Dragon Guardian

by Ophelia Bell

  * * *

  A few moments later, Neph deposited Sophia beside the Sundance portal in the southwestern desert. Somewhere in the far Southern Hemisphere near Patagonia, Neph sensed Aodh materializing to deliver Ozzie to the Windchaser portal before traveling on to the Rainsong portal.

  Neph left Sophia with only a word before drifting again to the Appalachian forest where he’d spent the most memorable days of his entire life with the woman he loved. He banged on the door to the cabin, but received no reply from inside. Wanting to waste no more time hunting down Cade, he drifted directly to the portal.

  There were signs of recent passage suggesting Cade had already gone home—was likely already inside the Haven aiding in the fight. With a silent prayer for the ursa’s good health, he whispered, “I am ready,” trusting that the West Wind’s powers were as strong as Ozzie’s vision had indicated.

  Barely a moment later, he heard a whisper in return.

  “We are ready. Enter the portal now.”

  He and Aodh needed no further encouragement. Through their blood connection, Neph sensed the dragon’s eagerness, and it propelled him through the opening Cade had left primed.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Aodh

  Barely a few seconds on the other side of the Rainsong portal, the air currents around Aodh’s head shifted, carrying Neph’s scent along with two others. Before his eyes the three of them materialized, carried on the drift with Neph’s power.

  “I knew we would want to start with Sathmika,” Neph said. “We owe it to the Summer Spirit to tell her what has happened to her daughter.”

  Aodh nodded and linked hands with the others. Another drift carried them swiftly to the center of Sathmika’s throne room. It was every bit as polished and resplendent as the current ursa queen’s, but almost entirely silent. Aodh might have blamed the silence on the time of night when they’d arrived, but he sensed no auras of resident ursa aside from the one vibrant and impatient aura of the woman who now sat on the throne in front of them.

  When they materialized completely, Sathmika stood and rushed toward them.

  “Where is my daughter? Does the attack on the Haven have anything to do with her?”

  Neph nodded grimly. “She is there. The Ultiori have captured her. They’re holding her while they carry out their attack to reach the Source.”

  “We can’t let them reach the Source,” Sathmika said. “That much power in the Lamia’s hands … she would destroy us all. The Queen has sent every ursa capable of defending into the Haven to aid in the battle, but it won’t be enough if the reports I’ve heard are to be believed. There are too many hunters. How the hell did she get that big an army in?”

  Aodh and Neph shared a look. “Vrishti’s estrous …”

  Sathmika cursed, cutting them both off. “Gaia’s tears, I knew I should never have let her go, but she found you … got you back.” She gave Aodh an appraising look and pressed her lips together with a nod. “She has far more strength and willpower than I ever gave her credit for. Let’s get her home in time to complete the ritual. The Summer Spirit must be transferred today. This body of mine won’t endure another full season. The next Solstice is too far away.”

  The sounds of running footsteps made Aodh turn. The door to the throne room flew open and three figures ran in, one of whom he recognized.

  “Brother!” Numa called. “Sweet Mother, we thought you were lost for good.”

  His sister launched herself into his arms, enveloping him in her sweet evergreen scent. She squeezed him so tightly his ribs cracked, then pulled away, already intent on the dilemma. “We need to get the dragons in to help fight. Theron and Bekim and I have been agonizing over the problem for the last few hours—ever since we got word of the attack.”

  “I know. But we don’t have time to figure that out right now, sister. My mate is Meri’s prisoner.”

  Numa’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “Summer’s daughter? She was due to return home today, wasn’t she?” She turned to look at Sathmika. “As your heir, isn’t she bound to you—primed to receive the Summer Spirit when you release it, no matter what?”

  “She is, but I won’t release the spirit until I know she’s safe. She must be brought home.”

  Numa glanced around the room at all of them. The pair of ursa behind her kept their gazes fixed on her as though waiting for her command.

  “What are you waiting for? Go get her!”

  “I’m going with you,” Sathmika said. She gripped both Aodh and Neph by the hand and nodded. In Aodh’s mind, he sensed Neph’s focus shift back to the Haven, and for the first time since he’d been sent away from the place and into Nyx’s temporal prison, he could easily sense the path back in. A second later, Neph’s power pulled him along into the swiftest, most violent drift he’d ever experienced.

  They landed at the base of Gaia’s falls, the roar of the water pounding against the rocks around them. Wading out of the water, a trio of shifted nymphs greeted them with bows drawn.

  “Who sent you?” one asked.

  “Ephyra, lower your weapon!” Neph barked. The nymph’s head snapped up and she immediately dropped her bow when she saw her leader standing to the side, himself shifted to his full height, glorious with massive horns and sturdy hooves.

  “Sire, forgive me. Uh, welcome home?”

  “What is the status?”

  “Assana’s managed to erect an anti-drift barrier protecting the Source, but it’s only a matter of time before the enemy fights its way through and makes it on foot. The Thiasoi are holding ground as well as they can with the ursa’s assistance, but there are just too many to fight for more than a few hours. We don’t expect to be able to hold them off past tomorrow without help.”

  “Get word to Assana to release Nyx. Nereus is returning, but doesn’t have a way inside yet.”

  He eyed the pools of the Source and turned around to face the line of conflict where the Ultiori soldiers were engaged in combat with the nymphs and ursa. For every hunter that fell, another swiftly took his place; even as durable and impervious as the nymphs and ursa were, they were still grossly outnumbered.

  “We have to fight our way through to get to Vrishti,” Aodh said, seeing Neph’s calculations of the path they would need to take to reach the outer edge of the Haven where Vrishti’s cage lay, according to the vision Ozzie had shown them.

  “Not only that, but if Nyx is going to release the binding spell she put on the portals into the Haven, she needs to get to the Source herself. I can’t do it for her since I wasn’t here when she locked them. But we don’t want to risk letting in more Ultiori, anyway. We’ll have to hope your sister can figure out another way to get the dragons inside.”

  Aodh eyed the giant tree that rose up from the central pool of the Source. Neph frowned up at it as well.

  “It carries an uninterrupted supply of the Source into the Sanctuary,” Sathmika said. “A precaution I had to take when Nyx went mad. I can use it to create a stronger barrier around the area, at least. You two go find my daughter and get her home!”

  The ursa woman stepped into the pool, wading deeper until she reached the base of the tree. Turning her back to its trunk, she manifested her claws and dug into the wood behind her. Clear water seeped out where she pierced it and she began to chant.

  “Go!” she yelled once more between incantations.

  Aodh turned and faced a shimmering green barrier several yards ahead. Rushing forward with Neph on his heels, they pushed past and the barrier snapped shut behind them. He turned once to look back and saw a honeycomb of woven magic wrapped around the entire area that encompassed the Source. The nymphs who had guarded it were now outside, aiming and shooting arrow after arrow into the throng of Ultiori fighting their way closer to the Source.

  When Aodh pressed his hand to the barrier, it felt like an electrified wall, the
magic burning his palm instantly and sapping his power in much the way the Sanctuary’s barrier had when they came through.

  “Come on!” Neph yelled. He charged forward, lowering his head and barreling through the gap in nymphs and ursa who had parted to make way for him. Aodh shifted and let out a fierce roar that echoed off the rocky grottoes around them before he followed suit, charging through the throng of enemy fighters, breathing fire and slashing out with talons and tail as he went.

  There were thousands of them to get through. Their weapons were knives and swords that were easier to carry and required no ammunition. The Ultiori had always stuck to the simplest, yet most effective weapons, and Aodh wondered if Nikhil’s influence was what had kept their skills so well-honed. Their swords weren’t enough to combat an immortal dragon’s fire, but even he wouldn’t be able to prevail on his own against so many.

  He and Neph barely made it through without being overrun. The dense foliage of the Haven’s forests and grottoes made it nearly impossible to fly, so the second they were clear, he shifted back to two legs and ran barefoot alongside Neph, their taste of Vrishti’s blood acting as a beacon to her location. The closer they got, the stronger that sense of a tether pulling him in became.

  When Neph disappeared in front of him, he realized they must be out of the anti-drift zone. He instantly followed suit, landing within the latticework of roots that created the cage where Vrishti was being held.

  The second the drift ended, Adoh knew something wasn’t right. A deafening roar sounded, followed by an anguished cry. When his vision cleared, a blur of fur and teeth flew at him and he raised his arms up defensively before the massive bear tackled him to the ground.

  “She’s feral!” Neph yelled. Aodh spared the briefest glance to the side where Neph sat, half-leaning against the bars of the cage, his face twisted in pain as he held a bloodied arm tight to his chest.

  “She tasted your blood! Can you meld her like this?”

  “I don’t know. Let her pierce your skin too.”

  Aodh jammed his arm into massive black beast’s mouth and she clamped down. He felt his bones strain under the force of her bite, but not even her powerful teeth were enough to draw blood from his impervious dragon hide.

  Fire. His flames could weaken dragon skin, but he’d never tried it on his own flesh. Turning his head, he raised his other arm while enduring the raking claws that dug into the flesh of his shoulders and pushed him down. Her teeth sank into one shoulder and he endured it, wrapping his long legs around the bear’s massive torso and holding on, intent on keeping her there until he could make sure she’d tasted his blood.

  He turned his head to the side and breathed a gout of white flame against his forearm, hoping this would work. Pain tore through his body, and it was all he could do to keep the breath going long enough for his skin to blister and sear away.

  Heartbeat racing from adrenaline, he twisted around, lifting the arm up and brandishing the burned flesh in front of Vrishti’s wild, snarling face. She immediately bared her teeth and snapped, biting down hard enough to make Aodh yowl in agony. Blood flowed as she tore at his arm, rending flesh from bone.

  “Now!” he yelled, shutting his eyes and forcing himself to open his mind for Neph to take command of their bond. He tangled his free hand into the thick fur at Vrishti’s neck, hunting for the pressure point that would enable the meld to begin. He was abstractly conscious of how silky soft her fur was, and could easily imagine he had his fingers tangled in her human tresses the way he had when the two of them had first made love.

  He reached beyond the pain with Neph’s help and found the secret garden within Vrishti’s soul—the place where her spirit connected with the Source. She was there now, but instead of sitting silently by the shore of the water, she now sat upon a small island in the center, the waters of the Source like a moat around her, and she held a tiny infant in her arms.

  “It’s us, Vrishti. We aren’t here to hurt you.”

  “I have to protect her! She is innocent. Don’t let anyone hurt her.”

  “We won’t,” Neph said. “But you have to calm down and let us help you.”

  “Meri wants to hurt her,” she sobbed. Tears cascaded down her cheeks, dripping onto the damp, dark curls of the tiny head that she held against her shoulder.

  “We’ll protect her, just please come back to us. We need to take you home. Both of you.”

  The pain in Aodh’s arm lessened significantly. When he opened his eyes, he barely had time to register Vrishti’s shift back into human form before she crumpled into a ball on top of his prone body. He sat up and wrapped his damaged limbs around her, ignoring the pain that lanced through his shoulders where she’d latched on, leaving behind painful bruises where he hadn’t allowed her to break his skin.

  “What happened, love?” Aodh said softly, his lips brushing the top of her head as she clung to him. Neph came to kneel beside them and pressed a hand gently to her back.

  She shook her head. “Get her out of here. I don’t care what you do, just get her out!” Lifting a shaky hand, she pointed to the sunken bath.

  For the first time, Aodh saw the limp body floating on top of the blood-tinged water. Neph lurched to his feet and strode across the room, splashed into the water, and flipped the body over.

  “It’s Meri. She isn’t dead, just unconscious. Mauled to within an inch of her life.”

  “Finish her off, for fuck’s sake,” Aodh snapped, tightening his grip around Vrishti’s shaking form.

  Neph hauled the body out of the water and knelt beside her, his continued ministrations sending Aodh’s pulse into the stratosphere again. “If you don’t do it, I will. Stand aside so I can burn her to fucking ashes.”

  “Bad idea,” Neph said, shaking his head. “As long as she still draws breath, her spirit is tied to this body. The second we kill her without ensuring we can control where her spirit goes, we lose our advantage.”

  Vrishti let out a mournful moan and Aodh cupped her head, murmuring a soft whisper to comfort her that carried a dose of his breath for her to inhale. She quieted and he relaxed a little.

  “So we complete the spell we attempted before. Trap her inside a barrier then send her spirit back where it came from.”

  Neph sat back on his heels and shook his head again. “That would only work out there. When a nymph dies outside the Haven, her spirit is sent to the winds. Inside the Haven, she’d become one with the Source. With Meri blood-melded to an entire army, if we just kill her outright, her spirit jumps into the nearest blood-melded creature. Blocked from those creatures, she goes back to the Source. Neither option is ideal. Keeping her body alive for as long as possible is the only way to control her.”

  “Well, then what the fuck do we do with her?”

  “Vrishti,” Neph said, looking at the whimpering girl on Aodh’s lap. “When did you go all mama-bear on her and do this?”

  “When I woke up inside this cage something snapped. She was about to tie me down, and I just couldn’t let that happen. I remembered the story Nicholas told me about what happened to his mother. What they did to her. I knew I had to fight back, but after that, I … everything is fuzzy.”

  “So not long after you arrived. But we fought our way through armies still clearly intent on reaching the Source. Her spirit is still intact, and likely still has control of her army’s minds too. We shouldn’t let her closer to the Source, so taking her out of the Haven is not an option. Come on, let’s see if Nyx has come to her senses yet—she might have some ideas.”

  Neph stood, hoisting Meri’s unconscious body in his arms. Blood-tinged water dripped down his naked legs as he slung her over his shoulder.

  “Kitten, can you feel our blood meld? When you bit us, it should have been completed. We each had a dose of your blood before we got here.”

  Vrishti wrapped her arms around Aodh’s neck as he stoo
d, and he could feel her slight nod against his shoulder. “It’s like the mind meld, only stronger—like my veins are filled with firewater. Hot, but … powerful.”

  “Good,” Neph said, glancing back at them as he prepared to drift. “We may need all our power to get through this. Let’s go find my sister.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Neph

  They arrived outside Nyx’s grotto to the sounds of strident arguments. Ephyra glanced up and scowled at Neph when he approached, Meri’s wet body still slung over his shoulder.

  “Sorry, sire, she won’t leave.”

  “I never said I wouldn’t leave, Ephyra,” Nyx said. “I said I couldn’t leave yet. I was waiting for my brother. There’s something we need to take care of. Bring the body inside, Neph.”

  He followed his sister’s instructions, laying Meri’s unconscious body on the bed where he’d seen his sister praying in the vision. Nyx gripped the damp rips of Meri’s shirt where Vrishti had clawed her and tore them open to reveal a deep gash in the woman’s side.

  “The bathwater she was in had just enough healing magic to prevent total blood loss, but this body of hers is at the edge of death. No doubt the little shit is wishing we would kill her.” Nyx spat in the unconscious woman’s face and stood.

  “Do we need to heal her?” Aodh asked.

  “No. She’s transfused herself with enough blood from her victims that she’s mutated into a creature who won’t easily die. Her body is just a little too durable, but her spine took just enough damage to no longer allow her to control her own body. The human central nervous system is delicate that way.”

  Neph nodded. “That’s what I thought. We’ll secure her here until we can find a way to sever her power over her armies.”

  “That will be no easy task,” Nyx said. “As you both know, the only way to break her hold on them is for a more powerful creature to blood meld her victims. But there are thousands out there. It’s a less daunting task to simply kill them.”