Besides knowing how difficult it was going to be, she chose to keep our child. It was a part of us. A physical manifestation of our love, she'd said.
Over the next few months, I started to grow excited about the prospect of our having a child together. About being a family. The life of a Warden could be a very lonely affair. Sure, there was no shortage of women who wanted to sleep with me, but I wanted more than that. Craved it. Wanted the companionship that came from a solid, stable relationship.
I found it – and even more than I'd ever dared hope for – in Jessica.
As the months of Jessica's pregnancy wore on, I'd done a lot of research about our offspring, curious about what a Dragonborn/human hybrid would be like. But it was during the course of that research that I'd discovered a nugget of information that chilled me to the core.
It was just a little slice of our lore, but it had caught my attention in a big way. And had terrified me.
The Shongtal had long been trying to find a way to close the doors between Chondelai and the world of man. They wanted this world for their own. Wanted to be free to ravage and pillage as they saw fit. They sought to keep the Dragonborn from interfering with their plans for this world.
I wasn't sure what their plans were, but knowing the Shongtal like I did, I knew it wouldn't be good for humanity.
According to the lore, because a child born of a union between Dragonborn and human had a foot in both worlds, that child was special. Unique. It could be used to slam the Dragon Doors forever. All it required was the blood and life force of the child.
And there was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.
Jessica's screams echoed throughout our small apartment at the same time a tremendous clap of thunder shook the building. But then she fell silent and I felt my heart jump into my throat. Turning from the window, I rushed down the hallway and threw the bedroom door open, trying to prepare myself for the worst.
But when I walked into the bedroom, I found Chelsea sitting on the edge of the bed, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. For sitting upright in the bed, looking exhausted and in pain, was Jessica – a small wrapped bundle in her arms.
Jessica looked up at me, her smile almost too big for her face, and tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Is – that –” I started to ask.
Jessica nodded. “Say hello to your daughter,” she said, her voice weak and raspy.
I stepped forward and looked at the small girl in Jessica's arms. She handed my daughter to me and I held her close to my chest, marveling at her beauty. She had her mother's eyes and delicate features. There was honestly, almost no physical trace of me in the baby. But that didn't bother me in the least – our little girl was sheer perfection as far as I was concerned.
I sat down next to Jessica and handed the baby back to her. We sat there, side-by-side, just staring at this wonderful little blessing. Our child. A child I feared I would never get to see grow up. Not with what was coming for us. I was tough, a strong fighter, but I didn't know what the Shongtal had in store for us. Or how many there would be. I'd tried to summon reinforcements, but so far, had heard nothing in response.
I closed my eyes, holding back my own tears, and said a silent word, begging for help to arrive in time to save us.
When I heard the clock in the living room chime though, I knew time had run out. It was midnight. The time of night when their power was the greatest. I looked to Jessica and Chelsea, both looked absolutely terrified – not that I blamed them in the least.
“It's time,” I said. “You both know what to do, yes?”
They looked at me and nodded, both growing paler by the second. I leaned down and kissed my child on the forehead, relishing the feel of her soft skin upon my lips. And when I looked into Jessica's eyes, I saw the love for me burning hotter than the sun. I leaned forward and kissed her, trying to put every ounce of my love for her behind it.
I stood up, adrenaline shooting through my body and setting my every nerve ending on fire when I heard the pounding on the door. They were there.
I walked out of the room, picking up my sword as I made my way down the hall, my tension growing with every step. I stood in the middle of the living room as the pounding on the door continued.
“Ozaryan,” came a voice from the other side of the door. “We know the child is in there. Give it to us and we will spare your life.”
I closed my eyes and opened myself to the power of the storm outside. A booming crash of thunder shook the building and I felt my power growing as I absorbed the storm's energy.
“Ozaryan” came the voice again. “Last chance. Give us the child or we come in and take it.”
Gripping my sword tight, I summoned the power of the storm that was building inside of me. Lighting erupted from my fingertips, the windows in the room shattering and the front door exploding outward.
Knowing there was but one way to kill a Shongtal, I stepped to the ruined doorway to look for the creature to put an end to it. It was already rising from the smoldering ruin of wood. Moving swiftly, I lanced out with my sword, the tip of my blade slicing through the body of the man it was inhabiting. It screamed with a fury that rivaled the storm outside, but red light burst from its eyes as the demon inside the body died.
It was then that I noticed half a dozen more standing on the steps leading up to my door, waiting as if they'd expected what I'd done. I backed into my apartment, sword at the ready. Six to one – not great odds, but I had to play the hand I was dealt.
“Come on then,” I said. “Let's finish this.”
“Anxious to die, Warden?”
A tall, thin woman stepped through the doorway, a predatory smirk upon her face. She was followed by five men of varying heights and weights – the Shongtal apparently weren't picky when it came to picking the bodies they took control of. I supposed it didn't matter. Their power didn't come from the bodies, it came from them. They were infused with a demonic power that was frightening in its capacity for destruction.
“I'm feeling magnanimous tonight, Warden,” the woman said. “So, I'll give you one more opportunity. Give us the child and we'll be on our way. Nobody needs to die here tonight.”
She turned and looked back at the body of the man I'd run through and smirked.
“Well – nobody else, anyway,” she said.
With my free hand, I summoned as much energy as I could and flicked my wrist, sending two silver throwing stars at the men to her right. Both hit home, sinking deep into the flesh of the creatures. Both screamed and clutched their heads, but the damage was done. Red light burst from their eyes and they fell to the ground, as dead as the man in the hallway.
The woman looked at me and sighed, shaking her head. “It did not have to be this way, Warden.”
That left four of them. Still not great odds, but better than before. To nullify the advantage they had – as well as to prevent any of them from slipping down the hallway behind me – I stationed myself just inside the archway that led to the bedroom where Jessica was.
If they wanted her, they were going to have to go through me. A task that I'd just made a little more difficult by forcing them to fight me one-on-one.
They rushed at me, but because of the narrowness of the hallway, they had no choice but to wait their turn to get a shot at me. The first man stepped forward, a heavy broadsword in his hand. He raised it and brought it down in a murderous arc that surely would have split my head wide open. But I danced backward, just out of reach, and the edge of his blade buried itself in the wooden floor.
Before he was able to rip it free, I stepped forward and drove the point of my blade into the man's throat. His eyes opened wide and he opened his mouth to scream, but all that came out was a wet, gurgling sound. The red light erupted from his eyes as the demon inside of him died. I pulled my sword free and stepped back, allowing the body to slump to the floor.
“This is entertaining, but it's all for nothing, Warden,” the woman called to me. “
I will only summon more of my warriors.”
“Then summon them,” I said. “I can do this all night.”
The man before me moved aside and I wasn't able to react in time. A knife shot out of the darkness of the living room, burying itself up to the hilt in my side. I grunted in pain as the blade tore through my flesh. I felt warm blood rolling down my body and then felt that something was wrong. My skin burned and there was a strange sensation coursing through my body.
“In case you wondered,” the woman said. “The blade of that dagger was coated in a rare poison. It's deadly to the Dragonborn. Or so I'm told. You'll have to tell me if that's true or not.”
“W – where did you get it?” I gasped.
It had been only moments, but I was already feeling lightheaded, my vision starting to blur and grow fuzzy around the edges. I tried to shift into my dragon form – an act of sheer desperation – but found that I couldn't. Whatever the poison was, it had me locked in my human skin.
“Doesn't matter where I got it,” she said. “It only matters that it's effective. And judging by the amount of sweat pouring off you, I'd say it is.”
I was dying. There really was no other way around it. I felt my body growing weaker with each passing second. Knowing that I was about to die, I wanted to see Jessica one last time. I stumbled back to the bedroom door, barely strong enough to hold onto my sword. When I got to the doorway, I threw it open, stepping inside clumsily, and then closed and locked the door behind me.
The Shongtal were in no hurry – they knew they'd won.
I sat down on the edge of the bed, swaying and unsteady. Jessica looked at me with tears in her eyes. She knew what was about to happen.
“I – I'm sorry,” I said. “I tried to protect you and I failed.”
She laid her hand against my cheek and through her tear stained face, gave me a small smile. “You did not fail, my love,” she said softly. “And if this is how it has to be, at least we'll be together at the end.”
Her strength and courage, even in the face of her own looming death, set a fire in my belly. I may not have much longer in this world, but I was going to make the Shongtal pay. I leaned forward and kissed Jessica, knowing it would be the very last time our lips met.
Standing up, I waited. The Shongtal were gathered on the other side of the door. More had come and they crowded into the hallway beyond the door. I could feel their dark malevolence growing and multiplying.
But I had a surprise for them.
Using as much strength as I could muster, I raised my arms, summoning the lightning outside. I spoke a few words of an incantation I knew and outside, the thunder boomed with the intensity of a cannon. It was what came next though, that brought a smile to my face.
I closed my eyes and I could sense the bolt of lightning as it shot out of the clouds overhead, streaking for the apartment. It came through the blown-out windows and straight down the hallway – incinerating the bodies of the Shongtal standing outside my door. At least, some of them. And judging by the intensely agonized screaming I heard coming from the hallway, that bolt of lighting had done damage to a good number of them.
It wouldn't kill them, but it would ruin the bodies they'd stolen enough that they have to go and find another.
The bedroom door burst inward and the woman stood there, clearly unamused. Half of her face was scorched and the smell of burnt flesh accompanied her. Three or four of her minions crowded into the room behind her.
I looked to Jessica and found that rather then terror, her face was set in an expression of grim determination and resolve. She clutched the swaddled bundle to her chest protectively, as if she was daring any of the Shongtal to take it from her.
And when one of the woman's minions reached for Jessica, she buried her silver dagger into his chest. The demon screamed and fell dead upon the bed, the red light in its eyes fading to nothingness. The woman looked at Jessica and then at me, slightly annoyed, slightly amused.
“Your woman is feisty,” she said. “I like that. But it's time to end this game.”
She turned and in one smooth motion, drew and hurled a dagger that hit Jessica in the forehead with a loud thump, the blade burying itself deep. I watched in horror as Jessica – the love of my life – slumped backward on the bed, her eyes rolled back, her mouth hanging open. She was dead. Gone. Forever.
I screamed out and using the last of my strength, raised my sword as the woman grabbed hold of the bundle in Jessica's arms. Two of her minions stepped forward and drove their swords into my midsection. Their steel hissed as it entered my body and I groaned in agony. I used the life force within me to charge myself, sending a bolt of electricity up through the swords, electrocuting both of the Shongtal fighters. They screamed and flew backwards, hitting the floor with a thud.
The woman though, howled in rage as she realized that she'd been duped. The bundle she'd taken from Jessica contained nothing more than another blanket. I smiled wide, knowing that my child was out of her reach, gone with Chelsea just as I'd instructed.
I'd failed in my duty to protect Jessica, but at least I'd managed to protect my child – and protect the world I'd sworn to serve by denying the Shongtal. It was the one thing I took comfort in as I felt my life force ebbing.
The last thing I saw was the woman turn to me, rage flashing through her eyes as she approached, the light in the room glinting off the edge of her blade.
Chapter Two
Astrid
Present Day...
I set the alarm and exited my shop, locking the door behind me before closing and locking the gate . You could never be too careful, after all. Though a bookstore wasn't the likeliest of targets for would-be thieves, you just never knew.
My bookstore – The Attic – had been open for a little over a year now, and it was doing pretty well. It encouraged me – and made me happier than I could say – that people still seemed to love the written word. Books were my life. Always had been. Within the pages of a good book, I could lose myself for hours, traveling to faraway worlds, meeting brave and dashing strangers, and having grand adventures.
Basically, within the pages of a book, I found lives that were everything my own life was not.
But that was okay. I was fine with it, actually. I preferred my quiet little life. I had my bookstore, an apartment I loved, and a small circle of good friends. That was all I really needed to be happy. Some found me cold or aloof, but the truth of the matter was that I just didn't care to be around people all that much. I never had, really.
“Hey, Astrid,” Pete called as I stepped into the shop.
“Hey yourself,” I said, giving him a smile.
Pete's shop was part of my regular routine. On Friday nights, I always popped into Pete's deli to grab a sandwich and some supplies before I hunkered down at home for the night with a movie or a good book – oftentimes both, as I read late into the night.
Pete made the most amazing subs I'd ever had and I always look forward to Friday nights.
“The usual Friday night special?” Pete asked.
“You know it.”
“Comin' right up.”
Pete was a tall, gregarious Italian man with salt and pepper colored hair and a midsection as big as his heart. He was a good man who routinely fed the homeless when they stopped in and made all his customers feel welcome, more like family than customers. It was no wonder he'd been in business in this neighborhood for more than twenty-five years.
My Friday night special was Pete's special toasted meatball sub. The bread he used was perfect – a little crusty on the outside, yet soft in the middle. His sauce – oh, the sauce on his meatballs was magical – a near orgasmic experience, truth be told. Besides he topped it off with some wonderfully ooey-gooey, mozzarella cheese.
I could feel my mouth watering while I waited for him to finish up with my sandwich. I could hardly wait to get home so I could tear into it.
While he worked on my dinner, I grabbed a bag of Cheeto Puffs – because
I was apparently, still a child who enjoyed such things – and a few bottles of soda to get me through the night. Yeah, not the healthiest of meals, but what did I care? I wasn't trying to impress anybody.
Pete finished assembling the sandwich and popped it into the oven to be toasted. After that, he came over and leaned on the counter in front of me, smiling broadly.
“Can I ask you something, Astrid?”
“Fire away.”
“Don't take this the wrong way or nothin', but why don't you have a boyfriend?” he asked. “You're young, successful, beautiful. You should be out on the town on a Friday night instead of sittin' here lookin' at my old, ugly mug.”
I leaned over the counter and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. “Your mug is just fine,” I said. “And you're not that old.”
“Old enough to be your old man.”
I shrugged. “Fifty is the new thirty, they say.”
Pete laughed. “They say a lot,” he said. “But stop changing the subject. You deserve to be happy, Astrid.”
“I am happy,” I replied. “You have no idea just how crazy happy your meatball sub makes me.”
“Woman cannot live by meatball sub alone, you know.”
“That's very true,” I said. “Which is why I only get one on Friday nights.”
Pete laughed and shook his head. In truth, he was something of a father figure to me. The trouble with that was, he sometimes acted like a father. Over the last year, I'd gotten to know him pretty well and liked him enormously. With having my own parents long dead and no other family that I knew of, I had pretty much been on my own for quite a while.
Which could help explain my avoidance of people, relationships and general social awkwardness.
Pete continued to look at me, his question still hanging in the air between us. I knew he wasn't going to give me a pass and would probably withhold my sub until I answered him.
Mated to a Bear (Legends of Black Salmon Falls Book 3) Page 112