The Devourer: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Airshan Chronicles Book 3)

by Nhys Glover

  ‘That won’t be a problem for me,’ my brother joked.

  I gave a soft bark of laughter and said my goodbye. In the next instant, I was alone on the deserted beach staring up at the deep blue sky.

  ‘We can do it. No matter how far apart we are, we can do all of it,’ I told my men with triumph, as if they didn’t already know. It was a heady feeling.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ‘I have an idea about what our part should be,’ Prior said into the exuberant silence. ‘I don’t know about anyone else, but just tricking It here doesn’t seem to be enough. I thought we could all use our magic on It as It approached, to make it look like we’re fighting It. That might have kept Its focus away from the elemental ring. But now I have another idea.’

  I was so buoyed by our victory that I was open to anything. I too had wondered what we’d be doing when the Jayger came our way. We had a lot of magic between us, but most of it would be useless against an amorphous vortex of energy.

  ‘Go on,’ Zem encouraged. I could hear his curiosity in the demand.

  ‘All right. In Highlund where I was employed after the end of the war, I saw lightning used in an odd way. They would gather lightning mages together and have them knit their bolts together over the top of something they were working on. I have no idea what. It wasn’t discussed. But plenty of us saw the dome of light formed by the lightning.

  ‘What if we could do something like that to protect what Sky is doing under the dome? It might prove the distraction we need. It would be so novel the Jayger would have to come and investigate. Once It was close enough we could drop the shield and the elemental circle could start sucking It in.’

  I felt the others considering the idea. I was definitely doing so. How could we generate enough lightning to cover the island? Or did it have to be the whole island?

  Without consulting the others I connected to Sky. ‘How big will the ring be?’

  I felt his surprise, but he recovered quickly. ‘A few leagues in diameter. I will create the ring around the girth of the volcano toward its summit. Having an already existing hole to the underworld there will help. It did the last time, anyway. I have been working on clearing away more of the debris from the chimney over the last few days. Well out of sight, of course.’

  ‘We can help you. At night.’

  ‘Not necessary. And their focus is on you now. You cannot be caught with me. But tell me, what have you in mind?’

  ‘A lightning net around you, protecting you from the Devourer’s awareness until the last minute. The size may be an issue though. I’ll talk to the others.’

  ‘Interesting. It might work. I wondered how we would keep it from noticing the ring in advance. The last time it didn’t know what it was, but this time it will. It would likely keep its distance as soon as it sees the ring’s vortex.’

  ‘My thoughts exactly,’ Prior put in. ‘I think the net could be very useful.’

  I let go of Sky and returned to our private chat across the length and breadth of the island.

  ‘It might still be too far for us. How would it work?’ I asked Prior.

  ‘We would position ourselves equally around the base of the volcano. It’s a big area in the centre, but at least it isn’t the whole island. We’d then shoot lightning across to the other side of the volcano in arcs. As long as we made sure we didn’t get in each other’s way we should be able to create a dome effect over the top of the volcano.’

  ‘Won’t we cancel each other out?’ Laric asked. ‘We’d all be using the fire element, after all.’

  ‘But not near each other,’ Prior offered. ‘And I’m starting to think that we can operate as one being now. Our magic won’t be cancelled out by each other.’

  ‘What does that mean for you and your fire issue?’ Landor asked with interest.

  I felt Prior shrug. ‘I’m not sure. But I have felt it as less of a problem since the Goddess. I’m not afraid anymore. It’s something that needs to be tested, of course. But...’

  We had taken to making love in the water because it was easiest. But now I wondered just how accurate Prior was. Could becoming one being mean his fire couldn’t touch the rest of us? After all, he had never been burned by his own fire, even if his clothes went up in flames.

  My optimism rose higher again. We were becoming invincible. It only made sense that Prior’s magic would also come to heel now.

  ‘Let’s try for the Jayger!’ I shot out, my enthusiasm spiking.

  ‘All right, but I’d like to be closer if you’re going to try it. I’d feel better... just in case,’ Zem said, stammering a little at the end.

  I knew he felt on rocky ground. The last time he wanted to stop me doing something, it had turned into a personal attack on my capabilities and my gullibility. He didn’t want to get caught in that quagmire again.

  I didn’t disagree with his idea. I felt comforted to hear their voices in my head, but I needed the safety of their muscular bodies around me if I was going to try more.

  ‘Race you back to the camp!’ I threw out with a laugh.

  And I knew it really would be a race. My men were nothing if not competitive. Even Landor—who had gone to the far side of the island behind the volcano and would therefore likely lose—would join in. This little taste of fun was much needed. The tension of the last days had taken its toll. It was easy to forget we were all still young when so much rested on our shoulders. The weight of the world, in fact.

  However, for this short time, we could race our airlings and feel the exhilaration of wind in our faces and the powerful wings of the airlings beneath us. We could enjoy being young and free and surrounded by friends as well as lovers. It didn’t matter who won.

  Although, if I did, I wouldn’t deny the victory or hold back from rubbing my men’s noses in my success. I was still me, after all. I might be the Goddess’ champion, but I was not some paragon of virtue.

  I saw Zem and Laric racing toward the beach from the other direction as I flew over the last stretch of forest in front of our private campsite. I was closest, but that didn’t mean I’d win.

  With a squeal of delight, I urged Spot on. He responded willingly, caught up in the race as much as I was. When we swooped toward the sand, Zem was coming in fast from the other direction. But Spot dropped to the beach first, and I raised my arms with a victory cry!

  Laughing, and giddy with it, I threw myself off Spot and hugged him close. He was sweaty and overheated from the exertion, but no worse for wear. He smelled familiar and safe, and I was overwhelmed anew by the good fortune that had brought this amazing creature into my life. I was proud to have Spot call me his.

  Zem and Laric ran up to me and took turns lifting me high into the air and swinging me around and around until I was dizzy. By the time my feet were on the ground again Prior was coming in for a landing.

  It was only then that I felt it.

  My mind was suddenly filled with pictures sent by Landor’s airling. Its terror had all the great beastlings shifting nervously in the sand.

  ‘Gods! What’s happened to Landor?’

  In my mind I saw it all. I saw him take off and push his airling to fly as fast as possible. A native featherling, bright and garishly plumed, flew out at the airling just as it crested the trees. The suddenness of its appearance, for all the featherling was small, had the airling banking abruptly to avoid it. Landor, as inexperienced as he was, was unprepared for the sudden shift in direction. He lost his seat and plummeted to the ground. The tree branches broke his fall, but it might not have been enough. Could he have survived a drop of ten or twenty strides?

  What had I been thinking to issue that challenge when I knew how new three of my husbands were to riding airlings? Landor was the least athletic of my men, the least capable in physical situations, and he wasn’t even used to riding beastlings, no less airlings.

  Without a word, we mounted up and took to the skies. My stomach roiled as I contemplated the alien thought that I might lose Lando
r. My pale husband had become so intrinsically part of me in the last moon I couldn’t fathom a world where he wasn’t in it. Not just in my life, but in the world. I could conceive of losing him from my harem—as I feared would happen when all this was over and everyone took up their own lives—but not losing him entirely to death. No, not possible!

  I barely even considered the effect his loss might have on our bond. We were supposed to be The Five. How could we do what had to be done when we were short one mage? And a mage who could heal? We would be lost.

  Our airlings knew where to go so we gave them their heads. By the time we landed on the beach, not far from where Landor had fallen, we were all stiff with tension and fear. Though we had tried to call out to him on the ride, we received no reply. Either lacking his input restricted our ability to communicate or he just wasn’t able to answer us. I refused to accept he was dead. If he was injured and unconscious he couldn’t reply either. No response didn’t mean he was dead!

  We ran in from the beach, the men outdistancing me quickly with their long legs. By the time I reached the spot where Landor had come down, my heart was racing too fast and my breath was coming in painful gasps.

  “Is he alive?” I demanded anxiously, pushing my way between big bodies until I was at my pale husband’s side.

  “Aye, just. But his injuries are extensive. Bones have broken. See how they break through the skin? And he’s lost a lot of blood,” Zem categorised in a hoarse whisper.

  I could see the fear in his brown eyes. Landor was loved. He couldn’t die!

  That’s when the Knowing came, as strong and persistent as any gut certainty had ever been.

  “We each have the others’ magic. Landor has my lightning. Maybe I have his healing ability. Or one of you might.”

  I looked from one to the other of them. They looked unsure, afraid, and overwhelmed. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We needed Landor! Losing him now when all the pieces were falling into place... what a sick joke. All because I challenged them to a race because I was buoyed by our growing power.

  So who said my power was limited to mind-reading and lightning? If Landor could have my lightning I could have his healing! I was sure of it. My desperation made me sure of it.

  I sat back on my heels and placed my hands on an unbroken part of Landor’s body. There weren’t many spots that weren’t torn, broken or bloodied. His face, so pale normally, was now grey. I knew there wasn’t much time. I had to make this work. If I was to keep my beloved husband, I had to make this work!

  Stilling my racing mind, I drew in several deep breaths. I felt my men mentally connecting with me, lending me their strength and power. Something surged to life inside me. Warmth tingled my fingertips and then spread over my hands. I didn’t open my eyes to look. I knew they’d be glowing, just as Landor’s did when he healed.

  The power of it took my breath away. How was it possible? How could someone like me do this? I wasn’t Airsha. I didn’t have a multitude of magic to call on. I only had lightning because she gifted it to me. But here I was, using the kind of magic only Landor was capable of. Miraculous magic that could almost bring back the dead.

  But the how or even why of what I was able to do was the least of my issues right then. I focused intently and allowed the magic to flow through me and into Landor.

  When I finally felt my hands cooling, I opened my eyes and stared down at my gentle husband. His grey colouring was changing. Though I couldn’t ever say his cheeks were pink, I could see that he looked more normal. For him.

  “The bones have knitted,” Zem observed with amazement. “And the skin has closed up. I never thought to see anything like the healing he did on your severed spine, but this... this was amazing!”

  I didn’t blush with pleasure at the compliment. It felt like nothing more than me complimenting myself. Or me complimenting Landor. Because, yet again, I was reminded that we were all one. What one of us could do, all of us could do. And I had just proven it in the most powerful and dramatic way possible.

  “W...Will he live? That’s all I need to know. Will he live?” I croaked out, falling back so I sat on my butt at Landor’s side. I was holding his cool, limp hand in mine. When had I done that? I couldn’t remember anything beyond the sensation of healing him.

  “Aye, I think so. If it is like the other healings, he’ll need to sleep for a while, but when he wakes up he should be... himself again,” Zem assured me.

  I looked down at Landor’s body, which looked more relaxed than it had. Though he was still covered in blood, there were no wounds to be seen anywhere. Even the bones had slipped back into place and the skin sealed up around them. He looked to be merely sleeping now, not unconscious and near death.

  “This changes things,” Prior mused. “If we can all heal, then we have an amazing advantage. We don’t have to depend on Landor. If more than one of us is hurt he doesn’t have to try to be in two places at once.”

  “And if he’s injured he can also be healed,” I added.

  ‘And any one of us can send someone into a nightmare,’ Laric offered tersely into my mind.

  I looked at him, frowning my incomprehension. What was he thinking and why now? Who did he want to give his nightmares to? If we had to face the Devourer Priests again, possibly, but there were better ways to deal with them.

  ‘The Jayger,’ Laric thought, staring into my eyes with his bright blue orbs that always brought me up short. His dark lashes just intensified the colour, which right now looked bluer than the sky above us.

  ‘What would that mean?’ I asked nervously, glad we were having this conversation internally.

  Laric shook his head. ‘I don’t know. It’s just an idea. If... If we can’t trap It in the underworld. Mayhap we could trap It in Its own nightmare world. I... I don’t know. It seems a bit farfetched. But why else was I included as part of this group? Zem has his warrior strength and skill, you have your mind-reading, Prior has his fire and Landor his healing. Me... all I could do before this was send someone into a nightmare. And though that worked well enough on those priests that kidnapped us, it hasn’t had much application since.

  ‘So I have to wonder, why me? How did the Goddess think to use me and my magic in all this?’

  While we settled down around the sleeping Landor, I contemplated Laric’s question. I could feel the others doing the same. Why had such a unique and limited magic been included? If Landor was to be believed, then we were all part of one soul before this. And if life had been normal, we might have spent the whole of our lives without ever meeting. Except Zem and I maybe. That had pre-dated this current crisis.

  So why would part of our soul be given the ability to create nightmares, which could trap someone forever?

  Then the implication hit me. Laric felt the same way about his part in this as Zem did. He still believed he didn’t belong with us. Had he even created an imaginary ladder and assigned himself the lowest rung? Why did men have to be so competitive? There was no ladder! No one was better than anyone else.

  “Laric, my love,” I said aloud, knowing it didn’t matter if anyone overheard this part of the conversation. “You are part of The Five because you were always meant to be part of it. Your magic has been useful, but you are more than your magic. We all are. And I have no doubt your place with us is as essential as Landor’s... or... or mine. Don’t you get it? We aren’t five people anymore. We’re one! Stop measuring yourself against the others.”

  “If you don’t watch it, Rama will give you the talk. And it isn’t pretty,” Zem said dryly.

  It was enough to lighten the mood. Laric looked horrified and threw up his hands. “Not Rama. Gods, that man is scary!”

  I laughed then. How right he was. And yet where Airsha and his babes were concerned, Rama was a playful wadja.

  ‘We don’t even know whether you could work your magic mentally,’ Prior said after the humour had died down.

  ‘We could try giving one of those priests some nightmares. The
ones who treat those poor childlings so badly,’ growled Zem.

  ‘That’s all of them.’ I said dryly. ‘How would we do it?’

  ‘The same way Airsha gifted you her lightning. You just touch someone and think them into the nightmare, don’t you, Laric? Maybe a mental touch and thought could do the same thing from a distance,’ Prior said, looking at the blue-eyed man sitting at his side on the sandy ground.

  The trees around us provided shelter from the fierce sun, and the dappled effect on our skin amused me. We looked like Spot.

  Laric nodded. ‘But why would we send a priest into a nightmare? They’re little threat to us now.’

  ‘Practice,’ Prior said. ‘If it can be done to one of the priests we might be able to use it on The Jayger. I don’t think we should practice on one of our crew. No one deserves that, even for a short time.’

  I agreed whole-heartedly. Not even the priests deserved it. But it was something in our arsenal and we shouldn’t ignore it just because it was so... horrifying. The flooding of the whole world was also horrifying. We didn’t get to be choosy about what we used to fight with.

  Chapter Seventeen

  By the time Landor awoke the sun was beginning to set. I had never been so pleased to see anyone. When he sat up and stretched, showing himself no worse for wear, I threw myself into his arms and broke into relieved tears.

  “Hey, hey, what’s all this?” he asked gently, brushing my mop of red curls back from my face. As usual it had fallen from its harem knot and was causing problems.

  “You nearly died and we didn’t know what to do. And then... then I thought I might have your magic as you have mine and... and I did. I healed you. Oh, Landor, I was so scared!”

  His arms tightened around me. I could hear him checking out what I said with the others, who felt to be just as relieved as I was in that moment. Although none of them was girl enough to cry like me.

  “That’s great, Flame. I was such an idiot to lose my balance like that. I might have destroyed our chance of saving the world.”