“A few years ago. Why?”
“Lillian and I first came to this Realm twelve years ago. Is twelve years a reasonable time estimate for when the dark ones arrived?”
“Are you saying you and Lillian are responsible for the creatures of darkness coming here?”
“Perhaps. I will start from the beginning so you can understand what has happened.” He stared at Lillian while he talked, focusing on her until the others in the room became distant to him, unimportant. “First you must know we share a link of magic and spirit, one which has endured many lifetimes together.” Lillian’s eyes widened at the word lifetimes, but she remained silent so he continued. “When I was still gestating in my mother’s tree, I felt you in my mind, calling me. I could not deny that summons. Newly born, the fluids of my mother’s tree damp and sticky upon my flesh, I answered your call. I was still learning how to coordinate my limbs when the memories of our past lives came to me, awakening with my power. Not yet a day old and I already knew my purpose—to protect you.”
He paused when she reached out to caress his hair. Her lips shaped his name. He intertwined his fingers with hers and brought her hand to rest over his heart. At the contact, her thoughts flowed to him from where her hand rested on his chest: an overwhelming sense of peace whenever they were together. Wonder and curiosity. Excitement mixed with a hint of fear at her new awareness of him. But eclipsing all else, her unconditional trust in him.
Her gaze flicked from his face to their interlaced fingers, then back again.
She didn’t pull away, so he continued his story. “Had my father not been near at the time of my birth, I would have run off in pursuit of you without any weapons but for what I was born with. He couldn’t stop me from seeking you out, but he gave me his warded jewelry as added protection until my magic awoke fully. I went on the hunt, following the direction of your calls. They led me to the Black Kingdom, home of our enemy: the Lady of Battles. I rescued you, but the escape cost me much of my magical strength. Passing through the Veil between the Realms is something only a limited number of immortals can survive. We were still too young. The Veil came close to killing us. Had I been older, with the full force of my magic at my command, I could have sealed the rift and returned home to our own Realm. But I didn’t have the strength and made the shorter journey to the Mortal Realm where I found a family to raise you. Then I surrendered to the healing sleep of stone until you woke me. It’s possible something from that realm followed us here.”
“Black Kingdom? Newly birthed. Sleep of stone.” His lady mumbled half to herself. She jerked her head up and met his gaze. Her eyes widened with each breath that hissed past her lips. She paled, her completion turning a waxy tint until he feared she was ill. Then she stood, and lifted her head proudly, shoulders straight. Her coloring improved, if a vivid red was better than a pallid shade. A foreboding expression settled over her face, casting her features into harsh lines. She looked angry—yet not at him.
Baffled, he waited.
She brushed her hand along his mane and her expression softened. “God. You’re just a child.”
“He doesn’t look like a child to me,” Kayla said. “And that brings us back to the reason we are here.”
Lillian whirled on the other dryads, and took a step toward Kayla. “I understood about a third of what he said, but I did catch the part about his age. You do the math. He was born, found and rescued me in less than a day, then came here and turned to stone only to wake and rescue me again. He’s not even three days old.”
“You’re looking at it like a human,” Kayla countered.
“No, I’m thinking like a non–perv. There’s a difference.”
“No matter what you think, he is a gargoyle. If you don’t believe me, ask him. Dryads normally gestate their girl children within their trees for three years. But a ‘gargoyle child’ is longer, closer to ten years. When they are finally born, they are mature, fully developed.”
Gregory nodded. “I was almost mature at birth. I finished maturing while in stone.”
“I don’t care, that’s not the same as life experience.” Lillian transferred her scowl to him. “You’re still a child.”
“No more than you. We departed the Spirit Realm together and were conceived within moments of each other.”
Lillian’s teeth clicked together and she exhaled another hissing breath. “Fine,” she said, and patted his hand, her voice calming. “But you still slept through childhood because you needed to heal. You took injuries protecting me, and you lack the experiences you would have learned during childhood and adolescences. Now it’s my turn to return a favor or three. This situation with the dryads isn’t your concern. I’ll deal with them. You are not duty–bound to … aid them.” Her lips twisted into a fierce smile. She sent another glower in Kayla’s direction, then turned her attention to Sable. “I’m not completely unreasonable to the plight of the dryads. Your kind requires a gargoyle and there isn’t a whole lot of them around I gather. Fine, I can understand your concern, desperation even. You or others of your kind can come back in ten years and make your case to the gargoyle.”
“Surely you jest,” Kayla said.
Lillian stood between him and the other dryads with her hands fisted at her sides, spine rigid. “I’m dead serious.”
The scent in the room changed to one of challenge. His little dryad was protective of him. It was … endearing. Gregory hastily swallowed a rumble of laughter. Sable coughed into her hand, while Lillian’s grandmother rocked back and forth in her chair like nothing had been said. The old woman’s serene expression must have infuriated Kayla, for she slammed her teacup down on the table before exiting the room with a stiff–legged gait. Lillian followed the other dryad’s retreat with unblinking eyes. If she stared any harder, she’d burn a hole in the back of Kayla’s head.
“Well,” Vivian said into the silence. “Glad we’ve aired that laundry. Now, where were we, Gregory? You were saying about how you came to recue Lillian.”
“Indeed.” His humor vanished with the reminder that creatures of darkness were still abroad in this realm, creating havoc and killing innocents. “I freed Lillian from her imprisonment in the Black Kingdom.”
“What is that?” To judge by Lillian’s somber tone, her earlier anger at the dryads was forgotten.
“Hell is as good a name as any,” Sable said. “It’s not like the Christian version of Hell, but something older: a world within a world—a prison where creatures with incurable darkness upon their souls have been banished to for millennia.”
Lillian seemed to mull over their words for several tension–filled moments, then with a frowned, she turned her gaze back to him. “And you found me in that place?”
“The Lady of Battles, a creature of extreme darkness, wanted your power. I put a stop to her plans.” Gregory winced at his evasion. I hope, he added silently.
“Who is she?”
“The Black Kingdom once had a keeper,” Gregory said, and then paused to sort through Lillian’s mind for the proper word. “A prison warden created by the Divine Ones to keep the prisoners in check. As their daughter, the Lady of Battles had great power. For millennia she served the Divine Ones. She had a twin, the Lord of the Underworld. The Lady also had a consort, the Shieldbearer. Although her consort was a god in his own right, he lacked the power of the twins. Jealous of the power the Lord of the Underworld had at his command, the Shieldbearer attacked the Lady’s twin, intent on taking that power for himself. The Lord of the Underworld saw the evil in the Shieldbearer’s heart and deemed him incurable. And as his nature dictated, the Lord destroyed that evil the only way he knew how. He killed the Shieldbearer and sent his soul back to the Divine Ones to heal.
“If he had realized what that one act would bring about, the Lord of the Underworld would not have killed his twin’s mate. The Lady of Battles went insane. She blamed her brother for her pain. And so the war began. The Twins would have destroyed an entire world had the Divine Ones
not intervened. They punished both Twins by banishing them from the Spirit Realm and chaining them to their respective temples within the Magic Realm. Then in the greatest moment of upheaval the three Realms have ever seen, the Divine Ones sundered the Magic Realm in two, separating both halves with a portion of the Veil. The chaos caused by the sundering forced many who lived in the once–peaceful Magic Realm to flee for their lives. Some sought shelter with the Lord of the Underworld, but a great many more fled to the Mortal Realm, far from the influence of either Twin.
“But the Veil didn’t stop the Lady of Battles. Even imprisoned she drew a great army to serve her, the very creatures of darkness she was supposed to keep imprisoned. The Lord of the Underworld gathered his own army. I, like all gargoyles, belong to him. For centuries the Lady has been growing her army, and not all her warriors served willingly. I believe by capturing you, she planned to make me serve her.”
Lillian closed her eyes, her lashes a dark line along her cheeks. She spoke without looking at him. “So … I got captured by this Lady of Battles?”
“Yes.”
“And with your help I escaped to this realm and the Riven followed us here? If I hadn’t gotten captured, none of this would have happened. That makes this mess my fault. It’s up to me to make it right. You said the Lady of Battles wanted my power. If I have power, it must be good for something. What can I do to force the Riven back to their prison?”
“You claim responsibility that is not yours to take. You were a child, innocent of any wrongdoing. Before you think to challenge the Riven, you must first be trained in your magic.” Panic weighed heavy in Gregory’s stomach. If she started to probe for her magic, there was no telling what would happen.
Until he had time to discover what had happened to her in the Black Kingdom, he couldn’t trust her, no matter how much his heart wanted to.
“Then tell me what I need to know. Teach me.”
“You make it sound so easy. There is so much you must learn. I scarcely know enough of your words to explain in a way you’ll understand.” He sighed, his brows drawing together in thought. What was safe to tell her? He rubbed at his forehead, mildly surprised when he didn’t encounter horns. Already this hybrid body was beginning to feel ordinary. Natural—like the tenderness he felt for his lady. And that was the danger.
There was so much he didn’t know.
For now, a half–truth would have to do. “Think of Realms as worlds within worlds. The smallest, centermost one, is the Mortal Realm, where we are now. The one surrounding it is the now–segmented Magic Realm, where the Twins were banished. The last and greatest, the Spirit Realm, surrounds the others. All the Realms are protected and separated by the Veil—a great weaving of magic composted of all the elements. As I said before, when I came to the Mortal Realm, I damaged a small section of the Veil separating the two realms. Something from the Magic Realm may have followed us here.”
“Is the Veil repairable?” Lillian questioned. “Can I send the Riven back to the Black Kingdom and seal them there?”
He hesitated while he chose the next fragments of truth he hoped would satisfy Lillian’s curiosity. “Depending on how many of these Riven are here and how strong they have grown, I might require help to kill them or banish them to the Black Kingdom. Once the enemy is defeated, I can seal the tear which permitted their invasion in the first place. But all of the Riven must be routed from this land or they may be able to reopen the rift.”
“How do you know all this?” Lillian asked. “You’re less than a week old.”
“Like all gargoyles born of a dryad mother, I carry many of her memories with me—absorbed alone with the food and water while I was a part of her tree. And as I’ve said before, I have memories from my other lives, more awake each day.”
“Right.”
Lillian’s word was one of agreement but her tone and the set of her shoulders said otherwise. Sighing out a deep breath, he wondered if he’d even understand his lady in this lifetime. She was so different in her speech and her manner.
“Why do you remember all this and I don’t? What happened to my memories if it wasn’t a drowning accident?”
His stomach contracted into a tight knot. “You were not strong enough to travel through the Veil. You were damaged.” His words sounded rushed to his own ears. Merciful Divine Ones, please don’t let her guess, not yet.
“You did mention the Veil before,” she said, her eyes thoughtful, “Will I heal in time?”
“I believe so.” Please, don’t let that be another lie.
“In the meantime, what are we going to do about these Riven? And why this Realm? You call it the Mortal Realm, like it’s the poor cousin. What benefits would they gain by coming here?”
Gregory nodded his head, pleased she’d asked a question he could answer without lying to her. “Here they have the freedom to gather both strength and numbers, free from the Lady of Battles’ notice.”
“They’re planning to set up their own dictatorship. Lovely.”
“Yes, I fear that is so. However, I have more immediate concerns,” Gregory rumbled as he looked at her anew. She was coping to her new situation remarkably well. It was time to test her magic to see if he could detect any taint upon it. “Your hamadryad—your tree,” he explained, when he saw the look of confusion on her face, “was wounded during the attack and I didn’t have the strength to heal both the tree and you. I placed a weaving over the injuries to protect against further damage, but the wounds need tending. I would appreciate it if one of the dryads would guide you in learning a dryad’s magic.” He pointedly focused on Sable. “I can supply strength and my blood if needed, but the actual act of healing isn’t one of my greater skills.”
“I would be honored.” Sable bowed, and then straightening, she glided up next to Lillian. “Come, little sister. I will direct you in the use of a dryad’s power.”
Lillian glanced back at him questioningly, but Sable tugged on her arm and dragged her in the direction of the back door. He tracked the pleasant sway of his lady’s hips as she descended the stairs. Alone now, shadows curled around his body, hiding him as he summoned his gargoyle form. When he had his familiar shape back, he dropped to all fours and followed the lingering scent of dryad.
****
Hot, humid air hinted at the chance of an evening thundershower. Gregory hoped for one. Perhaps it would wash away some of the stink. He wrinkled his muzzle in distaste. The mixed odors of slaughter, old death, and burnt flesh hung over the grove. If they managed to awaken Lillian’s dryad magic, it might help purify the grove. Her natural dryad magic wasn’t linked to her powers as the Sorceress, so it should be safe for Lillian to summon without triggering any trap left by the Lady of Battles. He hoped.
Shadows cast by the maze’s west wall stretched across the glade as the sun eased closer to the horizon. A slash of white glowed among the darkness. As it came closer, the pale shape glided between the slender trunks of the trees, weaving and bucking in his joyous frenzy. Had the unicorn kept his antics up all day? Probably.
Gregory had eaten rabbits with more intelligence.
The stallion bolted straight toward Gregory. He wished the unicorn’s natural power wasn’t to see past deception. Dirt and bits of grass bombarded him as the unicorn skidded to a halt within arm’s reach. Gregory’s displeasure increased when the unicorn pranced over to Lillian with his neck arched and tail sailing like a banner in the wind. The unicorn bobbed his head and rubbed his muzzle against the dryad. Lillian laughed and stroked the unicorn’s nose, and then moved up to scratch the base of his spiral horn.
Gregory directed his thoughts at the stallion. “Have you forgotten it was a woman who tempted you into taking human form and caused your … predicament?”
“I have not forgotten.” The unicorn rolled an eye in Gregory’s direction. “But she’s very pretty and she smells delicious.”
“And you look and smell like food, too.” Gregory warned.
“Predators are
all the same, but you’re worse than most. Do you even know what a sense of humor is?”
“No.”
The unicorn inched away from Lillian.
Content, Gregory returned his attention to Sable. She and Lillian had come to a stop at the base of the hamadryad. Sable began the first lesson, unaware of what went on between gargoyle and unicorn.
“Feel your tree,” Sable was saying, “her life force humming under your hands. She is the source of your power and your strength. From her you draw life. Without her there is only death.”
Lillian glanced back at him and then beyond the arch of his wing to the remains of the shattered stone circle. She paled. But a moment later, she straightened her shoulders and placed her hands on her tree in a decisive move.
Pride swelled in his heart. His lady was strong. The Sorceress always had been—but this lifetime he had worried she would not be strong enough. For once he was happy to be proven wrong.
Lillian leaned forward until her forehead rested on the rough bark of the tree, scant inches beneath the lower of the two long slashes. The blue lattice of his weaving still glowed in the shade cast by the upper canopy.
“Even though she doesn’t know the first thing about being a dryad, she has the nicest hamadryad I’ve ever seen.” Kayla appeared at Gregory’s shoulder, standing so close she might as well have leaned against him.
Taking a step in Lillian’s direction didn’t get his point across and Kayla shadowed his move, coming along side him again. Gregory cleared his throat. “My lady has many skills.”
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