With a heavy sigh, Shade turned toward the forest and shifted his body to the Blight form. He wasn’t really looking forward to searching the entire country of Glis until he stumbled across a Blight hive, but it didn’t really look as though he had much choice. “Scour the country to find the creatures. Somehow make an alliance with them. Convince them to move to a formerly cursed country, and if you could, do it in less than thirty days. Gee thanks, Jala, I love you too,” Shade grumbled as he began to walk toward the distant trees. “Hey Glis, not sure if anyone told you, but its bloody spring. It’s supposed to be warm,” he added in a louder voice as the wind rose around him.
“Strange little thing isn’t he?” The woman’s voice stopped him cold in his tracks and Shade whirled to find three women sitting at a table and watching him with expressions of utter amusement.
“What the…,” Shade muttered, his eyes scanning the table and the obvious camp behind it. Each of the women wore brightly colored gowns and looked better suited to a fine gambling hall in Sanctuary than the wilderness of Glis.
“I thought Shade Morcaillo was famous for his paranoia. Didn’t Jala say he used to wear the glasses that detected the invisible?” the woman in red mused as her counterparts in green and blue watched him with playful smiles.
“He used to. One would think now that he is an outlaw, he would be even more paranoid,” The sound of Nigel’s voice spun Shade around once more and he found himself nose to nose with the dragon he had been seeking. Nigel smiled faintly and bowed his head to Shade in greeting. As always, Nigel was dressed impeccably in a finely tailored suit. Sunlight reflected off the dark glasses he wore, as well as the rings on his fingers. The expression on his face was a mirror for his female companions and filled with amusement. “Might want to start wearing those glasses again, Shade,” Nigel suggested as he sauntered past Shade toward the table and the waiting women.
“Jala said you would drop by,” the woman in blue drawled. She swirled her wine in her glass a moment then took a dainty sip as she waved a long delicate hand toward an empty seat at their table.
“Have you had a chance to meet the Three Sisters Shade?” Nigel asked conversationally as he motioned toward the three women.
“Can’t say that I have,” Shade replied neutrally. It was irritating to know they were seated a few feet from where he had landed and had decided to simply let him wander off before they actually let him know they were there. It was enough of a relief, however, to know he could get information, that he didn’t really want to complain about it.
“We don’t speak true names of course and most simply refer to them as the Three Sisters, but for novelty sake I will introduce them. Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire,” Nigel said with a smirk as he waved to each of the women in turn.
“How fitting,” Shade muttered, his gaze moving from each jewel-toned woman to the next. “I’ve actually heard of the Three Sisters before, though honestly I thought it was only two sisters now. From the stories, I thought one of you died in Avanti.”
“Injured, not killed,” Ruby sniffed indignantly and gave him a withering look.
“I thought you were guarding the border alone and I…” Shade’s voice trailed off as he gazed around the table piled with fine foods and the decanter of wine. “Really didn’t expect all this,” he finished, his eyes moving to the massive pavilion tent that was standing several feet away. If this was Nigel’s idea of roughing it, the dragon truly was city-born. The camp reminded him more of a festival gathering than a scout’s outpost.
“I never travel without the Sisters. Life is so boring without them,” Nigel replied easily, seeming more amused than offended. “I suppose I could, of course, guard the border in scales and sleep on the ground, but why would I want to?”
“Mmm. Because you are a dragon?” Shade suggested with a shrug. Honestly, he didn’t know much about the people of Nerathane, but if he had a natural form as powerful as a dragon he doubted he would ever shift out of it.
“Which essentially means I am too large to enjoy the finer things in life and too frightening to ever have a rational conversation with anyone that doesn’t have scales. I’ll pass.” Nigel waved a hand dismissively and glanced toward the forest. “You are likely more interested in information on the Blights, however. Emerald has one chained behind the tent if you would like to speak with it. I think it’s still alive,” he paused and glanced at the woman in green. “Is it still gagged?” he asked calmly.
“It was keeping me up at night, so yes,” Emerald replied with a shrug.
“Hmm. It might not be alive, then. It should still have food back there, but if it’s still gagged it can’t very well eat,” Nigel mused.
Shade stared at them each in turn as he tried to determine if they were serious or not. From the expressions on their faces it seemed as though they were. “You do realize Jala is trying to make peace with the Blights, right?” he asked cautiously.
“So she says,” Nigel agreed as he poured himself a glass of wine and offered the bottle to Shade.
Shaking his head Shade frowned at them. “Why in the bloody hell would you chain one up and starve it to death if you know she wants to make peace with them, then?” he demanded in the nicest tone he could manage. It was already a nearly impossible mission to make peace and if their so-called protectors were treating them this way there was very little chance Shade would ever gain enough trust to find their leader.
“It attacked me,” Emerald replied, as if that explained everything.
Sapphire giggled and nodded. “The stupid little thing sprang on her with claws and couldn’t seem to understand why its claws broke on her skin. Its expression was simply wonderful, such bewilderment.” She rolled her eyes and smiled widely. “As if such a pathetic little creature could actually wound a dragon with claws alone,” she added much to the amusement of the other two women.
“It is not one of the rational ones, Shade,” Nigel assured him and leaned back in his seat, his glass of wine held loosely in one hand. “It has scars all over it and growled rather than speaking. I’m not entirely sure it is right in the head.”
“Have you met Emily?” Shade asked with a hint of irritation breaking through his voice. “She growls more than speaks too, if you recall,” he added as he rose from his chair and moved toward the area where they said the Blight was chained.
“Emily is different,” Nigel replied easily and rose from his chair as well. “This thing was matted with filth and gibbering.” “Emily would be too if Jala didn’t insist on bath day,” Shade grumbled back.
“If you say so, but I think you will understand once you see it,” Nigel drawled as they rounded the corner of the tent and Shade froze in his tracks.
The Blight was smaller than any other he had seen and its skin was far darker. The creatures typically resembled the Elder Blood in appearance and beauty, but this thing was hideous. Its skull seemed to be misshapen and its body was distorted with limbs that were far too long for its height. Shade watched it for a long moment, his eyes moving across its prone form, counting the endless scars that covered its legs and back.
Its chest still rose and fell, proving it was alive, but from the looks of it, he wondered if he should bother helping it at all. It might be kinder to let it die.
“You understand now?” Nigel asked quietly. The dragon paused beside him and remained silent until Shade looked away from the Blight.
“I thought the Blights always chose the top of the food chain to mate with. This thing looks half goblin,” Shade muttered. Pity and disgust warred in his chest as he tried to decide the best way to handle the situation.
“They do, but the few humans they didn’t kill and eat have evacuated to Arovan. Now they have a choice between goblins and animals for their carnal pleasure.” Nigel paused and gave Shade a meaningful look. “From what we have seen, the animals die from such entertainments,” he added in a lower voice.
“What?” Shade demanded in complete disgust.
“And Jala wants to make peace with them,” Nigel said with a slow shake of his head. “This nasty little shit wasn’t trying to kill Emerald. It wanted entertainment from her. Simply the thought of its disgusting little paws on her makes me want to level Glis entirely to make sure I eliminate each and every one of these things, but Jala has me protecting them instead,” Nigel growled.
“Jala says the darkest of them are gone. She says she killed the evil ones. Maybe this one is just a byproduct from before she cleansed them,” Shade offered as he watched Nigel. The dragon had seemed composed and peaceful right up until his last few words. Honest fury had shown then, and Shade wondered if Jala had any idea how much Nigel resented his current assignment. He doubted she did. Jala was not the sort to force someone to do something they didn’t believe in.
“This thing isn’t evil, Shade. It’s primitive and animal-like in nature. It has urges and it acts on them. It doesn’t have a moral compass to guide its actions. That doesn’t make its actions any less disturbing, however, and the Divine only know how many of these things are wandering in Glis. Jala killed the ones that were truly evil. She didn’t kill the animalistic ones, however, and they are buggering the bears and each other as we speak,” Nigel said in a disgusted voice. “The Sisters insisted we keep this thing alive until you arrived. They say we are making peace so we can’t simply kill it and it’s best for you to determine what to do with it. Given the choice, I would destroy it. Blights are one thing, but this is a complete abomination,” he added as he turned to look Shade in the eyes.
“I’m supposed to decide if it lives or dies?” Shade asked quietly and his hand seemed to drop reflexively to the stone in his pocket that held the goblin he had captured so long ago. He hadn’t released the creature yet for this very reason. No one on Sanctuary believed the goblins could be anything other than beasts. Yet the one he had saved back from his bombing of Eldagar had shown intelligence and what he thought was an attempt to communicate. Now he was faced with a similar problem and the man asking him to decide its fate, obviously wanted the creature dead very badly.
“I honestly didn’t think it would be a difficult choice once you saw it,” Nigel said softly. A look of irritation was beginning to show on his face. “It attempted to rape one of my friends. Had Emerald not been a dragon it might have managed it,” Nigel reminded him coldly.
“I’m sorry, Nigel. I’m not good at death verdicts. It attacked your friend and you are right. If she weren’t a dragon things would have gone much worse. The natural course is to eliminate it, but I am not used to being the one to say that. The hesitation comes from the role you have given me, not from sympathy for the creature,” Shade explained quietly. He hated to admit it, but it was the truth. The creature had attacked one of the women. Had she not been a dragon, she would likely be dead. If he released it and it killed someone, their blood would be on his hands. He felt pity for the Blight. That was true. But the pity he felt would be nothing compared to the guilt he would feel if it killed or raped anyone after he released it.
“Understandable. Neph said you were annoyingly moral. You gave the correct verdict, however,” Nigel replied stiffly. He was moving before Shade could respond with a fine silver sword in his gloved hand. Shade hadn’t noticed the dragon summon the weapon, and Nigel hadn’t been wearing a sword.
Shade started to object, but bit his tongue and lowered his hand as Nigel brought the blade down swiftly across the back of the sleeping creature’s neck. The blow was well struck severing the head cleanly with a soft wet sound that turned Shade’s stomach. “How many more of these creatures do you think there are here?” he asked quietly as he looked away from the body.
“Too many,” Nigel answered quietly as he rejoined Shade still wiping the blood from his sword blade. “The land is devastated; barely any animals are left alive here. We think the Blights may have turned on each other for food source, but we aren’t sure. This one is the only one we have made contact with.” Nigel paused as his sword disappeared once more from his hand to return to where ever he had summoned it from. With a flick of his hand he pointed back at the body and muttered a spell. Magic hummed in the air and a flash of bright white light surrounded the corpse for a breath leaving nothing but ashes behind when it faded. “Jala wants peace with these things, Shade, but I honestly don’t think it can be done. They have utterly destroyed Glis and they will be moving for Arovan soon. I can hold the people of Arovan and Glis off from crossing the borders, but I can’t keep the Blights from crossing into Arovan. Every day you spend trying to achieve this task, you are risking the lives of our allies. You do understand that, don’t you?”
“I understand that fully,” Shade agreed and his gaze moved to the trees once more. “Unless you can tell me where to find them, though, I’m going to be wasting days just trying to find the main hive.”
“Ruby has flown over Glis several times. She says the worst damage to the land is in the Northwestern forests. There are no animals living there at all. I would guess the largest hive was in that area and they have most likely moved south from there. I have no evidence to support my theory beyond a predators mind, but if I were you I would look near the lakes south of that area. It would give them a fresh water supply and the few remaining animals would still rely on the lakes as a water source so they would have game as well.” Nigel shrugged as he fell silent and his expression clearly showed what a waste of time he thought the whole thing was.
“I’ll try there first, then. Thank you for the advice,” Shade said quietly and bowed his head in farewell. “And the sooner I get there, the sooner we can get this all over with and you and your ladies can return home,” he added as he turned toward the forest once more. From what he had seen, Nigel didn’t have the information he was seeking. He doubted the dragon had even bothered to try to gather information. By his reaction and words, Shade guessed Nigel had fully expected to be able to talk him out of the mission entirely.
“Wait, where is he going?” Emerald’s voice rang out softly behind him.
“You mean he is actually going to try to talk to those things?” Ruby demanded, her voice filled with disgust and disbelief. “Oh, bloody hell. I wanted to go home,” Sapphire whined.
“You were right, Jala. I am the perfect envoy for this since I seem to be the only other person that thinks this might actually work,” Shade said quietly as he quickened his step. Ruby didn’t seem to have the best temperament. He didn’t want to give her the chance to decide that her quickest way home was to eat the envoy.
Chapter 12
Merro
Neph paused in the doorway of the kitchen. He had expected the room to be empty at this time of the morning, but Valor was seated at table. The knight had his back to the door but Neph could tell by his posture that his mood was not a good one. Valor’s elbow was propped on the table with his chin resting in his palm. His attention was fully focused on something in front of him and he didn’t even stir at the sound of the door. That in itself was unusual for him. Valor was typically alert to everything around him, even when drunk.
Stepping the rest of the way through the doorway, Neph moved to the cabinet, glancing at Valor he walked by. He had guessed there would be a bottle of wine or glass of whiskey in front of him, but the only thing on the table was a large gold coin. Had to be when I decided to eat. Neph sighed with disgust as he pulled a loaf of bread from the cabinet and a wedge of cheese from the shelf. Turning, he walked back to the table and dropped both items loudly onto the table before dropping into a chair himself. Valor didn’t stir or bother looking up even with the clatter from the dishes.
“Why don’t you just explain and spare me the trouble of pretending like I care,” Neph suggested dryly as he cut a thick slice of bread, his gaze flicking to the gold coin once more.
Valor glanced up at him and back down at the coin. His hand pushed at it lightly moving it in slow circles in front of him. The motion held Neph’s eyes for a moment, but his attention was pulled past the c
oin to Valor’s hand, or rather to the rings he wore. Frowning, Neph paused what he was doing and examined the rings more carefully. One was his signet for House Hai’dia. That, Neph understood. The other, however, was the signet of House Arovan which made no sense at all. It should have been a ring of House Merrodin.
“All right, how about explaining why you are wearing the Arovan Signet if you don’t want to explain why gold depresses you. Most people like gold, you know,” Neph prodded as he returned to slicing pieces of cheese and bread for his breakfast.
“I am currently the heir of Arovan. I thought you realized that. It’s the single reason Jala and I haven’t formally married yet,” Valor replied quietly.
Neph paused once more and looked up sharply at Valor. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve heard come out of your mouth. Why in the bloody hell would you agree to be Elijah’s heir? If anything happens to Elijah you go back to Arovan, which, as I recall, the people of Arovan kind of hate you, not to mention the fact that Jala loves you. Your place is in Merro.”
“Well, Neph, with the fact that Micah is dead, as are my two siblings, the list of suitable candidates is pretty slim. It basically comes down to me and my mother for those with royal blood and my mother said no,” Valor snapped. His hand smacked down over the top of the coin and he slid it off the table and into his pocket. “Is there any part of me that looks happy about the arrangement or makes you believe it might have actually been my idea? What was I supposed to do, tell my Uncle to bugger off when he asked me?”
“Yes,” Neph answered bluntly. He had been in Merro for over three weeks now and this was the first he had heard of this matter. It had to have been something that was decided before Jala disrupted the council meeting in Arovan. He seriously doubted Elijah would have contacted Valor after that particular meeting.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse Page 24