Anna glanced over her shoulder and saw the young gargoyle on all fours as if he was prepared to launch an attack. His ears were pinned back, and he shifted his weight from side to side, seeming undecided whether to snatch and grab her, or stay and fight Greenborrow.
It was kind of cute, like a half-grown puppy snarling and snapping to protect its toy from a bigger dog. Somewhat cute, or not, she didn’t need the kid getting involved and making matters worse.
“If my death isn’t required at this exact moment, mind if I check dinner? One of the rabbits is a bit close to the fire.”
Greenborrow gestured, waving her forward. “By all means. Plans are best discussed over food.”
Anna turned her back on the two and attended to the rabbits. With her back to them, she was sure they couldn’t see her hands shaking. She’d called the other fae’s bluff, and if she kept a level head for the next few hours, she might live to see her next birthday. Twenty-five seemed like a good goal.
When she had fussed with the fire as long as was possible, she turned back to the older fae and asked, “So, which one of you would have won the fight? Just genuine curiosity.”
Greenborrow laughed again. “A gargoyle usually wins most fights, but Shadowlight is very young, and I’ve learned a fair number of dirty tricks over my lifetime.”
So, like she’d thought. The older fae would have creamed the kid.
Her gargoyle friend looked displeased by the other’s words but didn’t contradict them, which was telling all on its own.
Greenborrow took a seat on the other side of the fire from her, perching on the fallen tree trunk like he did it all the time. Then he turned his head in Shadowlight’s direction and looked expectant.
When that didn’t elicit a response, Greenborrow sighed. “Well boy, are you going to go get those blueberries half a kilometer back or not? You do realize humans are omnivores; they need more than just meat.”
Shadowlight’s indecision was almost humorous if they hadn’t been thinking the exact same thing. It would be easy enough to do what needed doing while the young gargoyle was away for a few moments.
“Oh, please,” Greenborrow’s great shaggy eyebrows rose. “You both have my word no harm will come to the human while you go get the berries. Take the sack and pick only the darkest ones with the dusty coating—they’ll be the ripest.”
Greenborrow tossed a canvas bag in the general direction of the gargoyle. Shadowlight hesitated a few moments more.
“I promise not to tell her anything until you return.” Greenborrow proceeded to pull a knife and a chunk of wood from somewhere. Had he just pulled them out of the air? It sure looked like that.
After turning the raw chunk over several times and studying it from many angles, he began to whittle an image only he could see. He ignored all else around him as he worked and even started whistling an unfamiliar tune.
Shadowlight hesitated a moment more, and then with a twitch of his ears—one she was coming to equate with a shrug—he turned and vanished into the forest.
Well, wasn’t he trusting?
Anna wasn’t feeling half so trusting herself, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. So instead, she tended the fire and the rabbits while she waited for Shadowlight to return.
It was one of the longest half-hours of her career.
Chapter 22
THE SMELL OF DRIPPING fat and wood smoke had her stomach growling for the third time. The rabbits weren’t ready yet, but she was eyeing them anyway. If the damned gargoyle didn’t get back here with something else to eat, she was going to start picking off the most done bits.
As if her silent thought summoned the kid, the gargoyle appeared out of the woods. He walked through the energy barrier like it wasn’t there and dropped down next to her. With the help of the fire’s light, she could see the wet blueberry stains on his claws. Glancing at his muzzle, she grinned.
His pearly whites were more purple than pearly.
He held out the bag to her and waited like a dog on point.
“Thanks, kid.” She took the bag and tentatively patted his shoulder, holding back the ‘good boy’ his happy wiggling inspired.
If it weren’t for the wings and horns, she would have sworn gargoyles and canines had a common ancestor somewhere not too far back in the family tree.
“Ah, good, you’re back,” Greenborrow said, setting aside his carving and coming over to investigate the cooking fire. “Though if I know anything about gargoyles, you probably ate as many as you picked.”
He fell silent again, and both Anna and Shadowlight tracked his every move as he re-arranged the coals and turned the rabbits on the spit.
As Anna waited, she mentally coached herself not to lose her cool. Showing anger or annoyance to this fae could be very, very bad.
But oh, how she wanted to shout ‘out with it, old man’ but she didn’t.
Shadowlight flicked first one ear and then the other in Greenborrow’s direction. Finally, the older fae finished what he was doing and returned to his seat.
“Oh, yes, what were we going to talk about again?” he paused, looking thoughtful, and then a smile spread across his face. “Right, Shadowlight was going to test his vocabulary and explain to me why he put all our lives at risk to save one human when he’d been instructed to report any and all battle sites to me. Honestly, I suppose this mess is equally mine. His mother and father were needed elsewhere, and they had entrusted his safety to me. I should have gone to him, not have had him come to me. That way Shadowlight never would have come upon such a scene without an adult at his side.” Greenborrow made a little shrug. “That makes any trouble the kid gets into while on my watch my responsibility. However, we have a deal. So, Shadowlight, start talking.”
Anna found herself leaning forward. It was more than just because her ass was on the line—though that was part of it, certainly. She admired the kid’s spunk, his bravery, and selflessness in saving her. She didn’t want to see him get hurt.
Shadowlight looked down at his hands as he thought over what Greenborrow had said. “She had killed three Riven by the time I found her. Well two and a half. The last one was impaled on a trap she’d set. She was brave even when she first saw me.” He paused. “She didn’t want to become a Riven. She asked me to kill her.”
Anna reached out and touched Shadowlight on the forearm. “I would never have asked had I known you were only a child.”
He flashed her a toothy grin. “I know. You have a pure heart—a noble spirit. It fought to remain free of the Riven’s taint, but there were too many bites, and you were losing that battle.” Shadowlight looked over at the leshii. “I would have done my duty had she not asked to die by my hand. I’m a gargoyle, born knowing my duty—age does not factor into this. She asked to die, so she wasn’t yet a Riven. She didn’t want to harm others. She wasn’t afraid for herself. Even at the end, she worried about what would happen to others when she rose a Riven.”
Shadowlight stood and paced around the campfire. “But she also wanted revenge against those who had murdered members of her team, her military family. Her heart and spirit burned as brightly as any gargoyle’s. I couldn’t kill her.” He dropped his head, his shoulders drooping in defeat. “I know I failed my duty to the other fae, but I would have betrayed a part of my gargoyle nature if I hadn’t tried to help her. She serves the Light as surely as I do.”
Greenborrow nodded. “That’s all I wanted to hear. Well, all I wanted her to hear and you to admit. You did nothing wrong, my fine young gargoyle. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Shadowlight’s entire being perked back up, and he darted forward to give Greenborrow a sloppy looking kiss. The leshii batted at the gargoyle and made half-hearted exclamations of annoyance.
“Thank you for understanding,” Shadowlight said with one final wet-looking kiss before he dropped to all fours and settled back by the fire.
Greenborrow dragged his forearm across his face a couple times before conti
nuing. “However, everyone is still going to make an attempt on your pet human’s life. I had planned the same thing until I was close enough to see you two interact.”
Again, Shadowlight was on the defensive. “I didn’t have a choice. The Riven taint was too strong to be removed by normal magical means, but my father’s memories pointed to another solution.”
“You gave her your blood,” Greenborrow stated. His guess was damned accurate Anna noted.
“Yes,” the gargoyle admitted, sounding entirely too guilty about it.
Now that couldn’t be a good thing.
“Did you give her a choice?”
Anna was sick of the other two talking over her head. “Yes, he gave me a choice. He even read the list of risks involved, and how I probably wouldn’t survive.”
“Did he tell you the blood exchange would form a magical link between the two of you if you did survive?”
“Yes. We can already pick up a few of each other’s thoughts.” She glanced down at her fingernails and flexed them so the leshii could see. “But I’m guessing there are a few more things still to be discussed.”
Shadowlight cringed. “Those and the other changes came as a surprise. I was going to tell you about that,” he said, sounding very young and uncertain. “But I didn’t have a chance, and then Greenborrow found us.”
“The boy didn’t fully think through his actions,” Greenborrow said with an assessing look directed at her. “Now it will be up to us to protect him from harm.”
A thrill of alarm hummed through her being at his words. “Are you saying his people will try to harm him because he acted to save me?”
“Yes, and no.” Greenborrow rubbed at his whiskers. “The boy could certainly come to harm while trying to protect you from the other fae, and he could be equally harmed by your death.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our young friend has done something never done before when he saved you, a mere mortal. Gargoyles rarely share blood. Their blood is tied to their magic. Gargoyles are immortal, as in they don’t age, and they are hard to kill. Occasionally, they will take a dryad mate to increase their numbers.” Greenborrow held up a hand to silence her when she was going to ask a question. “But there are no female gargoyles, well, there is one, but that’s a discussion for another day.”
“His sister, Lillian. Shadowlight told me about her, and the Avatars.”
“Well then, hasn’t Shadowlight been an informative fellow.”
Shadowlight whined and thumped his tail on the ground.
“He was very forthcoming. He told me about his parents, the Avatars, and an evil demigod bitch who wants to rule all the known universe. Oh, he also told me the basic history of the Magic and Mortal Realms. That about sum it up? Or did he miss anything?”
“The Spirit Realm?” Greenborrow suggested.
“Oh, right. Shadowlight mentioned that, too.”
“We were both in the Spirit Realm not long ago.” Shadowlight inched closer until his head was resting in her lap. “We may even have been friends there. Maybe that’s why our paths crossed in this Realm.” His eyes drifted closed. “Compared to us, Greenborrow has been away from the Spirit Realm for a long, long time.”
That confirmed Anna’s earlier assumptions about Greenborrow’s age.
“Anyone would seem old compared to you, young pup,” Greenborrow said. “Yes, I’m old and have seen many things. I was born long ago in the Magic Realm. Though it was long after the Twins had started their war. Back then, the Mortal Realm looked like a safe haven.”
“What started the war? Shadowlight never said.” Anna wanted to know as much about those twins as possible because they sounded like bad news.
“Love.”
Anna arched an eyebrow, and Shadowlight perked his ears as if that answer had surprised him.
“Yes, love. The Lady of Battles once had a consort, the Shieldbearer, but he became corrupted by greed and envy. He wanted the Lord of the Underworld’s power for himself. The Lady of Battles did not see or turned a blind eye to that ambition.”
Greenborrow took another drink from his flask. “Unfortunately, the Shieldbearer may not have been the wisest creature to ever walk the universe. He challenged Lord Death. As you might imagine, he didn’t live long to regret his foolish mistake. The Lady of Battles took exception to her twin’s actions, and the war grew up out of the bitterness between them.”
As much as the story was interesting, she wanted to know how something that happened forever ago applied to her current situation but didn’t dare interrupt. Greenborrow seemed the type who liked to do things in his own time. He’d eventually get to how all this related to planet Earth.
“The Twins’ dispute drew the attention of the Divine Ones—and as punishment, the twins were cast out of the Spirit Realm, forbidden to return until they saw reason. Lord Death did not know how to gain his twin’s forgiveness, so he has kept her focused on him for all these millennia so the Magic and Mortal Realm need not suffer the Battle Goddess’s rage more than needed.”
“Are you saying we have Death to thank for our continued existence? That’s so fucked up.”
“Not your existence, no, but for keeping his twin in check. They share a duality curse. While one is trapped within their temple in the Magic Realm, so too is the other.”
Shadowlight blinked open his eyes sleepily. “The Lord of the Underworld hasn’t left his temple in over thirty thousand years, so the Battle Goddess is forced to remain in hers.”
“But her servants are not,” Greenborrow said. “And she still has many loyal servants and soldiers—an entire army’s worth.”
“Well, doesn’t she just sound like the charismatic, demigoddess, dictator type?”
“It gets worse—some of her worst nearly killed you.”
“The Riven.”
“Yes, they were one of her captain’s experiments that didn’t work out as planned. They were too cunning and vicious and turned on their masters.”
“They are also the reason why we now know there are other beings on this planet as intelligent as us,” Anna muttered. “For the record, I would have happily continued on in ignorance.”
“Wouldn’t we all love to live in peace and ignorance,” Greenborrow laughed. “Alas, that’s not what fate has in mind for us.”
“So, I take it the Lady of Battles is bad for Earth even if she isn’t taking a direct interest in us mortals.”
“There is a war coming, and it will likely spill over into this realm.” Greenborrow’s expression was somber. “We all are very much in danger. For a long time, many of the fae have simply hidden away, but that tactic is no longer viable.”
Anna held up her hand to stop the fae’s words. She would have stood and paced, but Shadowlight had fallen asleep with his head resting on her lap.
Poor kid had had a rough time of it.
Divine Ones, demigods, Avatars.
Well, fate certainly had been rolling out the worst case scenarios lately, so by that way of reasoning, the old goat was probably telling the truth.
She was going to have nightmares for a year.
“So, you’re saying there is a whole host of less than benevolent beings out there capable of swatting this planet like a fly?”
“Hmmm, it would take considerable power, and this is only one planet of many, and said being would have to have an excellent reason to want to annihilate you, but yes, in theory, there are a few beings out in the wilds of the universe capable of such power.”
“They don’t cover this kind of shit in basic training.”
“Well, you’ll be happy to know the Divine Ones love all creation and have some safeguards to protect it.” The leshii gave the fire’s embers a stir and then checked on the rabbits. “The Avatars are one such safeguard.”
Greenborrow removed one of the rabbits, transferring it to another stick before handing it to her so she wouldn’t burn her hands. Suddenly, she was far from hungry.
“Unfortunatel
y, the Lady of Battles found a way to force the Sorceress—the female half of the Avatars to be born within her domain. There she remained until the male half of the pair became aware of the danger to his other half.”
Anna nibbled on a thigh. The meat was a little stringy, but her stomach reminded her it was starving. “Thank you for the scary history lesson,” she added around a mouthful of meat, “but that still doesn’t tell me about my present problem.” She waved her black nails at Greenborrow.
“Just setting the stage.”
She looked down at Shadowlight. He was bound to be hungry. As she reached out to shake him awake, Greenborrow shook his head. “Let the boy sleep. It is better he does not hear what I have to say next.”
Anna froze with her teeth still sunk into her dinner. She rolled her eyes to meet the leshii’s gaze.
“I’ve told you a bit about the Battle Goddess but very little about the Lord of the Underworld. He, too, has an army, every bit as fierce as his twin’s.” The leshii gestured at the young gargoyle. “All gargoyles call Lord Death their liege. That the male half of the Avatars always chooses to be born a gargoyle should tell you something of their valor and loyalty. No one ever thought a gargoyle could be swayed from the Light.”
“But one was, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation, I assume.”
“Yes, though it has yet to be determined how great the taint has spread.” Greenborrow looked thoughtful for a moment before he decided on what to say next. “For the Battle Goddess to capture the Sorceress, she first needed a dryad and a gargoyle to conceive her. The dryad was easy enough apparently, for the Battle Goddess’s oldest confidant and loyal servant was one of that race. Capturing a gargoyle was another challenge, but one she managed.”
Anna flexed her new talons as a reminder.
“Oh, it will become clear in a moment,” said Greenborrow with a nod. “The Lady of Battles imprisoned the gargoyle with her loyal dryad. The gargoyle didn’t learn until much later that the dryad wasn’t a fellow prisoner like he’d thought. I’d have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.” The leshii sighed dejectedly.
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 65