“Still. Pride stinging a little over here.”
He drew her closer and wrapped her in his arms.
Slowly, some of his earlier fears dissipated but it would be a long time yet before he forgot how close a bit of shadow magic had come to slicing her throat. He’d been close enough that had the worst happened, he could have shared his magic with her, turning them both to stone to heal.
But that would have allowed Rook to escape, and that could have had far more dire consequences.
He never wanted to choose between Anna and the greater good.
He was just glad he had not needed to make such a decision this day.
If Fate were kind, he never would.
Chapter 49
When Obsidian and Anna faced Rook several hours later, his usual pride and assurance were absent. But Anna supposed that was expected after Lord Draydrak had carved away the djinn-fueled blood witch’s spell that had been feeding on him.
After the Lord of the Underworld had finished with that task, he called them all together to inform his council of everything he’d learned.
In the real temple, in the real time.
They’d crossed over when Draydrak said it was no longer safe to stay. The legion was preparing to evacuate. But first, they had another problem to face and defeat.
The Lady of Battles hadn’t left the task of retrieving Anna and Obsidian solely to the spy spell.
She’d sent an army.
That was the other threat Draydrak had discovered and sent Thayn back in time to warn Haven.
“We must stop them before they can come close enough to sense the time portal and destabilize it,” Rook said into the silence.
Thayn nodded sharply. “We will set an ambush for them.”
On the far side of the room, the Lord of the Underworld paced with restless energy, his horse-like lower body moved with fluid grace.
The viewing mirror hadn’t done him justice. He looked even bigger and scarier in real life.
“Rook, you will take the most skilled of the students and destroy this threat,” Death interjected into the conversation. “All other available gargoyles will stay to guard the island in case the first line of defense fails. The first line of defense will not fail. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly, my Lord,” Master Banrook said with a salute in his tone.
Lord Draydrak turned next to ponder Anna. “It is time my Rasoren and Kyrsu test their skills in a real battle.”
“As my Lord wishes.” Obsidian echoed Anna’s own words.
They thought as one, now it was time to discover just how well they fought as one.
Chapter 50
Anna crouched low, almost hugging the ground. With her shadow magic a cloaking pressure around her, she was more concerned with disturbing the underbrush or some bird than having an advanced scout see through her disguise.
Ten feet to her right, Obsidian was waiting with his back pressed against a tree with shaggy bark. To others, he’d appear as part of the tree.
So far, they hadn’t been discovered. The Battle Goddess’s scouts continued into the ambush. The first scout made her way past Anna’s position without so much as a flicker of unease.
The female’s nearest companion, a lightly armored male, glided through the forest a couple hundred feet to the woman’s right.
Another scout on the female’s opposite side was walking very close to where Thayn waited, but the elder remained undiscovered.
Anna’s gaze tracked farther back, deeper into the forest where she could even now hear other enemy soldiers approaching.
Ah. There. Three more scouts. According to the legion’s scouting party, these six were the total number of advance scouts.
When the rearmost scout was even with Obsidian, Anna picked out her target. A large male in light armor less than twenty feet from her position.
“Now,” Rook broadcasted out across the shared link.
Anna lunged, covering the distance in two long strides and then, before the male knew what was happening, she sent a spear of shadow magic thrusting through his neck.
She caught the body before it hit the ground, then swiftly dragged the dead weight backward, away from the wide dry gully that the enemies were using as a roadway.
As silently as her own, the five other enemy scouts vanished.
Dryads rose up out of hiding spots and made their way down the gentle slopes of the gully. A few subtle spells, a rustle of a breeze among the underbrush, and all signs that a struggle had occurred vanished.
Anna spotted Meadow and Lark among the group. Along the link, she could sense where Obsidian was keeping tabs on all his friends, but he didn’t allow his concerns to divide his focus.
With the scouts taken care of, they all settled back to wait. Though it wasn’t long before she heard the distant sound of booted feet on the gully’s stony ground.
A short time later, the first row of combatants came in sight. She knew from dryad and gargoyle scouts that this group was three hundred strong.
A tiny group compared to the might the Battle Goddess could summon, but this was just a raiding party. Designed to slip in, snatch their spy under cover of a raid, and then slip out again.
Rook’s company of gargoyles and dryads were much smaller. Just a hundred and fifty, but enough for this task. Many more were still guarding Death’s Temple and the time portal while still others were preparing to evacuate Haven.
In the lead was one of the captains to judge by the armor, but Anna didn’t recognize this one, and while she hadn’t interacted with each of the captains during her time in the Lady of Battles’ kingdom, she did know each of the emblems. The red crossbow bolts on an ebony field wasn’t heraldry she recognized.
“He’s new, I think,” Anna said as she touched Obsidian’s mind. “Can you get a whiff of him? Discover what he is?”
“No, there are too many scents, but I agree I don’t think this fellow was a captain the last time we were among the demigoddess’s army.”
“Rook said when the Avatars attacked some of the captains had been killed. This fellow must be a replacement for someone. I wonder who?” Anna’s lips compressed. “Do you think Vaspara or Sorac might have been killed? I would have thought at least one of them would have been trusted with such an important mission as this.”
“I won’t even hazard a guess, but we’ll proceed with caution since we don’t know this newcomer’s skills or his magical strength. It won’t be a paltry thing, though. Not if the goddess deemed him worthy to lead as one of her captains.”
“I agree.”
During their silent exchange, the enemy soldiers had come closer. Entering the trap, unaware. Still, Anna waited. Obsidian too.
More enemy soldiers ghosted by her position. Almost two-thirds of the line had entered the trap when a questioning shout rang out. A moment of heavy silence followed while the soldiers at the head of the line waited for the scouts to respond in some way.
The scouts would never be answering.
But Rook responded for them, rising from his hiding spot almost two miles down the gully. Then he raised his horn to his lips.
At the crisp, clear sound, the one hundred and fifty dryads and gargoyles surged out from their hiding places and raced down the slopes to engage the enemy.
The trap didn’t spring perfectly. A third of the enemy fighters, almost a hundred by Anna’s eye, were outside the encircling dryads and gargoyles.
“Time to earn our keep,” Anna called as she raced towards the closest enemy.
“Fifty for each of us,” Obsidian agreed in all seriousness.
“Our friends might expect us to share.”
Obsidian chuckled. “I’ll share if they’re fast enough.”
Ten feet from the first enemy, Anna shifted to run on two feet, sword in one hand and shadow magic shield in the other.
Their link flared brighter, growing to encompass their minds in response to the presence of danger. There was no longer a need
to speak as both Anna and Obsidian transformed into Rasoren-Kyrsu—twin souls guided by one unified will.
Blades dripping with blood, talons covered in gore, shadowy shards of magic shifting around them as they danced. The lethal brutality of a berserker’s battle rage rose up within their souls, strengthening their bodies and quickening their strikes.
It did not make them mindless, though. They still had a hyper clear focus: destroy their enemies.
During their deadly, splendid dance, they accomplished much, cutting down thirty opponents in a blur of minutes. Sometimes she would distract the enemy and her Rasoren would make the kill. Other times, he would engage, and his Kyrsu would slide up like an assassin from the shadows to end their enemy’s life.
And during yet other times, they fought back to back or shoulder to shoulder. The clash of their sword strikes rained down upon shields and enemy swords until it formed its own sharp-edged music.
Rasoren-Kyrsu danced, destroying all in their path.
“You both are truly breathtaking.”
The familiar voice jarred Anna out of their link, and she was once again alone in her own body. An expired opponent dangled from her talons. Obsidian was panting beside her, a second warrior raised above his body, shadow magic shimmering with deadly promise.
With barely a look at the soldier, Obsidian finished him off with a spear of magic, then discarded the body as he stepped towards the familiar voice. Anna followed, circling around to stand at his shoulder.
She blinked at finding herself facing Captain Vaspara. After a sea of unknown enemies, seeing a familiar visage caused a small curl of surprise in Anna’s stomach and perhaps even a little uneasy dread.
“I see the Lord of the Underworld managed what his sister could not. The cub’s fully grown and lethal.” She glanced at Anna. “So too is his little mother bear.”
“What are you doing in gargoyle territory with such small numbers, Vaspara? I thought you were more intelligent,” Anna shot back.
“I assure you, I wouldn’t be here given a choice,” she said in that ultra-calm tone Anna remembered. “Alas, I don’t command this expedition. After the losses we’ve suffered, the Battle Goddess needed to replenish her pool of captains.”
“You and Sorac fallen out of favor?” Anna asked as she tapped the tip of Vaspara’s blade.
“Something like that. Though I’d rather face a horde of ravaging gargoyles than remain behind to be food for a blood witch’s spells. Death upon a gargoyle’s talons is quick and clean at least.”
Anna and Obsidian snorted, both knowing Vaspara was as lethal as most gargoyles.
Obsidian tapped his sword against the succubus’ next, and Anna allowed her partner to take over. She settled for killing enemy soldiers that got too close to the pair. But Anna could still track their full conversation through the link.
“You’ve filled out nicely.” Vaspara eyed Obsidian in a way that reminded Anna of the captain’s succubus nature.
“You can flirt with me later if you must,” Obsidian responded sounding bored. “Though, I must confess I’m more curious what your leader thinks he’s doing here.”
“The idiot leading this suicide mission is not my leader.” Vaspara actually made a horrified face. “He thought if he could capture enough gargoyles, they could fuel the blood witch’s spells.”
Obsidian tilted his head to study Vaspara. “So this raid has nothing to do with reclaiming a certain spy-spell forged of a djinn’s power and recovering what it has learned?”
Fuck it. Anna didn’t know how Obsidian could make his voice sound so pleasant and innocent with blood dripping off his jaws.
“Ah, you’ve found it already?” Vaspara paused to look around at the dead. “If I hadn’t found you, this would all have been a waste. Though how you grew so quickly and how Anna survived and recovered are intriguing mysteries. Ones I’m sure my Lady would love to discover if she ever managed to get you alone.”
“Sorry to disappoint but that’s not going to happen,” Anna said as she rejoined the conversation.
“But what if it could?” This time Vaspara tilted her chin and looked somewhat smug. “Your return will restore my place in the Battle Goddess’s army. Sorac’s too, once we take you back to the goddess.”
“Hmmm. From my perspective, it looks like we’re winning,” Obsidian countered.
“There’s always more than one way to look at a problem, young one. While you have matured to a fine specimen…”
Vaspara raked him with another hungry look—and she probably was, after expending magic during the battle, Anna thought, but there was no way she was going to refuel using Obsidian.
“You were saying?” Anna prodded.
“There’s more than one way to look at a problem to find a solution. It helps that as succubus stock, I can look into a male’s mind. Especially during battle when his bloodlust is up.”
“Move the story along, we don’t got all day,” Anna hissed.
Vaspara just nodded. “Earlier, during the battle, I crossed swords, and minds, with a gargoyle. Inside was the usual love for a woman, his family, and his friends. This time it was the friends part that was interesting. Obsidian. I assume you know Truth?”
Obsidian’s wings flinched.
“Ah, he’s a good friend of yours, then? Glad I kept him alive. Sorac’s keeping an eye on him for me.”
Vaspara was intentionally letting information drop. She was too intelligent to give away her cards. She wanted something. Something more than just a trade, Obsidian for Truth.
Beside Anna, Obsidian stiffened more, a growl rolling from between his parted lips.
“Easy, you’re giving too much away. Vaspara will use whatever you give her against us.” Anna hadn’t seen him do that since he’d been a child. Vaspara’s words had rattled him. “You knew going into battle meant no one is safe. But by her admission, Truth is alive.”
Anna directed her next comment at Vaspara. “Just get to the part where you tell us what you want for Truth’s life.”
“I want a way out of this for myself and Sorac.”
“He’s a firedrake. Why doesn’t he just fly away? Or come to think of it, why haven’t I seen him try to BBQ anyone yet?”
“Come and see for yourselves. He’s holding the gargoyle and two dryads a short distance to the west. Call off your attack gargoyles, and we’ll see if the three of us can come to an understanding.”
“If you’ve harmed Truth or the females…” Obsidian growled another warning.
“The females are likely Meadow and Lark. They were together earlier. Let’s hope there is still something to save.” Anna stepped around Obsidian and placed a restraining hand on his chest but directed her next words at Vaspara. “We’ll come with you and negotiate for the release of our people.”
Vaspara nodded at Anna’s words and then tilted her chin to where a section of underbrush had been burned away. Clearly work of the firedrake.
By some miracle he hadn’t—or maybe he couldn’t—burned away enough of this surrounding tree canopy to get up into the air with his prisoners.
Once she scanned the trail with more detail, she spotted the bright red of Sorac’s lava-like blood still smoldering on the ground.
Ah, he’d been hurt. One or perhaps several of the gargoyles had managed to overpower the big beast.
“You’re protecting him,” Anna said suddenly.
“Yes.” Vaspara agreed, not even attempting to lie. “He protected me from three masters while I fought a fourth. I pay my debts.”
Anna was sure whatever ran between Vaspara and Sorac was much deeper than a debt owed. It might even be love. She filed that information away for later. Anything that could help save her friends was useful.
“Lead the way,” Anna ordered the succubus.
Vaspara nodded and began to pick her way back up the northern side of the wide gully. Not once did she take her eyes off the gargoyles.
“Leave her,” Obsidian ordered the others. �
��We will deal with this.”
Rook suddenly appeared in their midst. He might even have been one of the masters who had maimed the big firedrake.
“Obsidian,” he said without taking his eyes of the succubus, “have a care. Her kind can be wily and best even a gargoyle.”
“Vaspara is known to me. She and Sorac still retain a semblance of honor. She will keep her word once given.”
“She has not yet given her word,” Rook pointed out.
Vaspara chuckled. “The master is correct. Should we make our deal here? Now?”
“No. I want to see our friends first,” Anna answered before Obsidian had a chance. You were always a shrewd tactician, Vaspara. I’m not letting you outmaneuver us during this little reunion.
When Anna saw more of Sorac’s glowing blood, she couldn’t help but remember how he and Vaspara had used to work together to keep her and Shadowlight away from the worst elements dwelling in the Battle Goddess’s kingdom.
Anna didn’t fool herself though. They were still the enemy. She just didn’t want to have to be the one to kill them. Obsidian either. And if Vaspara had hostages, then Anna was willing to trade the two captains’ freedom for those hostages.
Hadn’t Lord Death said that no gargoyle or dryad could be taken captive?
This might not have been precisely what he had in mind, but it was faithful to the essence of his command.
Time to cut a deal.
Chapter 51
Vaspara led the way, Anna followed, always keeping herself between him and the succubus. Obsidian knew what Anna was about, trying to protect him but also stop him from leaping headlong into an ambush. Or doing something else foolish, like falling prey to a succubus.
He allowed Anna to lead since he’d never faced a succubus after his maturity. Now wasn’t the time to discover if his special blood would make him immune to her powers.
So Vaspara led, Anna held the center, and he brought up the rear. And as the succubus had promised, they found Sorac and the three prisoners just a little west of the main fighting.
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