by Dianna Love
She dipped her large eagle-shaped head down to peer at the damaged leg to get a better view of just how crippled her gryphon would be.
When she turned her gryphon gaze to Germanus, he explained, “I could break the bones again to allow that limb to heal properly, but you will be able to move around in human form with one good leg, and it may prevent you from being foolish.”
Would he think chomping down on his head was foolish?
She gave serious thought to trying it, but he wouldn’t have allowed her to shift if there was any chance of her attacking him successfully. She couldn’t speak in this form except telepathically with another Belador, Brina or Daegan, but she could glare her disgust.
Undaunted by a gryphon giving him the evil eye, he said, “If you feel able to fly, you may fly for ... this long.” Another hourglass appeared above his open hand and flipped to start timing. “It is half of one human hour. Do not waste your time.”
Enough interacting with him.
She had to determine her next move.
Evalle’s gryphon hobbled to the edge and looked over the side where the land was way, way down. Could she fly for sure? She moved her wings out and up, then down, testing them. Some bones in one wing were still mending, but the major ones seemed able to function.
He was going to allow her to fly untethered?
She didn’t feel any majik wrapped around her neck or legs.
It was now or never. Dropping down on her three strong legs, she shoved up, flapping her wings, and leaped over the side.
Her huge gryphon body dropped like a rock in a pond.
She kept flapping harder until she felt her wings finally catch air. Halfway down, still beating like a crazy, overgrown bird, she lifted slowly and took aim at the clouds.
Air swept across her eagle head and heat left from the sun warmed her feathers. Her aches and pains had not vanished, but diminished beneath the exhilaration of flying.
For that one moment, she enjoyed peace.
Gliding back and forth, she banked and flew as if testing her strength, when in truth each move took her further from Germanus and his castle.
From a distance, the stones used to build it seemed to sparkle as if cut from unusual rock. The gargoyles had joined Germanus at the top of the castle, standing like two deadly guards.
With a return of even limited strength, her mind cleared to calculate her escape. Another man had delivered Evalle to Germanus. She still recalled the kidnapper saying, “He is definitely hunting it.”
That it had to be her, right?
Dismissing that as unimportant, she came up with one thing that mattered.
If Germanus had to send someone to kidnap her, then he had a weakness of some sort. Otherwise, why had he not gone for her himself?
He’d said she couldn’t escape.
What could stop her?
Time to find out.
Evalle continued to fly back and forth, continuing to gradually widen the distance from Germanus and his castle. On the next bank to her right, she looked back to see his tiny form still standing as if unconcerned.
She could taste freedom.
Arrogance had taken down the mighty more than once.
Being preternatural did not equal being intelligent. Germanus could be yet another example of how criminals were often idiots.
Straightening out her flight path, she made up her mind to find out just how much luck she had today. But what felt like longer than a half hour had passed and she had not gotten any closer to the mountains. The distance must be further than she’d estimated.
She had a serious problem. Her stamina was waning.
She couldn’t keep flapping at this pace much longer.
Would Germanus expect her to be too weak? Had that been his plan? To let her wear herself out, then recapture her?
She finally turned in a large circle and glided down to where she could land. Normally, she could set down gracefully, but she’d forgotten her damaged limb.
The jar from taking her gryphon weight streaked pain up her right rear leg.
Dropping to the ground to allow all her legs to rest, she searched in every direction beyond the castle.
How could this place be so remote? There had to be locations like this in the world, but traveling had never been an option for her beyond what she could do at night.
She had no idea what else the world offered beyond initially being trained in Alaska and being assigned to the southwest region of the country for a brief stint. Then she’d met Tzader and Quinn, who moved her to Atlanta. Best friends ever.
During her flight, she’d been so busy working her way out from the castle, she hadn’t searched for any other sign of life.
Now she noticed the quiet around her. Too quiet.
This was not the time to quit. That flight had drained her, but she had to go on.
Searching all around, she sensed no sign of a ward. Nothing majikal to prevent her escape. Germanus clearly thought to allow her enough freedom to tire herself out, then send his gargoyles after her.
She was ready to take on those gargoyles, who had no similarity to her sweet Feenix.
Sucking in huge breaths, she lifted up and felt every ache and pain from the battering her body had taken. Her poor body was exhausted. She could rest later.
With a couple of limping steps forward, she growled with determination then leaped into the air, flapping fast to gain altitude again.
Her wings were beginning to feel like rubber.
This time she went higher to locate a thermal where she could fly longer without expending so much energy. After becoming a gryphon, she’d studied all she could about birds and flight.
Up high and coasting, she mentally patted herself on the back for a good plan until she took stock of her position. Those mountains in the distance appeared just as far away as they had back at the castle.
It would be nice to ask someone for directions.
Wait a minute! She could use her telepathy to reach Beladors anywhere in the world, maybe even that powerhouse Trey. She called out telepathically, This is Evalle Kincaid of the American Beladors. If you hear me, please answer.
Nothing.
Her heart thumped with a rush of excitement. Some Belador had to hear her.
She kept calling out as she glided toward the mountains and started asking for anyone who could hear her to contact Trey McCree via telepathy or the phone number she included. Being the most powerful telepath Evalle knew of made Trey the best choice for contact. She had no idea where Quinn was, but knew he’d be hunting her, and she would hope that Tzader remained on Treoir for the obvious reasons.
A roaring sound broke into her thoughts.
She banked to the left to see behind her.
The sky was dark with flying beasts. Not just gargoyles. There had to be thirty winged creatures. All of them huge and heading for her.
Her stomach dropped. She turned and flapped like a mad gryphon trying to reach the mountains.
Screw it. She swept around to the right and saw miles of grass, trees and maybe a river, but the view in that direction seemed to be infinite. Swinging back the other way, she found the same. The mountains continued in both directions, too.
Deep calls and growls from the flying beasts closed in.
Her heart thumped with a flood of adrenaline.
She turned back for the nearest mountain and doubled down, flying harder.
A shadow fell over her from above.
She looked up to see the underbellies of both gargoyles. Those two were even more gargantuan in flight than standing inside the castle.
She did her best to fly like a fighter pilot, dipping and angling one way, then another.
One of the gargoyles did an impossible turn in midair and dove for her.
She rolled away, but he dragged a claw down her back. Fire raced through the new wounds. Something else hit her from the other side, sending her into a cartwheel spin.
Noise from the rest of the livin
g squadron grew louder. She got smacked again, knocking her out of the roll and sending her spiraling down. Straining, she beat her wings mercilessly and pulled up just before hitting the ground.
But she had nothing left in the engine to fight the many flying beasts now circling her.
Setting her wings, she glided to the ground and made another rough landing. Her gryphon body slid on her chest this time, banging up her wings. Why hadn’t she healed more during this flight? Her back felt flayed open. When she finally stopped, she spit out a beak full of dirt and grass, then just stayed flat on the ground, breathing hard.
The thumps of other heavy landings surrounded her.
When she could manage it, she pushed her body up using her wings and had to sit on the ground with her crooked back leg sticking out to the side.
Just beyond the circle of beasts, she noticed a massive carcass. Possibly a wyvern, based on its shape, similar to dragon but with only two legs. The body appeared to be charred black on the inside while the remaining skin was nothing more than a layer of boils. Ew.
Both gargoyles landed as a perfectly trained pair, then one dropped a shoulder and Germanus slid off to the ground.
He walked over to her, shaking his head. “You can’t blame me for this. I told you not to try, but figured we had to get this out of the way.”
Despair seeped into Evalle’s mental fortress, doing its best to knock down defenses that already felt puny as a toothpick structure. She fought back, forcing herself not to give in even if she was defeated for the moment. He had no idea who he was dealing with now that she’d healed a bit.
Of course, her body didn’t feel too great at the moment.
“Shift to your human form, Evalle.”
She intended to defy him, but her body clearly didn’t care what she thought because it started shifting.
How could he make her do that?
Bones, skin and muscle went into action ... everything felt twisted, yanked and pulled through a grinder. As her human shape finished forming, blood ran down her back. She tried calling up her beast to heal it, but all she got was a weak trickle of energy.
Nothing made sense to her anymore.
The pale brown sack dress covered her again. Was that for her benefit? Why would he care?
She swayed in place, depleted of what renewed energy she’d enjoyed for a short time. What happened to having more power as an Alterant and gryphon?
She lifted her hands.
Germanus warned, “No. Use your kinetics against me without my permission and it will strike back at you twofold.”
Truth or not? She hadn’t intended to attack him out here where she was outnumbered, only to raise her hands in question, but she lowered them now.
Germanus stood there with his thumb and forefinger stroking his chin while he studied her. “That was not bad. Better than I had thought you’d do with the damage you had to repair. This may go more quickly than I’d hoped.”
“What do you want, Germanus?” She opened her arms, outward this time so he could not mistake her intention. “It had better be worth bringing down the Beladors and our dragon king on your head, not to mention my mate who will be worse to face than all of them together. Storm will find me. When he does, there will be no stopping him from killing you.”
She believed that and had to keep reminding herself or she’d go mad.
“You can’t leave me, Evalle.”
“Was doing a pretty good job of it until I got tired,” she quipped, just to tweak his nose.
“If you could teleport out, you would have already tried, but I was told that you do not possess that ability. That should clear up any ideas you have for escape or anyone unwanted showing up.”
Despair turned into a cold lump of fear in her stomach. “What are you talking about?”
“I should probably have told you this sooner, but I wanted you to get any rebellious urges out of your blood. You are in the realm of Scamall. You cannot leave. Daegan would be wise to avoid a place where the god who created this realm can destroy that dragon. Never forget that I am the powerful one here. Even if the dragon does come, it will not matter who he brings. If the dragon does not come, not even your Skinwalker mate can track you to this realm.”
All hope died with his words.
No one was ever coming for her.
Storm would have no way to find her without the emerald chakra stone, and even that would not work with them in two different realms.
CHAPTER 16
Himalayas north of Nepal
Cathbad felt chilly air brush his skin as his teleportation ended on a cliff overlooking snowcapped mountains of the Himalayas.
Even in the middle of night with not a human light to be seen, snow glowed beneath a full moon shining across the spectacular landscape.
No sign of human life as far as the eye could see.
Some parts of the human world still held pleasure for him. He had always enjoyed his time in this remote area. With his body now properly outfitted with snow boots, thick clothing and a heavy fur cape, he turned from the vista.
Taking in the face of this peak that rose into the clouds, he moved his hand and kinetically forced a huge boulder to grind aside. The massive stone kept any unlikely human who showed up from discovering his secret cavern.
The ward he’d left in place discouraged his guest from leaving.
With the stone displaced far enough to allow him passage, he entered carefully and listened for any sign of life.
Nothing moved.
Strolling down the tunnel as it curved from side to side in its descent, he finally reached the last major arc before his path straightened, ending in a sparkling room fit for a queen, right down to royal seating. It was as though a mythical artist had gathered piles of brilliant sapphires, mixed them with ice to form one piece, then sculpted that into a throne. Elaborately decorated trunks overflowing with gold coins, goblets, furniture, jewelry, more than most people could imagine, stood in a glowing pile. He had to tilt his head back to view it.
A king’s treasure.
Or to be more accurate, he should say a queen’s.
He noted that everything appeared unharmed, which encouraged him. He’d expected the place to be demolished from a fit of rage.
Perhaps that would bode well for his visit.
Still, nothing made a sound.
He walked slowly toward the center of an area that stretched a hundred feet across and deep. The seventy-foot-wide, half-frozen pond in the very middle lay quiet, with a glass-smooth surface.
Beneath the surface, the water dropped three hundred feet.
The air stilled with a frozen tenseness.
As he lifted his head to peer at the soaring ceiling, fire lashed down from above.
Cathbad teleported away in a blink, before the blaze struck the empty spot he’d vacated. He reappeared on top of the thirty-foot-tall pile of precious metals and spectacular jewels.
Glowing red sparks sizzled where he had been standing.
Adjusting his position until he was comfortable, he sat with his elbows propped on his knees and looked up.
Diaphanous-blue and pearl-white scales covered the silvery skin of a dragon, now clearly evident where she had sucked up against the ceiling.
Cathbad asked, “You miss me, my sweet?”
With a massive flap of her wings, she lunged away from the top of the cavern and swooped down across the pond, dipping a wing to make a tight circle, and landing on the opposite side of the frozen water from him.
Rising fifteen feet tall, with wings open as if ready to attack, the dragon posed as a gigantic, elegant beast. One Cathbad had kept here for the past two thousand years.
She did have reason to take issue with him for locking her underneath the water all these centuries, but she was also alive today because of him.
Everything came with a price.
She would soon learn his.
Rumbling sounded deep inside the dragon before a puff of blue-gray smok
e swirled from her nostrils. Diamond pupils in her serpent eyes speared him with anger yet to be released.
“Have you not tried to shift your shape yet?” Cathbad asked. He’d been hoping she’d figured out how to do that during his absence. He knew from reincarnating into a world unlike the one he’d left two millennia back that she would be disoriented.
Thankfully, her line of dragons had not possessed teleportation ability like Daegan of Treoir. Cathbad had found that flaw disconcerting when he first decided to keep a dragon for himself, but now he was glad for the power he held over her.
She needed to realize he was not her enemy.
Still no response beyond her steely death glare.
He said, “I have something interestin’ to tell you, but I wish to talk with you in human form.”
Hatred burned so vividly in her gaze, her eyes should be shooting flames.
He kept up the calm discourse. “Surely you must be ready to leave this cave.”
Finally, the hatred dropped a notch to mere disgust.
He chuckled. “I have waited as long as you have for this day. The difference is that I can teleport away and wait another thousand years.”
That struck home.
Her shoulders lowered and she tucked her wings around her body, but still she remained in dragon form.
He had one last idea that might force her to call up her power to shift.
“When last we met, Brynhild, you regained consciousness for only seconds, but long enough for you to accept my offer of livin’. You did so because you had one goal you wished to fulfill before you died.” That was as good a version of the actual events as she needed at the moment.
He continued, “I recently met with the dragon known as Daegan. Ya do recall the only son and dragon heir of King Gruffyn who ruled the Treoir power, don’t ya?”
Her eyes filled with interest.
About time. Cathbad explained, “Daegan lives in today’s world and rules as a mighty king over Treoir Island with an army of Beladors at his disposal, who jump to fulfill his every wish. Women fall to their knees in front of him. He ... ”