The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9)

by Lisa Blackwood

She briefly wondered if this is what it would feel like the moments before a person was vaporized by a nuclear warhead. Blind and deaf, Anna gripped one of Obsidian’s hands harder, and he buried his muzzle in her mane.

  “I love you, my Kyrsu,” he whispered into her mind.

  “And I love you, my Rasoren.”

  Chapter 23

  Obsidian

  HIS POWER LEVELS WERE drained more than he’d ever experienced, and his entire body ached like he’d been slammed around by a rockslide, but if he hurt, Obsidian assumed he had to be alive. Raising his muzzle out of Anna’s hair, he looked around.

  “Are you all right?” He gave her a little nuzzle.

  She moaned and lifted her head. “Yeah. I think so. Can’t tell if anything is broken with your heavy ass crushing me, though,” she said, defensive sarcasm coming to the fore. It could only mean she’d been terrified.

  She wasn’t the only one. He’d been certain they were about to die. He’d never felt such force as what that spell had given off.

  “Think we know what the blood witch and the djinn were up to all this time. Is it just me or do you think that spell was designed to kill an Avatar?”

  “It isn’t just you.” Obsidian rolled off her and looked around. Darkness was rising to his feet and flicking his one wing like it didn’t want to fold against his back correctly.

  Major Resnick moaned and then heaved himself up, spitting grass and blood from a split lip. Obsidian’s gaze slid to his mother. Her unmoving form caused a spike of fear, but then his father was gently rolling her over and lifting her into his arms. She moaned and then perhaps realizing where she was, ordered the gargoyle to set her on her feet. Darkness ignored her and drew her closer to his chest.

  The rest of the team had survived, but although there were some bumps, bruises, and bleeding ears, lacerated eardrums were a small inconvenience considering what could have happened.

  “Everyone up. We can’t stay here.” Major Resnick’s shout got everyone moving.

  The devastation stretched far beyond the small village. There wasn’t a speck of green growing things or a hint of life in the immediate area. The circle of devastation stretched from just before the portal spells all the way to the first pillar leading up to the blood-red stairway that climbed the slope to the fortress city.

  There were no bodies near, but he expected anyone caught in that powerful spell would have been rendered to ash within seconds. Thousands might have died. He didn’t yet know the number. Had anyone that had entered the village with him survived?

  “God. The witch didn’t just kill our people. She must have killed as many of her own in that strike. She’s utterly mad.” Anna breathed the last words on a whisper.

  And seeing the destruction, he knew his Kyrsu was correct.

  “The power from the void has destroyed her mind. We need to get out of here and regroup.” Silently he added, And I need to find Truth, Meadow, Thayn and Gran.

  As they made their way to the edge of the destruction, they saw movement. Legion gargoyles carrying healers onto the battlefield to treat the wounded. He recognized a few of the injured. They were gargoyles who had escaped the town, but who must have later been caught in the outer blast radius.

  Thank the Divine Ones some had survived. His friends and mentors may have lived through the attack as well. More gargoyles and healers approached their group and helped to check over the humans. Obsidian waved off the healer who would have attended to him.

  “I’m fine.” He started to shoo the healer away and then changed his mind. “Have you seen a gargoyle by the name of Truth or a dryad called Meadow?”

  The dryad healer shook her head. “No. I’m sorry. But there are many injured and other healers seeing to them.”

  He nodded. It was a long shot. “What about Adept Thayn or a human woman called Vivien. She often goes by the name Gran.”

  “Sorry, I’m afraid not.”

  Obsidian sighed but allowed the healer to do her job.

  “Come.” Anna took his hand, tugging gently. “We’ll keep hunting.”

  They moved off, following the swath of destruction and encountering several more injured gargoyles and dryads being seen by healers. There were just as many of the enemy among the wounded. The healers attended to them as well.

  “Perhaps, we’ll be able to get some intel out of them,” Anna said.

  He sensed her thoughts and knew she was trying to distract him. They kept searching for a half an hour, Obsidian calling along private links to Thayn, Truth, and Meadow. He was losing hope when he felt a faint reply.

  “We’re here with a healer,” Thayn said, his mind voice sounding far away.

  Obsidian moved swiftly in the direction the link guided him. At last, they found Thayn near one of the great portal spells. That explained why he’d been difficult to reach and track. The great spell overshadowed the elders dwindling magic.

  “Don’t look so worried, young pup. I’m tougher than that, and the healer says Vivien will be fine.”

  “Of course I’m going to be fine,” Gran said with a huff. “It’s just an arrow. The healer already neutralized the poison.”

  Relief washed through Obsidian, and he grinned foolishly. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

  “You scared me, too,” Thayn said in a shaky voice. “We couldn’t reach you. I knew you were at the center. Thought I’d never see your overly muscled silhouette in the practice ring again.”

  “Have you seen Truth or Meadow?”

  A concerned look flashed across the elder’s face before he could school his features. “I saw them as I was leaving with Gran. They would have been a little way behind me when you called out the warning to get out.”

  The healer looked up from where she was bandaging Gran’s leg. “They’ve only started searching east of here. Start in that direction and call me if you find anything. I’ll be there as soon as I’m able.”

  Obsidian nodded and headed in the direction she pointed. Anna was a substantial presence at his back. They joined their powers to boost their strength and increase the search area. After another fifteen minutes of searching along the great portal spells, a faint answer came to his and Anna’s calls.

  “Here. We’re here.” The voice was Truth’s, but it was barely above a whisper. Obsidian had only managed to hear it because the wind had died down for the moment. Otherwise, his damaged senses would never have picked up on Truth’s weak call.

  They rushed to his side and Obsidian froze at what he saw.

  Anna did not though and reached out for the healer with her mind. “Come. We need your aid.”

  Truth was curled around a burned and shattered Meadow. If Truth hadn’t been holding the female, he wouldn’t have recognized her, the damage was so great. Most of her skin was blackened. One arm was missing. So, too, was part of her left leg. But the stumps didn’t bleed, cauterized by the very power that had taken the limbs.

  By some miracle—or perhaps curse since the wounds must be terribly painful—the dryad still breathed, a wet rattling sound that paused for so long between breaths he thought it was the last, but then she drew another.

  Anna knelt next to the pair. When she looked up at him, she gave her head a little shake, and he could see both compassion and grief in her gaze.

  Tears wet his cheeks as he came to kneel on Truth’s other side. His fellow gargoyle brother had fared no better than the dryad. His wings were missing. He’d likely tried to shelter them both under his wings after his shield had failed, but it hadn’t been enough.

  “My friend.” Obsidian’s voice broke on a sob. “A healer is coming. Just hold on a little longer. Can you turn to stone?”

  Truth grunted in pain. “No. Beyond that. Just waiting for Meadow now.”

  Obsidian only then realized his friend was so far gone he wasn’t even aware he held Meadow in his arms. He didn’t correct his friend.

  He’d let him think Meadow was alive and well somewhere in the world, that Truth had bee
n able to protect her.

  Anna reached along their link and touched his mind.

  “Oh, Obsidian. He knows he’s holding Meadow. He’s waiting for her to die before he sheds his body and frees his spirit. He’s waiting for his love so they can make the journey together.”

  Another sob built in his throat, understanding too. He would have done the same thing if it were him and Anna burned and broken upon the ground.

  “We’ll stay with you until the end, Truth,” he said at last. “You were my friend. Always so brave and determined. I looked up to you. I wanted to be like you. I’m sorry I wasn’t a good enough leader to protect you and Meadow like you deserved.”

  “Leaders. Hard decisions.” Truth’s eyes closed, but his mind voice still echoed in Obsidian’s thoughts. “You and Anna, good leaders. Proud to call you my Rasoren and Kyrsu.”

  As Obsidian continued to sob over his friend, Truth turned his head and looked at Anna. “I won wager. You love Obsidian. Pay up. Bragging rights.”

  Anna started to cry now, too. “Yes. You won bragging rights. You knew it from the very beginning.”

  “Make him happy. He deserves love.”

  “I will do my absolute best. Thank you, Truth. Thank you for being his friend when I wasn’t able to be there for him.”

  “One day we’ll see each other... in afterlife. Look me up. Pay debt.” He tried to grin but couldn’t quite manage it.

  Truth blinked his eyes back open and looked blindly toward Obsidian. “Anna is your one. Don’t screw up.”

  “I shall heed your words. You have always been wiser than I.”

  “I am. I ask one other thing.”

  “Anything, my friend.”

  “Win. Send Battle Goddess back to be judged.”

  Truth’s eyes drifted closed once more. Then he murmured Meadow’s name.

  Obsidian glanced down and saw Meadow’s chest no longer rose and fell. When he looked back at Truth, he realized the male’s no longer did either.

  “Safe journey.” The words came out in a sob. He collapsed forward over his friends, tears and anguish spilling out of him in a broken-hearted howl.

  Anna came around and wrapped him in her arms. They stayed like that until the healer arrived with the other gargoyles. But it was far too late to help his friends. Their spirits were already gone.

  In his mind, he could see Truth flying with Meadow in his arms.

  “Fly swiftly, my friend and know peace and joy with your Meadow. You’ve earned it.”

  After a time, Anna tugged on him and led him away. He followed her blindly, exhausted in mind, body, and spirit. Distantly he heard her talking to others and then a while later, the familiar shape of a tent came into view.

  Then Anna was guiding him to a sleeping pallet, and soon her arms were around him once more.

  “Obsidian, my Rasoren. I’m here. You’re not alone with your grief.” Then she drew him closer, her wings settling around him as her tail entwined with his.

  “My Anna.”

  “Yes,” she crooned, “I’m here.”

  And while his pain over Truth and Meadow still burned in his chest, he also took comfort in his Kyrsu.

  Chapter 24

  Gryton

  “OUR SIDE GOT OUR ASSES handed to us yesterday,” Erika growled. “That can’t happen again.”

  Gryton wasn’t in disagreement about that. “There is one benefit.”

  She turned to glower at him. “And just what benefit can come from close to two thousand deaths?”

  “That spell will have depleted the blood witch a great deal. She won’t be at full power again soon. Yet by reports from Resnick and the healers, Anna and Obsidian are nearly fully recovered. We need to strike now.”

  “We agree,” his mother said, joining them. “The witch has ordered the djinn into battle. Are you prepared, my son?”

  “Was I not born for this?” he said simply.

  Beside him, the Null rolled her eyes. “Translation. Both he and the dragon have been eager to join in the battle. You wouldn’t be able to keep him out of it much longer anyway.”

  Lillian nodded. “Good. We need that. We need every bit of passion, determination, and the will to do what’s right. The Divine Ones call for all their allies to rise up and end the madness created by the blood witch and the demigoddess. But we will especially need aid in dealing with Naharnin.”

  Gryton and the dragon both knew the Avatars shouldn’t face the djinn in battle. They wouldn’t want to harm their long-time companion. Their hesitation could get them killed.

  “When do we engage the enemy again.”

  “Now. They are already marching upon us.”

  “Then the dragon has waited long enough.” He spread his arms out wide, his power, and the dragon consciousness, rushing to the surface.

  He’d startled his mother, but she recovered quickly and stepped back, dragging the Null along with her. She need not have bothered. Neither he nor the dragon would harm either of them.

  As he shapeshifted and excess magic expanded outward, he shaped the fire into a screen of flames, smoke, and ash to hide his transformation from watching eyes. His dragon liked the idea of a deception.

  “He’s such a showman,” Erika muttered. But when he held out one forearm, she used it to boost herself up onto his neck. She took a moment more to settle his harness in place. After she’d strapped herself in, she rapped her knuckles against his scales to signal she was ready.

  Then he directed the fiery cloud of magic and elemental fire to expand and hide him from his enemies’ view.

  Before he could get in the air, Gregory darted out of the sky and landed next to the Sorceress.

  Gryton glowered at his sire, a curl of steam and flame escaping between his teeth, but he didn’t antagonize the male. He was too valuable an ally. The dragon waited until both the Avatars took to the air, and then he merged his thoughts with his Null and soared into the sky.

  She welcomed him into her mind with immense joy. He rumbled with happiness that she was once again in his head and on his back, and they conquered the skies. Their emotional bond was always much stronger when he was the dragon than when he wore the form of a man.

  “Ever had a gut feeling before?” When he didn’t answer, she continued “I just have this feeling we’re not going to survive this.”

  The dragon snorted a denial, but she just patted his neck. “Dying won’t be so bad. Imagine being able to explore anywhere in the wide universe. I’ll even show you around. Come, let’s go take that djinn home with us.” She leaned over his shoulder and started to chuckle. “This high, we’re almost to Heaven anyway.”

  An idea flashed across her thoughts like lightning across a night sky, bright and beautiful, but impossible to catch it all before it was gone again.

  “Come, let’s freak out our enemies by singing as we storm their skies. If nothing else, my singing will have them running in fear, and if this is the last song I ever sing, I know the perfect country tune. Grandad’s favorite.”

  As he flew toward their enemies, Erika started thumping out a rhythm on his shoulder scales. She sang of blue ridged mountains and a river. A few lines later she was belting out about country roads taking her home.

  The song and her voice were both strangely pleasing. She continued to sing out the lyrics as he tore through the sky. Amplifying the tune with his magic, he added his own deep crooning tone to the song, and it became a battle prayer as he winged his way closer to the front, a fiery cloud obscuring his form and racing ahead.

  Chapter 25

  Sorac

  WHEN THE BLOOD WITCH’S spell had triggered, a great many warriors on both sides of the battle had lost their lives. Sorac was just glad he’d been assigned to protecting the blood witch. If he hadn’t been, he might have been down there and Vaspara with him. And he wasn’t at all certain if his lover would have survived the fiery explosion that had shaken the valley floor.

  But Vaspara had been with him at the time. A du
bious safety to be sure with the blood witch and the djinn near. But Sorac was just glad he hadn’t lost his beloved. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he failed her.

  Bervicta, too, had survived the explosion, though a large number of the casualties had been from her battalion. The harpy was livid at the waste of life. But he also knew the harpy was fond of all the soldiers under her command. She felt responsible for them.

  Sorac admitted he felt much the same about his and Vaspara’s battalions. They were their families. And the Battle Goddess and Blood Witch Taryin had started another war. Now they had no choice but to fight and die with the hope they won.

  “There is another choice.”

  Sorac whipped his head around, circling in the sky, his wings flaring as he searched for the djinn. But while the creature’s mind voice was powerful enough to sound near, there was no sign of him.

  “Another choice?” Sorac asked. “What choice? The gods have taken all choice away.”

  “There are many possible futures. In one, I see only defeat. But there are others.” The djinn paused as if he’d lost his line of thought, but then his voice returned. “Do you know that Lord Death is even now preparing to leave his temple?”

  “What?” Divine Ones be merciful. If Death rode to war, the Lady of Battles would be set free, too. A second cataclysm would be loosed upon the three realms.

  “Not this time. Death and the Avatars have another plan. The Divine Ones created a second Avatar pair to receive Lord Draydrak’s power. While he surrenders his, the remains of the duality curse will suck away the Battle Goddess’s magic as well.”

  Sorac’s heart stuttered in his chest before it started to pound, making his elemental fire burn hotter.

  “A second pair of Avatars?” Sorac managed to whisper in his mind.

  “Yes. You’ve met them. They go by the names of Anna and Obsidian. They are young but very powerful.”

  “Even if it is as you say, the blood witch will not allow that to happen. She’ll send you to attack the young Avatars.”