“This time, we know you have dragon. We feel it.” The lead rakasa turned toward Alric, pulling Glorinal’s leash with him. The former elf whined a bit and tried to keep his eye on my sword but turned toward Alric.
“You cannot fight all.” The lead rakasa raised his clawed hand and twenty more of the creatures came out of a small crack in the ground behind Glorinal.
“Everyone get behind Alric and I. We’ll hold as long as we can, but you need to be ready to run.” Two more rakasa charged and two more were sliced down. Covey didn’t argue but she also didn’t look like she was planning on running anywhere.
They were toying with us. As if the lead rakasa was sacrificing his own people for some reason instead of sending them all at once. I was focusing on trying to survive, when the sword in my hand vanished.
“Alric!”
He spun and saw my empty hand. “Call it back. Someone is trying to break the connection. You somehow called it to you. Call it back.” He spun back to slice three more rakasa.
I didn’t know how I called the thing in the first place so I had no clue as to how to do it this time. I just thought hard about the feel of it in my hand. Suddenly it was there.
And another rakasa lost its head.
Glorinal wasn’t fighting but was extremely focused on my sword. I had a bad feeling who had made it vanish.
The rest of the rakasa, aside from the large one holding Glorinal’s chain, charged forward. Alric went down on one knee as one went under his defenses and clawed his thigh. But he rose immediately and ran through that one and three more. It took me a few seconds longer, but I managed to do the same. Covey and Orenda were still fighting, but we’d kept Tag and Harlan in the middle of us.
“We can’t keep this up,” I said to Alric as eight more rakasa came out of the ground and charged us. For a race of beings who had supposedly been destroyed, they’d managed to repopulate themselves very well.
A clash of metal boots running in step came from down the road, but they weren’t close enough to see who was coming toward us. Most likely the mayor had figured out something was wrong and sent reinforcements. Armored reinforcements. Our only hope was that the syclarions and the rakasa would take each other out fighting for the honor to kill us.
I was focusing on the next wave of rakasa when Orenda let out a gasp. One echoed by Covey and Harlan. I heard a few very colorful swear words come from Alric. I looked up, but instead of armored syclarions, a group of about twenty, elaborately armored men jogged into view. Rather, elves. At least if the markings on their armor and weapons were any indication. They looked like they had stepped out of one of Covey’s history books.
“In the name of the king of the elven empire of the west, stand down.” His voice was cultured and elegant but the massive two-handed sword at his side said his fighting wouldn’t be.
I wasn’t sure if he was talking to us or the rakasa, but the rakasa knew. With a roar they spun around and charged the elven fighters. Glorinal whined, but the rakasa holding his leash was the only one who held back.
The lead knight unsheathed his sword. The men behind him pulled out theirs as well and the area became a massive battlefield. More rakasa came out of the crevice to replace their fallen brethren.
Alric and I stepped back, trying to stay between the battle and our friends. It said a lot that aside from the initial gasp at the sight of the elves, none of them said anything. Alric’s face had turned to stone, but he was mostly watching Glorinal. I would have thought he’d be happy at being rescued by his own people but his reaction looked like he would have been happier with the syclarions.
Within minutes, only a dozen rakasa remained, and no new ones had appeared out of the ground. Glorinal pulled on his chain, but whether he wanted to leave or be allowed to attack the elves was unclear.
“You win now.” The lead rakasa didn’t seem too upset about the huge piles of his people lying on the ground. “We will get our dragon back and we will take you.” He spun back to Alric and I. “All.”
Within the blink of an eye, Glorinal and the rakasa vanished into the crevice and the ground slammed shut after them.
Adrenaline fled my body and I debated if collapsing in front of a bunch of elven knights was proper etiquette or not. The thought would soon be moot, as my legs were seriously thinking of buckling.
Orenda had no such problems. “Thank you, kind sirs.” She said as she walked around Alric and me to the elves. “Our warriors were hard pressed.” She did an elaborate curtsy, but the lead elf barely looked at her. In fact he stepped around her and stopped in front of Alric.
The captain took off his helmet. I think everyone still conscious drew in a breath at his beauty. Pale hair, far lighter than even Alric’s natural color tumbled out from under the helmet to fall halfway down his back. Unlike Alric, his high lord facial markings were proudly displayed on his left cheek. A high lord in the military.
“Alricianel Lis Treann Flairn Delpina, you are under arrest for grand thievery from a royal outpost. Hand over the artifact and we will not bring in your companions.” The lead elf knight looked barely winded after his fight.
Alric didn’t flinch but reached in his jacket and pulled out the emerald dragon. Orenda started to object, but stopped before she got any words out once one of the elven knights turned to her.
She might be an elf, and a full-blooded high ranking one at that. But these knights didn’t care.
The lead knight waved to one closest to us to take the dragon.
“I was referring to the artifact you stole. The glass gargoyle of binding.”
I think all of us choked on that one.
“I brought that to the elders, I haven’t been back since. Why the hell would I steal it?” Alric looked more winded than I’d ever seen him after a fight, but he also looked confused at the knight’s comments.
“Wait, they lost the glass gargoyle?” That was Harlan. He’d been staying out of things as much as possible, but that affront was too much for him.
“We didn’t lose anything. This person,” the elf captain pointed to Alric, “used a bag of human gold to bribe one of the few outside merchants we allow to breach our enclave. Alricianel rode with the merchant into the enclave. He then broke into a guarded facility and stole the glass gargoyle. Many witnesses saw him engage in this activity.” His voice changed and I could almost see him reading from an official decree. “Under orders of the king and queen, I have been charged to bring you back to answer for your crimes. The addition of this other artifact in your possession might raise the crime of treason. You had the obsidian chimera as well, yet have failed to bring it to our people. You have much to answer for.”
Alric had traded the obsidian chimera for the lives of one-third of the people in Beccia. He’d almost lost his life trying to get it back before the mine collapsed.
I knew this elf before me wouldn’t care one bit if I told him any of it.
The set look on Alric’s face told me he knew that as well. He stepped forward, handing his sword to the nearest guard, and held his hands out for the chain the captain carried. “I will have my day in court. This will be resolved.” He looked toward me and nodded. “This is the only way to clear my name.”
The elven guard glanced at my sword and me. “What treachery is this? How does she bear a spirit sword?” The disgust in his voice was akin to finding something slimy and gooey on the bottom of one’s shoe.
Alric opened his mouth to answer, but I had had enough. “I called it. Isn’t that how it works?” I showed off some of the fancy moves I’d modified from Orenda’s knife teaching. “Per your people, it belongs to the one who calls it.” I was making this up, but now that I knew what these swords were, some of Covey’s past comments about them came back to me. The concept of them had been an obsession of hers a few years ago. I had no idea how this one came to be lying on the ground near me, but I wasn’t telling this bastard that.
He stared at me for a few moments. I spun the sword slower, th
en, while keeping my eyes on him, sent it back to its calling place. I still wasn’t sure how or why it worked, but I was glad it did.
“Take her.” He put his helmet back on and waved to the others. “And take one more person for each time she fights back. Or if she calls the sword.”
“You can’t take her against her will, she’s not of our people. She’s done nothing wrong.” Alric wasn’t doing well. Without anyone to lean on he was listing a bit to the left where the rakasa had clawed him. Orenda and I might have saved his life, but his body still hadn’t recovered.
“You have your own answering to do.” The captain, or whatever he was of the elves, held up the emerald dragon. “You were willing to betray your own kind for her. And how do we know you didn’t teach her how to call the sword? You are a spirit sword caller yourself; perhaps you wanted your lover to have one.”
“I gave you the dragon, if you know what the glass gargoyle is, you know what that emerald pertains to. Let her go.” Alric’s teeth clenched shut. I thought it was annoyance, and then I realized the elf before me was a magic user and was doing something to Alric.
“Fight and we will drag your body back home.” The captain gave a small smile, then turned and waved his hand toward me. Pressure slammed in behind my eyes. Even without checking, I knew all access to my magic was blocked.
“As for you, I will make a deal.” He waved his other hand to the guards behind him. There was a brief rustle and two guards came forward with a cage. Bunky and the faeries were cramped up inside. Whatever the magic dampening he was doing to Alric and me, it was affecting them as well. All were barely moving. “These would have been valuable specimens for our alchemists, however, a non-elven sword caller might prove even more valuable. I will let these go, not speak of them to my people, and not take or harm them or your friends, if you come along with us peacefully. And swear to not try to escape.”
I looked at Bunky and the faeries. They were too drained to even raise their heads. I turned to my friends. None of them, even Covey, was in any shape to fight. They had to get out of the area and back to Beccia before the people behind those syclarion guards realized what happened.
And I couldn’t let any of them be taken by the elves, not if I had a chance to keep it from happening. I glanced to the captain of the elven knights. I might not know how I called that spirit sword to me, but he did and he wasn’t happy about it. There was no way they would have let me go at this point even if I refused to go peacefully. And I couldn’t leave Alric to his fate. Saving him made me realize I did love him, and where he went, I went.
I slowly nodded to the elven captain, as fear and curiosity battled in my gut. I’d grown up wanting to know what happened to the elves. Now I would see for myself. I hoped I survived the experience.
The End
Acknowledgements
It takes a village to build a book, and I have some amazing fellow villagers. I couldn’t have gotten this far without the love and support of all of my family and friends.
I’d like to thank Jessa Slade and Sue Soares for editing magic. For my most awesome team of beta readers: Lisa Andreas, Ashli Elsperman, Patti Huber, Lynne Mayfield, Caroline Self Onstott, Sharon Rivest, and Ilana Schoonover. Without their eagle eyes and talents, the faeries would have run amuck. Any errors remaining are all mine (with help from the faeries and Bunky).
My cover artist, Aleta Rafton, for another wonderful cover.
Thanks to Julie Fine who introduced me to the wonders of movie trailer music—best writing music ever! And to Laurel Porter for the emergency tech support.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for joining Taryn, Alric, and the faeries in the third book of the six book series—The Lost Ancients. We all really appreciate when folks come to play in “our” world, and hope you enjoyed it too.
This series will continue with THE SAPPHIRE MANTICORE, then on to two more books in 2017.
If you’re also interested in a little bit of space opera, please check out the first book in The Asarlaí Wars trilogy- WARRIOR WENCH.
I really appreciate each and every one of you so please keep in touch. You can find me at www.marieandreas.com.
And please feel free to email me directly at [email protected] as well, I love to hear from readers!
If you enjoyed this book (or any book for that matter ;)) please spread the word! Positive reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and blogs are like emotional gold to any writer and mean more than you know.
Thank you again, and we all hope to see you back here in THE SAPPHIRE MANTICORE!
Marie
About The Author
Marie is a fantasy and science fiction reader with a serious writing addiction. If she wasn’t writing about all of the people in her head, she’d be lurking about coffee shops annoying innocent passer-by with her stories. So really, writing is a way of saving the masses. She lives in Southern California and is currently owned by two very faery-minded cats. And yes, sometimes they race.
When not saving the general populace from coffee shop shenanigans, Marie likes to visit the UK and keeps hoping someone will give her a nice summer home in the Forest of Dean.
Copyright 2016 Marie Andreas
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Major Press LLC.
All of the characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover Design and Interior format by The Killion Group http://thekilliongroupinc.com
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Acknowledgements
Dear Reader
About The Author
Copyright
The Emerald Dragon (The Lost Ancients Book 3) Page 28