“He what?” Anna pivoted and jammed a finger at his chest. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You needed the rest.”
“Not that much, you overprotective idiot.” But she softened her voice to take the sting out of her words. “Start talking.”
He did, telling how Lord Dray had sensed a new, unwelcome development in the time streams. The Battle Goddess had summoned a djinn—and now everyone was in a tizzy.
Apparently, real-life genies were way more badass than in the legends.
Great.
Like they didn’t have enough evil henchmen to deal with.
When they reached the council chamber, situated high in its towering hamadryad, all the Masters and several of the oldest Adepts were present and loudly discussing this newest development. Discussing? Hell, it looked more like a shouting match.
Rook was the calmest, standing with his brawny arms folded over his chest, looking on with an expression of boredom. Verroc was the second calmest, although he was a little more animated than usual.
Thayn, the eldest of the gargoyles was here as well. He just looked plain delighted.
When he spotted them, he came over and joined them.
“Haven’t seen this much excitement in years. A djinn. Wonder if I know him?” The ancient gargoyle just grinned at them.
Anna arched a brow and wondered why the old geezer found that amusing. It was on the tip of her tongue when Rook came up to them.
“I’m more concerned about the purpose of that attack,” Rook muttered.
“What attack?” Obsidian asked what Anna was thinking.
Master Thayn explained how a scout had found one of the Battle Goddess’s minions and brought him in for questioning.
“She was testing some new djinn-based battle magic. It was powerful and cut through even a Master’s shielding magic.” The elder rubbed at his chest where Anna could see a small, healing wound. “First scar someone has landed on me in ages. The magic came close to killing three of the guards.”
“We must find out more about this battle magic and create better defenses.” There was a determined glint in Rook’s eye. “I say we address this issue at once.”
Thayn snorted. “Normally, I’d agree. However, the power is far from perfected. The poor bastard she used to deliver the attack was torn open when he triggered the spell. Killing him was a mercy. If we can remove the djinn from the Battle Goddess’s keeping, we’ll have deprived her of her new weapon.”
“Fine, if you won’t let me send agents to learn more about this power, give me Obsidian. The others will be discussing these newest events for the next three days,” Rook pointed his complaint firmly at Thayn. “While they’re doing that, Obsidian can take his Adept Trial.”
“You think our young Rasoren is ready?” Thayn rubbed his thumb under his jaw as he studied Obsidian.
“Yes.”
Thayn grinned. “Then why are you three still here? Go down to the practice fields and make ready. The Legion might be needing its war leaders sooner rather than later. I’ll inform the rest of the council, and we’ll be along after we’ve finished discussing the djinn development.”
Rook bowed to the elder. “We’ll go at once.”
“You’ll do well.” Thayn clapped Obsidian on the shoulder. “Wait. I’ve got a present for you.”
The elder held out a belt with a dagger sheathed in an ornate scabbard. Obsidian took it with a laugh, thanking Thayn for his generosity. Anna didn’t get a good look at it until they were walking down the stairs and Obsidian held it out to Rook.
The design was familiar, one she’d admired a time or two herself. The old geezer had struck again. Rook just stared at what Obsidian held out, uncomprehending.
“Weren’t you wearing that when we walked into the council chambers?” Anna asked sweetly.
Strangely Rook looked utterly surprised for a moment as if Thayn didn’t pull that trick every time he visited, but then the Master just snatched up the belt and weapon and looked forward again.
They were halfway down the stairs circling the giant hamadryad when Rook commanded them to meet him at the arena. A moment later he took to the air.
Once he was well out of sight, and hopefully too far away for his mind-reading ability to work, Anna glanced at Obsidian. “That was odd. Wonder what’s chewing his ass?”
“Thayn, I’d say.”
But Obsidian’s gaze watched the spot where they’d last seen Rook.
Chapter 41
Anna stood at Obsidian’s side as he took in the number of people gathering in the corridor. By the noise, there were hundreds more outside.
“You nervous?” Anna asked from her location at his shoulder.
“No.”
Anna snorted.
He gazed down at her and grinned. “Eh, that was a lie, wasn’t it?”
“Just a little one. Tiny, like no bigger than this.” She stood on tip-toes and spread her arms as wide as they would go.
Her lighthearted humor had the effect on Obsidian she’d hoped, and he sighed, his shoulders relaxing as his mind calmed.
Together they walked out of the underground tunnel and onto the sands of the arena’s floor.
Unlike regular practice rings, this one was vast. Impressively so, with it being a good three or four times the size of the next largest ring. And there were bench-like seats on three sides, carved into the very stone of the mountain. She doubted the amphitheater was natural. It was too symmetrical. More likely magic had cut it out of the side of the mountain.
As large as it was, it still wasn’t large enough for the entire island’s population, but that didn’t stop a couple thousand gargoyles and dryads from packing themselves into the space.
Above, a few gargoyles circled lazily on thermals as they waited for the first bout to begin.
“Seems like everyone wants to see you kick ass or get your ass kicked.” She grinned up at him since she was still in human form and he towered over her.
“Adept Trials are more exciting because they pit the student against multiple partners,” Obsidian explained. “They start with the student facing his peers. All of them. Then if he or she defeats them, they go on to face the mentors one at a time. If they defeat all their mentors, which can happen but is rare, then the student goes on to face off against all the newly titled Adepts from the past year.”
“Yeah, because that sounds fair,” Anna muttered.
“The student only has to defeat three of the Adepts, and they will be elevated to that level.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“But if the student is very skilled, he or she must keep fighting Adept after Adept until they lose.”
Anna eyed him up and down. “You hate losing a fight. We’re going to be here all day, aren’t we?”
Obsidian grinned. “Yes. I plan to win as many battles as I can.”
“Master Obsidian. Is that the title you’re really after?”
He snorted. “No. But I won’t turn it down.”
“So modest.”
“The only way I’d get named a master today is if I fight Rook and win. No one ever wins against Rook during a Trial, or so I’m told.”
“How do you get named a master? Kill a dragon or something?”
Obsidian rolled his eyes at her.
Well, how was she supposed to know? She hadn’t covered that crap in her studies yet.
“It’s like an Adept Trial in that the student must face all their peers and then face the Masters. The student has to beat at least one of the older masters.”
“Only one?”
“A gargoyle becomes more powerful with age.”
Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Master Thayn. He bore a large silver bowl in his hands.
“What’s that?” Anna asked along their mental link.
“That is why it’s called a Trial.”
Obsidian took the offered bowl and then drank from it, draining the dark, spicy smelling mixture.
“That wasn’t something harmless like wine, was it?”
“No. It’s a potion only known to Lord Dray and the council members. It cripples a gargoyle’s shadow magic for a day.” Obsidian licked at his lips as if it tingled or burned but handed the bowl back to Master Thayn without so much as a flinch.
His thoughts touched hers one final time. “This Trial is designed to teach a gargoyle that he can’t always count on his magic, that sometimes you must learn to take down opponents more powerful than yourself. Don’t be alarmed if our link starts to fade or feels like it disappears. It will return soon enough.”
“So, the old geezer is stealing your magic this time. Why does that not surprise me.”
The elder turned and grinned at Anna a second before his thoughts touched hers. “I’ll have to think up some other surprise for you if this doesn’t offer enough to be entertaining.”
Heat crept up Anna’s face.
Right. Oldest gargoyle. Gargoyles get more powerful with age. Check.
After that Obsidian didn’t say anything more. Anna wasn’t sure if it was because he was mentally preparing to face his first opponents or if the drink worked that fast. Three more minutes crept by and the sensations that always flowed along their link, even when they were shielding their minds, suddenly stopped.
A heartbeat after that, their link blinked out of existence, leaving a hollow feeling in Anna’s mind.
She had to shove away the panicky little feeling its absence caused.
It hadn’t occurred to her how much their link was a part of them. She just took it for granted. Gods, what if only one of them survived the coming war? What would it do to the other? No. She wouldn’t think like that.
They either both survived or they died together.
She found that thought strangely comforting and was soon able to focus upon Obsidian and his test.
It took most of the afternoon, but he defeated all comers, first the novices, and then his fellow journeymen. He’d been magnificent to watch, making the defeats look easy, but up close she could see the toll.
The air near the arena’s floor had been cooled by the summoning of shadow magic by his opponents. Steam now curled up from his body even as sweat dripped into the sand under his feet. That alone told her while he’d made it look easy, it wasn’t.
Finally, Thayn called for a break.
Anna found herself rushing forward to check over her Rasoren for injuries before the healers had even made it to his side.
He laughed and touched a drop of sweat that was making its way along her hairline from temple to ear.
“You look like you’ve been battling your own demons, my Kyrsu.” His voice was rich with humor, but she still heard the weariness in it.
Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how much willpower it had taken to stand in the sidelines and watch her partner get beat on by opponent after opponent.
“It’s not funny.” Anna grabbed a bucket of water right out of one of the healer’s hands and offered it to Obsidian. She needed to do something, to feel useful or her berserker gargoyle nature was going to come out and play.
“How much longer?” It was simmering just below the surface as it was. It wouldn’t take much more to send her over the edge.
He shrugged. “Not that much longer. I’ve faced all the novices and over half my peers. I just have group combat and then to face and beat three of the adepts.”
Obsidian held up the ladle for her to drink from before he’d take anymore. “You’re on edge. I can scent that even without the use of my magic. You need to calm.”
Fuck calm.
She’d need something a whole lot stronger than water to feel mellow while Obsidian was battling half the gargoyle nation.
But soon more dryad healers arrived and began sponging him with cold water to help cool him down. Anna joined them.
After he was sufficiently cool, more arrived with a light meal and leftover treats from yesterday’s feast. Drinks that were stronger than water by the smell were making the rounds out in the amphitheater’s seating area.
“Wonder if there will be any of that alien octopus to try.”
“I don’t smell it. So, it was likely devoured yesterday.” Obsidian whispered in her ear. “Tomorrow, I’ll make sure to hunt some up for you to try.”
“Focus on your test, not my stomach. I’ll be fine. You might not.”
“Fear not. No one has ever died.”
“Comforting.”
They shared a quick lunch. Obsidian didn’t eat anything substantial, sticking to fruits high in water and sugar and a few of the dryad version of granola bars.
After the meal, Thayn called Obsidian back into the ring.
Then between one heartbeat and the next, the most skilled of the journeymen were rushing toward her partner, five to one. Anna fisted her hands and kept quiet. This was just part of a test, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
The fight was brutal, but even then, there was something breathtaking about how Obsidian moved. His sword a bright streak of silver, a flash of light and then with the ring of blade on blade, sparks rained down upon the sand.
He didn’t move so much as glide from place to place.
Actually, he was good enough he didn’t need to move, but he chose to dance.
And his deadly dance was stunning.
Between one strike and the next, his present opponent’s sword was on the ground. But the match wasn’t over, and before the slight cloud of dust had settled, two more opponents raised their blades to his.
When he beat his first five opponents, five more came to take their place.
Anna’s fingertips began to burn, and her shoulder blades ached in that familiar way that spoke succinctly of her gargoyle’s wish to come out and hurt something.
When Obsidian defeated the last group, Thayn called for another break.
“No wonder you take years to practice for this shit. It’s so y’all don’t drop dead midway through the test.” Anna set down her bucket and squeezed out the rag on his overheated skin. Only after he seemed cooler did she offer him something to drink.
All too soon, Thayn was calling over the noisy crowd, ordering Obsidian to face the first Adept in the ring. Anna followed along behind. His first opponent was Adept Shorban. Others were already waiting at the edge of the ring for their turn.
She prepared herself for another long fight with her own gargoyle nature.
Shorban was followed by one of the warrior-dryads, a woman by the name of Adept Karlaryn. Then another gargoyle called Firethorn.
Midway through the present fight, threads of warning began fingering their way up Anna’s spine. Her gargoyle nature roused stronger and studied Firethorn. No. He wasn’t the cause.
The threat was emanating from closer to her position than Obsidian’s.
Scanning the press of gargoyle bodies crowding close to the ring, she stalked in the direction her magic tugged her.
There. Where Rook and Thayn were watching from the side of the ring. Just behind them, Reaver stood at the ready, a spear in his hand.
If she shifted now, it would alert Reaver that she was stalking him.
Remaining human, she made her way toward him.
Just then Rook stepped away from the others, his blade coming free of its scabbard.
Swinging her eyes back to Reaver, she froze.
He was gone.
Pulse pounding, her eyes darted around the outside of the ring, scanning the crowd.
There!
Snarling, she shifted to her gargoyle form and bounded across the sand toward her prey.
Too late. Reaver wasn’t alone. Three other gargoyles stood with him, and they launched their spears at staggered intervals, targeting Obsidian.
She tossed up a shadow magic shield between him and the airborne spears. Two of the spears struck her barrier. The other two clipped the top and sent them spinning. One hit the sand, but by some unimaginable bit of ill luck, she heard a grunt
of pain followed by Obsidian’s snarl.
Anna growled in answer and adjusted her trajectory, racing through the crowd.
She’d kill the others once her Rasoren was safe.
Chapter 42
Silence smothered the ring as the crowd fell silent in shock. Anna ignored them as she powered forward, sending bodies flying in her wake. At her mental call, more shadow magic rose up from the sands. The temperature in the arena plummeted. Steam rolled off the sand and Anna’s own breath condensed in the air. Any gargoyle in her way was shoved aside by her savage power.
There was no pain or fear or weariness. No limit to her power. There was only rage that these lesser beings had endeavored to harm her Rasoren. And now! Now they were daring to cage her.
Nothing could stop her when her partner was weaving between consciousness and oblivion. He was losing too much blood. She could smell it. And after drinking that potion, he couldn’t call his magic to heal the wound or shift to stone.
It drove her into a frenzy of rage.
When she reached her Rasoren’s side, he was surrounded by several other gargoyles.
She snarled a warning. Wisely, they darted away to what they thought was a safe distance. There was no safe distance for them to run if they meant Obsidian harm.
When she sniffed at him, she swiftly determined those others hadn’t intended harm. They had cut the spear from his side and packed the wound to stop the bleeding until one of the healers could reach him.
“Anna,” his voice came weak as shudders coursed down his body. He lay on his side, wings curled around him. “I need your magic. I can’t summon my own.”
His words a command she wanted to obey. Every fiber in her being vibrated with the need to obey, to belong, to be claimed by her Rasoren. They’d both been foolishly resisting the soul deep bond for different reasons.
“My Anna, all will be fine,” he whispered as his body began to feed on her power, draining strength and healing from her flesh.
Of course, it was going to be all right now. She was here. They were together. She would kill all threats until he was well enough to move.
“No, Anna.”
“Why not?” Her voice sounded scratchy to her own ears like she’d damaged it with her snarls and growls.
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