The Avatars Series: Books 1-3

by Blackwood, Lisa

  Breath froze in her lungs and she couldn’t answer as her heart did a strange little flip in her chest.

  “Is it me you fear?”

  Hearing uncertainty and dread in his tone, she turned and straddled his lap. She entwined the fingers of one hand with his and pressed the palm of her other hand against his chest where she could feel the throb of his heart. Then she raised their joined hands to her own breast and pressed his hand over hers. “No, never.”

  “I would never harm you. Not even when I was fully under Tethys’s enchantments, could she have made me harm you.”

  “Shh, I know. It’s not you I fear; it’s this,” she stroked the tattoo around his throat. “I’ve made so many mistakes and bad choices. I don’t know if I can ever make it right.”

  He took her hands and cradled them in his larger one, and then in a courtly, old world way, he pressed a kiss to the back of each. “We will face this new obstacle as we have always faced challenges, together.”

  She hugged him in a fierce embrace. I dearly hope so.

  Gregory must have caught her thought for he dipped his muzzle down and nuzzled her damp hair for several moments before one large hand came up and started to caress it in long soothing strokes.

  Even after her inner turmoil finally quieted, she continued to hold Gregory in a fierce grip until her arms grew tired, only then did she release him with a sigh and asked, “Are you hungry? Food magically walked to our door while you were still in the shower.”

  He gave her a slight nod and she padded over to where she’d set the two plates.

  ****

  Gregory was just finishing off his meal when his gaze took on a distant look, which meant he sensed something or someone was communicating with him. “What is it?” she asked, fearing bad news.

  “Your hamadryad,” he rumbled, sounding happy. So perhaps it wasn’t bad news.

  “My hamadryad can talk to you?” she prompted when he didn’t seem inclined to explain.

  “Of course, she is the Sorceress,” he said, sounding perplexed at her question. “Though, from this distance, the best she can do is send emotions. When you are finished your meal, your hamadryad has something she wants us to see.”

  Lillian glanced down at the food she’d been ‘worrying’ instead of eating. “I’m not actually that hungry. We can go now if you’d like.”

  Gregory glanced at her plate of partly eaten food with a disapproving huff, but didn’t say anything, or, thank the gods, try to get her to eat more. Her stomach was twisted in too many nervous knots to know what to do with food at the moment. Maybe whatever good news her hamadryad had would help distract her from other, less pleasant things that had occurred this night.

  She tilted her head toward the door. Still Gregory hesitated.

  “Please,” she said, sounding as tired as she felt. “I could use a little good news.”

  Gregory nodded, and led her from the cottage. Dawn was a pink hint on the horizon as they made their way back to her grove, where they’d battled the Riven not five hours before.

  Lillian trudged along beside Gregory thinking that whatever news her hamadryad wanted to share, it damn well better be good.

  Chapter Thrity-Five

  Tethys fanned her upper body with water, the gesture more out of routine than necessity for the air was cool and moist in the Lord of the Underworld’s cliff-side temple. Absently, she speculated if that was natural, for she could hear and scent the salty-brine of the ocean, or if the pleasantly hospitable climate was his doing.

  The pool she presently basked in was likely new as well, or perhaps simply a bit of repurposed architecture. She eyed the great temple where it reared high above, with its terraces and stairs cut into the rock. There were five terraces and hundreds of steps composing the entrance to the megalithic structure. Greenery and the sparkle of waterfalls and pools dotted each level.

  Odd though it was, Death’s domain held more life than what she’d seen of the Battle Goddess’s lands when Tethys arrived in spirit form beside Lillian’s oldest hamadryad.

  The hamadryad had shown her many things about the goings on within the Magic Realm. Much had changed over the millennia she’d been gone. And yet, much was still the same. She was home at last. And she wouldn’t sit idly aside while dark forces planned to abuse its bounty.

  With a burst of empathy and what Tethys would have called well-wishing in a flesh and blood being, the hamadryad had sent her to the Lord of the Underworld’s temple.

  She’d awoken in this pool some time ago to find her spirit housed in her old body—or what was a perfect duplicate.

  Apparently, the Lord of the Underworld had given her spirit a body once more and then just left her here.

  To think?

  Perhaps.

  Was she to become a tool in the war against his twin? A tool he had no plans for at present but would use at a later time? Her present location didn’t look like a prison. Behind her, the open cliff side vista and the great blue ocean called to her spirit. Reaching out with her siren’s senses, she learned that the drop from the terrace edge to the ocean below was a goodly distance, but not one that would harm her.

  Freedom was only a short distance away, she could even follow the meandering path of the streams and small waterfalls to the edge of the cliff.

  Death’s actions were not what she’d expected.

  Nothing here was.

  He hadn’t been chained as the hamadryad had shown the Battle Goddess was. At least not by any physical means. His chains were self-imposed, created by the considerable power of his iron control and the Divine Ones’ duality curse placed upon the Twins. As long as one was imprisoned, so too was the other.

  His was a willing, noble self-sacrifice and she now knew why the gargoyles revered him. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to make such a sacrifice for the good of all else.

  Deep in her own thoughts, she missed when he first emerged from his temple.

  The distance was considerable, even then, his massive size dwarfed the small trees and lush greenery lining the rough-hewn stairs cut into the cliff. The immense strides of his horse-like lower body devoured the stairs twenty at a time. Each hoof was as massive as her entire body.

  Tethys had seem many strange species, both natural and magically altered, but perhaps none as unique as the form Death wore.

  At a glance, she was reminded of the old-world centaurs with their equine bodies and human-like torsos. But that was where the similarities ended. Two massive wings erupted from just behind his equine shoulders. The membrane stretched between the stout bones looked soft and supple, not unlike a gargoyle’s wings, and they were not the only gargoyle-like attributes. Instead of an upper body like a centaur possessed, Death’s was far closer to a gargoyle’s. Great, glossy black horns swept back from his forehead as they reached for the sky. A thick mane cascaded down past his shoulders. It fluttered in the strong breeze blowing in from the ocean beyond, and he reached up with two of his four arms to tie it into a knot behind his head. His other two arms remained in place, his fists loosely clasping the hilts of two of his swords where they were tucked under his wings. She spotted the hilts of the other two poking out from behind his shoulders, half hidden in his mane.

  While she studied him in silence, he folded his legs under himself and sat next to her pool. Even then he still blocked out the sun and an involuntary shudder ran through her body.

  “I thank you for housing my spirit within my body once more,” she inclined her head in a show of respect, “for there is much I must tell you.”

  “Your spirit already told me all that has gone wrong in the Mortal Realm.” Death’s voice flowed across her senses, dark, full of mystery, and utterly beautiful.

  Beguiling. The word was invented to describe his voice.

  The power contained in her own voice was nothing in comparison to his. She wondered once again why he’d given her back her body. What use could he possibly have for her?

  “Others would say
I gave you life on a whim.”

  Others? Who would be so foolish to mock death?

  Instead she said, “But you don’t do anything on a whim, do you?”

  “No,” he said, voice echoing softly. “The Avatars sent you to me for a purpose. I gave you back your life out of love for them. You have a choice to make, siren.”

  She inclined her head, knowing what he would ask now, and already knowing her answer.

  “You may stay and become one of my subjects or go out into the world, free to do as you choose.”

  “Thank you wise one. I am honored by the choice.”

  He gave her a slight nod in acknowledgement and then with a flick of his wrist he pulled her trident out of the air; whole and unblemished—its internal song resonating deep inside her. He released it and she snatched it out of the air before it hit the water.

  “Take as long as you like to decide what path your life will take.”

  The siren bowed. “Once again, I thank you. But it will not be necessary. My path leads out into the world. There is something I must finish, a debt still to be paid.”

  Death nodded, his solemn expression unwavering, but she felt his thoughts brush hers, felt a tendril of his contentment. He already knew her new quest and was well pleased with her choice.

  She smiled, he’d likely known her decision before she herself did.

  “Go with the Light’s blessing, Tethys.” She felt his power swirl around her. “May your hunt go well and your debt be paid in full.”

  With his words fading into a faint echo, his power surged and she was pulled from the pool. Her mind and senses blurred and she didn’t know how far she’d travelled. She may have been sent half-way across the Magic Realm for all she knew.

  The open ocean, and the voices of the other oceanids called to her and she went.

  ****

  It didn’t take her long to travel the rest of the way to her intended destination. She sang as she swam, summoning all the oceanids to her. And her siren daughters came, welcoming her with joyous song.

  Far inland from the shore, a range of black mountains rose high into the sky. On the leeward side of the tallest mountain sat a temple equal in grandeur and size to Lord Death’s, though this one was cold, hard, and devoid of all warmth and beauty. Tethys studied the structure, the place where the Lady of Battles ruled her domain, a strange mix of prison and seat of power.

  Tethys looked away, for the temple held no more interest for her. It was not her target, after all. Her gaze followed the path of a glacially fed river; its cold, clear waters cascading down the mountainside until it finally emptied into a wide-mouthed estuary.

  She scanned the shoreline, pleased to see how the shoulders of the mountain came right down to the water, its foothills flanking the river so conveniently.

  Lining the sandy beach along the bay, just on the outskirts of the Battle Goddess’s domain, a mass of bodies congregated at river’s mouth—a Riven army poised to march upon the Sorceress’s hamadryad.

  It was clear they planned to travel the gentler slopes of the river valley instead of climbing the tall, craggy cliff bordering the temple. Tethys smiled and began to sing. Other voices joined her song, but the power for the spell came from her alone. She had innocent blood on her hands and it might take an age to redeem herself, but she would start with this debt. It was hers alone to pay.

  Her daughters merely came to witness as she’d asked.

  Power gathered in the ocean water surrounding her, answering her lilting summons. The slowly rolling waves grew in height and frequency as her song stretched out, away from her.

  For leagues around the ocean stirred to her call, and she absorbed the magic into her body. Her song increased in volume, the gentle melody becoming something harder and darker. The ocean reared up, great waves coming toward her, and then racing onward toward shore. She held up one webbed hand, palm out, facing the massive incoming wave. Its forward momentum froze, but the press of water behind the wave continued forward, forcing the wave to rise up, the only direction she allowed.

  Magic continued to flow into her body, faster now. Her body began to glow, illuminating the ocean with a pure white light. Above, the grey-tinted sky grew darker, the clouds amassing to the east, hurrying to her call as well. Warm magic laden air met with the cold low pressure front and flashes of lightning, and a power more than lightning, bled between the clouds.

  She sang, her voice rising above the crash of the stormy seas and the equally turbulent storm winds. Her body brimmed with magic, her bones ached with it and still she sang and absorbed the bounty of the ocean.

  Far away on shore, she felt the dark army’s attention swing out to the ocean, sensing her and the threat she called down upon them. The Riven began to stir, seeking to toss up defenses or use their demon blades to shift to another location, but the power of her song washed away their dark power, swirling, shattering, and cleansing.

  Pain bombarded her overtaxed body, it had for quite some time. With a sudden sizzling anguish, her nerves flared and died in a million tiny pin points of pain. Her body grew numb, the light brighter, the veins under her skin stood out stark and clear. Blood and magic swirled away from her dying body, but still she sang. Her spirit took up the song when her voice grew weaker.

  She only had moments left, her spirit was already preparing to leave her body. With a fragment of her consciousness not focused on the destruction of the Riven army, she looked back to her daughters with her mind’s eye.

  “Tell the Avatars that I paid my debt in full, and I thank them for showing me back to the Light.”

  With a flick of thought toward the stormy skies, she loosed the magic laced lightning down upon the Riven. Strike after strike pounded the beach, burning the Riven to ash and turning the sands to glass.

  “With my power and sacrifice I send you back to the abyss from which you crawled,” Tethys sang from her spirit, “May you become naught, know naught, and forever be naught. Let all others forget even your memory. Go now and perish.”

  Her spirit surged free of her flesh. From her position above the waves she saw her own body flash as magic ripped it asunder, becoming nothing more than flecks of light and foam on the sea.

  The great wave, which had been held back by her living will, broke free and raced toward shore. Contained within, the purifying spells she’d been singing all along flowed with it. She watched with calm assurance as the wave slammed into the bay, rose up over the beach and continued deep into the mouth of the river valley, cleansing everything it touched.

  Her oceanid daughters sang a lament to the sea, singing her onward to her next, and final journey.

  “You did well.” Death’s voice echoed in her mind, as soothing and beautiful as the first time she’d heard it. “Go now and rest. I would carry you to the Spirit Realm as I did for the heroes of old, were I still able.”

  “You honor me, my Lord. When you see the Avatars again, tell them they saved my life not once, but twice. And this debt I paid gladly.”

  “I shall.” With those last whispered words, Death was gone from her consciousness, but in its place there was a gentle tug on her spirit.

  With a burst of joy, she turned from the power of the ocean, and the song the other sirens sang in farewell, following that tug as she began her final journey home.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Gregory removed his hand from Lillian’s hamadryad and smiled at what the tree had shown them.

  “Good-bye, Tethys. I thank you for paying the debt so rarely paid. Until we meet again in the Spirit Realm.” With a full body shake and a much lighter heart, he dropped to all fours and watched as Lillian removed her hand from the tree with a thoughtful expression.

  The Riven, at least, were destroyed. There would be other enemies, and other battles, but Tethys had bought them much needed time. He promised to use that dearly bought gift wisely.

  “You saw clearly what your hamadryad showed us?” he asked.

  “Yes, but I ha
dn’t expected that. Tethys sacrificed herself. For us, for our cause. For all the humans of this world.” Lillian’s tone rang with honest bafflement.

  “She was misguided, not evil. In the end, she found her way again.” Bumping his muzzle under Lillian’s hand, he guided her out of the glade and into the maze beyond. “Come,” he sent silently, wanting the intimacy of his thoughts touching hers, “We will rest and then on the morrow, see to all the problems this night has spawned.”

  Lillian tensed, her eyes growing troubled. When he was on the verge of delving into which one of tonight’s acts caused that look, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and nodded sharply. “You’re right. We need to rest and regroup. Tomorrow is soon enough to learn what all this night has spawned. Perhaps we will be lucky and it won’t be half as bad as I fear.” Her fingers found their way to the base of his horns and rubbed with blissful pressure. His eyes drifted closed. “But whatever comes, know I’ll always love you.”

  “And I, you,” he said with a playful bunt of his head to her hip. With that, they exited the maze side by side. Gregory hadn’t felt this content in days.

  It wasn’t likely to last, he knew. But for the rest of this night, there would be peace.

  The End

  STONE’S DIVIDE

  The Avatars:

  Book 3

  LISA BLACKWOOD

  Back Cover

  Some victories feel more like defeat.

  Although the Siren’s downfall was necessary, it also brought about a growing divide between Lillian and Gregory. However, personal matters will have to wait, for there is a more immediate concern which must be dealt with first.