Dragon's Gift - The Druid Complete series Box Set

by Linsey Hall

  But the way that they quickly rallied forces to protect my mother’s village made my heart swell. Even Potts stood ready for battle, the old librarian wearing ancient armor and carrying a wicked looking bow and arrow.

  “Ana!” Bree raced through the crowd, her boyfriend, Cade, at her side. The massive man towered over her, a scowl on his face. His war face, I had to bet. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “You’re really wet.” She eyed me up and down.

  “It’s been a long day.”

  Boris the rat sat on her shoulder, his whiskers twitching angrily. “What are you doing, Boris?”

  The rat chittered, but I couldn’t understand him. He was clearly pissed, though.

  “He’s coming to the fight,” Bree said. “He’s Celtic, remember? I found him in the war camp of the Celtic god Cocidius.”

  “Thanks for joining the fight, Boris.” I had no idea what the little rat would do, but I’d long since stopped doubting someone because of their size or species. Rat took that to the extreme, but who was I to judge? I looked at Bree. “Everyone almost here?”

  “Ready to go in five minutes.”

  “No time to change, then.”

  “I’ve got you.” A voice sounded to my right.

  I turned to see Nix, our FireSoul friend from Magic’s Bend. And a conjurer.

  Joy and gratitude swelled in my chest, threatening to pop out of my eyes as tears. Cass and Del stood with her, the other two FireSouls who always showed up when we needed them. Three massive men stood behind them. Aidan, Roarke, and Ares, their boyfriends or fiancés or whatever they were. They’d been together years, at least. Connor and Claire, owners of the cafe P & P, stood behind them, grinning.

  “Here.” Nix shoved some freshly conjured clothes and boots into my arms, then did the same for Lachlan.

  “Thank you.” I grinned at her, then hurried off to find a quiet place to change. It ended up being a broom cupboard, and I was done in less than a minute.

  I rejoined them. “Thank you for coming. We need all the help we can get. I think their forces are at least a hundred highly trained mercenaries.”

  From the look of our forces here, we had no more than thirty-five or forty. We’d need luck and skill on our side if we weren’t going to lose anyone.

  “Good, you’re back.” Jude’s voice sounded from behind us.

  I turned, glad to see my mentor and hopefully future boss.

  “Do you know why they’re attacking?” Jude asked.

  “No idea. But it was clear that the target was my mother’s village.”

  “All right, we’d better get a move on. We’ve got as many as we can manage.”

  I turned, searching for Rowan.

  As if she knew what I was looking for, Bree said, “Rowan is getting the buggy.”

  “Good. That’ll help.” My fingers itched to take the wheel. I always felt best when fighting from the buggy.

  “Time to go!” Jude shouted. “Meet on the lawn! Emily will make a portal!”

  We trooped out onto the lawn, ready to fight. Mayhem, the ghostly pug, flew ahead of everyone, leading the charge with an excited yip.

  A massive portal waited for us, glowing bright despite the daylight. Emily, the transport mage, stood next to her creation. It was rare that she made one of these, but this time, we needed it.

  Rowan waited with the buggy. Its engine idled with a fierce grumbling sound. I sprinted toward her, then leaped up onto the front platform. Lachlan joined me, along with Bree and Cade. Caro, Ali, and Haris climbed onto the back, while the FireSouls and their partners squeezed in wherever they could fit. Claire and Connor completed the group. We were like a deadly clown car.

  From the ground, Jude met my eyes. “We’ll save your mom.”

  My throat tightened. “Thanks.”

  “Go!” Jude shouted.

  Rowan pressed her foot to the gas, and the buggy rolled through the portal, leading the charge toward war.

  The ether sucked us in and spat us out in the middle of the same field where I’d gone with Maira and the druids so recently. Slowly, Rowan drove toward the towering stone circle, our fellow fighters marching alongside.

  We had to get everyone through, which would be no easy task, since a non-Celt would have to be holding a Celt’s hand to make the journey.

  I looked over at Cade, who stood with an arm wrapped around Bree’s waist. He was Belatucadros, a Celtic war god. “Do you think this will work?”

  “We’ll try. If everyone holds hands, we might manage it in one group.”

  “Like a big friendship circle of war.” A dry smile tugged at the corner of my lips. “Here’s hoping.”

  I looked at Rowan. “Let everyone get into the circle, but stop the buggy at the edge. I don’t want to get sucked through the portal and leave everyone behind.”

  Once everyone else was inside of the circle, the buggy stopped right at the perimeter.

  I stepped up to the edge of the railing on the front fighting platform. I was high enough up that everyone could see me, and all eyes were glued on the buggy. “All right! Join hands.”

  I reached down, grabbing onto Jude’s hand. She reached for Potts, who stood next to her, who reached for Hedy. Jesse Ammons reached for Cade on the other side, and the group of warriors formed a strange parody of something you’d see in a children’s schoolyard.

  I reached my other hand back for Lachlan, who grabbed it. He then reached for Rowan, and so on, until everyone in the buggy had a hand. Rowan had to turn the steering wheel with a raised knee, but it was no problem.

  Finally, we formed a circle.

  I shouted, “Get ready!”

  Rowan pressed her foot lightly to the gas, and the buggy rolled slowly inside the circle. Immediately, I felt the portal’s magic pull at me. I resisted it until the whole buggy was inside. We needed everyone for this.

  The tug was difficult to resist, and by the time we were in, I was sweating. I stopped fighting it and let the ether suck me in. I said a quick prayer to the fates—not those Fates—then opened my eyes.

  We were here.

  All of us.

  And in the distance, a massive army approached the first exterior wall of the Oppidum.

  My heart thundered with the drums of war.

  “We’re not too late.” Gratitude echoed in my voice as I dropped my friend’s hands.

  “But that’s a big army,” Bree said.

  There were more than one hundred, definitely. Two hundred and fifty. Maybe three hundred.

  Thank fates the FireSouls had shown up. They were the big guns, and we needed them.

  “I’m going to make room for someone on the buggy.” Bree unfurled her silver wings, ready to take to the sky. She called her shield from the ether.

  “Be careful.” I gave her a hard hug, then she grinned and shot upward.

  At the back, Aidan, Cass’s boyfriend, stood. “I’m bailing out, too.”

  “Me too,” Cass said.

  “Same.” Roarke, Del’s guy, climbed out.

  Magic swirled around them all as they transformed. Roarke’s shirt disappeared as his muscles grew and his skin turned a dark gray. Huge wings appeared at his back. Half demon, I’d heard Del call him. He shot toward the sky, ready for an aerial attack.

  A swirl of golden light turned Aidan and Cass into huge griffons. Aidan’s beak looked like it could chomp a cow in half, and his claws were so wickedly long and sharp that they gave my sword a run for its money. He was a natural griffon shifter, while Cass was a Mirror Mage. Today, she was mirroring Aidan.

  It was smart. Aerial attacks would definitely improve our chances.

  I turned to the crowd. “Long-range fighters, climb on! We’ll drop you off at strategic points.”

  Three archers climbed on—Potts included—along with two fire mages, an ice mage, and Lavender.

  I nodded at her, grateful that she’d come.

  She nodded back. “Drop me near some rocks.”

>   “Okay.” We might not like each other, but we had each other’s backs. That’s how the Protectorate worked.

  “We’ll have to be smart.” I looked at Rowan. “Drive to the front of our forces. We’ll form a shield for any long-range attacks as we approach.”

  She grinned and pressed on the gas.

  I turned to everyone else and caught Jude’s eye. She nodded, giving me the go-ahead.

  Steady calm filled me.

  I should be nervous.

  I’d never commanded such a big operation before. And holy fates, this was big. I’d bet the buggy that no trainee had ever commanded something so enormous.

  But this was my fight. My mother. My Otherworld.

  The black scar on the land caught my eye, and I vowed to fix it. Somehow.

  I turned to the crowd and shouted, “Get behind the buggy! We’ll block long-range attacks.”

  They filed in, and we moved forward. The approaching army was a half mile off, and only a couple hundred yards from the first of the three walls surrounding the Oppidum on the hill.

  We moved fast, gaining on them. It helped that Bree flew to the front of their forces and sent her lightning flying into the ground, creating a wall. It scattered them, making them move more slowly. There was something huge in the middle of their forces, almost the size of an elephant.

  When the first long-range attack came, I called on my shield magic. It burst forth, as if all my practice lately had helped. Or maybe it was the stakes.

  Never had so many lives depended upon me.

  The fireball that hurtled toward us slammed into my shield, making my arms shake. We plowed forward, dropping archers and long-range fighters on rock outcroppings that gave them a good vantage point.

  “Thanks,” I said to Potts as he jumped off.

  “Don’t think this means I’ll let you mess around in the library,” he grumbled as he took a knee and began to fire flaming arrows into the crowd of demons that marched toward the walls. He was a crack shot, and his arrows could go insanely far.

  “’Course not,” I said.

  Bree peeled away, and we dropped the rest off. We were close enough now that our fighters split off, headed for the back of the army.

  “See you later!” Del shouted from the back of the buggy. She jumped off, her form turning transparent blue as she became half Phantom.

  She was the only one of her kind, and damned if she wasn’t a sight to behold. She sprinted into the middle of the mercenary army, her sword flying. Nothing could hurt her while she was in her Phantom form, and she’d turn corporeal just long enough for her sword to turn to steel so she could cut off an enemy head. It was a terrifying dance.

  Ares kissed Nix, then jumped off next, the vampire hybrid so fast that he almost disappeared as he raced toward the opposing forces.

  Ali and Haris jumped off as well, racing toward the closest mercenaries. The djinns disappeared right into the mercenaries, who immediately started to fight each other to the death.

  Lachlan turned to me. “I’ve got to go. Be careful.”

  I pressed a hard, fast kiss to his lips. “I will. You too.”

  He jumped off the buggy and shifted into his lion form, then roared as he thundered toward the opposing forces.

  Connor joined me on the front platform, while Claire stayed in the middle.

  That left us with Rowan behind the wheel and Caro and Nix on the back platform.

  “Let’s kick demon ass!” Caro shouted.

  I grinned.

  In the sky, Bree shot her lightning, while the two griffons swooped and dived, taking out four demons at a time as they plowed through the opposing forces. Roarke was just as deadly, his huge wings carrying him down toward the army as his sword glinted in the sunlight. The rest of our friends fought with sword and bow, fire and ice. Magic flew through the air.

  I looked for the Fates but couldn’t find them. Nor could I feel them. Where were they? At the front?

  My eye zeroed in on the massive shape that lumbered along at the front of the pack. It looked like an elephant, but dark magic swirled around it, smelling of rotten fruit and decay. It was some kind of creature built of dark magic—not a living creature at all. It picked up speed as it plowed toward the main gate on the external wall.

  It wasn’t far off, either.

  Four demons rode on top of it, directing it toward its target.

  I pointed toward it. “We’ve got to take it out before it breaks down the wall!”

  “Hold on!” Rowan shouted as she pressed her foot on the gas. The buggy jumped forward, and the wind tore at my hair.

  This was exactly what I liked.

  I whooped as we raced forward, catching sight of Princess Snowflake III and Bojangles racing toward the army from the left. Bojangles disappeared, and I pitied the demons that he latched onto. Muffin was nowhere to be seen.

  We were close enough to the dark magic beast to launch an attack. I called upon my fire magic, shooting a bolt straight at the creature. It slammed into his side, but he didn’t move. I tried again.

  No luck.

  I sent the next bolt at the demon who rode on the front of the monster. It slammed into him, throwing him off. He was swallowed by the foot soldiers below. Caro shot a jet of water and blasted another demon off, while Connor took out the last two with his potion bombs.

  “We need to get closer to get the creature!” I shouted.

  Rowan steered the buggy closer. Several mercenaries caught sight of us and veered off, ready to attack. One shot a bolt of green light at us, but Rowan dodged, swerving the vehicle left. The next leapt up with his sword, determined to board.

  Claire met him head-on, swinging her blade like the pro she was. She took off his head in one swoop.

  Lightning peppered the air from Bree in the sky, taking out demon after demon, while my friends launched land attacks from all sides. We’d taken out half their forces already, but they were so close to the first gate. With that magical elephant plowing along, they were going to breach it.

  Then there were only two more walls left.

  I directed another blast of fire at the elephant, but it was deflected by the monster’s thick hide. Whatever dark magic had created this battering ram of a beast, it was strong. Caro tried another jet of water, this one moving as fast as a bullet.

  It, too, bounced off the elephant, and I cursed. Connor tried his potion bombs, but to no avail.

  The elephant was nearly there!

  I tried calling upon my earth magic, heaving the ground in front of the monster upward. It worked, the ground rising up, but the creature kept running, stumbling over the earth like it was some kind of ramp.

  It charged faster, flying off the ramp and into the gate, breaking it.

  Shit.

  The mercenaries plowed through, into the first ring of land. It was only fifty yards wide. We’d have to stop them before they breached the second gate, which was manned by four Celtic warriors.

  Because the Oppidum and the walls were built on a hill, I could see what was happening inside the first ring even though I wasn’t in there yet.

  The guards on the wall shouted and shot blasts of fire at the oncoming demons, taking out some of them, but there were too many. Our forces had to make it past the wall.

  “Clear the way with the buggy!” I shouted.

  Rowan jerked the wheel right, plowing into the enemy fighters. We’d run them over, making a clear path for our friends to follow. The massive metal spikes on the sides of the buggy were painted with Ravener poison. Wherever it hit the demons, they froze and fell, the poison deadly.

  But there were so many Fomori. The whole place stank of rotten fish and dark magic. They turned and jumped, trying to climb the front of the buggy. I drew my sword and fought them off, side by side with Claire.

  When a massive boulder flew in front of the buggy and smashed away most of the demons, I grinned. Another came, flying from the same side and clearing more of the way.

  I loo
ked back, catching sight of Lavender, hurling boulders at our enemies, making a path.

  “Connor!” Nix shouted from the back platform. “Come help me! I’ve got an idea!”

  Connor climbed back, scrambling over the seats as Rowan kept driving toward the gap in the wall, clearing a path with the buggy.

  In the back, Nix’s magic swelled on the air. I peeked, catching sight of a massive metal ball attached to chain. She and Connor hooked it off to the back platform and chucked it overboard. The ball bounced in the dirt, slamming into the demons who were closing in behind us.

  “Swerve the buggy!” Nix shouted.

  Rowan whooped and did as she said, jerking the wheel left and right. The iron ball hanging off the back began to swing wildly, slamming into demons and taking them out.

  We cleared a path, and our fellow fighters fell in.

  I still couldn’t find the Fates, or Muffin. Where the heck were they? The Fates wouldn’t miss their own battle. And Muffin wouldn’t want to miss any battle.

  Rowan drove the buggy through the gap in the wall, and I zeroed in on the monster who was racing toward the next gate. He was almost there.

  I called upon the earth, making it heave upward, but I was too late. The monster plowed on, breaking through the second wall.

  Only one left.

  “Faster!” I screamed.

  With fewer Fomori in our way, we sped across the hill, climbing upward to the second wall and the gap that the monster had made.

  As soon as we drove through, I gave it everything I had, calling upon the earth and commanding it to my will. The ground rose up in front of the monster, a wall of dirt that crashed down on it, sending it rolling backward down the hill.

  Rowan swerved right, avoiding the tumbling creature, and the metal ball hanging off the back swung wildly outward, wiping out a few demons in the process. I turned to watch the monster’s backward progress.

  Lachlan leapt through the gate, his massive lion form even more terrifying in battle. He leapt onto the elephant, and the griffons joined him.

  They tore at the creature, and it burst into a cloud of black dust, the magic dissipating. All around, the battle was fading. Celtic warriors who had guarded the last wall had joined the fray, but most of the battle was over.