Tales of the Feisty Druid Boxed (Books 1-3): Age Of Magic - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Tales of the Feisty Druid Boxed Set)

by Candy Crum

  "That's one hell of a way to welcome a lady!" Talia shouted.

  One by one, the remnant jumped from the edge of the hill, landing the twenty or so feet below. They rolled as they landed, quickly coming back to a standing position, and descended the side of the mountain with death on their faces as they approached the two women standing on their land.

  Talia couldn't help but admire how agile and coordinated they were given that they were known to be stupid, mindless beasts.

  There was one remnant larger than the rest standing at the front as they approached. He walked straight up to the edge of Talia’s barrier and smiled, his red eyes staring directly into hers as his jagged, broken teeth showed through his dangerous grin.

  "It ain't very often that dinner comes to me," he commented, his voice guttural and terrifying to a normal person—though Talia found it rather exciting.

  It was an adrenaline rush for her to stand there in remnant territory, staring one of them down. It was like facing death head-on with only a thin barrier separating them.

  Talia laughed, the darkness of it catching even the remnant off-guard. "Oh, I assure you that dinner hasn't delivered itself today either. I came to speak to you, woman to beast. Now, are you the one in charge around here, or do I need to take your head to the one who is?"

  There was a pause as the remnant studied her before he threw his head back and gave a loud laugh. The other remnant behind him followed suit, chortling right along with their leader.

  He reached out and touched the barrier with the tip of his finger, the power of it burning his skin. Talia could smell the charred flesh and see the smoke rolling off it as his cold eyes stared into hers. He didn't flinch as he allowed himself to burn for a moment before finally pulling away.

  "You're a little stronger than I gave you credit for. I bet that means you taste better, too," he told her, licking his lips.

  The beast made her sick, but not because she was afraid of him. She knew that she would never physically stand a chance against him, but she knew without a doubt that she was much stronger in other ways. She felt offended that he would think she would so easily be taken as prey.

  Keeping her focus on her barrier, she took a step forward. "Promises, promises. All the boys say that, but they always seem to let me down. Which is why I'm not going to give you the chance. Now, if you're done flirting, we can get down to business."

  Talia could almost feel Scarlett's apprehension as the woman shifted her weight back and forth before stepping right behind her. Talia didn't care. She could handle herself; her companion was only there for backup if needed.

  "Those are strong words coming from a scared little girl in a shield," he sneered. "Why don't you drop it and let me flirt with you out here?"

  Talia smiled, cocking her head to the side a little as she maintained constant eye contact. "Oh, sweetheart. You think I'm afraid of you. That's cute."

  Talia reached behind her with both hands, placing them on Scarlett's hips as she took a few steps back to guide her companion to take a few steps back as well. Once there were several feet between them and the remnant, Talia removed her hands and stepped just outside of the barrier.

  The remnant crossed his large arms over his chest as he watched Talia. She slowly took one step, and then another, each movement controlled and confident as she strolled up to the beast.

  She stopped when there was no more than a foot or so between them. "Is this better? Can you hear me now?" she asked.

  The remnant shook his head. "I ain't sure if you're brave, or if you're fuckin' stupid."

  "I believe the one that you're looking for is confident. I'm very confident."

  The remnant was fast, but Talia's reflexes were faster. As his arms unfolded and darted for her, she threw her own hands out, sending him flying several feet back onto the ground. Without wasting a single moment, she arced her hands over her chest, conjuring two large fireballs before throwing them next to him on the ground.

  She controlled the flames, encircling him as the dead brush around him caught fire.

  The other remnant quickly ran forward, and Talia was equally fast to react. She pulled two daggers from sheaths on her lower back and threw them, each one hitting a different remnant in the chest and dropping them.

  Three more came at her, and she turned, throwing her hands out in front of her and letting a burst of energy blow forward, sending them back into another approaching remnant.

  She quickly extended her hands to her sides, flexing her entire body as she pulled downward, extracting what little water there was in the air around her to create ice shards.

  "Stop!" the remnant leader shouted.

  A few listened, but most continued charging for Talia. With the flick of her wrist, shards of ice cut through the air, impaling several in the chest and face, ending them before a single extra step had been taken.

  The leader was fast to intervene, snatching another of his men by the arm before he could advance farther. He threw him to the ground, standing on his throat.

  “I said STOP!” he yelled, his voice booming out over everything.

  The rest of the men and women immediately halted, some even taking a few steps back. Talia's eyes locked on the leader’s as he stood inside the thick flames. Talia didn't stir, and she didn't drop the remaining ice she had created.

  She stood there, watching his every move as he took a step forward, briefly standing in the flames before walking the rest of the way across.

  She realized at that moment that her fire had done nothing to him; he'd allowed her to hold him there. His skin burned, but he didn’t care. He was clearly curious about what she could do.

  He took several steps forward, slowly approaching her. There was a dark smile on his face, telling her that he was clearly amused by her.

  "Impressive," the remnant told her. "I think that you might have actually taken every one of them by yourself had I not intervened."

  Talia smiled. "Good boy. I was starting to think I was gonna have to kill everyone before I got you to listen to reason. And people say you guys have no brains!" She laughed. "Certainly, smart enough not to let me kill all your men. Now, that business I mentioned?"

  He nodded and pointed to the ice shards in her hands. "You can drop those now. You'll have no need for them. I promise to be a good boy... For now."

  Slowly Talia dropped her hands and allowed the ice to fall to the ground. It almost immediately melted, the dry earth soaking it up.

  "What the hell are you doing?" Scarlett whispered from behind her. Scarlett had stepped out of the barrier and came to stand behind her once again. "You’ll get yourself killed."

  Talia scoffed. "This was partly your idea, remember? I'm so glad I brought back-up. You were almost completely useless. Now, shut up and let me work. You've proven yourself to be no better than a damn ornament. Piss me off again and I'll feed you to them as a peace offering."

  Scarlett glared at Talia, but wisely didn't say anything. Talia turned her focus back to the remnant in front of her. His eyes were narrowed as he smiled down at her, the very image of it horrifying to the normal person. She was undeterred.

  "So, what did you have in mind?" he inquired.

  "I'm glad you asked," Talia replied, smiling. "I have one hell of a deal to make with you, the prize at the finish line being Arcadia."

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Leaving Cathillian that morning had been rather difficult. Arryn hadn't been sure he was feeling more like himself, though he certainly acted that way.

  Days ago, Arryn had made a promise to Amelia that she would have a one-on-one discussion with Talia. It wasn't something she was looking forward to, but given the idea that Jenna could be snooping around and getting ready to cause trouble, she needed to know sooner rather than later if Talia was the one they were looking for.

  Arryn hated herself for being so obsessed, but with Doyle's warning and her terrible gut feeling, she couldn't just let it go. At the very least, Amelia understood that
, even if she didn't quite believe that Talia was the one.

  As Arryn approached the hallway leading upstairs to Talia's office, she saw Jackson making his way down it. He looked up and jumped as he saw her, but quickly regained his composure.

  "Arryn!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

  Arryn laughed. "I'm the teacher, I should be asking you that. But I assume you were just leaving from talking to Talia, right?"

  Jackson looked back down the hallway, then returned his focus to Arryn. "Uh, no. She's gone. She had to leave for a couple of days because her mom is sick. I had to drop something off."

  Sick mom, Arryn thought. Likely story.

  "Ah, I see. Well, that ruins my plans. I was actually planning to go talk to her," Arryn told him.

  Jackson nodded, nervously looking around. Arryn thought he was acting very strangely, but she knew he'd recently had a run-in with some Boulevard boys, so she wasn't exactly surprised by his fidgety behavior. Still, she couldn't just let it go, either.

  "Yeah, I guess we both wasted our time. Anyway, it's nice to see you again." He waved before walking away.

  Arryn paused, staring down the hallway that led to Talia's office. She heard the footsteps stop, but she still debated moving forward.

  "Arryn?" Jackson called, catching her attention. When she turned to face him, he was looking at her with a curious expression. He nodded toward the opposite end of the hallway. "Shouldn't you be heading back to class, too?"

  Arryn clearly heard the warning in his suggestion. He may have thought he came off as smooth, but it was obvious to Arryn that his tone, combined with the question and his earlier nervous behavior, conveyed apprehension at her being anywhere near Talia's office while she was gone.

  Arryn smiled and nodded. "Of course. I do need to get back. I just needed to talk to her, but I guess that since she’s not here, I'll try to catch her again tomorrow."

  Arryn walked forward, making her way back down the hall toward her own classroom as she listened for his footsteps to head downstairs. As soon as she heard the click of his steps descending to the first floor, she slowly turned to risk a look.

  Satisfied that he wasn't standing right there, she quickly made her way back to the corner, slowly peeking over the railing to see that he had made it all the way downstairs. Jackson was completely out of sight before she turned to look back down the hall toward Talia's office.

  Taking a deep breath, Arryn quickly walked back down the hall, up the stairs, and rushed into the Dean’s office before closing the door behind her.

  Arryn sighed in relief as she leaned against the door, catching her breath. Once she felt more comfortable, she turned her attention to Talia's desk. On it, she found an envelope that she couldn't help but investigate.

  She quietly crossed the room, looking toward the door before picking up the envelope. It wasn't sealed, though it was tucked closed. Flipping it open, she pulled the contents free and read them. It was from Jackson, and he'd written her a note of some sort.

  Talia,

  I've done as you asked. I start Fundamentals of Nature Magic tomorrow. I'll get close to her and find out why she's here. I don’t know if you plan to see the druid again or not, but let me know if you find out anything else that can help from him. Just don't get too close. You mean a lot to me. You won't have anything to worry about with me around. You’re taking care of all of us, and it's time we take care of you.

  Jackson

  As Arryn reread the letter for the third time, certain that the she Jackson was referring to was Arryn herself, she could sense someone coming down the hall. Jumping into action, Arryn quickly tucked the letter back into the envelope and laid it on the desk where she had found it.

  Arryn spun around in a circle several times, looking for good place to hide but coming up empty. She knew damn good and well that whoever was coming would certainly find her.

  Finally, her eyes landed on the window. She took a deep breath as she opened it and mentally prepared herself to drop two stories to the ground.

  It was scary, but she had done it when she was a child, so she knew she could do it again, especially now that she had nature magic to heal herself if she were to break anything on the way down.

  Arryn sat on the ledge and swung her legs out, making sure to look around to see if anyone noticed her. She pulled the curtains closed to prevent someone from seeing her from the office.

  Taking another deep breath, Arryn dropped, fighting the instinct to scream on the way down.

  The ground was coming very quickly, and her fear grabbed her, hands shooting out in front of her as she prepared for the collision with the earth below. But it never came.

  Vines shot out of the ground, wrapping around her and catching her before lowering her safely the rest of the way. Arryn felt like crying for joy, but knew she had to be quiet. She silently thanked the Matriarch and Patriarch before running around the side of the building and flattening herself against the cold stone wall to catch her breath.

  She needed to get home, to get to Cathillian. More than anything, she wanted to tell him about the letter she had found. He had to believe her then. Didn't he?

  ***

  It was just past the middle of the day when Cathillian finally made his way into the kitchen. His strength was back and he felt fine, though he was still heavily fatigued. Jenna had done quite a lot, much more than he had believed her capable of.

  "Aren't ye supposed ta be in bed?" Samuel asked.

  Cathillian turned and saw the rearick standing a few feet behind him, having come over from the couch. Cathillian smiled, happy to see his friend.

  "Samuel! You're still here. I wasn't expecting that. Then again, I guess I should have. Today's the first day I've woken up on my own, and I still slept most of it."

  "Aye." Samuel nodded. "We figured ye should still have someone with ye while Arryn's in class. Lemme guess, hungry?"

  Cathillian looked over his shoulder at the kitchen before turning back to Samuel. "I haven't eaten in three days. I'm starving."

  Samuel was about to respond, but was interrupted by Arryn busting through the front door, quickly slamming it behind her before making her way across the living room.

  She pointed at Cathillian, her brows furrowed. "Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?"

  Cathillian sighed and rolled his eyes, throwing his hands in the air before dropping them. "I'm hungry! Damn. Slip into a coma for three days, and everybody acts like you're dying."

  Arryn looked at him incredulously before turning to Samuel. "You're a terrible babysitter, but it doesn't matter." She turned back to Cathillian before Samuel could respond. "This will save me time. I needed to talk to you. Like, now!"

  It was obvious just how jumpy she was, maybe even scared or nervous. Cathillian put his sense of humor aside and nodded. "What is it? What's wrong?"

  Arryn shifted her weight, nervously debating her words as she looked back and forth between Samuel and Cathillian. "I'm just gonna come out and say it. I know no one believes me, but Talia is up to something."

  Cathillian exhaled a heavy sigh. "This again? Arryn, I was really worried about you when you came blowing in here like that."

  "Talia…" Samuel began, confusion on his face as though he was trying to recall something. "Who is that?"

  Arryn gave a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, I'll tell you who it is."

  Cathillian threw his hands up in defeat again. "Great. Here we go. Good job, Samuel."

  Arryn shook her head, clearly choosing to ignore Cathillian as she kept her focus on Samuel. "She's the Dean of the Academy, and she's up to something. Since the moment I met her, she's been giving me bad vibes, but no one listens! Well, today that changes."

  Samuel clapped his hands together once before pointing a finger in the air in excitement. "There! I knew I knew that name. Ye ain't wrong, lass. That lady Dean has somethin’ wicked in her. I don't trust her as far as I can throw her."

  Arryn studied him with shock on her face. "Wait, you b
elieve me?"

  Cathillian took a few steps forward, also unable to take in what he just heard. "Yeah, you believe her? I mean, it's not that I don't, but it's more that she’s had a vendetta against the Dean since she arrived, and the woman has done nothing to her. I've met her, and she seemed like a very nice woman."

  Samuel snorted. "And I met that bastard Adrien, too. He seemed like a goodhearted, charismatic Chancellor with nothin’ but the safety of the city in mind, but we all know how that turned out, now don't we? Just because someone ain't never done anythin’ directly to ye don't mean they're good. After all, those remnant never did anything to Andrew before that night, right? But he still took ’em down with the best of us."

  Cathillian had never thought of it in those terms before. Just then, he felt terrible for having dismissed Arryn's worries quite so harshly. Even if he didn't quite understand where they were coming from, he knew from personal experience that people weren’t always what they seemed. It hadn’t been fair of him to judge her.

  "You're right. I hadn't really thought about it that way. Arryn, I'm sorry. Why is today different? What did you find out?" Cathillian asked, changing his expression from sarcastic to something sincerer.

  Arryn took a step forward. "I went to Talia's office. Long story short, Amelia promised if I talked to her and tried to make another judgment, whether it be the same or not, she would show me how to guard my mind because someone is still looking at my thoughts. Anyway, I went there, and I ran into Jackson on the way."

  "Jackson," Cathillian repeated. "Is that the kid that you told me is always attached to her at the hip?"

  Arryn shook her head. "It's not that I see them together a lot. It's just when I do see them together, there's this look on his face. He's enamored with her, and it's not like she does anything to deter it. They stand way too close to each other, and she smiles at him in the most… I don't know how to explain it. It just creeps me out. But yes, that's Jackson."