“Are you alright?” Raven asked, concern filling her voice. “I saw you take a pretty big hit from a lion down there. It’s a good thing Zeke was nearby and saw it, too. That lion was angry.”
Until that moment, Mac had forgotten all about the pain in her shoulder. She had been too filled with emotion to even notice it. But Raven’s question brought the searing pain back into sharp focus. Mac winced, and realized that she was probably going to need some pretty strong pain meds over the next few days. For now, she just did her best to smile bravely over at Raven.
“I’m fine,” Mac said. “Just gonna be a bit bruised and sore, I think.”
Just then, a black SUV with the official Falcon Cross crest on it drove up to the edge of town square. Mac watched as Peter, the head of the wizard High Council, stepped out of the vehicle and started walking quickly toward her. He was wearing black robes and a matching black hat, the simple yet elegant uniform that most of the High Council members wore to work on a daily basis. Dress robes were too delicate to be worn every day, so this was how Peter usually looked when Mac saw him.
Peter’s face was paler now than Mac had ever seen it, and yet there was still an air of confidence and calmness in the way the High Councilor moved. He swept up next to Mac and Raven and looked at them with a grave expression on his face.
“Is the situation contained?” he asked.
Mac raised a surprised eyebrow. She was surprised that Peter would have come out into the open if he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the danger was over. He was too precious for Falcon Cross to lose him. Then again, he never had been the type to shy away from danger. In fact, a few years ago when the wizards had gone to attack the Redwood Dragons and bring home Bree Riley, the wizard advocate who had discovered the location and importance of the dragon sapphire, Peter had insisted on leading the attack. Many had argued with him, and told him that he would better serve Falcon Cross by protecting himself. And yet, he had gone to the Redwoods. And, of course, he had managed to come back in one piece. Perhaps Mac shouldn’t really be all that surprised that Peter was out here when the battle had just settled down.
“Yes, the situation is contained,” Mac said. “The attacking army has been completely defeated. But I haven’t heard a report yet on what the damages were. I think Raven was just about to share?”
Mac looked expectantly over at Raven, who nodded solemnly. “Well, happily I can report that we appear to have totally demolished the attacker’s army. As far as we can tell, not a single person escaped. This is good news for us, since it will prevent any word of mouth information about the battle from reaching their leader. Unfortunately, it appears that many of the humans in the attacker’s army were wearing cameras, which were transmitting images of the battle back to someone, presumably their leader. So whoever is leading them saw what happened and, unless he’s an idiot, will realize that the army’s biggest weakness was its inability to fly.”
“So they are going to send back a new army, full of shifters and wizards who can fly,” Peter said.
“Potentially, yes,” Raven said with a sigh.
“We’ll have to prepare for another attack,” Mac said. “I’m sure there are many more coming. But for the moment, at least, things are calm. What about the death toll for Falcon Cross?”
Mac felt a lump in her throat as she asked the question. She almost didn’t want to know, but she knew that she would have to face the cold, hard numbers eventually. When Raven spoke, though, Mac realized that the moment to face those numbers had not yet come, of course.
“We don’t know the Falcon Cross death toll,” Raven said. “The battlefield is a mess, and the bodies of the attackers and of our Falcon Cross soldiers are all hopelessly mixed together. We have wizards working on the situation, but it’s going to take a while to clean up.”
Mac watched as Peter stroked his face thoughtfully. He seemed to be contemplating something, although Mac couldn’t imagine what. She was too shell-shocked right now to take a guess at the inner thoughts of a High Councilor. But then, Peter spoke.
“They got in by breaking through the invisibility shield, correct?” he asked.
Raven nodded. “We’re not sure how they discovered where we are, but they had a lot of wizards with them. Once the location was discovered, the wizards got to work on breaking the protective shield that surrounded Falcon Cross. Unfortunately, they were able to do so much quicker than we thought they could have, and they attacked in full force once they were in.”
“And why didn’t anyone see them in the forest when they were approaching the city?” Peter asked, a sharp note of disapproval in his voice. Mac and Raven both cowered a bit at his tone. He was not pleased that security had been breached, and if anyone was to blame it was Mac and Raven. Mac was commander of the whole military operation after all, and Raven led the groups of guards that often patrolled the city. Mac hadn’t even had a chance to talk to Raven yet, so she wasn’t sure herself what had happened.
“The enemy wizards cast powerful invisibility spells,” Raven said. “They were able to hide their entire army that way, and we didn’t see them until it was too late.”
“I thought we train our army, especially our scouts, on how to recognize when someone was hidden behind an invisibility spell,” Peter said, the disapproval still evident in his tone.
“Well, we do,” Raven said. “And we have some very highly-trained wizards who have been able to recognize every invisibility spell thrown at them in all of our war games with other clans. But these wizards had some kind of spells I’ve never seen before. I honestly don’t know how they did it.”
Raven looked like she was at a loss for words, but Peter was stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Dark magic,” he finally said, a frown evident on his face even behind his thick white beard.
“Dark magic?” Raven repeated.
Just then, another black SUV drove up. This time, when it stopped, all of the dragon shifters piled out. They were back in human form now, and all wearing jeans and t-shirts. Several of them had scratches or gashes in various spots on their face and arms, but overall none of the seemed to have been wounded too badly in the battle.
Mac’s eyes met with Zeke’s, and the care and concern filling his gaze as he looked over at her was enough to make her heart do a flip-flop. She felt a rush of heat and desire go through her being as he walked toward her, looking down at her and asking in a husky voice.
“Are you alright?”
Mac nodded. “I’ve got a pretty sore shoulder, but other than that I’m fine, mostly thanks to you. Thanks for saving my life.”
Zeke’s lips turned up into a smile. “It was nothing,” he said, his voice raw with emotion. “I never would have forgiven myself if anything happened to you.”
Mac smiled weakly back at him, unsure of what to say and feeling a bit weak in the knees from all the emotions flooding through her. It wasn’t Zeke’s responsibility to protect her any more than it was anyone else’s, but Mac felt incredibly turned on by how much he cared for her.
If anyone else had noticed the moment passing between them, they didn’t say anything. Raven was busy catching the dragons up on everything she had just told Peter and Mac, and Mac noticed that Peter’s frown was deepening as Raven went through the story again.
“It sounds to me like the enemy is using some very ancient dark magic,” Peter repeated when Raven had finished.
“Dark magic?” Noah asked, looking from Peter to Raven to Mac and back again. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“No, it’s not,” Peter said. “If our opponent, whoever he or she might be, is using dark magic, then things are only going to get worse from here. Dark magic consists of ancient spells known for their incredible power—and for twisting the souls of whoever uses them.”
“Twisting souls?” Zeke asked, sounding both confused and skeptical. Mac was already shuddering, though. She had studied dark magic briefly during school, and she already knew much of what Peter was about to expla
in.
“Dark magic is very powerful,” Peter said. “The spells can accomplish many things that ordinary spells cannot. But that power comes at a price. Every time a wizard casts a dark magic spell, that spell eats away at the person’s soul. You see, spells that powerful require more fuel than just a magic ring and a talented wizard’s ordinary magical abilities. They draw on the very fabric of a wizard’s being.”
“I don’t understand,” Owen said. “Are you saying that a wizard practicing dark magic is literally losing his or her soul?”
“That’s exactly it,” Peter said. “And let me tell you, a soulless wizard is a frightening thing to behold. They care about no one and nothing except for themselves. They will destroy anyone and everything in their path. They don’t follow the human or wizard rules of decency. We have many forbidden spells in the wizarding world. Just like humans have laws prohibiting things like murder, wizards have laws prohibiting different spells that would cause harm. A soulless wizard will not only disregard the laws, he will also twist the prohibited spells to make them as awful as he possibly can. Eventually, dark magic will kill the wizard that uses it, but not until that wizard has left great damage in his wake.”
“Why would anyone use magic that they know is going to kill them?” Myles asked.
Peter gave a sad shrug. “For some, even death cannot dim the allure of power. Those people are often the most dangerous and destructive, and I fear that we are dealing with that kind of enemy now.”
“What can we do about it, though?” Raven asked. Mac could tell she was trying to look brave, but her voice quavered when she spoke.
“For the moment, what we can do is to clean up the town and bury our dead,” Mac said. She forced herself to speak in a strong, authoritative voice. This had been a long hard, day, and she wanted nothing more right now than to go home and curl up in her bed and cry. But there would be time for that later. Right now, it was important that her soldiers saw a confident, brave commander who was in control of the situation. She looked over at Peter, and he seemed to be looking at her with approval, so she continued.
“While the town is being cleaned up, I will be working with Zeke to develop a clear strategy for how we will prepare our army. We were lucky this time. Our enemy for some reason did not think it was necessary to send any soldiers capable of flying. I can almost guarantee that next time we will not be so lucky. Raven, I think the very first thing you should do is to recast the invisibility and protective shield spell. We’ve seen that it doesn’t stop our enemies, but at least it slows them down and gives us a warning that they are coming.”
“Actually, I’d like to cast the protective spells this time,” Peter said, speaking up.
Mac looked over at him in surprise. Raven was exceptionally good at protective spells, and Peter knew that. Even Peter himself was unlikely to improve upon the invisibility spell that Raven had cast. Raven looked a little bit hurt, but Peter put his finger in Raven’s face and shook it a few times.
“I know you’re a damn good spellcaster, Raven Morey,” Peter said. “So don’t think I’m trying to say otherwise. But I know advanced protective spells that are much more powerful than your ordinary invisibility and protective shield spells.”
Mac was taken aback. “Then why didn’t we use them already?” she asked. It didn’t surprise her that Peter knew spells she had never heard of. He was always pulling some random spell out of his pocket that no one in Falcon Cross had ever heard of before. But she couldn’t think of any reason that he would not have already used a more powerful protective spell to defend his village, if he knew one.
“The spells I know are so powerful, in part, because they focus on one thing,” Peter said. “In other words, they are shield spells, not invisibility spells. They protect amazingly well, but they are not able to hide our location.”
“But, isn’t that dangerous?” Raven asked. “Just having Falcon Cross out there in the open like that?”
Peter smiled at her. “Well, we can hide if we want to, but our enemy has already discovered our location. Even if they don’t have the exact coordinates, they know the general area. So rather than continue trying to hide from them, we should build up our defenses even more.”
Mac nodded slowly. “Makes sense,” she said.
Peter smiled. “Glad you agree with me, Commander,” he said. “I’m off to cast the spells now, and then I’ll be holding an emergency meeting with the High Council. We’d like an update on military plans by tomorrow afternoon, if possible.”
“Of course, your Honor,” Mac said.
And just like that, Peter nodded and turned to go back to his SUV.
“Is there anything else you need from me?” Raven asked. “If not, I think I should go help with the cleanup efforts.”
“No, I don’t need anything else right now,” Mac said. “Go ahead and get started on cleanup. It won’t be a fun job, but the sooner we get it over with the better.”
“We’ll go with you,” Noah said. “If we shift into dragon form we can make quick work of moving the bodies, especially the ones from the enemy that you’re going to just want to bury in a communal grave.”
“We’d really appreciate your help,” Mac said. “Although, Zeke, you should stay behind with me. We have some planning to do.”
Zeke nodded solemnly. In the next instant, Raven climbed onto her broom and zoomed away. Noah, Myles, and Owen shifted into dragon form and joined Raven in the air, flying off toward the outskirts of town where Mac knew several wizards would already be hard at work on the cleanup efforts. Once Raven and the dragons were out of sight, Mac turned wearily to look at Zeke. His eyes were searching hers again, filled with concern that warmed her to her core. She wished she could collapse into his strong arms, but this was not the time or place for that.
“Come on,” she said, motioning toward the black SUV that had brought the dragons over and was still waiting patiently near the curb. “Let’s head back to my office. We have a lot of work to do.”
He nodded and turned to follow her toward the SUV. A sad sigh escaped Mac’s lips as Zeke held the door of the SUV open for her. If only they were heading back to her office to resume their makeout session. But no. Instead, they were heading back there to await a death count and to try to figure out how to prevent even more carnage.
Chapter Eight
The blows to the Falcon Cross army were not as bad as they might have been. Mac had lost about fifty wizards. While this was a big blow to the morale of the Falcon Cross clan, it was a bit of a relief to Mac. She had braced herself for numbers in the hundreds, and considered anything below fifty to be a resounding success. One big memorial service was held three days later, commemorating all of the soldiers who had so bravely died in the war, and the families of those who had passed also held individual funerals for their loved ones.
The mood in Falcon Cross had changed. Before the attack, the wizards had all been going on about their business as usual. Most had still been jolly, and had not taken the threat of war all that seriously. It was hard to imagine war, when you had never seen one, and even your grandparents or great-grandparents had never seen one. There had been peace in Falcon Cross for so long that everyone had forgotten what it was like to be faced with the heartache and terrors of war.
Now that many of their own number had died, though, the wizards were somber. They went through their days nervously, always glancing over their shoulders as though an attacker might suddenly appear and try to kill them, too. They spoke in whispers, and Mac had a feeling that much of that whispering was directed at her. She knew that many were not happy with the way the way the battle had turned out, although it had actually turned out much better than it could have. Falcon Cross had been extremely lucky that none of the attackers could fly. Next time, they might not be so lucky.
Mac frowned now, as she sat in her office sipping slowly at a steaming hot mug of coffee. It was nearly eight o’clock in the evening, and the sun was setting slowly somewhere beh
ind the trees. The light coming in through Mac’s office window was fading, but she didn’t bother yet to get up and turn on her office lights. She sat, sipping her coffee and thinking.
Were the people of Falcon Cross right? Was she to blame for the fact that wizards had died? She had done her best to lead them, but perhaps, as Zeke had accused her of in the beginning, she had not worked as hard or as quickly as she should have. She was young, and although the people of Falcon Cross had once celebrated how precocious she was, this week they had whispered that she was too youthful and inexperienced to be leading an army.
Mac frowned. The truth of the matter was that everyone in Falcon Cross was too inexperienced to be leading an army. No one here had seen war. The closest they had come had been the battle for the dragon sapphire in the Redwoods a few years ago, but even that had been a relatively small skirmish, and none of the Falcon Cross wizards had actually died. No, Falcon Cross was completely oblivious to what a real war felt like. The wizards may have studied wars, and played war games, and practiced defensive drills—but none of it was real. Things had just gotten very real, and the whole town was reeling. It had been a week since the attack, and Mac still felt like she was in a fog. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been as shocked at how awful it felt to actually fight a battle and see your soldiers killed, but there was no way to put the emotions into words. It was something that, unless you had experienced, you could never truly understand.
The dragons understood, Mac thought. True, they had all been young when the last great shifter war had occurred. But they had still experienced the pain of it. They had all become orphans in the war, and Mac figured there wasn’t much that could be more painful than suddenly losing both of your parents at once.
Thinking of the dragons made Mac think of Zeke, as she so often did these days. They had not kissed again since the night of the attack, even though Mac had seen Zeke constantly over the last week. The two of them had reached a compromise on how to best build the Falcon Cross Army. Zeke had agreed that some recruiting efforts were needed. The army that attacked had been huge, and it was clear that it had only been a portion of the enemy’s forces. The information they had managed to glean from searching the belongings of the dead enemy soldiers revealed that the army that attacked had been a preliminary force, sent to weaken Falcon Cross. Mac guessed that an army at least three times as large as what they had faced still remained to be defeated.
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