Gargoyle Rising
Gargoyle & Sorceress Tales
Books 4 - 6
Lisa Blackwood
Copyright
Sorceress at War © 2017 by Lisa Smeaton
Sorceress Enraged © 2017 by Lisa Smeaton
Legacy of the Sorceress © 2018 by Lisa Smeaton
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, and characters are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any print or electronic form without the author's permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
COVER ART BY: Art 4 Artists
http://coverdesign.art4artists.com.au/
(Sorceress at War) EDITED BY: Perry Constantine
http://larksandkatydids.com/editing/
PROOFREAD BY: Tracy Vandervliet
Special Thanks to Stan H for his eagle eyes.
Edition 2
Table of Contents
Sorceress at War
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Sorceress Enraged
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Epilogue
Legacy of the Sorceress
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
BLURB
A modern sorceress and her medieval gargoyle protector battle evil and their own forbidden love in this action-packed contemporary fantasy series.
SORCERESS AT WAR:
War is coming. The Lady of Battles will have it no other way.
Lillian and Gregory fear the demi-goddess is already moving her pawns and dark knights into place, preparing for the first strike. Earth must be ready, but first Lillian needs to ensure that the uneasy alliance between the Fae and the human military does not fail. Every ally is needed if earth is to have any hope of surviving the coming war.
As fate draws friends and enemies closer together, one new player has appeared unexpectedly—Lillian’s new doppelganger clone. She isn’t certain if it’s pure, old-fashioned jealousy or something more sinister that has her watching the newly cloned Sorceress with distrust, but the fact remains that her doppelganger’s allegiance remains mysterious.
For the good of the alliance, Lillian needs to find out if this new sorceress is on their side, playing for the Battle Goddess, or if she has an agenda of her own—one that no one can predict.
SORCERESS ENRAGED:
While Lillian and Gregory have their hands full trying to track down Commander Gryton and preparing for an imminent invasion, Corporal Anna Mackenzie has her own set of problems. And surprisingly, it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that she’s been converted into a gargoyle by a well-meaning cub.
No. Her new gargoyle nature is something she’ll come to grips with…eventually. Having that same gargoyle cub abducted by an evil demigoddess? That’s another story altogether.
Anna has never failed to accomplish something once she’s put her mind to it, and her mind is now firmly set on seeing the young gargoyle freed at any cost. And if the evil demigoddess gets in her way…the Lady of Battles will be in for the fight of her immortal life.
LEGACY OF THE SORCERESS:
A roll of the dice and Fate thrusts Corporal Anna Mackenzie into a new situation.
With her soul hanging in the balance, the young gargoyle, Shadowlight, makes a deal with the Lord of the Underworld to save Anna’s life. The demigod saves her, then sends the pair to Haven, a city outside time, where they will heal.
The price? Thirteen years. The length of time Anna will need to embrace the healing stone sleep of gargoyles. When she wakes, an adult gargoyle is waiting for her. He goes by the name Obsidian, but she’d once known him by another—Shadowlight.
Obsidian might be a stranger, but she’d promised Shadowlight she’d never leave him. Now his older self wants her to honor that promise and stay, training alongside him to become one of Lord Death’s military leaders.
To honor the memory of a gargoyle cub she’d once loved like a little brother, Anna agrees to join the Lord of the Underworld’s cause. Is she working for the good guys? Or has she traded in one Overlord for another?
Either way she’s staying.
Her prom
ises don’t come with an expiration date and the more she gets to know Obsidian, the more she sees Shadowlight in him. There’s no way she’s abandoning the kid a second time.
Sorceress at War
Blurb
War is coming. The Lady of Battles will have it no other way.
Lillian and Gregory fear the demigoddess is already moving her pawns and dark knights into place, preparing for the first strike. Earth must be ready, but first Lillian needs to ensure that the uneasy alliance between the Fae and the human military does not fail. Every ally is needed if earth is to have any hope of surviving the coming war.
As fate draws friends and enemies closer together, one new player has appeared unexpectedly—Lillian’s new doppelganger. She isn’t certain if it’s pure, old-fashioned jealousy or something more sinister that has her watching the newly cloned Sorceress with distrust, but the fact remains that her doppelganger’s allegiance remains mysterious.
For the good of the alliance, Lillian needs to find out if this new Sorceress is on their side, playing for the Battle Goddess, or if she has an agenda of her own—one that no one can predict.
Prologue
Behind her, the hamadryad’s bark creaked softly as it slid back into place, closing the fissure from which she’d just emerged. As she took in her new surroundings, she flexed her toes in the soft grass of the Mortal Realm.
The small glade she found herself in was quiet. The only noise was the soft rustle of her hamadryad’s needles as the tree shifted her branches out of the way. Yet, she was far from alone.
Other Fae and mortals looked on, silent and full of tension.
Were they too shocked to speak?
Well, she supposed, it wasn’t every day that they witnessed a dryad being born into the world.
She dismissed the other onlookers. Even had they shouted and yelled, or otherwise acted aggressively toward her, she still wouldn’t have paid them much mind, considering them relatively harmless in the rich fabric of the universe.
Her attention focused on her gargoyle protector.
He was all that mattered. The one constant in her existence. Presently, he was standing next to her firstborn body, that of a young dryad. Her beloved protector’s expression was understandably startled.
She’d surprised him.
A rarity in their long existence together.
Typically, they thought as one mind. He knew what she was thinking long before she acted. But this plan was one she’d only put in to motion a day ago.
Yesterday, when she still thought with the slow, steady determination of a hamadryad tree, it had not occurred to her to give her other half some warning. But then again, perhaps it was for the best. After all, if even the other half of her soul hadn’t guessed her plan, then it made it more likely that their enemies would not be expecting this either.
As she took her first faltering steps, relearning how to move her new body, memories unfolded in her mind. Oh, yes, she’d had a name. Her beloved gargoyle had called her Daryna in her last life.
She stumbled over a bit of uneven ground and nearly fell. Weakness coursed through her body until she felt as feeble as a newborn foal. That wasn’t a surprise. She’d just been born. Unfortunately, there was more to it than that. The dire situation in the Mortal Realm had required her to act, but the only way to do so was to clone her dryad’s body to house the soul and power of an Avatar. She’d been forced to grow this body to maturity far too swiftly.
If the inability to manage a graceful walk proved the greatest hardship she had with this body, Daryna would consider herself blessed. Already she knew that her new body wouldn’t live more than a handful of seasons. Less if she were required to do too many great workings of magic. Yet it would serve its purpose. After that, her soul and powers as the Mother’s Avatar would return to her firstborn body and they would become what she’d always been meant to be.
But first, she had much to accomplish.
Clearing a throat that had only known breath for a few heartbeats, she forced her lips and tongue to form words and speak.
“Hello Durnathyne, my hunting shadow.”
“My Sorceress,” came her beloved’s startled reply as he swept down into an elegant bow.
He paused only a moment and then straightened. In three long strides, he was at her side, dipping his muzzle down to her face and curling a wing around her shoulders to act as a ward against the night’s chill. Soon his warm, damp tongue slathered across her shoulder, pragmatically cleaning the sticky sap from her body while also showing her a gargoyle’s affection.
“I have missed you.” He whined so softly that she doubted anyone else heard. Perhaps not even her firstborn body. That young dryad stood unmoving, frozen in shock. When their gargoyle dipped his muzzle down to her neck and lapped gently at her shoulder, Daryna saw a pained expression spike across the other dryad’s face.
But her firstborn body recovered sooner than Daryna thought she would. Good. Adaptability was something they would all need if any of them were going to survive the coming war with the Lady of Battles.
“Welcome to the Mortal Realm, Sorceress. I understand it takes some getting used to.”
She could hear the raw pain behind those words. It slipped the other’s ability to contain and flowed through the soul connection they shared. The young dryad standing across from her thought she’d just been replaced.
Replaced?
What an odd thought.
Daryna shook her head. It was such a strange sensation having two bodies. Three if she counted her hamadryad. At least the hamadryad did not think or sense emotions in the same way the dryad body did. It didn’t feel like a separate personality.
However, the other, her firstborn body, already had a well-developed personality. Daryna dug through her memories for the dryad’s name. Ah, yes, she was called Lillian. Named after a dead girl by the one she called Gran.
Frowning, Daryna looked to Gregory. He should have been the one to name her. They always honored each other with a new name at the beginning of each life. That they hadn’t, bothered her more than she wanted to admit.
At least Lillian had given their beloved a strong name. Gregory of the Livingstone. In her memories there seemed to be something humorous about the name.
That didn’t matter at the moment. Now Daryna was more concerned about Lillian’s strength of body and mind. She would have many disadvantages to overcome now that her understanding of the universe was limited without her soul and power of the Mother’s Avatar inhabiting her body.
It all seemed truly strange now that Daryna no longer resided inside the hamadryad.
Perhaps Lillian wasn’t the only one limited? They would get through this together.
The Sorceress smiled at Lillian in what she hoped was a reassuring way.
She would explain the nature of her task later. There was something else that drew all her attention now.
Allowing her eyes to travel part way down the other dryad’s length, she paused at her mid-riff. There was already the slightest swelling of life curving the dryad’s belly. A tiny miracle. A child between her firstborn body and that of her beloved gargoyle.
Without a second thought, she called her power to her and examined Lillian to be sure all was well with their little one. At seeing the new life for the first time, her heart beat fast within her chest as excitement rose within Daryna.
So bright. So beautiful was that new soul flickering before her mage-sight that Daryna grinned. A soft laugh escaped her. It was only a hint of the indescribable happiness she felt at knowing she and Durnathyne would finally be able to love and raise a child begotten of their own blood.
While Daryna was momentarily lost in her great delight, Lillian took a couple steps away. She half turned and then gestured down one of the green, leafy corridors that formed the maze that surrounded the hamadryad tree.
“You must be cold. Come with me. I will show you where you can clean up and find a set of clothing.” Another pained expre
ssion crossed Lillian’s face. “Mine should fit you well enough.”
“Yes, I suppose they would.” She looked down at her naked body. As Lillian had noted, it was a twin to hers. Once Daryna washed away the sticky coating of a hamadryad’s afterbirth and clothed her new body, there would be no physical markers to differentiate them. It was likely adding to Lillian’s feelings of disquiet. “I am sorry. I know this must be a shock for you. But once I explain everything, you will understand.”
Across from her, Lillian arched an eyebrow in doubt and muttered something under her breath that sounded like ‘I doubt that.’
Durnathyne huffed softly, tilting his ears in Lillian’s direction. He’d heard the words, too, and held out a beseeching hand. When the dryad didn’t come, he tried again. This time he stretched out the wing not sheltering Daryna towards the other dryad.
Lillian didn’t accept Gregory’s invitation to come closer. Instead, she turned and started away.
“Oh, man,” a young human male whispered. “Burn. Gregory, you’re totally sleeping on the couch tonight.”
Daryna narrowed her eyes and focused on the speaker. After sifting through her new memories, she came to understand this one was Lillian’s human brother. He was…unimportant in the grand plan, so she ignored him and focused her attention on the retreating form of her other-self. “Lillian, our beloved Durnathyne still needs you as much as he did before my birth.”
Lillian halted and then turned back to them. Her lips parted and she inhaled a deep breath. After several heartbeats, she snapped her teeth back together without saying anything. But Daryna caught the other woman’s thoughts.
Ah, while she’d been hurt by their gargoyle’s earlier affection toward Daryna, that wasn’t why Lillian felt apprehensive. No, the young dryad didn’t trust Daryna. That was evident to see in her stiff body language.
In time she would learn that there was nothing to fear.
As her human-raised firstborn body would say, Daryna would move heaven and earth to protect Lillian and Durnathyne.
“His name’s Gregory now,” Lillian said with an unhappy look.
Ah. Lillian wasn’t completely unskilled in magic. She’d managed to pick up on Daryna’s thoughts using the soul link they shared.
Daryna raised several layers of shields between them so that once again her mind was hers alone. Lillian and Gregory weren’t ready to learn all that Daryna had yet to reveal. In time they would, but not yet.
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