Stone Guardian (Entwined Realms)

by Danielle Monsch

From behind her Fallon’s voice ground out, “Laire, what’s going on?”

  With a final squeeze, Larissa let go of Terak and turned back to the group of women. They were standing in a close circle. Laire looked recovered from whatever had attacked her. “Someone was watching her,” she said, nodding toward Larissa. “When I destroyed their little spies, they must have decided to send something after us.”

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  Laire shook her head, looking up to the sky. “Magic barrier, which means they have a mage and there is no flying out of here.”

  Fallon turned to the elf. “Ais-”

  Before Fallon could finish, Aislynn ran past them toward a large outcropping of rocks, jumping onto the largest of them with a grace and an athleticism no human could ever match. She peered into the dark, the full moon only giving a little help in illuminating their surroundings. Within seconds she called down, “Direwolves, ridden by goblins. We have a battalion of them coming fast. I see bows, so expect to become target practice.”

  “Ais, a volley as soon as they’re in range.” Aislynn must have been expecting this order, because even before Fallon stopped talking she threw her cloak off, revealing a bow and a quiver of arrows. She grabbed the bow and an arrow, putting them together and getting into a firing position, all with such speed that Larissa couldn’t tell what was happening as it occurred, only filling in the blanks once Aislynn was still and prepared for battle.

  Fallon turned to Laire. “Why didn’t they arrive closer to us? Why that far away?”

  Laire twirled a finger around a curl of blue hair. “Don’t know. It would be impossible to teleport that many with pinpoint accuracy, but they should have gotten closer than what they are.”

  “Maybe there is something wrong with their mage, or maybe they only have a wizard. Any feel on what we’re dealing with?”

  Laire’s eyes…swirled. There was no other word to explain it. Her eyes lost color and iris and became a violent mass of movement. “Defensive magic specialist. And yes, only a wizard. Male. And young. Each of them has a personal shield spell, so Ais’s arrows won’t do jack and damage will be minimal until it’s dispelled.” Her lips tightened, hard anger on her face. “Who do they think I am, sending a pansy-ass like that against me?”

  Fallon patted Laire’s shoulder, a there-there motion. “I don’t think they knew we’d be waiting when they prepared this trap. But for you, we’ll send his head back to them with a note to not insult you again. Does that make you feel better?”

  Laire gave a long, theatrical sigh. “I don’t know, maybe.”

  “Think on it.” Fallon turned, the full weight of her gaze back on Larissa. “We have a battalion of direwolves – and a wizard – running around the exact area you are in. Care to reassess that whole I don’t know what you’re talking about line of crap?”

  They deserved something. She wasn’t sure of their exact motives and didn’t fully trust them, but they were about to fight to save her life. “I don’t know why they are after me. If I ever find out I will tell you, but right now I do not know.”

  Fallon’s one eyebrow arched, the swift look of surprise crossing her face before it morphed into a speculative cast. She turned to Laire, who shrugged and said, “I believe her.”

  “Hell of it is, I believe her too.” Fallon drew a deep breath. “We found the ward that allowed the orcs and zombies to get in. It was set by a powerful wizard who has since disappeared. He was thought to be above reproach, so the standard triple-check wasn’t done. Of course, that doesn’t explain how you’ve gotten into the city,” Fallon finished, giving Terak a pointed glare.

  “No, it doesn’t,” he agreed, and said nothing more.

  Fallon unsheathed her massive sword, a faint glow coming from under her coat, no doubt that same scrolling that Larissa beheld that first night. “Well Gargoyle, do we fight each other, or do we fight what is coming to meet us?”

  “This night I will fight at your side.” Terak turned to Larissa. “Stay near the mage. She will protect you.”

  He was a great warrior. She had seen it herself. That didn’t change this hollow ache inside her. It was unnecessary, but she had to say it. She had to know she said it, a charm that would protect him. It had to. “Terak, be careful.”

  “I will be.” He gently pushed her toward Laire, holding the mage’s attention with a hard glare. “If she dies, Battle Mage, until my last breath, I will dedicate every moment of my life to the destruction of your world.”

  For once, Laire was not the smartass Larissa expected. Giving a perfect bow, she answered, “I will protect her, Clan Leader of the Gargoyles.”

  Fallon broke in. “Now that we got the mushy stuff out of the way, let’s go meet us some goblins.” She turned to Laire. “Shield Larissa. Don’t worry about the rest of us. Break the wizard so we can cut through the army.”

  “Understood,” said Laire. She grabbed Larissa’s hand, bringing her over to a nearby wall. “Sit on that stone wall. I’m putting a barrier around you.”

  “A barrier?”

  “A magic shield. It will keep the bad guys out.”

  Larissa sat. The Asian woman made a motion as if she were clutching a ball in her hands, then pushed out toward Larissa.

  Nothing happened. Larissa looked around her, but nothing was different. “Is it working?”

  Laire yelled out, “Aislynn, help me here.”

  The elf turned and shot an arrow right at Larissa, the point heading straight for her forehead. It came closer and closer and-

  And it stopped dead, falling to the ground several feet away, as if it had bumped into something solid.

  “There’s your proof,” Laire said. “So don’t do anything stupid like try to run out. It wouldn’t work anyway, you’d only hit the barrier, but those things hurt like hell if you run into them full speed.”

  “I won’t.”

  “They’re in range!” Aislynn started firing arrows again, this time at the upcoming army. They were still far enough away that they looked like little more than black dots in the distance, but the elf called out, “Laire was right about the shield spell, the arrows are bouncing. Laire, you need to do something.”

  “Working on it,” called out Laire. What it looked like she was doing was working on her statue-mimicry skills. She stood stock still, her hand held out toward the open field with her thumb perpendicular to the ground and her first and middle finger curled above it, the other two fingers pressed against her palm.

  Her body might have been still, but sweat was beading on the skin of her forehead and neck, the same way it would for most people who were in the middle of intense physical exertion.

  “How long?” Fallon asked.

  “Don’t know. He’s good.”

  Fallon smirked. “Are you saying some pansy-ass is getting the best of our mage?”

  “Instead of flirting with me, why don’t you swing your little sword and hit a couple of them? Just because they have a shield over them doesn’t mean they would like it if they were batted around like a baseball.”

  “Good idea.” Fallon turned to Terak. “You might not be able to fly up high, Gargoyle. Doesn’t mean you can’t fly at all, and a shield won’t prevent them from being picked up and thrown from their mounts.”

  Terak looked back at Larissa. She smiled at him, with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “You saw the arrow bounce. Out of everyone here, I’m the safest. If you think meeting them is the best way to end this, you need to leave me here.”

  He nodded. “I will make this as quick as possible.”

  “I know.”

  Terak’s wings snapped out to their full wingspan. He ran a few steps then took off into the air, his battle cry quieting the wolves coming toward them and even Fallon looked a little in awe as she said, “That’s impressive.”

  They were arriving fast, what only moments before looked like black dots were now fully formed silhouettes of small creatures riding atop vicious-looking canines.
>
  Terak reached the army. Some must have seen him coming, because she heard the ping of fired arrows at him. He didn’t react as if he had been hit, but in the past no matter how beaten up he was he never stopped fighting. He swooped down, grabbing some of the creatures and lifting them into the air. He flew high and dropped them down. Once they hit the ground, they didn’t get back up.

  Fallon was right. Whatever shielding was on them wasn’t helping against Terak.

  Arrows were flying at them now. Aislynn hid in cracks in the stone outcropping, while Fallon stepped in front of Laire and drove her sword into the ground. “Tenro, shield,” whispered the swordswoman, and the sword glowed. The volley of arrows that should have hit her and the mage instead disappeared into the light emitted by the sword.

  Laire never moved a muscle throughout any of this.

  Terak was swooping in and out of the army, grabbing as he did. The goblins waved their swords at him, but he never stopped.

  The direwolves were closing in fast, close enough now that the moonlight glinted off rows of teeth a shark would be jealous of. Fallon pulled her sword out of the ground and started toward the incoming army, her movements fast but deliberate, her sword out straight at her side.

  Laire yelled out, “Aislynn, fifty degrees, eye level, four-hundred feet. On my mark!”

  Aislynn got into firing stance, holding still despite the arrows falling around her.

  “Now!”

  Aislynn fired, the arrow disappearing within the army.

  “You got him!” Laire yelled, glee in her voice. “Rock on!”

  Aislynn began to fire into the throng. Wolves howled in pain and fell to the side, knocking over those closest to them and causing chain reactions of wolves and goblins falling atop each other.

  The voices of the goblins rose, words indistinct but confusion and panic clear in the sound. Laire brought her hands together and flung them out, and a ball of fire fifteen feet in diameter hurled through the air and smashed into the advancing creatures.

  Screams rent the air, burnt flesh and ash swirling in the currents and reaching Larissa even through the barrier.

  “Laire, how much spell power do you have left?” Aislynn asked, still firing arrows into the fray.

  “Not much. I wanted to make sure the wizard was out of the equation for good.”

  “Then keep it in reserve. We’ll be okay without it.”

  How much. That’s right, wizards and mages could only do so much magic a day, the strength of the caster being the deciding factor on how much they cast and how strong those spells would be. Larissa looked over towards the Asian woman. So Laire either wasn’t very strong or this was the end of a very busy day for her.

  Fallon had arrived in front of the advancing direwolves. The animals snarled and hurled themselves at her, as if they were delighted they finally had an enemy in front of them to tear into.

  She swung her sword and cut through a half dozen of them, their blood flying through the sky in splatters as thick as paint. She whirled, the battle becoming a dance, the wolves and the goblins her partners in a death waltz.

  The three warriors were swift and sure, their movements as choreographed as any on stage. They weaved and they jumped, making graceful arcs with their bodies and their weapons.

  The bodies of the dead were piling up, laying across the once-empty landscape. Thank gods it was dark enough that the small details were not visible, like the pools of blood and the strewn body parts such a display must leave behind.

  Finally, few enough of the army remained that Terak landed, battling now with claws and wings. A direwolf lunged for him, but Terak tore through the creature’s throat, slicing through it with his claws. The goblin riding on it tried to stab Terak, but he grabbed the sword with his other hand, impaling the goblin on its own blade.

  The mad rush was now over and those remaining were more precise, taking their time and studying Terak and Fallon.

  Terak’s wings flared, his clawed hands coming up before him, blood dripping from the ends. “You think you can come here and take what is mine? Go now, go and tell your masters that the woman is under my protection. Tell them that no one will ever touch her, and anyone who comes. Against. Me. Will. Die!”

  He was a god of vengeance, a demon arising from the night to destroy everything in his path. The direwolves bent before his final roar, their heads dropping and their ears flattening against their heads. The goblins cowered as well. A handful turned away at that point, racing back into the night.

  “Cowards. Like the necromancers aren’t going to kill them for failing.” Aislynn’s approach was silent and Larissa jumped when she heard the voice. “Laire, drop the shield. It’s over.”

  The mage did as requested, and the elf came to sit on the wall beside Larissa.

  Laire came back as well, sitting on Larissa’s other side. “Aren’t you two going to help finish this?” Larissa asked.

  “What, and mess up my hair?” Laire’s hand went to plump up her ringlets. “Heck no. Besides, Fallon loves this shit.”

  Larissa’s attention went to Terak first, but he had finished with the creatures near him. She turned to Fallon to see the woman bring her sword on an upstroke and slice both a direwolf and the goblin riding it in two.

  There was something amazing watching Fallon wield her sword, the arc of metal and the sureness of movement the woman displayed, slicing through her enemies without pause. A brutal, bloody beauty. As if she read Larissa’s mind – and who knew, maybe she did – Laire sighed in admiration. “Watching that woman, it’s like damn.”

  Aislynn nodded in agreement.

  One final move, one final death of an enemy at her hands, and Fallon landed on the ground before them, her hand and one knee resting on soil, her sword held high in the air, surrounded by the dead. She rose, slow and sure, a goddess of war demanding her beaten, ravaged due, leaving no space untouched with her eyes as she circled and surveyed the battlefield.

  Satisfied with what she saw, Fallon turned to the three of them sitting on the wall. “And that is how you do it! You may bow before me now, peons.”

  To Aislynn and Larissa, Laire said, “And then she opens her mouth, and all wonderment vanishes.”

  Aislynn nodded in agreement.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Are you ashamed that you’re with me?”

  They were in her home now, and these were the first words Larissa had spoken since the end of battle. After their enemy was defeated, Terak had gathered her close and flew away, not giving the Guild members time to respond. She said nothing and cuddled close, burying herself in his arms.

  “What?” Why would she ever think that?

  She shrugged, the movement jerky, her shoulder half-hunched inward. “I’m useless. I sit on a wall surrounded by a magic barrier while Aislynn fires an arrow a second and Fallon slices through an army.”

  He despised the beaten note that threaded her voice. “I would never be ashamed to be at your side. And you must stop comparing yourself to them. The world needs its warriors and it needs its peacemakers. You have experienced too much war these last weeks. It has you questioning your worth.” Why did the one woman he wished to keep far away from the brutal reality of this world find herself always buried in yet another battle?

  Larissa unfurled her body and looked at him. Instead of fear or loathing clouding her gaze, he saw warmth.

  Thankfulness.

  Admiration.

  “I know you’re right. No one can be all things.” She shrugged, her mouth flattening. “I never cared about fighting or… any of that. When I was a kid, I never wanted to play cops and robbers, though it was the only game my brothers would play. Too violent and I didn’t like all the fighting. I just wanted to read.”

  “So you didn’t play with your siblings?” That didn’t seem to fit with the closeness he had witnessed between the siblings.

  “Oh no, they forced me to play. They always made me the robber and would cuff me, though Dad said
never to play with his handcuffs. Joke was on them, though.” She lifted her arm until her hand was in his line of vision and rotated her wrists. “Double-jointed. No matter how tight they made the cuffs, I could get out. Made them so mad.”

  Her fondness for her siblings banished the last lingering traces of any self-doubt. Her eyes brightened with memory and glee before she banked both, her gaze now holding a question. “Back to tonight. You called Fallon Dragon Slayer. What did you mean by that?”

  “Her sword, Tenro, is a sacred weapon and known as the Slayer of Dragons.”

  “But I thought dragons didn’t exist – never existed – even in the Magic Realm.” His face must have betrayed his feelings because Larissa’s own eyebrows drew together and she asked in a hesitant voice, “Did they?”

  “I have never seen any true record of their existence,” he conceded, letting the full weight of his misgivings play into his tone.

  Her face still held the same hesitance. “But…?”

  “But I cannot forget something my father once said. He said with all the terrible creatures we have that are real, why would anyone create the myth of the dragon? And if dragons are even half as powerful as they are portrayed, would it be any true test for them to disappear without a trace if they so wished?” Though he could only hope his father was wrong, and that dragons never existed, or if they did, they would stay far gone.

  “What are the Seven Houses?”

  It took a beat of time to follow the change in topic. “Where did you hear that?”

  “When Fallon started threatening you. She asked if she should let the Seven Houses sort it out.”

  “Ah.” Now he remembered. “They are connected to the New Realms.”

  Larissa’s gaze went unfocused. “I remember when I was little and first heard the term New Realms. I thought that to get to those places, you needed to go through some magical door. For a long time, I opened every closet door in every house I entered.” Her gaze sharpened again as she came back to the present. “I was so disappointed when I found out it was just a term for the governments and lands of the different races. What’s the importance of the Seven Houses? I’m positive I’ve never heard that name before.”