A Bond of Venom and Magic (The Goddess and the Guardians Book 1)

by Karen Tomlinson

  Left to her own devices, her heart became heavy. It hit her how very alone she was now.

  Jack groaned and awoke long enough for his two guards to help him, an arm over their shoulders, to limp to a nearby burnt tree. He collapsed to the ground and, after a quick swig of water and a weak smile in her direction, he promptly fell asleep. She hoped that was normal and that he hadn’t been concussed by the general’s blow to his head. Dithering, she wondered what she should do now.

  “Diamond!” barked General Edo from across the clearing. “Please sit with the prince until he awakens. I need his guards for watch duty. Be ready with that…magic of yours if we get whiff that dragon is coming back for us,” he ordered.

  The two guards nodded to her and walked briskly to their new general. Diamond sat down next to the prince again. Every now and then she heard Hugo’s deep tones and the general’s rumbling voice. It made her feel safer to know they were both nearby. Tired but too unsettled to sleep, Diamond endeavoured to use her magical sight, wanting to know if she could use it at any time. It took her many attempts to figure out how to do it, but she eventually found herself holding her new perspective for longer and longer. Something about tapping into her new skill, or magic, or whatever it was helped her relax but she wasn’t sure she could summon such vast amounts to form a shield again without the woman’s help. Taking her time, she studied the energy that flowed around her. Between the beautiful iridescent energy of the ancient trees, little animals scurried, their aura bright and varied as they snuffled through the ash looking for food. Diamond kept quiet about them. The general had said no fires, so capturing the poor things for food would be pointless.

  Jack dozed beside her, snoring every now and then. Groaning inwardly she watched a figure with energy unlike anyone else’s prowl closer and stop nearby. Hugo’s aura was a beautiful, shimmering sapphire blue, interwoven with tendrils of silver that writhed around him like protective serpents. He came and sat silently next to her, tilting his head back against the tree trunk, his broad shoulder almost touching hers. Her breath hitched in her throat at the sheer power and warmth, she felt as a silver serpent nipped gently at the back of her hand then coiled around her arm, binding her to him as he closed his eyes. She stiffened, not sure how she felt about that touch.

  “Relax. Try and sleep for a while. I’ll stay until my next watch,” he said.

  Too tired to wonder why he was showing any interest in her at all, Diamond did her best to relax and soon found herself drifting off to sleep.

  The night passed in snatches of wakefulness interspersed with nightmares. Each time she woke, panicking, breathing hard and scared as hell, she felt Hugo’s body shift toward her, his energy touching her skin, soothing her until she slept again. Hours later, without a word, he left for his watch.

  Weary and missing the security of Hugo’s presence, Diamond remained next to Jack as she tried to ignore the damp, creeping cold that seeped into her bones. She shivered, hugging her knees for warmth.

  “What’s up, little girlie? Lost ya body guard, ‘ave ya?” Freddy’s voice grated in her ear.

  Hot stinking breath smothered her, his closeness making her skin crawl. Lurching quickly away, she tried to grasp for her dagger but was too slow. Freddy grabbed her hair, jabbing the point of a knife to her neck. Diamond froze instantly.

  “Good girl. Now, me an’ you are goin’ for a walk and I’m gonna say thanks properly fer savin’ me life.”

  A disgusting, lustful chuckle rippled down her neck as he shoved his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply. “Hmm. Lovely,” he purred.

  A sick feeling started in the pit of her stomach, the beginnings of a scream churning in her throat.

  Jack stirred but stayed asleep. She wondered if she should wake him. Diamond went rigid as warm fingers, Jack’s fingers, grasped the material of her oversized leggings and gently tapped her leg. A silent request. In the dark, trying not to give herself away, Diamond shifted her hips toward Jack, hoping desperately he could see the dagger tucked in her waist band. Jack’s hand slowly moved up her leggings.

  Trying to distract Freddy, she slowly turned her head to gaze up at him and whispered, “I wondered when you’d come for me. I’ve been waiting for you. It’s boring as hell babysitting this useless excuse for a prince.”

  Freddy yanked at her hair, and it was all Diamond could do not to squeal as his blade nicked the soft skin of her neck.

  “Really?” he snarled.

  The dagger slipped out of her waist band.

  “Yes,” she whispered with as much conviction and longing as she could summon. “Someone like you is so much more exciting than—”

  Jack’s prone shadow burst into movement. Freddy screamed as Jack cut the tendons and muscle of his forearm at the same time as he pushed Diamond sideways. Suddenly the pair was fighting and slashing, grunts of effort and pain exploding from them.

  Diamond yelled at the top of her lungs, “Hugo!! Help!!” It was the only name in her head.

  Jack barrelled into Freddy, sending him sprawling. Diamond blinked, searching desperately for Hugo’s sapphire energy. It was nowhere to be seen. Jack grabbed Freddy’s injured arm and twisted it. Screaming, Freddy toppled, clutching Jack’s shirt front on the way down. Diamond cried out and scrabbled away through the ash, but not quick enough. The two men fell right on her, driving the breath from her lungs. Freddy grunted as Jack fell atop of him. Their weight crushed her face-first into the ash. She couldn’t breathe!

  Suddenly Freddy’s weight disappeared, his body flying into the shadows. Hugo roared with rage, his eyes glittering like bright blazing stars.

  “Look after the prince,” he growled down at her and shot after Freddy. At first all she heard was Jack’s rasping breaths, each one laboured and rattling ominously. With as much strength as she could muster, Diamond pushed Jack off her legs. A dark patch stained her leggings.

  “Prince? You’re bleeding. Help! Prince Jack’s hurt!” she shouted frantically.

  Guards were already running her way. Even as she pressed her cold shaking hands to the wound on Jack’s ribs, her spine stiffened. There was something else, a low pulsing rumble getting closer and closer. The unmistakable sound of big wings beating the air.

  The guards bellowed a warning, but it was too late. A deafening roar shattered the forest followed by a column of yellow flame that burst across the night sky. The dragon spewed his fire in a great arch, his red eyes blazing as he searched the shadows below. Diamond screamed as he looked right at her.

  All hell broke loose. Voices yelled and bodies dived for cover that would be useless against such a creature. Above the din of the dragon it was hard to hear Hugo as he roared orders from somewhere in the trees.

  “Prince Jack! Please. Wake up! We have to get out of here,” she sobbed as she violently shook his lax body.

  The burnt forest canopy crashed in around them, splintering burnt trees. Debris and sulphuric air swamped the two figures on the ground. Diamond screamed but could do nothing as talons as long and sharp as swords scooped them up, taking branches and earth with them into the dark night.

  ***

  The wind bit at Diamond’s face, reaching icy fingers in through the thin material of her clothes. Disregarding it, she concentrated on wiggling her numb fingers and toes to get the blood flowing again. The dragon had been flying over the forest canopy for what seemed like hours but, she reasoned, was probably a lot less. It wasn’t even full daylight yet.

  There was no hope of figuring out where they were being taken as the terrain below was just more forest. Strangely, Diamond saw the flash of a wolf’s pelt among the trees, as if it were somehow keeping pace with them. Diamond’s arm snaked around the unconscious prince’s back, pressing hard on his wound. The bleeding had almost stopped but he was terribly pale. The dragon’s grip was relaxed enough to breathe but that was it, there was no hope of wriggling free. She looked at the long drop to the forest floor. Even if they could escape, they would be killed or
fatally injured in such a fall.

  In the distance a long winding river glinted like a ghostly snake in the dawn light. An idea bloomed. Could it work? The dagger that had been scooped up with the dirt was balanced precariously on Jack’s hip. It glinted invitingly. Hoping it wouldn’t fall, she shuffled her hips and painstakingly wiggled her other arm free from where it was trapped next to one of the dragon’s claws. Relief flooded her when the cold metal hilt of Hugo’s dagger was gripped tightly in her hand.

  “Prince Jack! Highness!” Her head nudged his insistently and she shouted loudly in his ear. He stirred and his eyes opened, looking cloudy and confused. It took only a few seconds for him to register the pain from his wounds and remember. There was no time for more explanations or to worry about issuing orders to this royal.

  “There’s a river coming up. When I tell you, hack and stab at the root of that talon. Cause this monster as much pain as possible.”

  “Why? What are you going to do?” he asked, sounding dazed but he moved his fingers so he could grasp the dagger.

  Please don’t argue, she thought. “I’m going to hurt it—at the same time as you,” she told him with steel in her voice. This had to work.

  The river loomed closer. She blinked and focused on the shimmering water. It seemed to disappear off the edge of the earth, misty air hanging above it. Her stomach lurched and she rolled her eyes.

  Great. A waterfall. Still, it doesn’t matter. It has to be better than where this dragon is taking us.

  Colour, dazzling in its intensity, swathed the forest—but Diamond had no time to admire it. Instead she tried to block out the possibility they might both die from the fall or because she had no idea what she was doing with her energy.

  Breathe—concentrate. Embers of magic flared to life inside her. Desperately she pulled at them, focusing on nothing else until they surged free. Release, freedom—magic. Even in this dire situation, it was hard not to feel a smug satisfaction for finding her magic. Sizzling heat travelled up through her body and down her arms, escaping out through her hand. Letting instinct guide her, Diamond concentrated on the dragon’s scaly skin just where one black talon bulged through. Bone and flesh exploded into the air, followed by a roar of agony. Jack stabbed up and down with all his strength on another talon bed, swearing loudly and forcefully as scaly skin and blood covered him.

  Diamond felt her stomach lurch. Fresh air and weightlessness. It had worked. Seconds later Diamond slammed into the fast flowing water. Cold engulfed her, stealing her breath as the water swept her away in a torrent of noise and confusion. She fought the urge to inhale and scream. Then she was falling again. Down and down, out of control.

  Wham!

  Another hard sheet of water. Diamond barely registered the stinging force of the collision; once again she was at the mercy of the powerful flow. Lungs burning, she resisted her need to breathe and was tossed and thrown, the world whirling by. Another weightless fall and the cascading water trapped her in a never ending tumble.

  Down. Go down, she thought. Using the last remnants of her strength she forced her arms and legs to move, swimming down to the floor of the pool. It was calmer here. Digging her fingers into the gravel and bedrock, she dragged herself away from the heavy curtain of tumbling water. Once free, she propelled herself upwards and broke through the surface, coughing and spluttering loudly. The water grabbed her again, taking her with it.

  The fast, vicious flow slammed her into rocks and floating debris, but Diamond was a good swimmer and used the current to help her; she swam with and across the churning flow, keeping her head up as best she could. After an eternity of exhausting toil, the river bank was within reach. Ignoring her numb, bleeding fingers, Diamond triumphantly grabbed a protruding root. Diamond doggedly kept hold when the fingers of her other hand slipped on slimy mud and grass. More tree roots curled like smooth snakes under the clear swirling water; Diamond quickly braced her feet on them, fighting the flow of water.

  The dragon bellowed its wrath, swooping down the waterfall before banking straight back up to the skies, still searching. She couldn’t stay here. This guardian was an intelligent and clever being. It would follow the course of the river, and she needed to be long gone by the time it did. Using the roots as leverage, she grabbed handfuls of the long, spiky grass and hoisted herself onto the river’s edge, landing on her belly.

  Trembling from bone deep cold, Diamond scrambled to her feet, slipping and sliding on the damp ground and mud as she bolted for cover under the nearest tree. The bark was rough under her hands, her heart slamming against her ribs as she leaned against it, lungs heaving.

  Here the banks were wide apart, allowing for a more gentle flow. Heading downriver was the most sensible option. Jack certainly would have been too weak to fight the wild current. Fearing he might have drowned, Diamond launched herself in to a run. She had to find him, alive or dead. A few minutes later she spotted his inert body on a lower section of bank. He must have used all his remaining strength to drag himself out. Diamond raced towards him.

  “Prince Jack! Highness!” she yelled.

  Pale and sickly-looking, his breath came in shallow gasps. Diamond had once seen a man slashed in a knife fight in the town marketplace. Her father had knocked the assailant out cold before pressing hard on the wound in the victim’s chest, but it had done no good, the poor man had still bled to death. She swallowed, trying to remain calm even as panic bloomed. At least the big gash in Jack’s side had stopped bleeding. Sinking to her knees at his side, she gently shifted the material to get a better look—and hissed.

  Deep layers of skin and muscle had been laid open. Clumsy with her numb fingers, she managed to lift his shirt and quickly assess the other two ragged cuts on Jack’s back. Jagged, they looked far worse but were not as deep. Diamond hastily pulled the prince’s shirt straight and anxiously looked up. The black dragon swooped over the river and waterfall. He would find them if they stayed here in the open. She cursed as it roared with frustration. But she needn’t have panicked; with wings outstretched to catch the wind, it turned and headed away.

  “Prince! We need to get out of here. Wake up!” she shouted in his ear, shaking his shoulders hard until he moaned. “Come on!” she pleaded, trying again. “We should head into the forest, away from the river.”

  Doubt flooded her as she looked into the darkness that surrounded them. What if there are Seekers or Battle Imps—or worse—in there? What can I or the injured prince do against such creatures?

  “My name…is Jack,” rasped the prince resolutely. His eyelids opened and gave her an unobstructed view of his dark brown eyes awash with pain.

  Diamond bit her bottom lip in consternation but knew there was nothing she could do for him until they got away from the river. “Can you stand?” she asked anxiously.

  “With a little help,” he panted, grunting and gritting his teeth as she helped him up.

  Diamond looked around his back; the wounds had started bleeding again.

  “Leave it. We’ll get into the forest and then deal with my wounds,” he uttered with colourless lips on a deathly pale face.

  They staggered as quickly as possible into the gloom of the trees and left the rush of the river behind them.

  Hugo soared through the biting wind, leaving the devastated clearing far below. He landed solidly on the lip of small cliff.

  Inside he was burning, burning with such wrath his facade was ready to shatter. Unable to contain himself any longer he opened his soul and let his raging magic erupt. The shimmering wave of shadow hurtled harmlessly into the empty sky. Panting hard, he expanded his back muscles and threw his metallic wings outward. Release was fleeting.

  A raw animal power clawed at his bones, at his soul, boiling his blood as it too clamoured for release. He would not give in to the beast inside him. He would not. For months they had battled. It wanted to dominate him, control him, and the longer Diamond was missing the more wrathful and vicious it became. Another wave of bur
ning heat and roaring rocked his mind.

  No. Not yet, Hugo commanded, pitting his iron will against its insistence.

  A shapeshifter had once told him how it felt to have another being living as a symbiont with one’s soul, how it had sometimes made him feel not only insane but lost. But that shapeshifter had been young when he had yielded to his baser side, it had taken him years to become its master.

  Hugo slowed his breathing as the beast settled, but he could fit seething at being cowed yet again. Hugo knew this battle for dominance was far from over.

  In the clearing far below, Jack’s soldiers and warriors tended the wounded and went about breaking camp. A vicious snarl curled Hugo’s lips. Freddy needed to be hunted down. Hugo longed to feel that repulsive little bastard’s neck snap under his fingers. Attacking Diamond had sealed his death warrant. But that would have to wait—for now. Hugo’s stomach boiled with self-reproach. Diamond and Jack had been snatched from right under his nose. His magic had tried to alert him, to warn him his Nexus bond was in danger, but he had resolutely ignored such absurd feelings. Being tied to anyone, in any way, did not sit well with Hugo. But Diamond’s scream had sent his blood cold.

  Him. She had called for him, not General Edo or Tom.

  His fingers shook as he rubbed his face. Gods, the fear in her scream had shattered his steely control last night. Reaching her had consumed him and, for a few frightening seconds as he scented her blood, all his training and common sense had fled. It was the sort of foolish mistake for which he would flog any other guard. Not only had he lost his focus, he had left her alone with an injured man without knowing how badly she was hurt. Instead he had gone running after Freddy, wanting to rip the little prick to pieces.

  Well, there was no changing what had happened. General Edo had made plans and given orders, and Hugo had been happy to let him—but now it was time to leave. His desperate need to track Diamond down drove him to distraction. She could be dead by now or hurt and in pain. Magic thrummed through his veins in response to his thoughts. He absentmindedly rubbed at his chest, a derisory snort exploding from his throat when he realised what he was doing.