The Druid's Guise: The Complete Trilogy (The Druid's Guise Trilogy)

by Michael J Sanford

  IT DIDN’T TAKE long for the warmth and light of the fire towers to fade into dark cold. The snow increased with each step. It filled the air, appearing like gray ash beneath the dim light of distant stars. The ground was featureless and void of anything to trip them up, yet Wyatt found himself stumbling along nonetheless.

  He no longer had his fur blanket and Athena wore only pajama pants and the robe she had gotten from Omman. She wore socks as well, but Wyatt knew they did little to keep the cold out. His feet were wrapped in fur and twine and he still felt the teeth of the cold.

  “You are cold,” Maia said as she glided alongside Wyatt and Athena.

  Athena’s teeth chattered audibly. “No shit. Winter in the desert. God…damn.”

  Maia landed gently between Wyatt and Athena and wrapped her long wings around the pair. Immediately, the cold fell away. Wyatt could not say he was warm, but he was certainly less numb. The spriteling’s wings were incredibly flexible, thin, and leathery, yet they kept out most of the elements.

  “Thanks,” Athena said.

  Maia giggled.

  “Aren’t you cold?” Wyatt said.

  The spriteling wore only a ragged skirt and her own bare, freckled skin. She was nearly naked. It made Wyatt feel strange pressed against her petite frame. It was too dark to truly see her, but Wyatt knew what the night hid. He tried to force his mind from it.

  Maia giggled again. It was a sweet sound. “It is always frosted in the peaks of mountains. You get used to it.”

  “You know where we’re goin’, Wy’?” Athena asked.

  “I told you,” Wyatt said haughtily. “We’re going to Gazaria to find the rest of Ozlodia’s—”

  “I know that,” Athena interrupted. “I mean right now. It’s dark as shit out here. Can’t see anythin’ but snow and black. We could be goin’ in a circle.”

  “You really want to stop and wait for morning?” Wyatt said, casting a glance over his shoulder. “They could be following us.”

  “Ain’t no one gonna find us in this shit. They’d have to trip over us.”

  They had been walking for some time, but it was difficult to tell how far they had traveled, ambling slowly across the frozen landscape, huddled tightly against one another. Wyatt didn’t think it was far enough, but he knew she was right. It would be impossible to find them in the dark and snow. Or for them to find anything themselves.

  He brushed flurries from his hair and wiped at his face. “You just want to stop here? And what? We don’t know where here is.”

  A bright flash and echoing peal of thunder shook the night and quieted any response Athena may have given. The trio stopped in strained silence. They exchanged nervous looks. A streak of lightning split the sky again, high above in the veil of clouds. A heartbeat later, thunder sounded.

  “Holy shit,” Athena said.

  Jagged bolts ripped through the sky, transforming the snow into white fire. The lightning cascaded through the heavens, sending bolts in rapid succession. Thunder rolled close behind, deafening. Wyatt could feel the pressure shift in his chest with each concussion. It took his breath away.

  “We may want to make ourselves shorter,” Maia said.

  Neither Wyatt nor Athena argued and the group fell to the ground. They all found their backs, nestled close together, Maia’s majestic wings still wrapped around them.

  “Okay,” Wyatt said after another ripple of light. “We can stop here.”

  Thunder rippled overhead, seeming to press them further against the world. When it had passed Athena said, “This is nuts.”

  “Beautiful,” Maia said.

  Wyatt nodded to himself, but said nothing. The dance of light and concussions was mesmerizing. His injuries fell silent and all he felt was the compression of the air with each clap of thunder and the warm bodies at his side.

  “It really is,” Athena said with a sigh. “I don’t even feel cold anymore. And it almost makes you forget all that crazy shit before.”

  “There is an old lullaby about the thunder,” Maia said. “Would you…”

  “Yeah,” Athena said. “I’d love to.”

  Wyatt didn’t answer and couldn’t move. A peace had fallen over him like a warm blanket. Several ripples of light echoed through the sky, too numerous to count, each flash blinding and surreal. The thunder shook the ground. When it faded, only Maia’s voice remained, soft and beautiful, like something out of dream.

  The night falls cool and silent

  When you are not watching

  It comes like a familiar stranger

  Do not fear when it comes

  The light and the crash

  The heavens call out with love

  The night hides the evil

  But the light takes their cloak

  And the thunder sends them away

  Do not fear when it comes

  The light and the crash

  It is the Mother above and below

  That chases the night away

  So, when the sky cries out at night

  You must know you are watched over

  No evil can withstand the judgment

  For it is the evil that fears the sky

  The light and the crash

  Do not fear when it comes

  Wyatt couldn’t remember the song fading, but at some point, it was gone and only the distant rumble of the sky was left echoing in his ears. He rolled closer to Maia and let himself fade just as the song had.

  Chapter Twelve

  WYATT WOKE FIRST, at the first glints of dawn. The snow had vanished from the air, but an inch covered the trio. Wyatt carefully rolled out of Maia’s wing and shook the snow from his head.

  The spriteling stirred, but didn’t wake, pulling her free wing back across her body. Athena was curled against Maia’s nude chest, deep asleep, her dark skin a sharp contrast to the spriteling’s pale complexion. In a moment, they vanished beneath wide wings, but Wyatt couldn’t shake the strange feeling that dwelt within his chest, nor could he identify it.

  He stood and stretched, yawning widely. Then he surveyed their surroundings. He spun twice, then three times. The view was the same no matter where he looked. He shook his head and sighed. He shivered, but not from the cold, for it was a fair bit warmer than the night had been. It was a cruel realization that shook his body. We’re in the middle of nowhere, with no food or proper clothing. With no idea how far we have to go.

  A groan at his back broke Wyatt’s trance. He turned to find his companions awake. They rose in unison, Athena stretching and Maia shaking her wings. After a moment, the spriteling folded them against her back with delicate grace. Wyatt was left staring at the spriteling’s bare chest. Her breasts were small, almost nonexistent, but her nipples were sharp and pointed, dark brown monuments among a sea of freckles.

  “Shit, Wy’, stare much?” Athena said, scowling at him.

  Wyatt looked at her sheepishly and felt his cheeks burn. Athena raised an eyebrow, shook her head, and whispered something into Maia’s pointed ear. The spriteling looked at Wyatt and hid a smile. Wyatt’s cheeks burned even hotter as she unfolded her wings and wrapped them around her own body, shielding her nakedness. Athena arched her eyebrows at Wyatt, a very satisfied look plastered on her angular face.

  “So, uh…” Wyatt said, forcing himself to look away from Maia. “We should… uh…Gazaria should be to the, uh, east. So…uh, we just have to…”

  He stole a glance at Athena and Maia and completely lost his bearings.

  Athena rolled her eyes. “All right, well which way is east?”

  Wyatt shook his head and felt dizzy. “The wind blows north, so…” He turned until the gentle breeze beat at his right cheek. “This way,” he said, pointing.

  “Sweet, let’s go,” Athena said.

  Athena and Maia traipsed off without waiting for Wyatt. He watched them walk away and had to shake his head again. He caught up and walked alongside Athena. She stared at him and raised her eyebrows. Wyatt shrugged and smiled. She si
ghed and shook her head.

  “How far we gotta go?”

  “Not sure,” Wyatt said.

  “We got no food.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “So, we better not waste time, huh?”

  Wyatt shrugged. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, because that’s exactly what we’ve been so far. Fine.”

  Wyatt suddenly felt ashamed, for the second time since waking. “I didn’t know…”

  Athena didn’t reply.

  “Sorry you ended up here,” he continued. “I can’t really control the, uh, traveling, but I’ll take you back the next—”

  “Fuck that,” Athena blurted. She held out her hands. “Look at this shit. Yeah, we ain’t got no food, no real idea where we’re goin’, and we been nearly killed a shit ton of times, but we’re free. Free, Wy’. Ain’t nothin’ beats that. I’m never leavin’.” She turned and looked at Maia. Wyatt couldn’t see her expression, but Maia laughed sweetly.

  “Fear not,” the spriteling said. “The Master will watch out for us. I have no doubt that there will be stories and songs written of him for generations.”

  Wyatt beamed at that. Athena grunted. “Us,” she said incredulously. “They’ll write songs about us. Wy’ ain’t shit without us.”

  “Hey, I’m the Druid,” Wyatt protested. “I don’t need anyone.”

  Athena laughed and stopped walking. Maia mirrored her. “Well, go ahead,” the teen said.

  Wyatt looked to the horizon, then back at Athena.

  “That’s what I thought,” Athena said as she began walking again. “I don’t have a clue what kinda shit you got us in, Wy’, but we’re in it together. And don’t you fuckin’ forget it.”

  They walked in silence for a time, the only sounds coming from the occasional whisper from Athena and accompanied giggle from Maia. Wyatt couldn’t help but think it was at his expense. Normally, he would have protested and tried to insert himself into the conversation, but his mind was busy on the horizon. There was something not quite right about it…

  “I think it’s getting closer,” he said.

  Athena stooped for a handful of snow and tossed it in her mouth. She swallowed deeply, let out an exaggerated sigh of pleasure, and squinted ahead. “Well, I sure as shit hope it’s getting’ closer. We’ve been walkin’ forever.”

  Wyatt shook his head. It wasn’t right. “But it shouldn’t get closer. The horizon should never move. It may change, like if there are mountains out there or something, but it’s not changing at all. It’s just getting closer.”

  “We are nearing Gazaria,” Maia said softly.

  “I thought the temple marked the border?”

  Maia looked at Wyatt and shook her head. The mysterious blades of grass that sprouted from her head hardly moved. She smiled sweetly. “No, the temple is a symbol of the border. One could not build a temple on the border between realms.” She frowned as if surprised at Wyatt’s lack of knowledge.

  Wyatt mirrored the expression. “What do you mean?”

  She grinned mischievously. “You’ll see.”

  “But what do you mean?”

  “Shit, Wy,” Athena said. “She said you’d see. Give it a rest.”

  Wyatt’s scowl deepened and he folded his arms tightly across his chest, returning his gaze to the slowly nearing horizon.

  “Aw, the mighty Druid is pouting,” Athena said.

  Wyatt didn’t have long to fume over the slight before they reached the horizon. The slow snowfall returned, but it did little to take away from what Wyatt was seeing.

  “Holy fuck,” Athena declared. “Is this the end of the world?”

  Wyatt shook his head. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was hard to argue with the sentiment.

  Maia laughed in her melodic way. “The world, no. It is the end of the realm. And the beginning of another.”

  Wyatt went to his knees and slowly approaching the border, carefully sliding his hands through the snow until his fingers curled around the edge of the realm. His head followed, easing over the precipice and staring down the shear side of stone and soil.

  “The ground…” he said, struggling to find the required air to speak. “…it just falls away.”

  Athena fell to his side. Her eyes were wide and a smile stretched her face to nearly impossible proportions. “This almost makes getting the shit kicked outta me worth it,” she said.

  Wyatt smiled as well, returning his gaze to the grandeur that lay before him. He squinted, but couldn’t discern how far down the world fell. He thought he could see the dark sage of evergreens, perhaps an entire forest, but it was little more than a smudge of color from his vantage point.

  “It’s gotta be miles straight down,” Athena said.

  “We have to get down there,” Wyatt said, his eyes still locked to the distant land.

  “Excuse me?”

  “That’s Gazaria,” Wyatt said.

  “Yeah, I got that part,” Athena said. “You plannin’ on what? Jumpin’?”

  Maia cleared her throat and forced the humans to lift their gazes. The spriteling hovered above the chasm, her giant wings slowly beating. Her hands were wrapped carefully around her chest, disguising her naked form. Wyatt felt his cheeks go red again.

  “Are you serious?” Athena said, rising to her knees.

  Maia nodded. “I’m not strong enough to lift you, but…”

  “But what?” Athena said.

  “She could…like glide us down?” Wyatt offered.

  Maia nodded.

  “Oh, you gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.”

  “You want to go to Gazaria, yes?” Maia said. Her wings moved gently, with purpose, yet her body hardly wavered. She floated.

  “But you can’t get us back up again…”

  The spriteling shook her head. “Would you want to go back up?”

  Athena looked at Wyatt. He shrugged. “We have to get down there.”

  “You keep saying that. What if it’s not where we’re supposed to be going?” Athena asked.

  “It is,” Wyatt said firmly. “Trust me.”

  Athena stared at him for a long time. “Well, shit,” she said finally, leaning forward again to survey the precipitous drop. “How do you normally get from one realm to the next? You spritelings run a bus service?”

  Maia cocked her head to the side. “The drop is not so far in all places. Where it is lower, you must take a ship to traverse the border.”

  “A ship?”

  Maia looked to Wyatt and nodded.

  “Shit,” Athena said. She sat back and shook her head. “All right, how we gonna do this?”

  “One at a time,” Maia said, gliding close to Athena. The spriteling slipped her arms beneath Athena’s and pulled her close. They wrapped their legs around each other’s waists. “Ready?”

  “Nope,” Athena said. Wyatt could see veins bulge along her arms and neck.

  Maia smiled and launched away from the edge with two strong wing beats. They hung unsteadily for a moment before Maia twisted and they glided sharply downward. Athena’s screams seemed to hang in the air long after the pair vanished from sight.

  Wyatt stared after, suddenly feeling alone and exposed, seated on the literal edge of Hagion. Time was impossible to decipher so he took to counting off the passing seconds in his head. One, two, three…

  He moved away from the edge, sat upright, and pulled his knees to his chest. He shuddered and shivered. All he could see was the slowly falling snow and all that he could hear was his own heartbeat. Thirty, Thirty-one, Thirty-two...

  Having nothing to stimulate his mind, it began to wander, as it often did. Rozen floated past. He thought he could see her floating with the snow, her breath misting with each hiss. He had sought to save her…He shook his head. Would she have needed help if not for his involvement? Seventy-four, seventy-five, seventy-six...

  Rozen was only in danger when Wyatt was nearby. He shuddered at the realization. Lady Rozen, Omman had called her
, the mysterious Draygan assassin. He smiled at that, imagining how she must feel about the moniker. But it did little to dissuade the chilling thought that continued to twist in his mind. I’m the problem. One hundred ninety-six, one hundred ninety-seven, one hundred ninety-eight…

  And what of Athena? He leaned back over the edge, eyes searching for rosy pink wings and a head of tangled grass. Did they need him? He felt nauseous, but it had little to do with the height. And what of Maia? Her and Athena seemed closer than he was to either. I’m just a third wheel. An outcast. He clenched his hands, his nails digging into his meaty palms. He cursed the numbness. Three hundred six, Three hundred seven…

  How dare they make him feel this way? I’m a Druid, he thought. How dare the Realms turn against him? He was trying to help. The Regency had to be held accountable. They must pay their penance. And I will give it to them. He raked at the frozen ground and brought up a fistful of snow. It was weightless and unblemished, pure and absolute. His eyes narrowed and his mind sought its voice. Five hundred fourteen…

  He found it immediately. The hidden voice within the snow. Its whisper. Its life. He found it, tasted it and pulled it sharply into his own lungs. The snow turned to water. Wyatt smiled, his chest filled with satisfaction. His hands were cupped, holding what once had once been snow. His mind went at it again. The water shifted in his still hands, snapped, and dissipated into a small cloud of steam. It hung for half a heartbeat before the cold air swallowed it. Wyatt smiled. I’m a Druid, he reminded himself. Seven hundred one…

  He stood and spun. He held out his arms and lifted his chin, letting the snow melt against his skin. He radiated warmth, the numbness eradicated. He radiated power. He stared into the unchanging scene, daring the world to challenge him. He cursed himself for the moment of doubt and depression. He could not find fault in what he was doing. His faith must not waver. He would change this world. Because he could. One thousand…

  He walked to the edge of the realm until the fur of his crude boots hung over the edge. His body was still and in control. The violet sun danced among the floating flakes, turning them the color of an old bruise. Wyatt brought a hand to his thigh. The seared puncture wound burned with pain, but Wyatt found comfort in the sensation. He shifted his shoulder blades, stretching the long cut left by the slaver’s whip. It screamed in response and Wyatt smiled. One thousand five hundred forty-two….