by Nicki Ruth
Cade growled low in warning to the interloper. He refused to believe what he had with Jason was meaningless. And he’d had enough of the leech’s attitude.
“Jason can make his own decisions. Now leave me. I’m here to see your sire.”
Brandr bared his fangs and stepped to Cade, sneering in his face. “I don’t care who you—”
A loud explosion burst through the still night, lifting them off their feet and sending them crashing into the woods as the trees illuminated with an eerie, flickering, white light. Ears ringing, Cade crawled to a broken stump to hoist himself upright. What in the gods just happened? Where was Jason?
∞∞∞
Alexios watched Jason with guarded interest. He was withdrawn, his shoulders slightly hunched and eyes downcast. Did something happen with Cade?
Mere hours ago, he and Davina played with the children in the meadow, laughing and making a ruckus. Jason folded his feathered wings into his back and turned to survey the little cottage they’d been staying in.
They were packed and ready to go, the repairs to their ship made. Alexios planned on speaking with Jason about staying behind to learn more about his gryphinx heritage while he and the others went ahead to resume their search for Marius. Karina and Wushien seemed capable of protecting their people. Even the fire-breather Cade, who only had eyes for Jason, gave off an incredibly strong aura.
While he didn’t like the business that had happened on Damurios, Jason and Cade clearly made a connection. And if Jason had forgiven Cade, Alexios would stay out of it unless he was given a reason not to. He was glad for Jason—he deserved some happiness. Perhaps, after a month or two, they would return for him if he so wished.
“Are we leaving at first light?” Jason asked.
Davina turned on the bed, mumbling in her sleep. Amir sat upright on the floor against the wall no doubt feigning sleep and listening in on their whispered conversation.
“We? Don’t you want to stay here a bit? We can return for you later.”
A pinched flare of alarm skirted quickly across Jason’s face. “I should go with you. With my new vision and hearing, I’ll be able to help find Marius.”
‘Hmm. That’s a good point, but what about Cade?”
Jason spun on his heels and lumbered over to the small window near the wooden door. Alexios watched as he fidgeted, his shoulders tensed as he forced himself to take a ragged breath.
“What about him? We need to find Marius.”
“I thought you would have wanted to spend more time with him. Maybe stay here a little longer. You seem to care for him a lot.”
“That doesn’t matter. I’ve made my decision,” Jason said, irritation distorting his voice. “We need to find Marius, and I’m going with you.”
Alexios didn’t reply because the cottage exploded, hurling wooden shrapnel through the air. A deafening mechanical roar broke the quiet slumber of the village as screams pierced the night.
Chapter 19
Jason shook his head to clear the muffled sound of alarmed voices busy in his ear. His hands were outstretched in front of him, a thin film of light spread around him.
His shield! He’d finally done it—instinctively.
Hunched on his knees, coughing next to him, his father blindly reached out before him. Debris littered all around them, and a gush of cool air against his face told him the roof was gone. Panic crashed into him as he remembered the loud explosion.
“Father! Are you all right?”
Alexios nodded as he continued to cough.
Did his shield help protect his father?
“Davina. Find Davina,” Alexios rasped.
Jason scrambled to his feet, shifting through the wood. As he did, the whispering of voices continued to tickle his ear; they spoke of plans to capture and kill. Children, vahanas, drogulis.
Whoever was responsible for the explosion wasn’t planning to leave the sanctuary intact. His mind raced with questions. How were they found? This place was supernaturally protected. What about the others? Cade? The din around them intensified, and another bright light lit the sky.
Jason called on his vision and found Davina buried under rubble to the far right. Please let her be okay. He found her under Amir, whose back was riddled with wooden shrapnel. Thank the gods Amir was able to get to her. Jason eased the unconscious man off Davina as Alexios came to his side.
“Davina! Wake up!” Alexios’ face was white with fear.
Jason shuddered to think how his father would react if something happened to Davina. It reminded him he needed to get to Cade.
“I’m fine,” she croaked. “What happened?”
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m about to go find out. I need to make sure Cade’s all right.”
Alexios glanced at him before returning his gaze to Davina. “All right. We should go together.”
“No!” Davina cried when she saw Amir, his back wet with blood. “Amir!”
She ripped his tunic and began pulling the shards from his body. To Jason’s astonishment, the wounds on his back began to close as she hovered her hands over them. He’d heard of Davina’s unique bloodgift but not seen it in person before.
“You guys get to a safer place with Amir. I’ll find the others.”
Alexios nodded. “We’ll join you once Davina is done.”
“Okay”
“And Jason,” Alexios called out but hesitated. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
∞∞∞
“Cade!”
It was hard to hear above the mechanical noise. It sounded like a ship’s engine, but Cade couldn’t see a ship nearby. The earth shook with more explosions, the dark sky unnaturally aglow.
“Get to the underground caves!” He waved to Sheema who ran toward him screaming and clutching her newborn.
“Tawin was with the children. Their dorm was . . .” she broke off, sobbing.
“We’ll find them. Tell everyone else you see to get to the caves. You should be safe there.”
She nodded and ran off.
Cade took off to the youth dorm. There, the youngest orphans slept, preferring others their age after having been on their own so long. Tyrus stayed among them. As he ran, the wind picked up beside him and Wushien appeared. Cade skidded to a stop.
“It’s bad, Cade. We’ve been breached. Karina’s trying to erect some wards, but they won’t be up for some time.”
“Do you know who or what?”
Wushien shook his head. “We’ll be in for a fight if they were able to find us and invade the sanctuary.”
Cade cursed. He knew of only few powerful enough to get through their defenses. Mages. Dark mages. He clutched his arm as his scales threatened to emerge.
“Cade!”
Jason swooped down from the air, dropping and skidding hard on his knees from his awkward landing. “You’re okay. I was worried. Do you know what’s happening?” he panted.
“Invaders.”
Jason nodded. “They’re coming from the west, heavily armed. I’ve heard their plans to take the young.” He paused with a frown. “And you.”
Cade growled. “We need to get to the dorm.”
They raced over and found devastation. Tawin’s lifeless eyes met Cade’s, his body half covered with the remains of the dorm. Jason ran to the rubble and quickly started clearing away wooden debris.
“What is it?” Cade asked, joining in.
“Someone’s under here”
Soon, they helped a young girl to her feet. It was the girl Wushien had found and brought back to the sanctuary. She cried and threw herself into Wushien’s arms, clutching his dark tresses. Cade surveyed the damage for any signs of the others. He hoped they made it to safety. Luckily, there were no other bodies to be found.
“Cade, can I talk to you?” Jason gestured with his head.
They moved a couple feet away from Wushien, who was trying to comfort the crying girl. Cade was glad to see Jason was safe, but an uneasy irritability
remained with him after what had transpired between them earlier.
“Something’s not right with that girl.”
Cade glanced back at the Wushien and the crying child, before settling his gaze on Jason, whose eyes glowed a yellow so bright as to be two blazing sun stars.
“What do you mean?”
“There are chain-like bindings around her. It’s as if she’s under some kind of hold or spell. She’s surrounded by a dark aura.”
Cade felt his hairs on the back of his neck stand.
“And, the chain . . . is leading from her and toward the west.”
The west . . . where the invaders launched their attack. Another explosion shook the ground, and a growing sense of dread also shook Cade’s core. His vision darkened with rage. This was all a well-orchestrated trap.
The girl had led them here.
∞∞∞
Jason remained to the side, considering the strange bindings, as Cade grabbed the girl.
“Wushien! Get away from her!” Cade roared as the girl grew hysterical under his hand. Wushien tensed with confusion.
“Cade. What’s gotten in—”
“She brought them here.” Cade shook the girl. “Who is it? Who do you answer to?”
“Leave her alone. I’m taking her to the others in the caves.” Wushien placed himself between Cade and the girl, wind swirling leaves and small debris around them. “Release her.”
“Wushien, she’s working with the enemy!”
“She’s just a child.”
“Jason has seen—”
“Well, he’s wrong!”
“Wushien, Jason, the gryphinx, has seen the magic that has led them to us. From her!”
Wushien hesitated, looking ashen, casting a look to Jason then back at Cade. “She’s just a child. One of us.”
Jason walked up to the girl and stooped before her. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. Hush.” He wiped her tear-streaked cheeks. “What’s your name?”
Jason had heard of the recent addition to the village but hadn’t come across her until now. The girl hiccupped and looked at Wushien before returning her attention to Jason. “Chiana”
“Ah, that’s a pretty name. Chiana, do you know what’s happening? Where did the other children go?”
She whimpered and shook her head. Up close, Jason saw the bindings around her. They were not chains as he’d thought, but a series of characters strung together giving the appearance of a chained link. Words of a spell?
“We can’t take her near the caves. She’ll lead them right to the others,” Cade said.
“Do you know who attacked his place?” Jason kept his attention on the weeping girl.
Chiana shook her head again, wiping her eyes. He glanced at Cade, who glowered at the girl, his impatience and anger palpable. Jason moved his hand along the bindings visible to him alone and felt tiny pinpricks on his palms as he traced the links. He grabbed at the link and pulled, hoping to break it, but nothing happened. He wanted Chiana to be safe with the others, but with her current state, she’d place everyone in jeopardy. And Cade looked like he was ready to take drastic measures, but Jason didn’t want it to come to that either.
“We don't have time for this. We need to find the others.” Cade stalked closer, but Jason held up his hand to stop him. He kept running his other hand along the links, hoping to find where they joined, a kink, some vulnerability.
Ahh, there it was!
He felt the uneven spot on the link and pulled against it, hoping whatever allowed him to see the invisible magic would help him break it.
“I’ve found a kink. Maybe I can break it”
Both Cade and Wushien came closer.
Cade bent next to him. “Are you sure?”
Jason grimaced as he strained against the chain feeling it slowly give beneath his hand.
Cade placed a hand on his shoulder. “Brute strength cannot break magic, but all magic can be broken. If you focus and look deeper, you can find its weakness. Use your will.”
Jason took in a breath and opened his vision, hoping this time to see what he couldn’t before. And he was rewarded. Around the hidden kink was a black spherical wisp of matter encircled with a pulsing dark-blue light. Was this what held the bindings to the child?
Warmth fluttered against his chest, and a surge of current moved through his body and into the dark knot, zapping at it with a spark of bright light. It disintegrated, and one by one the characters linked together faded away in succession from around the girl and towards the woods in the west where they originated.
“It’s gone,” Jason announced, grinning at Cade who nodded in approval and moved his hand to squeeze the back of Jason’s neck.
Chiana blinked rapidly then swiped at her tears. “I . . . I remember now. There . . . was a man. A mean man who took me. He said I would help him find other kids like me.”
Wushien took her into his arms and hugged her, whispering comforting words to her.
Cade whispered close to Jason’s ear, “You’re amazing. I can’t let you go Jason. I won't. When this is over, let me claim you, let me show you how much you mean to me.”
Jason reeled from Cade’s declaration, speechless. Wasn’t this what he wanted? To be loved, wanted. To have a forever place. At Cade’s side.
Cade stroked Jason’s cheek. “We’ll talk about this later. We need to find the other children.”
Chapter 20
A stench like no other overcame Jason just as he was about to reply to Cade’s declaration. Whispers grew louder, and he heard orders to attack and capture. They were being surrounded.
“Here they come,” Jason announced, unfurling his wings.
Cade tensed and nodded to Wushien who removed two beautifully decorated fans from his side. He sliced an arc through the air with one fan, and a strong gale of wind went forth like a curved blade, cutting through trees and rock. He repeated this, shredding trees until they saw figures crawling through the brush. They smelled repulsive.
“Wushien, you take to the air. Jason, take the girl to the caves. You’ll find them near Karina’s place. Go, now.”
“But—”
“Go! You need to protect the others if they get past us.”
Jason scowled, not liking to leave Cade behind, but it was a sound strategy. He scooped up the wailing child and took off. He looked back just in time to see a violently churning tornado moving towards the advancing enemy. Cade roared and let out a stream of fire that joined with the tornado. A fiery wall of angry wind and red flame snapped and burned those in its path.
Jason landed with a grunt, rolling on the ground folded over Chiana. He really needed to do something about his landings. He sensed the others beneath the earth and made his way toward the opening of a dark hole at the side of the mountain. He found them huddled together and set the girl down to be tended by one of the women.
Karina was toward the back, her palms glowing against the rocky earth. She radiated a power Jason now understood the magnitude of. A bright halo of white light surrounded her, her eyes glowed so brightly they were orbs of white.
She glanced at him as he came closer and offered him a weak smile. “They aren’t just here for the vahana. They seek a god’s power.”
“A god’s power? What do you . . .” It dawned on Jason why her aura was different from the others.
Karina was not vahana; she was one of the gods.
She nodded when she saw the look of understanding on his face. “I remained to keep them safe when my other brethren returned to our plane. It was the least I could do for their lives in service to us. But I’ve tarried here too long; my power is not as it once was.”
“What can I do?” Worry seeped into Jason.
If Karina was unable to protect the sanctuary, what would become of the others?
“Protect them. You’re a gryphinx; you can sense what others cannot. Ever since knowledge of how to harness the powers of vahanas was made known, they’ve been hunted by mages and other practitioners t
o steal their mystical life force. Use your gifts to protect them from the reach of dark magic—the greatest threat to them. Although, it would help them to have a god’s protection, since their gifts were made to serve the gods.” Her gaze shifted to rest behind him. He turned to see Davina holding onto a limping Amir.
“Davina, where’s father?” he asked as he helped her lower the recovering Amir to the ground.
“I left him and Brandr fighting a battalion of men who are like the dead. Oh, Jason, what kind of power could have animated men like that?” she asked with a shudder. “I couldn’t help because they had no blood in their bodies, no minds of their own. And they keep coming even after they’re felled.”
Jason eyes grew wide. An army of dead men? That accounted for the stench. He turned back to Karina who shuddered, power flowing through her body and the earth. “Do you know how we can defeat them?”
She shook her head. “Their lifeforce must be held elsewhere and under the control of someone versed in blood magic. I know not of blood enchantments. But a blood god would know how to break such a spell.” She levelled her gaze on Davina who was now at her side.
“I don’t know much of the old blood gods,” Davina said, her eyes wild with panic.
Karina chuckled. “No, Davina. You are the reincarnation of the blood god, Lillian. One of my sisters. You have her power, that I know.”
Jason reared back. A blood god? But didn’t that make sense given the extent of her bloodgifts?
“Lillian was a giver of life and death, having domain over the life-giving power of blood. But she succumbed to the destructive allure of blood’s power. She was punished.” Karina smiled at Davina. “But I see she’s found a way to walk this plane again.”
Davina shook her head. “I’m not . . .”
But her eyes grew black, and a heavy pressure descended over them, forcing Jason’s claws to emerge defensively.
“Sister,” Davina said with a dually-pitched voice, only it wasn’t her—not really.
The voice filled the subterranean room and made Jason’s skin crawl. The terrified cries of the others echoed behind them..