Archdruid

by Tiffany Shand

  Xander seemed to have a hardness in his eyes she’s never seen before. By the spirits, don’t let Urien change him. He is one of the few good things I have left in my life.

  “I’m working on a way of saving you—I will save you,” she promised. Ann reached out to touch him again, then drew. “I wish I could touch you. I’m doing everything I’m can to stop him.”

  “Urien is stronger now he has my power combined with his own,” Xander said. “You should be focused on stopping him, not saving me. There has to be a way around Papa’s curse to make sure he can die. Even if it means killing me, too.”

  Her eyes widened. “Don’t say that.” She couldn’t understand how he could say that. How could he even think that?

  Xander’s jaw tightened. “I mean it, Ann. Stopping Urien is more important than my life. Don’t waste your energy on saving me. All your effort should be focused on stopping him. There is too much at stake not to do that.”

  “Not to me, it’s not!” she snapped. “How can—?”

  “You know I’m right. Urien will kill hundreds of people. If you can stop that, you have to,” he said. “Find a way to undo the spell that binds us together. It’s the only way to stop him.”

  “But you could die,” Ann protested. “How can you ask me to do that? You’re one of the few surviving family members I have left.”

  “I trust you to do the right thing. Deep down, you know I’m right.”

  Ann dragged herself out of the dream as she opened her eyes. Tears dripped down her cheeks and her chest tightened. She rarely cried anymore. She thought she’d lost the ability after grieving for her parents for so long. Yet seeing Xander and talking to him broke her heart.

  Ed’s arms snaked around her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Xander told me to break the spell that binds my siblings and I together.” She sniffed. “Even if it means…” She couldn’t get the last words out.

  “We’ll find a way to save him.” He pulled her closer, tightening his embrace.

  Ann clung to him. He’d always been there when she needed him. He’d been her rock through everything.

  But she knew when he said things she wanted to hear. Reluctantly, Ann pulled free of his arms and sat up. “Even a reversal spell might not be enough. I still need Urien’s soul out of Xander’s body,” she said. “I won’t kill Xander just to stop him.”

  She didn’t know if reversing their father’s spell to cheat death would even be a possibility. The magic he had used had been beyond anything she knew herself. It could take months to figure out a spell, then even longer to find a way to reverse it, if it could be reversed at all.

  Finding the vault and locating the spell Darius had used on them would be the first step. If she could reverse it, Ann would, but not at the expense of Xander’s life. One way or another, she’d save him.

  Ed sat up beside her. “Maybe your uncle can help. He knew your father better than anyone, including things about his magic.”

  Her lip curled at the mention of Blaise. “He won’t be happy to see me. You know we never got along very well.” She dreaded the thought of seeing her uncle again. He and Darius had never been close. Ann had no idea how he would react to her arrival or what he would do. She might be the archdruid in name and power, but Blaise had led their people for over five years now.

  Ed brushed her hair off her face. “You are the archdruid. You have it in you to be it.”

  Her heart clenched at his last words. She never wanted to be the archdruid. Back before her father’s murder, part of her had hoped he’d go on ruling as he done for the past two centuries. Being the archdruid gave longevity and good health. If Urien hadn’t killed him, would Ann have ever become the archdruid at all? She always wanted to follow her own path, not to be dictated by the rules of the past or by people’s expectations. In a horrible way, Darius’ death had given her just that.

  His fingers felt warm against her skin and their eyes locked for a moment. Ann turned away, uneasy by the feeling. “Just like I know you can control your beast.”

  Ed let out a low growl. “That’s not the same. You were born to be the archdruid.”

  “Urien is older than me,” she pointed out. “If he had been born with the power, he could have easily become the archdruid. Not me. I sometimes wonder why he didn’t. I always wondered what things might have been like if Urien had been the heir instead. Would he have turned out different?”

  “Urien is a bastard with demon blood. You are Darius’s true heir.” Ed’s jaw tightened. “Don’t question that. Urien would’ve been a terrible leader. He would’ve been just like the stories of the archdruid of old. Cold, vindictive. Ruled by power. The five lands and the rest of Erthea have suffered enough of that over the centuries. Now it’s finally time for a change.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” She sighed, knowing there was no point dwelling on what might have been. The past couldn’t be changed. “Is it really that different? You could have been born a beast,” she said. “Maybe you just didn’t know it.”

  “Perhaps. If this is a curse I’m under, I will find a way to break it.”

  Ed helped her up and they headed back toward the camp.

  They set out after a quick breakfast the next morning. The sun rose, casting its golden rays over the horizon. A chill wind bit across her skin, and Ann pulled her coat tighter as she climbed up into the saddle. Another day of hard riding would finally lead them to their destination. She had mixed feelings about getting to Trewa. How would the druids even react to her arrival? Would they be glad to see her, or had the days of respecting the archdruid long passed?

  “I haven’t been to Trewa since before my father died,” Ann said to Sage. She didn’t see the point in trying to hide their destination from Ceara anymore. The Gliss already knew where they were going. “How many druids are left there?”

  “About a hundred during my last visit,” Sage replied.

  Ann’s eyes widened. “So few?” She had known Orla had been dead set on wiping out her father’s people. A few years earlier there had been at least a thousand druids left at the settlement. How could so many have died in such a short time?

  Her hands tightened into fists. Damn it, I should’ve been here for them. Instead, I spent all these years on the run.

  “How did a druid settlement even survive?” Ed asked. “Orla declared war on the druids after the revolution.”

  “Trewa is protected by the standing stones,” Sage explained. “Their power has kept the place safe for generations. No one has been able to breach that. Too bad more of them didn’t stay there.”

  “I thought only the archdruid could channel their power,” Ann remarked, remembering what her father had taught her about the place.

  “The Gliss have tried to take Trewa more than once,” Ceara said as she rubbed another balm over her bare arms. She’d taken off the top half of the bodysuit and now just wore a corset over a loose black tunic. “The druids fight hard. I always admired that.”

  Ann glanced over at her. She’d wanted to examine Ceara’s wounds again, but Ceara had refused, insisting she’d be fine.

  “Yeah, and the Gliss fight harder,” Jax muttered.

  Ann had noticed Jax seemed more uncomfortable around Ceara than the others. She suspected it was from the time he’d been imprisoned by Orla. Unlike Ed, Jax remembered what the Gliss had done to him. Or perhaps it was just uncomfortable for him to have his foster sister around again. From what she remembered, Jax had rescued Ceara from the streets as a baby, then Flo had taken them in.

  Ann felt a pang of guilt. She didn’t want to upset her friends. Jax might have only come back into her life a few weeks earlier, but he’d always been loyal. It had been good to find one of the Black still alive—for both her and Ed.

  Ed had been by her side through everything, both in her life as Rhiannon Valeran and now as the rogue archdruid.

  “We should be on our guard. I don’t know how my uncle or the other druids will react to me being there
,” she said, relieved they should finally reach Trewa later that day.

  As they rode, Ann scavenged through her memories of spells. Her dream about Xander only made her all the more determined to save him.

  She searched through things she hadn’t thought about in years. If she could use a strong unlinking spell and work some complicated runes into it, it would be a start, at least.

  Ann knew she couldn’t wait around to find the vault. She had to work fast on a spell to get Urien’s spirit out of Xander’s body.

  When they stopped to let the horses rest, Ann drew runes on the ground. “Gan aon fhuil a cheangal.” Fire flashed around her circle, then it exploded in a violent burst of energy.

  Damn, I’m a little rusty, but that should have worked!

  “I used to be good at this,” she muttered.

  “You still are.” Ed appeared beside her. “You’re just out of practice.”

  “Didn’t have much of a choice whilst we were running from Orla for the past few years.” Ann hated not being able to use the full extent of her powers but had grown used to it. She’d need all her power to stop Urien and save Xander.

  Ann closed her eyes, tried again. Still nothing. The others all stood bickering with Ceara. The noise faded and she heard Ed say something about going hunting with Jax.

  “Seó a leanann.” She muttered a spell as she stared down into the water to see if anyone was following them. The water shimmered. Something flew at her from behind, knocking her back against the hard ground.

  A skeletal beast with glowing red eyes hovered over her, pinning her arms down with its front paws. Its body appeared to be the skeleton of a cat-like animal. Its hollow eye sockets glowed with eerie light. No fur covered it.

  A knife came out of nowhere and embedded itself in the creature’s side. The blade lodged in the its ribs. The creature hissed and scurried away.

  Ceara came over and gave her a hand up. “We need to move,” the Gliss said. “That was a scout. A horde of banelings will be swarming through here soon.” She picked up the discarded knife.

  “Banelings? I thought they were just a myth,” Ann remarked.

  “They are. But things still come through the mists that surround parts of Asral and Lulrien. Someone give me a weapon.”

  A shrill cry went out, and more glowing eyes appeared in the distance.

  “Too late,” Ceara muttered. “Give me a weapon.”

  Ann tossed Ceara her knife then raised her hand, sending out a stream of fire. The first baneling blew up, but the others scattered and came at them from all directions.

  Ed and Jax had gone off to find food and Sage had fallen asleep.

  “Sciath a chosaint.” Ann cast a protection spell around the sleeping druid.

  Ceara hacked at the first beast who came at her.

  Ann raised both her hands, sending out streams of fire.

  “Urien must have sent them to track us,” Ceara said.

  Ann continued sending out fire in all directions. Blood pumped in her ears and adrenaline rushed through her. She spun and kicked another approaching baneling as it came at her, her long black coat billowing around her.

  One of the banelings knocked Ceara to the ground, snapping at the Gliss as she struggled to hold it back.

  Ann grabbed her other knife and hurled it at the creature. The beast howled; Ceara shoved it away. “Blow it up.”

  Ann sent out another stream of fire. More beasts swarmed around them. Every time she took one down, two more seemed to appear. Ed, where are you? she called. We need you.

  She didn’t have time to wait for a reply and hurled another fireball at an oncoming baneling.

  “There are too many of them!” Ceara yelled.

  Sage scrambled up, raised her hands and caused vines to rise. Each vine turned and twisted, wrapping around the creatures like tight ropes.

  One of the creatures was knocked down as she fired at the oncoming swarm.

  Something flashed as it whizzed through the air, hitting the baneling. The creature disintegrated as the arrow passed through it.

  More arrows hissed through the air. Each one flared with glowing light. The creatures fled as Ann hit them with another round of fire.

  “Where did those arrows come from?” Ceara glanced around, searching.

  Ann scrambled up and group of men emerged from the trees. They all wore grey cloaks and held bows.

  “Druids.”

  Ann gasped as their leader walked over to her. “Jerome.”

  His lips curved into a smile. “Hello, Rhiannon. It’s been a long time. Welcome back.”

  Chapter 8

  “What are these bloody things?” Jax muttered as he swung his staff at a skeletal beast that came at him. Another one of the creatures bit him. Orange light flashed around Jax’s body as he called on his strength to harden his skin. The baneling slashed at him, trying to dig its claws in. Jax caught hold of the creature by its front paws and tossed it away from him. Swinging his staff, he sliced its head off in one swift move.

  “My guess would be banelings,” Ed growled. The beast in him clawed to get out, wanting to rip the strange creatures apart. Again, he relied on his sword instead of his inner beast. He didn’t want to risk losing control.

  Ed, where are you? Ann called. We need you.

  So much for that plan. Guess I will have to let the beast out. Ed’s eyes flashed, his claws and fangs came out. He grabbed the nearest baneling and threw it against a tree so hard it exploded. His sword hissed as he shoved it back into its sheath.

  “Ed, there are more of them!” Jax yelled.

  He turned, spotting a horde of banelings coming toward them like an oncoming swarm. Oh no, not more of them. He needed to get to Ann, but that didn’t look like it would happen. Not with these creatures around. No doubt Ann and the others would be surrounded by them, too.

  Ed glanced over at Jax. “We need to get rid of these things as fast as possible. The others are in trouble.”

  Jax shook his head. “I think we need to worry about ourselves right now, brother.”

  “Damn, I think I would have preferred if they were Gliss.” Ed’s eyes flashed from amber to emerald as the first banelings leapt at him.

  Ed knocked the first creature away and caught hold of the second one by its throat. His claws scraped against its bones. How such creatures were even alive puzzled him. He didn’t have time to ponder the thought in the midst of battle.

  In one swift move, he tore the creature’s head off, tossing the skull away. The remaining body crumbled into dust.

  “Jax, aim for their heads. Try slicing them off. It seems to be the quickest way to kill them.” Ed called to him.

  “I don’t know if we can take all of them by ourselves,” Jax called back.

  Ed grabbed hold of another baneling. The tiny creature’s teeth snapped at his fingers as he attempted to wrench its skull from the rest of its body. He winced as the teeth sliced through his flesh like tiny knives. More of the creatures surrounded his feet, nipping at his heels.

  Jax swung his staff, orange light flashing around his skin as he protected himself and prevented the banelings from biting or scratching him. Ed, we need to do something. I can’t keep this up forever. It’s hard to protect myself and use a weapon at the same time.

  More and more banelings bit him, their teeth and claws like a thousand needles against his flesh. His inner beast growled. Ed blurred, throwing all the creatures off him as he went. Damn, there had to be an easier way of killing them.

  He moved over to his brother’s side, shoving several of the banelings away as Jax doubled over gasping for breath, unable to harden his skin any longer.

  Any ideas? Jax asked.

  I’m thinking… Ed growled, his eyes flashing as more banelings advanced toward them.

  Together they started taking down the banelings one by one. It took too long for Ed’s liking. He bared his fangs, he roared so all the creatures scattered.

  “Nice one, brother.” Ja
x grinned, leaning on his staff for support. “You should do that more often. It could save us from a lot of future battles.”

  Ed blurred away before Jax could say anything else. Ann, are you alright? I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. We were surrounded.

  He stopped close to the stream and spotted Ann and Ceara with a group of five druids. He recognised one of the men talking to Ann. The man had short brown hair, a chiselled face and deep blue eyes. Jerome.

  What’s he doing here? Ed’s heart twisted at the sight of seeing Ann with one of her old lovers.

  “Hey, wait for me.” Jax puffed as he sprinted over. “It’s not fair you being able to—hey, who’s that? Druids? I thought we still had a few miles to go.”

  Ed stared at Ann smiling as she talked to Jerome. Something twisted inside his gut as the beast retreated without him even thinking about it.

  “Who’s that?” Jax repeated.

  “Jerome Finn. He was Ann’s boyfriend back before the revolution.” He scowled. Seeing him with Ann again made him want to twist the man’s head off. By the spirits, what’s wrong with me? I’m not the type of person to get jealous.

  “I remember him,” Jax said and touched Ed’s shoulder. “You should tell Ann how you feel before that guy sweeps in and steals your woman.”

  “She’s not mine. She never has been,” he muttered. “I can’t be with her anyway.” Not when he had this thing inside him that he couldn’t understand, much less control. Why did Jax have to bring up his feelings for Ann now?

  “Oh, for the love of the spirits, just tell her,” Jax snapped. “You’ve been avoiding your feelings for over a decade. Time to admit the truth, brother.”

  Ed shook his head and headed over to the crowd. “Ann, are you alright?”

  Ann’s gaze shifted from Jerome to him. “Yeah, where were you?”

  “We had a run-in with some nasty buggers,” Jax answered. “They surrounded us. Sorry we couldn’t get to you sooner.”

  Jerome’s gaze flickered to Ed, too, and he frowned. Ed had never got along with the other druid and had never thought him good enough for Ann either. He’d been relieved when Ann had ended things. She had been with other men over the years, but none of them had been serious like Jerome. None of them had lasted long as he had—which had been several months. The longest Ann had ever spent with any man.