by Leia Stone
A caw from above brought my eyes to the skies, where I saw Gear circling ahead.
Logan seemed a bit lost in thought, or maybe in mental conversation with the hawk.
“Keegan’s at the road. Let’s jog,” Logan said.
I think we all wanted to get the hell out of here. The Earth had started her job of disposing of the druids’ and hunters’ bodies, opening up to swallow their evil whole.
Thank you, I sent a silent prayer to Mother Earth, and picked up my staff from the grass.
I had killed Steven. I killed one of the big baddies. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It felt like for the first time in forever the scales were tipping in our favor.
As we ran, I held tightly to my staff and prayed that Ardan didn’t blink in front of me and make this day any worse. I was tired, felt sluggish, and needed a nap, not to mention tons and tons of therapy. I stabbed him, shot him, and burned him. I felt like a monster. The amount of anger I’d unleashed, that wall of fire, what did it say about me as a person?
“You okay?” Logan asked as we reached the road.
I just nodded. It needed to be done. He was evil and it needed to be done, but it didn’t make it any easier.
Keegan brought the car to a halt and the doors flew open. Nadine ushered us inside, Keegan nearly wept at the sight of us all alive.
As he gunned it back onto the road, Gear flew in through the open passenger window, and landed on Nadine’s lap. She just stroked his feathers like it was no big deal.
Keegan looked back at us. “What the hell happened?”
Logan and Danny looked to me. “Like twenty druids showed up.” It was Danny that spoke. “I thought we were dead, but Sloane—”
“I killed them. Including Steven.” My voice was hollow.
No one said a word, and I just rested my head on the cool glass window, falling asleep.
Chapter 8
I slept the whole way back to Isaac’s land. At some point we’d dropped off Gear and Nadine at his motorcycle, and they met up with the new skyborn from Mexico, bringing them home too. I wasn’t awake for any of it.
It was night by the time we got back. Immediately, I went to sit by the waterfall outside our house. I’d asked Logan for some alone time. I needed to think. What I did back there, the wall of fire, so much death, it was destruction on a massive scale and it made me feel sad. I felt sad that the druids who came up against us were all going to have to die in order for us to live. It felt counterproductive. Why couldn’t we all co-exist? I knew I was asking age-old questions, and if there was an easy answer there would never be any war, but still … I longed for a better solution than the annihilation of the druids. It meant we were no better than them.
“Your heart is heavy,” Isaac said behind me, and I jumped. With the roaring creek I hadn’t heard him approaching. I looked up and he touched his chest. “I feel it. Through our connection.”
I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Tears spilled over my cheeks. “I was amazing. Everything we’ve been training me to be and yet…”
He nodded, seemingly in understanding. “And yet it feels awful.”
“Yes!” Relief poured through me, he understood.
The good druid sat before me and gave me one of his radiant smiles. “That’s because earth druids are about life, beauty, healing … rarely destruction. You’ve had to go against your nature and you’re feeling that now.” I nodded, relieved that someone understood me. “Sometimes the Earth has her moments of destruction too. Quakes, floods, fires. It can’t feel good for her, but it is a necessary cleansing sometimes.”
“I just … I don’t want to be the reason there are no more druids. I don’t want to stoop to their level. Ya know?” I shared my deepest concern with him.
He nodded, looking out at the edge of the river where the water fell over the ledge. “You know why I bought all this land back in the fifties?”
I shrugged. “You like nature?”
He smiled. “I do like nature, but no. My main reason for ALL of this land, and ALL of these dwellings I’ve built on it is…” He suddenly looked shy then, as if he were embarrassed to share.
“Is what?” I leaned forward.
He chuckled. “I always thought one day this druid-dragon war would end, and I could … run a school for earth druids. Teach them how to pull energy from the Earth again. And skyborn could be here too. All supernaturals could. A teaching ground for how to use all of our powers together. Not against each other. Great evils have risen up before, and they will rise again. Better we learn to fight together than against one another.”
I stood quickly, excitement bursting in my chest. “Yes! It’s a great idea! I could be a teacher for the younger kids. Teach them basics like going barefoot and meditation.”
Isaac was grinning ear to ear. He stood as well. “And I thought we could teach the tree healings as an advanced level course—even get the sorcerers to assist.”
Pure joy was running through me. “And the skyborn, they could donate scales to help heal. We could even heal humans.”
Isaac’s eyes were lined with tears. “Yes! That’s what I envisioned. Something like that.”
“Well, what are we going to call it?” I asked my mentor. I needed this, something positive to hold on to, even if it was only an idea. Ideas grew into powerful things.
Isaac smiled. “Earth School?”
I beamed. “Earth School.” I leaned forward spontaneously and hugged him. As he wrapped his arms around me, I saw that the sacrifices we would have to make would be so that the next generation could learn to live the right way.
When we pulled back, Isaac looked excited. “And we could get more goats!”
My face fell. “No way! No more goats!”
He doubled over in laughter and it was then that I realized he was joking.
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “But seriously, if we survive this thing, we’re doing the Earth School.”
His laughter faded and he looked at me with a thoughtful expression. “It would be my life’s greatest work, aside from mentoring you.”
I grinned. “It gives me something positive to look forward to, and I’m grateful for that.”
He squeezed my hand. “So am I.”
Sometimes a pep-talk from Isaac was just what I needed. We decided to join the camp party that was going on to welcome our new skyborn who’d come all the way from Mexico. Isaac and I strolled to the fire-pit party in perfect companionable silence. It was only just before we got there that I decided to speak.
“Hey, thanks for taking me to see Rufus. I know that wasn’t exactly easy after everything you guys went through.” I wanted him to know how much it meant to me that he was able to go before his friend with all that old baggage.
A sad smile graced his face. “Yeah, and Rufus doesn’t even know the half of it. But I promised Laney I wouldn’t tell him, so I haven’t.”
I nodded. “Sounds like you guys were just trying to do what you thought was right.”
Isaac shrugged. “I knew it was wrong, but I figured since neither of us had romantic feelings for each other that it was okay. It was nineteen fifty-four and fertility options weren’t exactly available. Plus, we weren’t sure if doctors would see anything … supernatural if they examined us closer.”
Shit. That was so sad. All she wanted was a baby. “So what happened?” I didn’t want to pry but I really wanted to know.
Isaac stopped walking. We’d reached the edge of the opening that would lead us to the party. I could already hear people talking. He was silent for a while, looking off into the trees as if reliving the memory. “There’s never been a report of an alchemist and skyborn having a child, but still … they tried. They tried for two years and Laney cried herself to sleep every time she got her monthly cycle.”
Oh God, how awfully sad.
“Rufus would tell me how frustrated he was that he couldn’t give her a baby.” Isaac went on. “And how he thought it was all his fault. So, when
Laney came to me with the idea of impregnating her, I agreed. I told her he would find out eventually when the baby came out with darker skin and druid powers, but we agreed to tell him before then, if the pregnancy took.”
What a hard position to be put in. What if I couldn’t give Logan a baby? Would I ask Nadine to help? Obviously nowadays we had fertility treatments, but still … I could see how a woman could go down this road.
“But he caught you?” I was too wrapped up in the story not to hear the full ending.
Isaac sighed, looking suddenly sad and overcome with emotion. “Yes, he caught us before we even did it. It looked so bad. He wouldn’t let either of us explain. He kicked me out. I found out later that even after she told him everything he'd kicked her out too. She was so emotional, so scared of losing him that she couldn’t control her dragon.”
“No!” I gasped, grabbing my throat as chills broke out onto my arms.
Isaac nodded. “She shifted about ten miles from his house, in a motel. Druids came for her, and killed her. Now Rufus blames me for all of it.”
“Oh, Isaac, I’m so sorry.” I reached out as tears filled my eyes, touching his shoulder. “I’ll bet he blames himself. He’s the one that kicked her out and wouldn’t listen.”
Isaac just nodded. “You’re probably right. But the past is in the past, and I’ve learned from it. That’s all that matters.”
“Yeah,” I said. I regretted having asked him to tell me the story. I felt an awful sick feeling in my stomach, we’d been so happy just now. If any of us got too emotional or couldn’t control our dragon, it would bring the druids here, and sign our death warrants.
“Don’t dwell on the past, Sloane. It isn’t healthy. Especially when you’re immortal. There’s a lot of shit to dwell on,” he told me with a smile.
“Is that the first time you’ve ever cussed?” I asked him with a grin.
He chuckled and my old happy druid was back. “Maybe.” He winked.
Logan saw us approach and waved us over. He was speaking with who I assumed were the twins from Mexico. They looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. Hemlock was lying at Logan’s feet with Mittens on his back. Those two were inseparable. As I neared, Hemlock rose and Mittens fell off, but somehow still landed on her feet. I gave my rescue dog a quick rubdown as Mitsy rubbed up against my ankles. A goat, a dog, and a cat. We might as well make this a farm.
“Sloane?” The girl twin approached me with her hand outstretched.
I stood fully to greet her. “Hey, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m sorry I was busy earlier,” I told her. “I just needed the alone time.”
She nodded, giving me a genuine smile. Her long brown hair fell in thick waves to her elbows. “I’m Isabella, and this is my brother Marco.” Surprisingly, she didn’t have much of an accent.
I shook Marco’s hand, introducing Isaac and myself.
“We’re so happy you could come out to the land,” I told her.
She eyed Casey and Geoff laughing near the fireplace, throwing marshmallows at each other and smiled. “This is a special place. We are honored to come and help protect it.”
Protect it. Because for a single moment I had forgotten we needed to protect ourselves from the constant threat of the druids.
“Isabella was just telling me that she and her brother have done extensive military training,” Logan told me. “They’d like to work with the members of the pack.”
Two more skyborn who could fly and fight when the time came? “Sounds good to me,” I told them. That final decision of course rested with Keegan.
They smiled. Dee called them over, and they excused themselves.
“Where’s Eva? Has she had any more issues with the border?” I asked my mate.
He shook his head. “No, thank God. They seem to think we did in fact have our stronghold in Lake Tahoe. But now she’s working on an issue with Baby Lily.”
My whole body clenched. “What’s wrong?”
Logan frowned slightly. “Well … nothing yet. Eva said the baby is fascinated with shifting and is doing so too often, which is wearing down her spell. Pretty soon, we’ll run out of ingredients and she won’t be able to hide her anymore.”
It was like someone had knocked the wind out of me. Even Isaac made a choking noise to my right.
“Well … get more supplies. Let’s make extra batches and have them on standby…”
Logan put out a hand. “Sloane, we’ve thought of all that. The reality is there isn’t enough unicorn blood left in this world to keep up this charade.”
I’m sorry, did he just say unicorn blood?
“Unicorns are real?” Why didn’t anyone tell me this?
Logan gave me a sly grin. “They used to be. In Faery. But only a small precious amount of that ingredient made it out.”
I looked at Isaac. “Got any unicorn friends you haven’t told us about?”
He chuckled. “No, I wish.”
Logan sighed. “At some point we will need to decide whether or not to keep Lynn and the baby here, where we can all protect them. Or … have them go on the run with a small group and hope for the best.”
“They will leave this land over my dead body,” I said, through gritted teeth. There was no way in hell I was letting a new mother and her innocent child go on the run in fear.
Logan’s eyes flashed a glowing green. “I agree. Whatever happens will happen. We’ll do everything in our power to protect them.”
Isaac raised his staff and stamped it ceremoniously into the ground. “I concur. My land is a place of safety for the skyborn. If the baby leads the druids here, then the war will begin and end on this land, for better or worse.”
For better or worse. I was really hoping for the better. I didn’t know why, but ever since Ardan snatched me to his Ireland safe house, I’d envisioned this ending with us storming his castle and killing him in his own home. Something about showing him he had nowhere to hide appealed to me. But the reality was I wasn’t going to be able to control any of this. Like I couldn’t control what had happened in Lake Tahoe. I was at the mercy of fate. I just had to be ready.
I woke up the next morning feeling stiff and out of sorts. We’d stayed up late partying with everyone, but there was an overlying doom and gloom once Eva informed us that her spell to contain baby Lily’s shifts was wearing off. How fast? We didn’t know. But word had spread throughout the party and now it was a waiting game. After all that work to draw the druids away, they would eventually find us here. In our home.
At least I’d rid the Earth of Steven. Ardan had to be feeling the loss of power from his second in command. I’d taken a ton of dragon magic back, magic that Ardan could no longer pull from. So much so, that my dragon felt stronger and closer to the surface.
I was just finishing up breakfast with Logan when there was a knock at the door.
“Come in!” I yelled, without looking.
The glass door to our tiny shipping container house slid open, and Casey peeked her head in. “You promised. Remember?”
I grinned. “I thought you might forget.”
She pushed the door wide and showcased her workout outfit, hands wrapped in cloth strips like a boxer.
I laughed, looking at Logan. “Alright. I’ve got a badass fourteen-year-old to train.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss.
He smiled, watching me leave with Casey, a glint in his eye.
‘We’re going to have so many babies,’ he told me.
I nearly choked on my spit. Casey looked at me and I waved her off.
‘Umm, two kids and I’m good,’ was my reply. This man was crazy about making babies with me.
‘We’ll see,’ was all he said.
Hah! As if he had the control. I was the one who was going to have to push those suckers out. I got to choose how many.
“Why not ask Sophie to train you or something? I’m not that good,” I told Casey while we weaved through the path down the waterfall. I’d promised her last night by t
he fire I’d train her to be a fighter.
Casey rolled her eyes. “Sophie isn’t skyborn! And I’ve seen you. You’re more awesome than you think.”
That made me feel good actually, even if it was coming from a kid with no fight training.
“Well, I will teach you everything I know, but considering you pulled a gun on me when we first met, I don’t think you need much more help.”
She just smiled.
We weaved in and out of the trees and I noticed a fog had rolled in. God, I loved this land. It felt like home, and I was hoping, if we all survived this, that Isaac would let us stay here. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
“You wanna run Sophie’s training course with me?” I asked her.
She nodded, bouncing on her heels. “Are we gonna throw knives and stuff too?”
I chuckled. “There will be knife throwing yes.”
She squealed. “This is going to be so awesome.”
I swatted her arm. “Tag, you’re it!” I set down my staff and took off barefoot through the course Sophie had set up. Casey pounded after me.
Over the next hour we trained hard. Casey was a wonderful student. She listened, gave it her all, and didn’t give up. I was just getting ready to call a break from throwing knives when Logan and Eva came over looking sullen.
Shit.
“Let’s take a break for a minute. I’ll be right back,” I told Casey, seeing her nod, and walk over to where Lynn had set up a pitcher of water for us. Earlier, Tony and Geoff had offered to watch the baby so Lynn could get some fresh air and have a break, but of course she just went around and mothered everyone, seeing what they needed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Logan and Eva. I could tell from the look on their faces that something wasn’t right.
Eva looked like she was near tears. “There is absolutely nothing more I can do. The spell is so thin now that it’s only a matter of hours.”
Shock ripped through me; my dragon rushed to the surface so fast I had to push her down. “Hours! You just told us last night.”