Spears' Challenge (The White Dragon Series Book 2)

by Bonnie Watts

I really don’t like my molecules spread around like this, but I have to admit as I look out into the expanse of the void we’re traversing, that the view is just awesome!

  We arrive home to find a worried Cirwin and Liam waiting anxiously. Cirwin takes one look at Slayer and smiles the question, his eyes never leaving the adult Hellhound.

  “An adult Hellhound, my Lady? How did you talk Lucifer into giving him to you?”

  “Slayer was his hound, and he’d been driven insane on purpose by his Kennelmaster so that one day he’d turn on King Lucifer. Slayer tried to kill my Familiar, and Beauty and Courage surprised him. The three of them almost killed him, but I stopped them once I realized he could be healed. I had to break his bond to the King to do it. I also think I took away his ability to paralyse his victims so he wouldn’t hurt anyone else with it. King Lucifer was intrigued by the magic terriers, and he and Courage chose each other when he was petting him.”

  “You gave Courage to a King whose people torture dogs?”

  “Only after he gave his word of honor that none of those would touch Courage. Since Slayer is of no use to him, I took him to put him under your care for the rest of his life. He is fragile, Cirwin, but the anger and insanity that drove him are gone. Come and meet him.”

  Cirwin rather nervously put his hand down and let the hound smell it while I gentle the large dog with my mind. Several dog cookies appear next to Cirwin, and he gives them to the Hellhound. Slayer gobbles them up and licks my Grand Duke’s hand. Two more cookies appear and after gobbling them up, Slayer actually wags his tail a little.

  “I believe he will be fine, my Lady. Can Lucifer come with us to his new home to show that I mean him no harm?”

  “I’ll do it. Lucifer deserves a long nap after carrying us so far twice.”

  I go because you need to eat to regain your strength after healing Slayer and me.

  When did I heal you?

  You healed me at the same time you helped Slayer.

  I didn’t realize I did. I just figured you weren’t hurt after you fought him since I didn’t sense any pain from you.

  You healed all of us, White Dragon.

  It was the first time Lucifer called me that directly, and the pride in his mind-voice filled me with pleasure.

  I sense something coming from Cirwin, a surge of joy and excitement.

  “My Lady, Slayer’s bonded with me! He told me he’s hungry and sleepy.”

  I smile at Cirwin. The elf’s face shows the joy and awe he is experiencing at the soul connection he now shares with the large Hellhound.

  “I thought that it might happen once he felt safe. They are bred for telepathic contact, you know. I’d sensed how lost he felt without a bond-partner. Now his rehabilitation will go much faster. Congratulations, Cirwin.” I pause, then blurt out, “Should I tell your sister about Courage, or will it be better coming from you?”

  “Let me tell her. She understands these political things very well, and I can reassure her that he will be loved and treasured. Should I ask for another male for Beauty so that you have a breeding pair again?”

  I turn to my littlest general.

  “Beauty, do you want us to get you a new male companion?”

  She snorts in contempt at the idea.

  I sense more smugness than usual coming off her and looked closer with my body healing magic.

  I grin at what I see.

  “We don’t need a male. Beauty’s pregnant from Courage. I didn’t even know she was in heat.”

  “More puppies? Wonderful! We’ll soon have a full kennel at this rate.”

  “Actually, I need to tell you something. We’re going to have an overloading of dogs soon. About forty Hellhounds with their bonded demons and a Kennelmaster are coming within the next week. They are going to start Void patrols to watch for our enemies’ entry into the Void. We need to contact Supply and requisition more kennel buildings. Plus we’ll need a bond-mate bunkhouse or dormitory.”

  “Forty Hellhounds? My Lady!” Now he looks overwhelmed.

  “You will need more help just taking care of them and training them to do Void patrol. Both Lucifer and Slayer will be your liaisons with the hounds and their bond-mates. Ultimately, though, I trust only you to oversee the entire operation. You’ll be the big boss of Avalon Kennels. After all, starting the kennel was your idea in the first place. The demons will report to you as well, Cirwin. I got the demon king to promise not to send a cruel Kennelmaster. But I know you will make darn sure those dogs aren’t hurt during their stay in Avalon.”

  “I am honored to have your trust in this, Madame Dragon-Spears, and I will not fail. Thank you.”

  The elf bows deeply, then leaves to find a place for Slayer to bed down so Cirwin can head over to supply. The rest of us go into the dining room to eat.

  After we ate, I hold an impromptu meeting with all my generals except Cirwin.

  I look around at the White Dragon’s court, pushing down a pang of sadness at seeing the empty seat where Courage usually sat. Yet he’d chosen his person, and he was in good hands.

  I look at Liam. “Can you help with the logistics of feeding and providing anything else team demon might need, Liam?”

  “Aye, my Lady. I’ll call in help from the other brownies.”

  “Forty hounds will mean moving a ton of dog food and ground meat here just to feed them, Liam. If you need any help, let us know, okay?” Jeff says.

  “I’ll be fine, Consort. But I will let you and my Lady know if I need your intercession. How are we going to pay for everything? I’m not a leprechaun with a pot of gold to guard.”

  “I’ll take care of paying the bills, Liam. Just have Supply bill me.”

  “Aye Dragon, I’ll do that.”

  I look at my other Consort. “How are you paying for all of this, Dragon? I didn’t think about payment, and I should have.”

  “You aren’t a dragon shifter yet, my dear. When the White Dragon magic finishes its work, you will become one. Once that happens, then you will start lusting after treasure to fill your nest. I have been building mine for thousands of years. The loss of a few thousand gold coins will not affect it much.”

  “Thank you.” I look at my other Consort. “Jeff, do you have an idea of where we’re going in Belgium yet?”

  “I do. We can go any time you want.”

  “We have to bring Borger back for a brief meeting, then we’ll get ready to go.”

  Jeff nods. “Why don’t you rest for a few hours, and I’ll arrange to have Borger come later this afternoon?”

  I smile at him.

  “I’ll do that. Thanks.” Healing Slayer had drained me a little, and a nap is just what I need. I head to my room to sleep.

  “Jerrie?”

  I wake up as soon as I hear Jeff’s voice. Something I’d learned how to do in Healers school.

  “I’m awake. Is he here?”

  “He’s on his way. I sent Lucifer to go get him a few minutes ago.”

  I get up and kiss him. “Thanks. Let me just put some clothes on and I’ll come out, okay?”

  “Okay. We’re meeting in the library.”

  After he leaves, I put on the pink Asian style tunic and white pants. This will do fine for this conference.

  When I walk into the library Borger stands up and bows to me. He really does look like a lion shape-shifter, with his bushy blond hair, his huge body and those golden eyes.

  “Lady Dragon-Spears, it is good to see you again.”

  “You, too, Order General. How was the funeral?”

  He shrugs. “It went as those things always go. Tang Lo wasn’t very well liked, so the attendance could have been better.”

  “When do they plan to choose a new Order General?”

  “They already did. I was elected while I was there. Once word got around that a new White Dragon is here and calling on the Knight Protectors for assistance, the number of candidates dwindled. They all know that White Dragon eras always lead to Knights dying in combat,
and none of the others had the stomach to command us during turbulent times.”

  “Congratulations, then. Have you started sending your Knights towards the ruins?”

  “They are on the move as we speak. Some are staying in Huy, which is the closest town near the site. Others were told to move around that area until the word comes to go to the old headquarters.”

  “Excellent. We decided to leave tonight after dark. Will that give you enough time to get your people there?”

  “Most of them have gotten there already.” He shrugs. “They’ll arrive when they arrive. Can you give us more time?”

  “We’ve delayed long enough. I have a feeling that we’re not going to be given much more time before our enemies come. I assume my Consort explained the vision I had on the trip here?”

  Borger’s face becomes serious. “He did. This is a grave threat. Those warrior-mages the Founder and his friends stopped using the Great Magics and the Spell of Nine Dragons came close to destroying the world with their wars before they were finally blocked. It took many covens to do that. Witches were more powerful then.”

  “We’ll do what we need to do, Order General, and we will stop these creeps from taking our world.”

  He grins at me. “I actually believe you, my Lady! Fun times ahead for sure.”

  I shake my head at him. “You’re nuts, do you know that?”

  The smile gets even bigger. “Of course I am, after all, I agreed to be Order General during a White Dragon’s reign. I’d have to be crazy to do it!”

  “Do you want to come with us by Hellhound express? We can drop you off with your Knights on the way.”

  “Absolutely. It beats flying for twenty hours. May I use a computer to contact my people at Headquarters?”

  Jeff said, “You can use my laptop, Order General. It’s in the library. Let’s go.”

  “And so it begins.” I murmur to myself, wondering if I am up to all the magic I’d soon be performing.

  Tor, I’m thinking that you’d better juice me up with power before we leave, because you won’t be able to do it when I’m transferring your body.

  I’ll do it right before you do the spells, okay?

  Are you getting excited?

  More like scared than excited. I trust you, Jerrie. But what if you find that the illness I had can’t be healed?

  That is not an issue I’m worried about. My healing powers are so much stronger now that there isn’t much I can’t heal. But I’ll check your body before we take you out, just in case, okay?

  Okay, thanks.

  -11-

  I rest in Jeff’s arms for the rest of the afternoon. As the sun goes down, we all eat a large dinner to stoke up the calories and I prepare to do heavy magic.

  We stand together ready to go at an hour after sunset as we planned. Cirwin is again staying behind to keep an eye on Slayer and to continue setting up the new kennels and barracks to prepare for the Hellhound army. It’s amazing what progress he has made in just the short time he’d had to prepare.

  “I wish Slayer and I were going with you, my Lady. You can use an extra blade and Hellhound.”

  “I wish you could come as well, my Houndmaster. But Slayer’s mind is still fragile, and we don’t want him to suffer a relapse if he should have to kill someone. Also, you need to be here to take charge of the Hellhounds if they come. I don’t trust anyone but you or Liam to handle it, and he’s coming with us to handle logistics.”

  “I’m glad you aren’t taking little Harddwch with you, though she’s not happy to be left behind either.”

  “With her being pregnant, I don’t want to risk her if there isn’t a magical reason to bring her along. She understands.”

  “Good luck, my Lady.”

  I smile at the elf, reach over and hug Slayer, then turn and take Lucifer’s harness next to Torc. Liam is again on the Hellhound’s back and strapped in. Jeff, Dragon, Roc and Torq, who insisted on coming along as my physical guards, and Borger are all dressed in full working armor. All of them look like the powerful warriors they are.

  I look at my team.

  “We’re ready to go, Lucifer.”

  Lucifer will take you to the ghost place.

  The ghost place?

  You will see. Many ghosts.

  I knew my Familiar had taken Borger to our destination for a quick look-around to pinpoint where we should go. The Order General has the advantage of having visited the shrine before, plus the enemy doesn’t know him that well and will probably not look for him using Finder magic.

  We dissolve into molecules and enter the void. Magic works here by letting us see the beauty of the place even with our eyes dissolved like the rest of our bodies.

  Lucifer stops and lets Borger off at his rendezvous point near the ruins, then we continue towards our chosen landing site.

  When we arrive, I see that we stand outside the back of the headquarters ruins facing a large wooden door.

  “Torq and Roc, can you please try to open that door? The hinges look pretty rusty.”

  The two hobgoblins try to push the door inwards, but it won’t budge. They look at Jeff in frustration.

  “Break it down, you two! It’s not spelled, but something’s blocking it from opening.”

  The two hobgoblins flash identical grins at each other over the chance to destroy something. Torq grabs the door handle and Roc grabs the huge black-iron hinges. Together they huff in effort and the door pulls off the hinges with a high-pitched shriek of complaining metal. I’m so keyed up by now that the noise causes me to startle like a rabbit. Dragon puts a hand on my back to steady my nerves, and I lean into the strength and warmth of it gratefully.

  Torq tosses the door out of the way and we turn to what should be a stone stairway leading down to the crypt. The corridor isn’t passable because of a blockage. It looks like ceiling material had collapsed sometime during the thousands of years the building had stood.

  “Oh boy, look at this mess! I’m going to need my mover magic to shift it out of the way.”

  “I’ll take care of it, Jerrie. You need to save your magic for the reanimations.”

  Dragon turns to the door and uses some of his strong dark green earth magic to make the stone and other debris go elsewhere. When the blockage finally disappears, my Consort almost collapses from the magical backlash. He would have if Jeff didn’t catch him.

  “Easy Consort! Don’t go collapsing on me now!”

  Dragon bares his teeth half-heartedly at the other Consort, but lets Jeff steady him. His swarthy face is very pale.

  “Dragon?”

  He smiles at me. “Don’t worry, Jerrie, I’m just temporarily fatigued is all. It wasn’t just debris blocking the stairs. There was a guardian spell set in it, a powerful one. Conjured by at least six or seven witches working in concert, I think.”

  Jeff points out, “I’m not surprised they would guard their dead with a lot of zeal. Sir Frederick’s body alone would provide a black witch with very magical organs and bones to power their spells.”

  I grimace at the thought of such dark spellcasting.

  “Time to get your battle shields up, people. We don’t know what might be down there waiting for us. Jeff, Dragon’s magic needs to recuperate, so could you shield the hobgoblins? It will take a lot of magic to overcome their resistance, but I don’t want them wide open if anyone attacks us.”

  “Sure, and Liam, I’ll do your shield too. Lucifer’s got his vest on, and it will bring up a battle shield automatically if he needs one.”

  Jeff chants and soon all of them are covered with personal battle shields. Now it is his turn to be supported by Dragon.

  “Let me go first, Lady Jerrie.” Roc moves in front of the rest of us to lead the way.

  Conjuring light, we start down the stairs. They’re made of a grey granite that insures even after ten millennia that the stonework is still in decent shape.

  The passageway we travel is creepy, and I can sense the presence of many ghosts dow
nstairs.

  At the bottom we rest, check the blueprints, and move toward where Tor and Fred’s sepulchers lay.

  Stone sepulchers sit in ancient dignity along the corridors we pass through. Before too long, Lucifer whines as we get closer to our goal.

  Ghosts!

  I see them, Lucifer. I can’t talk to them until they materialize completely.

  “What’s wrong with Lucifer? Why’s he whining like that?” Jeff asks.

  “He sees the ghosts that have been following us since we entered the building.”

  “What do you think they want?”

  “Who knows why they didn’t move on when they died. I can’t talk to them until they materialize completely. Are we still going in the right direction, Tor?”

  Yes, I can feel my body coming closer. The ghosts are another level of protection for this place. They’re Knight Protectors who vowed to Fred that they would defend this sacred place until the end of time.

  I repeat Tor’s explanation out loud.

  “Wow, that’s dedicated.” Jeff says, his uneasiness obvious at the great sacrifice done by these Knight Protectors.

  I feel well-protected by our still mostly invisible sentries. They’ve sensed we aren’t evil.

  After walking what seems like miles of corridors, we reach the wrought-iron door that leads into Fred and Torlean’s tomb. I use magic to unlock the door, and we enter. Sir Frederick’s body is lying on a stone bier. He’s wearing a fine surcoat and black britches and his face looks like he’s only asleep.

  Tor is lying next to him on his own bier, wearing a beautiful green robe made of velvet, I think. It has Knight Protector rank badges on the breast of it.

  You were a Knight Protector, Tor?

  I was an honorary member of them after I married Fred. It wasn’t like anyone would argue with Fred when he made me one of them. He scared everyone to death even then. He’s pretty intense when he wants something. I should know, since he chased me for two years before I’d even go out with him.

  I need to call his spirit here from his otherworld. But first, I have ghosts to reassure.

  “Come at my call, oh spirits of this place.”

  They appear all around the two biers, dressed in the tattered remnants of their Order surcoats. Many of them had been Order Generals in their times.