tethys reached out a hand to rest on the dolphin’s side.
At the contact, a confusing series of images marched through her head. A great metal monster perched out in the ocean, close to shore, its metal roots burrowing deep into the earth’s crust.
Above the surface, bright flames burned on the metal Not-Island. Darkness floated upon the water and impossibly, burned there, too. Great poisonous clouds billowed up into the air.
Humans had jumped from the metal island, trying to escape their own folly. The dolphin pod circled farther out, wanting to help the humans, but too afraid of the monstrous island to come near enough.
More humans arrived in boats, rescuing their fellows. They battled the fierce blaze for a time, but it proved too much, and the heat pushed them back.
Both humans and dolphin pod watched as the structure weakened. Then with a great, tortured groan, the whole of it twisted sideways. Pieces of debris sheared off, dropping into the water below with great splashes and much hissing of steam. Another long stretch of time elapsed, then finally the massive Not-Island died, collapsing down into the ocean. Like a leviathan with its spine severed, chunks of metal piping twisted and crumpled upon themselves as it made its slow, painful way to the ocean floor.
The fires on the surface burned out, the sounds of tortured metal ceased, and the ocean grew silent once again.
To Tethys’s horror, she realized it was only the beginning.
Oily black death bubbled out of the earth as if a vein had been severed, spreading an ever-enlarging stain upon the ocean realm.
For days upon days, humans had scurried about in boats. Their actions desperate and ineffectual against such an insidious enemy.
The dolphins had stayed in the region to learn if the disaster would be contained, but the waters grew steadily more tainted, fish sickened and died or fled the area. Seabirds and other life succumbed to the black menace.
With no other choice, the dolphins abandoned their hunting grounds, following the schools of fish, and left the humans to battle
their mistake.
The siren sensed it took the humans days to stop the leak, far longer than it should have. A year passed, the ocean defused the toxins, and the humans’ clean up continued. Yet she could still taste the legacy of disaster.
Her tail flicked with agitation and her mind filled with thoughts of hate and revenge, but she forced herself to calm as she faced the dolphin matriarch.
The dolphins were fond of the land-bound humans for some reason she’d never been able to comprehend.
“Where can I find knowledgeable humans? Ones with water and land wisdom?”
“You seek searchers and studiers?” the matriarch chirped.
Tethys nodded at the female’s question. “Yes, I require those with knowledge so I might learn from them.”
“Friendly ones that like us. We show you.”
The dolphin darted off, angling toward the far, distant shore. The siren and the rest of the pod followed.
As they traveled just under the blue mirror, the young male who had first approached her bumped her again. In a burst of youthful enthusiasm, the youngling broke the surface and arched through the air.
With barely a splash, he dove back in, and with three powerful tail flips, he was back at her side, nudging her to play. Subduing her anger at the humans, she opened her heart to the dolphins’ joy of life. Arching her back and swishing her tail in rapid, strong strokes, she clipped the young male with her tail as she darted toward the surface.
Chirping wildly, the male gave chase. Seconds later, they broke the surface together, curving through the air before they fell back into the cool embrace of Mother Ocean.
The rest of the pod joined in the fun of surf dancing, leaping and twisting into the air. When they tired of the game, they hunted schools of fish. All the while, the dolphin matriarch guided her family under Tethys’s watchful eye.
Chapter 6
FROM HER POSITION NEAR a giant grandfather of a sycamore, Lillian watched Gregory pace out an invisible circle, an area roughly the size of his outstretched wings. Periodically, he glanced up from his study of the ground and eyed the surrounding trees with a simmering intensity. After two more circles of the area, he returned to Lillian’s side.
“This location will do. Here the land’s magic is stronger than anywhere else we’re likely to find within three day’s flight.”
“Whoa! The use of ‘we’ and ‘flight’ together in the same sentence is strictly prohibited.”
His head cocked to the side. “You have always loved flying with me. I will help you overcome your irrational fear.”
To cover up the rush of terror his words inspired, she tossed her hands up in surrender and then turned and stomped back to the shelter of the sycamore. The gooseflesh standing at attention all along her arms testified to the fact she wasn’t fond of riding gargoyle-back. Not to mention her hardy dislike of anything that combined speed and heights. The mere thought of flying while perched precariously upon Gregory’s back was the culmination of some unholy nightmare, only one she hoped to postpone indefinitely. “Good thing this spot will work, because there’s no way you can just go for a ‘little three-day flight’ without finding yourself on the nightly news or the permanent guest in some super-secret government institution.”
With another of his huffs of disdain, Gregory turned his back on her and mantled his wings. Less than ten seconds later, she felt him call magic. Whirls and eddies of cool air swirled around her ankles, raising more gooseflesh along her legs to match what was already gracing her arms. She held her position with her denim-covered butt firmly parked against the tree’s trunk. If Gregory was going to cavalierly dismiss her concerns, she’d show him she could be just as stubborn.
It didn’t matter what he was doing.
She wasn’t curious in the least.
Not one bit.
A deep, rumbling laugh filled the night. “You’re a terrible liar, my Sorceress. However, you are more than welcome to watch, pretend extreme indifference, or take a nap if you wish, but just stay close.” Gregory gave her one of his wicked, toothy gargoyle grins over his shoulder before he turned his attention back to his spell.
Lillian pursed her lips.
He was correct on all counts.
Damn.
But she wasn’t about to take a nap on his command like some naughty child.
She pushed off from the tree and walked around Gregory until she could peer around his half-mantled wings.
He’d burned a magic symbol into the very air—she couldn’t think what else to call the glowing, tightly knotted flecks of light hanging suspended at waist height. A second was forming next to the first. On the original’s opposite side, a soft glow soon developed into a third pale-green symbol, this one shot through with silver spots of brighter intensity.
Gregory shifted from his hunched position to stand upright, his wings stretching until they were fully extended.
Anticipating his next move, Lillian sank down into a cross-legged position. Safely out of the way, she leaned back against the tree’s trunk and watched him work.
As she half-expected, he pushed the glowing symbols with a gentle sweep of one broad wing. The misty lights flashed brighter as they floated away from each other with increasing speed.
Wanting an explanation, she craned her neck to look up at Gregory.
He stood with his head bowed, eyes closed, expression relaxed. His arms rested at his sides, and his tail lay curled around his ankles, the picture of peaceful contentment.
Why shouldn’t her gargoyle be happy? He was working powerful magic from the Spirit Realm, doing what he was designed to do. She swallowed back her questions to simply allow him this moment.
Only his wings held any tension as they fanned the air slowly, stirring up a slight breeze as he called a greater flow of magic and shaped it into more of the fire-bright symbols. After each was made, they hovered in a group a few feet away. When he had another half-dozen of them, he fanned his wings with more power and sent the new spells out into the surrounding forest in pursuit of the first round.
She was still watching their graceful flight when the excited baying of a hound reached her ears.
Chapter 7
LILLIAN LUNGED TO HER feet as more barking pierced the air, closer this time. Too close. She returned to Gregory’s side and placed a hand on his upper right arm, being careful not to interfere with the spell he was still calling into being.
“Gregory, I think those are police or military dogs. We’re about to get uniformed visitors.” Lillian forced herself to take one step away, not liking how she was about to leave him at what could be a very vulnerable time but seeing no other choice. “Stay, take the time you need to finish the spell. I’ll delay our company.”
Magic brushed against her skin and in the touch, she felt Gregory, his thoughts sharp with alertness, but not undue concern. “Be careful, my Sorceress. I sense no evil in the humans coming near, but they are well-schooled in the weapons of this world and smell of anticipation and a touch of fear. Never a good combination.”
“Guess I better be careful not to surprise them then.”
After one last glance in Gregory’s direction, she started back the way they had come. The dogs were closer now, the tone of their cries fiercer. In the distance, lights flickered through the dense undergrowth. Lillian began to run, wanting as much distance between the newcomers and her gargoyle as possible.
As her long-legged strides closed the distance, Lillian realized she reacted with her usual rashness and absolutely no plan. Out this deep in the forest, with darkness falling, she needed an ironclad explanation, and she imagined anything as mundane as a simple walk would be sure to catch the interest of whatever investigator would be accompanying the dogs. No one was stupid enough to wander the forest at night, at least not without good reason, a strong flashlight, and a backpack—or a campsite nearby.
“I have none of the above. And no wits to save me, either,” Lillian muttered to herself in disgust.
“Which one of the Fates did I piss off to warrant so many?”
The pooka snorted as he came alongside her shoulder. A bright, yellow halter encircled the pony’s head, the color a near match for his normally bright yellow, otherworldly eyes—though at least his eyes were a nice normal brown at the moment. A lead was already clicked to the halter. The pooka held the excess clamped firmly in his teeth. With a shake of his head, he tossed the lead at her. “Take it. And try to look like you know how to lead a horse. When the humans arrive, you will say a predator spooked your horses, and you followed our trail into the forest.”
“Would a horse bolt into a dark forest where a who-knows-what-kind of predator could be waiting in the shadows for its next snack?”
The pooka chuckled. “No, but when they find us and assume their dogs have been trailing me and the one-horned fool over all this distance, they will be so disgusted with themselves and the dogs, they will call off the hunt.”
Being within touching distance of the pooka was not always the best place to be, but once again she found herself grateful to the evil-tempered beast. Following his instructions, she took the lead he offered and looped it around her hand, and then glanced in the direction of the lights.
“What part of ‘look like you know what you’re doing’ didn’t you understand? Don’t loop it around your hand—unless you want to get dragged to your death! And stand on my left.”
Lillian juggled the lead rope, and then situated herself at the pooka’s shoulder, still fighting to untangle the line.
“Left! My other left. Hurry!”
Lillian grumbled and switched sides. She didn’t have long to wait. Two excited dogs, their handlers only a few feet behind them, burst from between the trees. Retina-searing light flashed directly in her face, blinding her for several, vital seconds. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the bright light.
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 31