“Of course not.” Anna paused again, her eyes tracking back to Gregory and then away to take in Shadowlight. “Nonlethal. No killing. No maiming. Understood?”
Gregory knew this, of course, but nodded agreement for Shadowlight’s benefit. The younger gargoyle was nearly vibrating with adrenaline.
“If all goes well with the newly warded prototype rifles, we’ll do further tests in the coming days.”
Again, Gregory nodded agreement. “Although this day is about more than testing the military’s new toys.”
With a huff of amusement, he waved at the three of them. “This is also a cub training session. The pooka has agreed to help train you.”
Having heard his name, the black pony darted between two trees and into view for a moment before vanishing back into the shadows.
“Magic,” Anna grunted sourly but merely folded her arms under her breasts. Lillian, on the other hand, looked somewhat eager.
“Once you have mastered shadow magic, your enemies will find you a difficult target to eradicate.” Gregory reached out and plucked a bit of lacy shadow where it had been cast upon the ground by the thick tree canopy high above. “Shadows can do far more than hide you from your enemies’ eyes.”
He indicated the seemingly harmless bit of shadow resting in his open palm and then shaped it into sharp little obsidian shards and flung them one at a time toward a tree trunk ten feet away.
The shadow shards found their mark and bit deep into the tree’s trunk, some sending pieces of bark flying.
Anna whistled low in her throat. “Totally badass. Didn’t know you could do that.”
Gregory’s ears flicked in her direction. “You will be able to do so as well, once trained. Although, I’m not sure if you’re far enough into your development to summon shadows yet. That’s what I hope to learn today.”
“Fun times.” Anna’s tone was humorous, but he scented her unease.
He couldn’t blame the human. She’d had a lot dumped on her in the last few days. Anna was doing admirably, considering.
“Like moonlight,” he continued to explain, “All shadows possess an innate bit of magic. With practice, you can make that magic resonate to your call, shaping it to your will. Once you’ve mastered that, you can feed your own magical strength into it, turning it into a far more deadly force.”
Shadowlight yawned, his earlier enthusiasm clearly waning. “But I already know all this. Can I go hunt with the pooka while you teach Lillian and Anna the beginnings?”
“Not so fast young one. All gargoyles are born with the knowledge of shadow magic, but it takes much practice to truly master it. Knowledge and experience are two very different things. One day your life may depend on your mastery of both.”
With a flick of his wrist and a simple mental command, ropes of shadows erupted from the ground at Shadowlight’s feet and coiled around his body. Before the younger gargoyle could summon his own magic to fight back, Gregory released him.
“You see?”
Shadowlight’s ears pinned to the sides of his head in embarrassment, but he nodded. “Yes. I want to be able to do that. Show me.”
“And so, I shall.”
It took the better part of two hours. When Gregory deemed them proficient in the most basic forms of shadow magic, he led them out into the forest to go play with the humans.
Chapter 14
ANNA SILENTLY LED THE way through the darkening forest. Throughout the day, Lillian and Shadowlight had alternated with her to take point. Gregory always stayed a bit behind to study them and force them to lead and adapt instead of relying on him.
As they navigated their way through the simulated warzone, Anna calculated that they had to be in the home stretch. It just depended on how many more enemy teams they encountered. Four hours of stomping through the bug-infested forest or bumping around on a gargoyle’s back was enough even for Anna. Surprisingly, once they’d started the hunt, as the gargoyles insisted on calling it, Lillian was as enthusiastic as the males.
Anna was presently leading their small group on foot since her poor tortured body couldn’t take anymore riding gargoyle-back at the moment. But even the gargoyles seemed thankful for the slower pace.
They’d managed to avoid detection for the most part. The two units who had detected them earlier in the day were swiftly neutralized by shadow magic. Anna secretly admitted she was pleased with her team’s performance.
The first team of soldiers had found themselves ensnared by ropes of Shadowlight’s magic that held them immobile until well after Anna’s group was long past. The second time they encountered a team of soldiers, a mass of tree roots had boiled up out of the ground and tripped up the soldiers. Later, Lillian had shrugged and said she had meant to summon shadows, but the tree roots had worked well enough.
As for herself, Anna learned she was capable of commanding shadow. She wasn’t sure if she should be elated or dismayed by her innate ability to summon the magic.
Still, it was a handy skill to have on a battlefield. Unfortunately, she was not at all certain she wanted to report all that she’d seen and learned in the short day.
Anna frowned at the bits of sky she could see through the tree canopy. By the light, and the lengthening shadows, the sun was already descending toward the horizon. Weariness was starting to encroach upon her consciousness.
Even the ever-energetic Shadowlight was showing signs of exhaustion. All in all, Anna was somewhat proud of her own performance. She had her teachers to thank for what she’d learned.
She glanced at the pooka. Yes, he was a yellow-eyed, evil-tempered little pony, but she couldn’t fault him for his skills as a teacher or a tracker. He spotted and corrected their every little mistake. The black-hearted little bastard would make Drill Sargent Chambers proud.
Gregory was no less alert. Or soft. Together they played bad cop and bad cop very well.
“Halt,” Gregory ordered.
Her training kicking in, she froze like she’d stepped on a mine. A large hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back.
A foot in front of her face a tree trunk exploded in a rain of bark and shredded wood fragments. The sound of rifle fire screamed through the forest.
“Live fire,” she screamed at the top of her lungs. What the fuck were they doing with live rounds?
Anna dove for the ground.
For less than a heartbeat, she thought it might have been a mistake. Then the forest erupted a second time. That was no mistake.
She cursed the fact she didn’t have any weapons. But it was a training session. She wasn’t supposed to need firearms. She didn’t even have her Browning, but she did have something else.
All around her the shadows began to reverberate.
The pooka was faster. He darted past her location, heading for the origin of the rifle fire. His black legs a blur, he raced full tilt toward the unseen enemy, only to veer to the left seconds later. He vanished behind a thicket with a neighed challenge.
Human screams rang out and then fell silent.
Anna scrambled for better cover and ducked down behind the massive trunk of an oak as more bullets streaked through the air where she’d just been crouching. Somewhere behind her a gargoyle grunted in pain, followed by a second deep snarl of rage.
“Shadowlight?” Anna kept her voice quiet and controlled, but fear for the youngling was pounding through her blood.
A second glance behind showed her that Gregory was the one who had roared in rage. He stood over Lillian. A vortex of shadows spun around him, protecting his mate from further damage.
Anna could smell blood though, so some bullets had found flesh. A grenade detonated far too close. Dirt and leaf litter pelted her and then she could smell nothing but the stink of propellant.
Her eyes watering, she searched desperately for the kid.
Guided by an instinct that always seemed to know where the young gargoyle was, she found him belly down on the ground a little less than twenty feet away. He was conscious.
Thank God. But that was all she could ascertain from her position. Unfortunately, he looked like he was going to get up and attack.
“Don’t move,” Anna growled at him. “I’ll come to you.”
She summoned more shadows to form a shield. Not knowing if her command of magic was anywhere near great enough to stop bullets, she stayed low to the ground. Even so, she felt when a bullet ripped through her pack.
That was too damned close. So much for magical mastery of the shadows.
Two other things became apparent as she crawled toward Shadowlight’s position. Either she’d allowed her new magic to slip and expose her location, or whoever the fuck was shooting at her had somehow gotten their hands on the prototype weapons. She preferred scenario one over scenario two.
The next unsettling realization was that if Gregory hadn’t grabbed and hauled her back, it would have been her head, not a tree, which blew apart all over the forest floor.
Her blood still rushing with adrenaline, she forced herself to move slowly so as not to disturb the undergrowth around her.
Even if the enemy couldn’t see them, shaking underbrush would give away her position just as readily.
The crawl to Shadowlight’s location felt like a lifetime, but she finally made it to his position. Miraculously, he’d stayed put as she’d ordered, and no more bullets were presently whizzing overhead.
Which probably meant the unknown enemy was on the move.
Over the stink of hot metal and propellant, her newly heightened gargoyle senses picked up the scent of more humans. Males. At least seven different men by the sweat scent carried on the breeze. Her ears strained to catch some sound, but they were still ringing painfully from the sharp report of the rifle fire.
She crawled the last few feet to Shadowlight. The scent of blood was stronger now, and the gargoyle’s scent was tainted with pain. Her stomach tightened with horror and fear.
“How bad are you hurt?”
Shadowlight was watching the forest in the direction the gunfire had come, but he flicked an ear in her direction, listening. “They managed to get my right wing. The membrane, not the bone.”
The gargoyle bowed his head and turned his gaze upon her. His nostrils flared as he dragged in a deep breath. “Are you hurt?”
His question echoed hers, but she heard a quiver in his voice.
“I’m good.”
He whined softly. “You’re sure?”
“Don’t you worry, I’m a tough bitch to kill.”
“But they came so close. If Gregory hadn’t...” His voice broke.
Damn. The poor kid. First, he lost his father. Then his mother was nearly killed and remained in a coma. Now some asshole had shot him and just about removed Anna’s head from her shoulders right in front of the kid. Shadowlight thought she was going to die and leave him, too.
Rage replaced fear. Whoever the fuck was responsible was going to pay for terrifying the young gargoyle.
“You stay close to me, and I’ll get us out of here,” Anna said. And then I’m coming back to hunt some heartless, spineless bastards who willingly fired upon an eight-year-old child. It didn’t matter that he was a gargoyle.
She glanced around. Now that she knew Shadowlight wasn’t mortally wounded, she again looked for the others.
Anna found Gregory first. His massive form was still shielding Lillian from her view. The male wasn’t just sheltering his girlfriend though. He was still summoning wave after wave of deadly shadow magic.
With a guttural word, the first wave of power raced forward, hunting their enemies.
In less than ten seconds there was an agonized scream. The second for the night. By the sound, this victim was at least sixty feet away, off somewhere to the right of the game trail.
A second and third pained shout rang out as more of Gregory’s magic found its mark.
Hmmm. Maybe Anna wouldn’t have to lead Shadowlight away to safety. Gregory was doing an excellent job of rendering the present location safe.
A fifth soldier broke cover and ran, apparently trying to fall back to a safer location.
But there was nowhere safe for this soldier to run. The pooka raced out from behind his thicket in pursuit of the human. He darted between two trees and shouldered the fleeing human hard enough to send him flying. Anna’s attention snapped to another flash of motion as a sixth soldier rose up out of the cover and took aim at the pooka.
With a snarl, Shadowlight bolted for the soldier. More of Gregory’s magic was already in pursuit, so Anna scanned the immediate area looking for dead man number seven.
Two seconds later she spotted him raising his rifle’s muzzle toward Shadowlight. Darkness descended upon Anna. Rage. Fear. The need to protect. The need to destroy. They all warred within her until her mind clicked to the realization that destruction would sate all the other needs.
Kill the enemy and Shadowlight would be safe.
She rose up from her hiding place and darted forward with superhuman speed. As she ran, she dropped her shielding spell that hid her from view.
She wanted the enemy’s attention, needed it upon her, not the child. She roared, a deep snarling sound that shouldn’t have come from a human chest. Anna darted across the distance, weaving around trees and leaping over fallen trunks and anything else in her path.
The soldier realized she was closing in on him. The muzzle of his gun started to swing toward her. But he was too slow.
Before her target could level his rifle at her, she slapped it out of the way and continued forward, her speed and momentum driving the bigger soldier back. She rode him to the ground and sank her new talons into his wrists, digging deep until he released the rifle with a scream.
He grabbed at a sidearm, but she blocked him, and then tore the gun free and tossed it away. When he reached for his knife, she snarled a deep inhuman sound. His arm snapped like a twig in her grasp.
The man howled in pain, but she wasn’t finished yet. She grabbed up the rifle and brought it down. His good arm managed to block the first blow, but she smacked it out of the way.
“You tried to kill the kid. Only monsters kill children.” She screamed at him as the rage drove her to a greater need for violence. She brought the rifle’s butt against the human’s head again and again. Blood splattered her in a fine spray.
She’d broken his nose and likely a cheekbone, but the bastard was still breathing.
“He’s just a child,” she screamed and raised the rifle high above her head.
“Anna, no.” Shadowlight’s voice was young sounding and pain-filled, but his will was strong and reached deep into her mind. “You will stop now.”
As if his words were a command, she released the rifle. It thumped to the ground beside the unconscious soldier underneath her.
The soldier was nearly unrecognizable.
She’d beaten him bloody.
She shook her head to clear it but still nothing made sense. No that wasn’t true. Something made sense in the madness. Shadowlight’s familiar voice.
What the hell was wrong with her?
“Come away now,” Shadowlight urged. “The threat is past.”
Anna came to her feet, obedient to Shadowlight’s command.
But it was Gregory who finally approached and urged her away from the human at her feet.
“Shadowlight is right. Come.” Gregory reached out and took her arm. At his touch, the red fog blanketing her mind seemed to lift.
She shook her head again. “What? What’s wrong with me?”
Shadowlight trotted up on her opposite side and bumped his muzzle under her hand. “The humans have been defeated. You can relax now.”
“Listen to Shadowlight and come away,” Gregory said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this later. First, we need to see to Lillian and Shadowlight’s injuries. Are you in control of yourself?”
It was a simple question. One that should have an easy answer. But the answer was evasive.
Was she in control of herself?
But she nodded, and Gregory stepped away from her to see to Lillian. When she looked back to Shadowlight, it was to see that he’d reared up to stand on two legs. Anna immediately noticed his shell-shocked look.
She turned and then enfolded him in a bear hug. “I’m sorry, kid.”
Shadowlight returned her fierce hug
“Why did they try to kill us? I thought they were allies.”
“I’m not sure, hon.” But I’m damned well going to find out.
When Shadowlight released her at last, she glanced around to check on Lillian and Gregory again but noticed the black pony rolling on his back and grunting. Had he been injured? If it didn’t mean leaving the kid unguarded or exposing him to new horror, she would have gone and checked on the Fae they simply called Pooka.
Gregory barked out something sharp and inhuman at the Fae. After a moment the pooka levered himself back to all fours with another grunt and then gave himself a good shake. Only then did he trot over toward the Avatars.
“Oh, God. Did he...? Gods, that’s so nasty. I think I’m going to puke,” Lillian said. She was still in gargoyle form at the moment, but if she’d been a dryad, Anna would have bet the other woman would be a bit green.
Anna scanned the pooka, trying to see what distressed Lillian so much. That’s when she noticed the pooka’s black pelt shone damply. And now that he was closer, her gargoyle senses could detect the dense coppery odor of blood. Lots of blood.
“What the hell?”
Shadowlight bumped his muzzle against her shoulder to get her attention. “Pookas roll in the blood of their fallen enemies after battle.”
Then the cub flicked a mildly horrified looked down Anna’s own blood smeared body. “I didn’t realize humans did the same.”
Anna glanced down at her bloodstained uniform.
How was she ever going to explain this mess to her superiors? And for that matter, how were her superiors going to smooth over the massive rift this attack would cause. Anna had a few other questions all vying for attention, too.
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 87