They needed the Avatars back in this fight.
Lillian glanced over her shoulder and found Gregory kneeling over Daryna. He’d slashed open his forearm and was trying to strengthen her body with his potent gargoyle blood.
“I’m beyond healing,” Daryna whispered into Lillian’s mind.
Lillian jerked in surprise and then glanced down to meet her doppelganger’s gaze.
“It is time that you claim what is rightfully yours,” Daryna said.
Gregory didn’t stir from his work, so Lillian doubted he was aware of what his other half was saying.
“Gregory is strong. He might be able to heal your body enough that we can make it home.”
“No.” The one word was accompanied by a small shake of her head. “We must strike now while we’re here in the Magic Realm. We have an opportunity to land a great blow against our enemies. But I’m not strong enough. Only the true Sorceress has a chance.”
Daryna was talking about her own ending like she wanted Lillian to do it. “No.”
As much pain and grief as her doppelganger had caused her, she didn’t want to see Daryna die because on a deep, secret level Lillian didn’t want to become the Sorceress. “But you’re still alive. Gregory is trying to heal you.”
“Yes. The beloved idiot can’t face the thought of seeing even a temporary clone die. He’ll also see my death as causing the death of his mate as well. He thinks he can save us both. He can’t. And there is only one Sorceress. You.” Daryna held up a shaking hand. “Come, claim what is rightfully yours. Save everything you love.”
“But Gregory—”
“Is wrong this one time. He knows it, but can’t help but fight for the life he so desperately wants. A life with you as his mate and me housing the other half of his soul. But our hamadryad only did this so that I could buy you time to save our children. Both of them. Now they are safe. Gryton here with us, and our youngest sleeping back in our hamadryad in the Mortal Realm. My task is complete, and my time is gone. I must be allowed to die now so our soul can return to you.”
Lillian went to the Sorceress and then knelt next to her. “I will try to reason with Gregory.”
“There is no reasoning with him. You should know that.”
“Then what?”
“Shape your shadow magic, make it into a dagger and drive it into my heart. Be fast and sure.”
Lillian recoiled. “I can’t. I can’t take your life!”
“I am dying. Gregory is just prolonging my life a few hours. We don’t have time to waste. The blood witch is even now finishing a spell that will crush the shield protecting us. If you love Gregory and our children, you will do this thing.”
Lillian felt herself shaking. The Sorceress’s words were true, but what she asked was…was too great.
“The fissure is getting bigger,” Resnick warned. “Look out. We’ve got incoming.”
Behind her, one of his men screamed. She jerked up in time to see an arrow buried in Stanton’s right thigh. Magic circled the wooden shaft in a sickly swirl. The human didn’t have long to live if someone didn’t do something. Gryton stepped in and ripped out the arrow. Stanton swore in pain, but just yanked something out of one of his pockets and packed the wound while the others continued to aim at the enemy.
Gryton returned to lobbing more of his fiery balls of magic, but bright light seeped between the seams of his armor and Lillian knew he wasn’t out of danger. His magic was still testing the limits of his control.
She knew what she had to do.
Tears running down her cheeks, she looked up at Gregory as a long, deadly dagger appeared in her fist. It shimmered, absorbing all the light that touched it.
“Forgive me, Gregory,” Lillian whispered as she drove the sharp tip down into the Sorceress’s heart.
“Lillian, no!” His startled gaze met hers and then he whispered, “I could have saved her.”
“No, you couldn’t.”
A wave of power rose up and slammed into Lillian, tossing her back. She hit the ground and rolled a few times before landing belly down. With a grunt, she lifted her head and realized the power had tossed her a good twenty feet from where she’d started.
At first, she’d thought Gregory had attacked her, but then she saw him rolling to his feet an equal distance away from where Daryna lay. He’d gotten slapped by the same backlash of power that had sent her flying.
Above the Sorceress’s body, what looked like a small sun flared and grew as it expanded outward. Ropy tendrils of power flared and lashed the air, whipping in all directions.
“Mother!” Gryton called from somewhere behind and to the left of Lillian.
If he would have said more, she never heard. The small but ever enlarging sun was streaking straight toward her. It hit with the force of a train but didn’t send her flying this time. Instead, it lifted her up, holding her suspended above the ground, where it circled her with swirling cross-currents of power.
It was hard to think, even harder to breathe. She couldn’t see anything beyond the glowing power or hear anything over the crackle of white noise. Then in a heartbeat, the blinding light, pressure, and power vanished.
All the world went with it.
Chapter 41
Oh, she hurt. Each individual nerve in her body complained of some unknown trauma. Whatever the cause, her body lay curled on its side and urged her to remain still until her magic had repaired the damage. And yet, her beloved gargoyle must be battling a great enemy, something powerful enough to lay her low.
They were in a battle then. At that understanding, power rushed into her body, a mix of both warm power from the Magic Realm and the colder, cleaner magic from the Spirit Realm. She formed patterns of battle magic in her mind, shaping them into defensive spells and destructive offensive weavings.
But before she sent them on the hunt, she needed to remember just what had happened. Why were her thoughts and memories so strangely jumbled? Confusion lay over her in a way she’d never experienced in any of her lives.
Great Mother, what new foe did they face?
A very deadly dangerous one, apparently.
She stirred and turned her head, instinct guided her gaze to her other half.
Exhaling in relief, she reached for the mind of her beloved gargoyle. “You are well?”
“Yes, my love. I am…well.” He tilted his head, his ears shifting between uncertainty, shock, and a touch of grief. He didn’t come any closer. “And you?”
“I am…confused my—” She halted mid-thought. She’d been going to call him Durnathyne, but that wasn’t correct. He was Gregory in this life.
Levering herself up onto her elbows, she glanced around. She’d been face down on the ground. Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, she made a new discovery. She had a muzzle. Glancing down at her body, her eyes grew wide. Oh! She was gargoyle…but that…that was wrong.
And, yet, it wasn’t. More memories arose from her consciousness. Yes, because of the Battle Goddess’s manipulations, she’d been born as a dryad this lifetime, but the changes didn’t end there.
She was gargoyle. Oh, but wait. She’d also been raised thinking she was human. More memories asserted themselves and with them came clarity.
Tearing her gaze away from her body, she looked around.
They were in a vast dome that sheltered two hamadryad trees. Others were within the dome with her and Gregory. Her beloved came forward and pressed his forehead against hers.
“My Lillian, do you remember me?”
She laughed, a great rolling sound. “Of course, I do. My heart, how could I ever forget you?”
He rumbled and pushed his muzzle into her thick mane. “You remember you are Lillian?”
Yes. She’d been Daryna in her last life, but then had been reborn and named Lillian in this life. Although, there were a few strangely recent memories of Daryna mixed up with the ones from this lifetime.
Ah yes. Her hamadryad had cloned her body to temporarily house her soul bec
ause she was in danger.
Even as her memories began to sort themselves out, she glanced around at the other beings in the dome with her. One was incredibly powerful. She’d felt his magic pulsing against her skin even when she’d awoken and started to search for her other half.
This male was familiar, his power strangely akin to hers and Gregory’s. Ah, yes, there was a reason his power tasted of the Avatars.
He was Gryton.
Her son.
By the Light! She and her beloved had begotten a child.
At that moment all her memories snapped back into their proper place and she remembered.
Everything.
Every evil twisted thing the demigoddess had set in motion.
“Beloved?” Gregory’s hands came to rest on her shoulders and his mind brushed against hers as he helped her to her feet. “Do you remember who you are?
Lillian welcomed him in.
“I am Lillian. And, yeah, I remember every evil thing the bitch goddess tried to do to us.”
With understanding came anger, the need for revenge. But even greater than that was the need to save all she loved. Gregory, Gryton, Major Resnick and his team, she would protect them all.
“Sorceress?” The word was uttered by Gryton. Her son.
“I prefer the name Lillian, but you can call me mother, I suppose.”
Well, shit. That was going to take some getting used to, but for now, she had other things to deal with.
Lillian narrowed her eyes. For one thing, she owed the Battle Goddess the mother of all beatdowns for what she’d been about to do to Gryton and all the Earth. If the Battle Goddess had succeeded, she would have killed billions!
Gran, Jason, the pooka and unicorn, all would have died.
Everything she knew and loved destroyed along with billions of innocents.
And among that massive loss, there would have been one other tiny soul.
An innocent she and Gregory had brought into the world together!
Lillian had come so close to losing everything.
The Lady of Battles sought to kill the Avatars and both their children, and she didn’t care how much collateral damage she racked up to achieve that goal.
Rage ignited in Lillian’s soul, but her mind turned calmer as her anger built.
The Battle Goddess would feel the repercussions for what she’d done.
Narrowing her eyes, she turned in Gregory’s arms until he was standing behind her and then she held out a hand to Gryton.
He hesitated at first, distrust shining in his eyes. In the end, he came forward.
When his burning hot hand engulfed hers, she remembered how close she’d come to losing this child before she’d been given a chance to really know him.
Oh, she remembered the many mistakes her doppelganger had made, but even if Lillian could have unmade all those poor choices, she still would have given Gryton a chance to repent for all the horror he’d caused.
And she, in turn, would try to heal him of all the horror he’d endured.
She wasn’t blind to his faults; there were many. Lillian had always seen that. So too had Gregory.
“Battle Goddess,” Lillian shouted, her magic filling her and flowing out of her as her voice grew in volume. “Never again will you be known as the Lady of Battles. I strip you of your title.”
The demigoddess screamed in rage as the chains holding her trapped resonated with Lillian’s words.
“As I strip your title this day, so too will I one day return to strip you of your power and then your life. I will send you back to the Divine Ones for your long overdue judgment.”
The Battle Goddess fought her chains but stilled long enough to eye Lillian over the distance. With a sneer, she said, “You do not have the power.”
“You forget we brought you into being. Do not doubt that we have enough power to return you to the Divine Ones.”
The demigoddess leaned forward and reached out a hand, pointing one long elegant finger at Lillian. “You have your orders from the Divine Ones. You won’t break them simply because I’ve sought to make right a wrong done to me when my twin killed my beloved.”
Lillian laughed, a harsh note in her voice. “You have selective memory. Have you forgotten I and my other half have already broken our greatest vow? We created Gryton. Yes, we had to answer for that, as we will have to answer for killing you.”
“Gryton was a mistake. The Mother’s Sorceress won’t willingly break one of the Avatars binding vows by killing me.”
Lillian continued to summon power. “You are correct. The Mother’s Sorceress wouldn’t break that vow. But the Sorceress Enraged will. Especially after you tried to kill everyone I know and love.”
“Even a billion lives are but a few grains of sand in the vast universe.”
“I do not see it the same. And my children’s fates are for the Divine Ones to decide—not a crazed demigoddess made mad and bitter by her own loss.”
Far away at the top of her temple, the Battle Goddess turned her head and stared up at the sky, as if looking between the stars to the Spirit Realm beyond. When she glanced back down, she said. “I don’t believe you, Sorceress.”
“Whether a person believes in something or not never changes the true nature of something. You do not have to believe that I’ve changed. But I have. I am no longer simply the Mother’s Sorceress. I am now also Lillian. And the universe has never seen the Sorceress enraged before, but one day soon you will feel my wrath. But until then return to your prison.”
Lillian waved her hand and released the spell she’d been holding in reserve. It leaped forward, streaking out of the dome, and crossed the distance in less than three seconds. When it struck the Battle Goddess’s chains, they drew up tight, slowly reeling her back inside her temple.
If she didn’t have Gryton and all Earth to protect, she might have taken this fight to the Battle Goddess here and now, but she couldn’t allow her need for revenge to override her duty to all those she loved.
The Battle Goddess might be out of her reach, but there were other, lesser beings even now scrambling at the dome of power surrounding them.
“Gregory, if you would attend to the second dome, I’ll deal with the riff-raff beating at the door.”
“As my beloved wishes.”
“I do.”
He allowed his hands to drop away from her shoulders and then moved several steps back and returned to drawing down the immense power the spell would require. The temperature inside the old dome dropped by twenty degrees.
Ignoring the chill, Lillian tugged Gryton forward. “Would you like to further your training, my son?”
He arched an eyebrow, but merely nodded and followed.
They halted just behind Major Resnick and his team. The humans had managed to hold back the flood of enemy warriors, giving her the time she needed to reunite her body, soul, and magic.
With a wave of her hand, a glimmering shield formed around the humans, protecting them from further harm, while still allowing them to continue firing into the melee outside the dome.
“I thank you for your service, Resnick,” Lillian said and raised hers and Gryton’s linked hands. “But on my order, you’re going to need to haul ass and retreat behind where Gregory is creating the second dome.”
Resnick glanced over his shoulder as he was reloading, noted where Gregory now stood, and then nodded. “Happily.”
While Resnick relayed the order to his team, Lillian called down a raging torrent of power from the Spirit Realm. It swirled in the air just above the humans’ heads, lashing and flailing with the violence of a coming storm, but she enforced her will upon the power and it coalesced into delicate threads of magic. They knitted themselves together into a fine webbing.
She fed more raw power into the weaving, spinning out more and more of the webbing. As it grew first to a twenty-foot and then a thirty-foot expanse, she pushed the air around it, sending it floating higher.
“Mother,” Gryton sa
id as a group of twenty enemies breached the shield. “While the spell work is pretty, and I appreciate the lesson, perhaps, now isn’t the best time?”
Fire rose up and incinerated the warriors who ran toward their position, but an endless stream of newcomers flooded into the dome through the ever-enlarging fissure.
“Mother, we’re going to get flanked.”
“Nope.”
Her spell continued to grow, expanding to fit itself along the underside of the old dome. Once the entire surface was covered, she summoned another wave of magic from the Spirit Realm and fed it into both webbing and dome. The two spells blurred, melting into each other.
“Ah,” Gryton said as he glanced away from the battle for a moment to stare in awe at her work. “You’re rewriting the dome’s spell pattern. I would not have thought that wise.”
“For most, no. But I’ve lived a very long time and know a few tricks others don’t.”
“So I see,” Gryton said dryly.
“It’s almost ready.”
Gryton summoned more fire magic and flung it at the next wave of armor-clad warriors racing toward them. “I hate to pressure you or question your great wisdom, but nonetheless, we are about to get run over.”
He launched three more rapid volleys of tightly coiled fireballs that expanded out as they flew. Some of the enemies were able to dodge or to knock aside Gryton’s power and those sprinted forward. Resnick and his team were now on mop-up detail, picking off the ones that got past Gryton’s defense.
“Almost done…,” Lillian said as she manipulated a small bit of power. The tiny bit of magic spun and twisted in the air above her outstretched hand and then with a flick of her wrist, she sent the trigger spell flying. It adhered itself seamlessly to the dome high above. “There. Resnick, time to go!”
“You heard the lady,” Resnick barked, not needing to be told twice. “Move!”
The uninjured soldiers grabbed their wounded counterparts and dragged them behind Gregory, where he’d erected another defensive shield separate from the dome spell he was working on.
Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset 2 Page 41