Damn it.
They needed to escape sooner rather than later if Shadowlight was actually preening at a few words of praise from Gryton.
Tin Man would not be Shadowlight’s new father figure.
Hell to the no.
Gryton continued to the door but paused before opening it. “Shadowlight will get a new, more powerful collar tomorrow. Don’t bother attempting escape. I will be tripling the guards and will have the blood witch create a few nasty surprises along the perimeter for the unwary. And, Anna, nothing I said to you was a lie. My offer still stands.”
The door closed with a thud and Gryton was gone. Shadowlight growled softly and Anna was tempted to join him.
“He’s going to be a thorn in our side,” Anna muttered as she scratched Shadowlight between the ears.
Chapter 25
THE NEXT NIGHT ANNA and Shadowlight reported to the practice ring as usual only to find Captain Sorac missing and Vaspara there in his place, instructing his regular students. Folding her arms against her chest, Anna glowered and flicked her wings in annoyance.
She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but she’d been a touch anxious about tonight’s session. It was supposed to be her first flight lesson. Earlier, she’d managed to shapeshift into full gargoyle form without any kind of help. She hadn’t even needed a rest afterward, for which she was glad. It meant she was getting stronger. Hopefully, luck would be with her and she wouldn’t humiliate herself too badly, or crash and break something.
She’d hyped herself up and was ready to begin, or at least, get this first flight behind her and improve from there. However, apparently, Sorac wasn’t as hyped.
Which annoyed her greatly. The brute was never late. “Where’s Sorac?”
Vaspara glanced over her shoulder. “Ah. You’re early. Good.”
The captain finished going over one of the sword forms with a young girl with a mop of brown curly hair. When Vaspara was done, she turned back to Anna and Shadowlight.
“Captain Sorac will meet us along the southern cliffs. Come, I’ll show you the way.” Vaspara gestured for them to follow.
Anna and Shadowlight dropped to all fours and paced after her retreating form.
Leading them out of the practice field, she guided them along the fortress’s southern curtain wall. Here the wind howled, buffeting them with sudden shifts in the air currents. The ground grew steeper and rockier as the green grass gave way to a drop-off, leaving only a narrow trail with the towering wall on the left and empty sky on the right.
The succubus seemed unconcerned by the sheer drop just feet away. She even stooped to pick up the occasional fist-sized rock to toss down the side of the cliff so she could listen as it bounced and smashed its way down the cliff face.
Anna grit her teeth. The evil bitch had to be doing it on purpose just to rattle her.
“Here we are,” Vaspara said, as they, at last, eased around a sharp bend in the trail.
Anna and Shadowlight followed close on her heels.
Glancing around, Anna didn’t see what made ‘here’ special enough to warrant being a destination. The path was only slightly less narrow than the part they’d just left. Though, they were somewhat more protected from the wind, since this section was shielded from the prevailing winds by a large outcropping of rock jutting from the cliff side.
There was enough room for her and Shadowlight to crouch shoulder to shoulder and look out over the dark valley below them. The two moons were sufficiently bright for her gargoyle vision to pick out small details far below. A small herd of wild goat-like creatures were picking their way up the rocky lower slopes, grazing on what sparse clumps of grass they could find.
“Captain Sorac will be here shortly,” Vaspara said and patted them both on the shoulder. “Good luck.”
With that she left, leaving Anna and Shadowlight to gawk after her.
“She’s just leaving us here?” Shadowlight said in disbelief.
“Seems that way.” Anna scanned the sky, and then the rockface around them. “This totally feels like a test.”
“I hate tests,” Shadowlight said with a little growl at the end.
She was about to agree when a massive black shadow sailed over a ridge and into the valley below.
“Holy fuck, what is that? And is it hungry?” Anna switched to their mental link so she wouldn’t give away their location to the flying, transport truck-sized shadow. It climbed higher with breathtaking speed, and soon its massive wingspan was blocking out the stars. Silhouetted against the night sky, its sinewy body and long serpentine neck were displayed to full advantage.
“I’m not sure. It’s too far away and it’s downwind of us,” Shadowlight said and leaned out into the air to try and get a better look.
“Don’t dislodge any loose rocks. It’s probably got super hearing since it’s hunting at night.”
Shadowlight didn’t disagree.
The beast, dragon was the name that came to Anna’s mind, loosed a roar and twisted in the air, diving down toward the herd of wild goats. Its maw gaped open again, but this time instead of a roar, a gout of flame burst forth.
It was an honest-to-God fire-breathing dragon.
A hungry fire-breathing dragon by the way it snatched up the cooked goats and gobbled them down. It made quick work of its meal while still on the wing before climbing back into the sky where it circled lazily.
Anna thought it was leaving until one of its diamond-bright eyes zeroed in on their perch and it rolled in the air, streaking back toward them. Its jaws parted in a predatory smile and the amber glow of fire became visible through the rows of deadly teeth.
Oh. Crap.
“Anna, it’s—”
“Going to barbecue us! Move!” She slammed her shoulder into Shadowlight’s back and shoved for all she was worth. A second later Shadowlight was falling. She only had time to note his wings snap open as he began a swift descent.
Praying to whatever god might be listening, Anna launched herself off the narrow ledge just before a stream of fire hit the cliff somewhere above her head.
She’d lost Shadowlight in the seconds after she’d launched herself from the cliff. Where the hell was he?
Anna desperately tried to find him, but the wind buffeted her now that she was out in the open and her wings flailed, her tail instinctively lashing back and forth to level out her flight. Cartwheeling out of control, she was about to smash into a fast approaching ridge but then Shadowlight was suddenly directly in front of her and his voice whispered in her mind.
“Anna, follow my lead. The wind is your friend. Let it fill your wing membranes.”
“Friend my ass!”
Shadowlight stayed directly ahead of her, blocking out her view of impending doom, but even though she was only moments away from wrecking on the rocks, she somehow managed to listen to his continued instructions. The kid was calm in the face of death, she’d give him that.
Slowly, her flight leveled out, and he guided her away from the razor-sharp rocks that would shred her wings and break her bones. When they were halfway to the valley floor, and the dubious safety it represented, Anna chanced a glance behind, wondering why the winged transport truck hadn’t flamed her good.
The beast was on her ass. Literally on her ass! The tip of his nose almost touching her tail. Shadowlight must have known, for he banked hard to the left, circling back toward the cliffs. Anna followed suit, knowing they weren’t going to make it, not both of them.
Summoning shadow magic, she readied herself to send it stabbing into the creature’s eyes. She didn’t know if it would be effective, but it might slow the beast down, distract it, or piss it off enough to get it to follow her instead of the kid.
“Anna, it is Sorac,” Shadowlight said, his voice penetrating her spinning thoughts.
No.
It couldn’t be.
She chanced another look behind. The beast was grinning at her.
“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! I hate yo
u so much right now,” Anna shouted behind her as she continued to follow Shadowlight. She was tempted to bite the kid in the tail for his part in this, too. He knew and didn’t say anything.
“Why didn’t you tell me it was Sorac!”
“I tried.”
“Not hard enough!”
“You shoved me off a cliff!”
“Now, now, children. Stop fighting and follow me,” Sorac the dragon said in a booming voice behind her. He swiftly outpaced them in the air and came to a graceful landing on a large flat section of cliff that looked like it had been carved for that purpose.
Shadowlight landed next. Anna followed him in, where she managed a sort of controlled crash. She gave herself a shake and then went and sat off by her self.
Seated, she craned her neck to look up at Sorac. “So, you’re a dragon. Guess I should have put two and two together. Shadowlight said you were a fire elemental and you have scales.”
“I,” he puffed out his chest and stretched his neck proudly, “am a firedrake, not a dragon. One of those fat lizards would never be able to keep up with me.”
Okay. Note to self. Firedrakes were elitist and touchy.
Sorac bent his neck to bring his large head in close to her. She couldn’t tell his color in the darkness, but his plate-sized scales gleamed. If she was to speculate, she’d guess his coloring to be black or some other dark color. Maybe a deep green or a wine tone.
It was too bad they never trained in daylight. She’d bet he was stunning. Though it didn’t matter how pretty he was, she was still pissed off at him.
“I didn’t think you could possibly be worse at anything than you were with the sword,” Sorac said. “I’ve just been proven wrong.
Was the prick actually bitching about her poor showing after he tried to fry her? “Hey! You tried to barbecue me. I didn’t have time to get ready.”
“Barbecue?” He huffed softly, steam curling from between his lips. “I don’t know what that is, but I didn’t try to harm you. That was only a bit of fun. In the future don’t run from a firedrake, we can’t help but give chase. It’s in our nature.”
“Jeez, thanks for the warning.” Anna rolled her eyes heavenward.
“You’re welcome,” Sorac said with a snort of humor. “Now, let’s try to improve on that shameful first flight.”
Part 3
Chapter 26
A YEAR AGO, IF ANYONE told Lillian she would be spending her days watching an elite military team track down and ‘kill’ fae hidden by powerful magic, she wouldn’t have believed them. Mind you, her everyday life was on a sliding scale of the mildly odd to breathtakingly bizarre.
Hence, she was standing in the headquarters for the joint task force watching the mission unfold on a monitor streaming a live feed from the soldiers’ body cams. So far, the soldiers were winning, having managed to track, locate, target and ‘kill’ each of the fae hiding from the patrol.
They weren’t using live rounds, of course, and the fae weren’t hunting the humans, but Lillian was still impressed with what the humans had accomplished. And it wasn’t all thanks to Gregory and Daryna’s training, either. In the past few weeks, the military teams had surpassed even Gregory’s hopes, not that her closed-mouthed mate would praise a human.
Soon, she promised herself, soon we’ll be ready to launch a mission to rescue Shadowlight and Anna.
She didn’t fear they’d fail in their mission. Gregory never failed her, but she feared Shadowlight and Anna’s condition after all this time.
Yesterday when she’d shared her fears with Gregory, he’d assured her that as long as they were still alive, he and Daryna could heal anything that had been done to them. And the Battle Goddess would not kill Shadowlight or Anna. She needed them.
That still hadn’t been all that comforting, but then he’d explained that since time flowed differently here than in the Magic Realm, only about five weeks had passed there compared to the eight weeks here.
Five weeks was still plenty of time to do horrible things to her little brother. And Lillian didn’t fool herself; as much as Anna would try to protect the young gargoyle, there was nothing she could do as a fellow prisoner.
Having to wait until the human-fae teams were adequately trained to attempt a rescue mission was horrible enough on its own, but there were other stresses in Lillian’s life. Her hands strayed to her belly. Having Gregory’s child made her happier than she could ever express, but it also added another layer to her fears. If she could not protect her brother, how was she going to safeguard her child in the coming months?
“They have done very well in recent sessions,” Daryna said, drawing Lillian back to the training session and the others all standing around watching.
“Yes,” Gregory agreed. “They are almost ready to venture into the Magic Realm.”
“I would like to drill them in the layout of the fortress city and the lands around it first,” Daryna added, but nodded, “though, I agree.”
“I told you they were ready,” Major Resnick said, and then came to stand at Lillian’s shoulder, where he frowned down at the screen showing a soldier targeting the pooka.
Lillian knew the waiting hadn’t been easy on Resnick either. Anna was like a daughter to him.
And then there was Anna’s real father, Brigadier General Mackenzie. The day after Daryna had received word from Gryton of Anna’s capture, the general had stormed into the workroom where Major Resnick was overseeing Lillian and Gran as they created ward spells for the human weapons.
The general had bellowed about Resnick’s incompetence for a full minute. Lillian knew it was a father’s worried reaction. When she’d seen him a second time, he’d been cool and composed as one would expect of a highly decorated general.
But even after they rescued Anna and Shadowlight, Lillian still thought there might be trouble.
The general didn’t strike her as the type to meekly accept that his daughter was now magically bound in servitude to another being. And Gregory and Daryna weren’t so sure they could sever the link between Anna and Shadowlight without killing them both.
“My superiors are meeting again in three hours,” Resnick told Gregory and Daryna. “Once we get the go-ahead, both teams can be ready to move within a few hours.”
“There is still something Lillian, Gregory, and I must do before we venture into the Magic Realm. Spells that must be performed.” Daryna said and then looked pointedly at Lillian.
Resnick nodded and turned to go speak with his superiors.
Gregory huffed softly and then urged Lillian and Daryna out of the military headquarters.
He didn’t speak again until a half hour later when they were once again surrounded by trees, well away from the humans and their technology.
Gregory was still uncomfortable surrounded by things from the modern world. Lillian might have found it humorous under other circumstances, but the last two months hadn’t been easy.
“Lillian, if you truly plan to come to the Magic Realm with me, you’ll need to give our child into your hamadryad’s keeping,” he said with steel in his voice. “Or you and Daryna can both remain here together.”
There was no way Lillian was letting Gregory risk himself alone. “No, I’ll have to give up my child soon any—”
Daryna cut Lillian off. “I will not sit by safe in the Mortal Realm while my other half ventures into the heart of enemy territory.”
Lillian folded her arms as she and Daryna both leveled a ‘we’ll kick your ass if you try’ look at Gregory.
“You’ve been outvoted,” Lillian said. “Whatever we find in the Magic Realm, we’ll face together.”
Gregory huffed out a disgruntled sound as his tail flicked back and forth. “I only want to keep you both safe, our child too.”
“I know. But the best way to keep our baby safe is to rescue Shadowlight and Anna, thereby depriving the Battle Goddess of another weapon in her arsenal.”
“Yes, but Lillian, being separated from your chi
ld...”
“Will suck. But it would happen soon anyway. All hamadryads gestate their dryad’s child. Even I know that.”
“There’s more to it than that,” he said softly. “When you journey to the Magic Realm, you will feel the separation far more acutely.”
“He is correct,” Daryna said. “Even though dryads must give over their children to their trees, the dryad doesn’t usually venture far from her hamadryad during those years.”
Lillian cradled her stomach, even now feeling the pulse of life within, a tiny fluttering heart. Her gargoyle magic could sense the child now. Not the gender, not yet, but Gregory said they would be able to scent the sex of their child in another few days.
“But me being away from the tree won’t weaken the hamadryad or harm the child, right?”
“No,” Gregory reassured her. “Your tree is strong. Our child will be safe with the Clan and the Coven guarding her glade.”
“Then I’m going with you. I’ll transfer the child to my hamadryad now.”
“My beautiful, brave mate,” Gregory said as he stepped forward to embrace her. “Tomorrow will be soon enough.”
Gregory’s hand caressed her belly, and she smiled at his expression of absolute wonderment. Lillian would raze an evil demigoddess’s temple to the ground if that’s what it took to protect this tiny new miracle.
Chapter 27
GREGORY NUZZLED LILLIAN’S cheek and at that moment he wanted to be away from everything so he could spend some time alone with his mate. Daryna must have sensed his mood because she bestowed him with a mischievous grin.
“Go. Take Lillian hunting.” Daryna gestured at the darkening forest all around them. “You both deserve some time alone. It’s likely the last chance you’ll get for a while. I can find my own way back to the cabin.”
It was true. Once Lillian went into her hamadryad, she’d remain there for two days, but when she emerged, she would be in peak form, ready for the mission to the Magic Realm. After today, they’d be accompanied by the humans and fae until the mission’s end.
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 111