“Daryna was here a short time ago. Maybe four hours ago at most. This was a spell woven with the purpose of transporting Anna to the Magic Realm. I can see that much from what remains of the spell.”
“So it was not Gryton then?”
Gregory felt his ears pin to his head and his wings clamp tight to his back. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Afterward, Daryna traveled from this location to another north of here.”
Lillian’s expression and body language mirrored his own, and he knew that as much as she didn’t like Daryna, she’d truly hoped for his sake her suspicions were wrong.
“Do we follow? Or do you want to gather more of our Fae allies?” Lillian asked.
“We’ll go alone. There’s nothing the Fae can do that won’t get them killed.”
Looking uncertain, Lillian nodded.
Gregory wrapped one wing around her shoulders. “I must first prepare some battle spells. It would be better here than later when danger might be coming at us from an unknown direction. We do not yet know for certain if Gryton is involved with this, but I can’t rule out that he somehow enslave Daryna.”
Even as he said the words, he didn’t know how they could be true. Daryna was too powerful to be enslaved by one such as Gryton.
****
After Gregory had woven several spells of protection to cocoon her body in an invisible force, Lillian had sat a little ways away with her tail curled around her legs and her wings folded tight to her back while Gregory finished preparing other, deadlier spells. When he at last called her back to his side, she went. Together, they would face whatever they would find on the other side of the portal. She passed through the portal spell and experienced the strange sensation of having the ground shift underneath her feet. After a few queasy seconds, Lillian found herself in an unknown forest. The trees here were different. When Lillian started forward, Gregory forestalled her.
“Traps.”
Lillian nodded in understanding. Her dryad blood tuned into the trees around her and she realized they were whispering to her. They spoke of a hard-minded fire elemental who had bled upon the ground and burned their roots with his heat.
‘Gryton is here,’ Lillian whispered into Gregory’s mind.
‘I know. I can smell his blood, but not sense him at all. The Mother’s Sorceress has been weaving a spell of protection around him.’
Lillian was still mulling over that bit of news when Gregory pointed out a narrow crevice in the bedrock wall that rose up out of the ground in front of them. The land here was rockier, the bones of the earth showing through more readily.
Venturing into a cave was always a bad idea as far as Lillian was concerned.
As he moved slowly forward, Lillian followed, her swords held at the ready. She could feel where Gregory’s spells of protection hummed along her body, tingling with an unpleasant itch. However, the mild discomfort was well worth it if those same spells could protect her and her child from danger. While she knew she had to be here—that knowledge anchored deep in her being—that didn’t mean she wanted to go into that cave.
But she entered anyway, ducking to avoid scraping her horns on the low ceiling. Ahead, she could see the dim flickering of fire against the tunnel walls.
Had she not been so focused on the dangers of the traps and what other surprises might be waiting for them in the cave, she would have registered the scent of a campfire much sooner.
Someone planned to be here for a while if they’d gone to the trouble of building a fire.
The narrow tunnel they were following opened into a vast cavern, and Gregory straightened to his full height.
“Hello, my protector.” Daryna’s voice was all calm confidence as usual.
But Gregory’s menacing growl spurred Lillian into pushing past the barrier of his wings. On the opposite side of the campfire, Daryna stood with one hand wrapped around Commander Gryton’s arm as if physically holding him in place.
Lillian wasn’t sure what she found more stunning—that Daryna could hold Gryton against his will or that Tin Man hadn’t launched an attack yet.
“Gregory, wait,” Daryna said, her tone beseeching him to listen. “It’s not what it looks like. I haven’t turned traitor. There are things you do not know. Critical information that will fill in so many blanks.”
Daryna’s rushed plea did nothing to sway Gregory’s actions, though. Lillian could feel the cold, destructive magic flowing from the Spirit Realm, building within him as he readied to unleash the battle spells he’d forged earlier.
“I understand well enough.” He released the first wave of power.
It raced across the length of the cavern to slam into a shield that encircled Daryna and Gryton. That didn’t deter Gregory in the slightest, and he launched another blast of power upon them.
Again and again, he struck, the magic swirling in wild currents around the cave. It beat at the walls, floor, and ceiling, seeking a way free. But it seemed unable to escape past Gregory’s wings where he blocked the entrance.
“Gregory, stop,” Daryna ordered. “I command you.”
“You are not my Sorceress. Shout all you want. I’ll not obey this time.” His voice dropped to a growl.
“Let me fight,” Gryton yelled at Daryna. “Or your gargoyle half is going to kill me long before he listens to you.”
Daryna shook her head stubbornly. “No! Gregory listen. Gryton is needed. He is important. With his help, we can overthrow the Battle Goddess.”
“You are delusional,” Gregory hissed.
Daryna raised her hand higher, bracing herself as Gregory tossed more power at her. “My gargoyle, don’t make me hurt you.”
Gregory snorted. “Surrender and let me deal with Gryton and then we will talk. You are either tainted, influence by him, or your judgment is impaired because of damage to your mind and body.”
“It’s not any of those reasons. Let me explain.”
Gregory snarled. “You can explain after I’ve killed Gryton.”
Lillian’s lungs strained to draw in air as the pressure continued to build within the cavern. Knowing the danger of a collapse was a very real possibility, Lillian whispered in Gregory’s mind. ‘You’re going to bury all of us under a few tons of rock if you keep this up.’
‘At least they’d be trapped.’
‘Did you miss the ‘us’ part?’
Huffing, he tilted his head enough to meet her gaze. ‘I have reinforced our escape route; however, Daryna and Gryton will not be so lucky.’
Lillian studied Gryton and Daryna with some misgiving. Gryton wasn’t fighting. Perhaps the Mother’s Sorceress did know something Gregory didn’t. And hadn’t the original plan been to trap and milk Gryton for information, so they could use him to help free Shadowlight?
Well, Gryton was right there. Cornered, if not yet captured.
As if sensing her regard, he shifted his gaze to study her.
He raised his visor, and she met his dark, almond-shaped eyes. They were familiar. It took her a moment and then she had it. His intense brown eyes reminded her of Gregory’s when he was in his human form.
Above their heads, sharp snaps echoed from the tortured ceiling. A wide crack now stretched across the rocky surface. A second fissure opening made Lillian’s sensitive ears quiver. A moment later, half the ceiling was falling towards Daryna.
Gryton reacted faster, throwing himself over Daryna, shielding her smaller body from the pieces his power failed to vaporize in time. The cavern filled with a potent mix of dust, steam, and heat.
Even the added protections Gregory had woven around Lillian didn’t block it all.
Coughing, she backed out of the tunnel and into fresh air. Once she had her breath back, she stooped down to go back in. Before she’d made it a step, an explosive shockwave raced outward from somewhere deep in the cave.
Gregory was tossed free of the tunnel and rolled a couple times before he sprang back to his feet. Gryton was the next out of the tunnel, Daryna close at his heels.
However, the Sorceress wasn’t fast enough to catch the Commander.
“You will not harm my mother!”
The bellowed words shocked Lillian. And apparently Gregory, too. He’d been in a threatening crouch, about to launch another attack, but Gryton’s words had the big gargoyle slowly standing up.
While his magic was still raging around him, he looked beyond his opponent to meet Daryna’s eyes.
“You must not harm Gryton,” Daryna screamed, calling more of her own magic.
Gryton didn’t seem to have the same concerns for Gregory and drew his sword. Swinging it in a wide arc, he aimed for the gargoyle’s abdomen.
Gregory held out a hand, one that glowed brightly with power. Gryton’s strike was deflected, but the armor-clad warrior recovered quickly. Dancing out of the range of Gregory’s counter attack, Gryton moved to strike again.
Lillian was still struck on Gryton’s earlier cry.
Mother?
His familiar eyes.
Gregory’s eyes.
Oh, God.
It was impossible. Yet when she glanced at Daryna, she knew.
Their soul link flared to life and the other woman’s thoughts were suddenly in Lillian’s mind. Gryton is ours. The first born between us.’
So Gregory was the father. Daryna was the mother. That could only mean in some past life they had broken their most sacred vows.
Here was a monster that the Avatars had birthed into the universe against Divine will.
But why didn’t Gregory remember?
Gryton came at Gregory again. The gargoyle snapped out a hand and closed his fingers around the shorter male’s throat, his talons digging in. He hoisted Gryton off the ground and then reached out with his other hand and pried Gryton’s helmet from his head. Gregory’s muzzle dipped closer and dragged in a deep lungful of air.
His expression shifting between shock and disbelief, he just stood there holding Gryton off the ground. The other male twisted and freed a knife from a sheath at his waist and lashed out, aiming for a soft target.
Gregory blocked the strike and shook the other male like he was a dusty rag. However, the gargoyle had not killed the other male yet, so clearly, he was uncertain.
Hell, Lillian was uncertain, too.
Was Gryton really their son? One raised by the Battle Goddess?
Gryton must’ve sensed Gregory’s reluctance as well, for he struck with his knife again. This time finding flesh. It was a demon blade, Lillian realized.
With a snarl of pain, Gregory jerked the blade from his bicep and called more spirit magic. The demon blade loosed a screech and then vaporized a moment later. The distraction had been enough to allow Gryton to gain his freedom.
Gregory called more power. Was that added strength intended for capturing or killing Gryton, Lillian wondered?
Daryna must have had similar doubts, for a great weaving began to form in the air directly in front of her. By the intensity of the bright coloration flickering at its core Lillian knew it was going to be big and badass. One likely capable of doing severe damage to its target.
“Stop.” At her shout three pairs of eyes locked on her.
Lillian squared her shoulders, drew in a deep breath, and then stalked forward until she was standing in the center of a triangle, each opponent making one of the points.
“We need to talk this out.”
When no one responded, Lillian tried a different tactic. “All the realms lose if the Avatars go to war against each other.”
That got a grunt from Gregory, and after a moment, Daryna closed her hand on her own spell.
Two down.
Lillian looked to Gryton next. He was standing slightly further away than the other two, but Lillian could still easily feel his potent magic.
She studied him unhappily. While he might be her son, he was also a mass murderer. But even so, she did not want to see him killed by Gregory. She told herself it was because she didn’t want Gregory to suffer from the knowledge that he’d killed his own son.
“Daryna, you said Gryton is our son—that’s why you stopped me from killing him back in the glade when you were still a hamadryad and I had him under my sword. I understand now why you did what you did. But it doesn’t make it right.”
Lillian turned her attention entirely upon Gryton. Now that she was looking, she could see greater family resemblance between father and son. There was something similar in the way they carried themselves, the grace with which they moved.
“Whose side are you on?” Lillian asked.
“My own,” Gryton said with stark honesty. “I have never had anyone else to rely upon. Since it doesn’t seem like my sire will be harming my mother in the immediate future, I think I’ll pass on the other family activities you have planned.”
Faster than anyone could stop him, he darted sideways and dove into a portal spell Lillian only noticed now. Between blinks, there was a flash of magic and he was gone. Gregory growled and then charge the spot where Gryton had been, but Lillian intercepted him before he could give chase.
“Gregory, you will not go after Gryton. Later you can, but first, we need to talk to Daryna.” While she’d said ‘talk’ she actually meant interrogate.
He snarled again, but instead of following Gryton like he so clearly wanted to, he came over to Lillian.
She held out her hand and he took it. Together they walked over to face Daryna. To say Gregory was calmer would be a lie, but at least he seemed rational again. “Were you able to verify that Gryton is our son, like he and Daryna claim?”
The answer to that question would affect what they did from this point forward. She could feel the tension in his fingers that ran on up his arms. His entire body was rigid with emotions flowing through him.
At last, he was able to spit out what kept catching in his throat. “Gryton is our son.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Even as the words flowed from him, Gregory still didn’t understand how this…this sacrilege had come into being. He had a son born of his other half. Forbidden, impossible, and yet somehow Gryton existed.
Gregory had no memory of the event or those that had led up to Gryton’s birth. His mind kept wanting to name it all some trickery devised by the Battle Goddess.
And, yet, now that he’d reached into Gryton’s mind, his essence, the facts were irrefutable.
Gryton was his son.
He collapsed to his knees. Then like it had a mind of its own, his tail coiled around his body. For the first time in his existence, the impossible had become possible. And it was more horrible than he could face.
Forsworn. He was an oath breaker. He’d betrayed his creators.
“Oh, my beloved,” Daryna said as she came to stand before him. “Please look at me.”
When he didn’t respond, she dropped to her knees in front of him. At his back, he could feel Lillian close. Her hand came to rest on his shoulder.
But nothing was real to him at that moment.
He didn’t know how long he sat there in shock, his mind working to understand his ultimate betrayal, but slowly Daryna’s words invaded the chaos of his thoughts.
“I didn’t know what Gryton was until he used my hamadryad tree to travel to this realm,” Daryna said. “Had he known that my hamadryad was, in fact, the Mother’s Sorceress at that time, I doubt Gryton would have used the tree to travel here. Whatever the case, when Gryton came, I learned what he was. Since I was a hamadryad at the time, I did not think the same way as I do now. All I knew was that Gryton was mine, my child. That’s why I didn’t let Lillian kill him when she had the chance.”
“I knew you were up to something,” Lillian said, but her tone lacked bite.
She, too, was surprised by this, Gregory realized. He tilted his head so he could brush his muzzle against her hand. Weak. He was weak to need that comfort, but he did.
“You are not weak, my gargoyle.” It was Daryna speaking again.
He finally met her eyes.
“I le
arned more about our son while I was still a hamadryad. But it was only after I was born to this form, that I was able to truly talk to Gryton. At first, he was rather hostile, thinking that I would try to destroy him.” Daryna sighed softly. “He has been hunted from the moment of his birth. Lord Death knew what Gryton was and sent every last gargoyle after him. The Lady of Battles also knew he was our son and she offered him shelter from her twin’s hunters.”
“Well,” Lillian said, “That explains why he’s a bloodthirsty mass murderer. That doesn’t explain why you were helping him.”
Daryna turned to Lillian. “He is our son. The life he leads was forced upon him. He had no choice.”
“He didn’t have to serve the Battle Goddess,” Lillian countered.
“And where else would he have gone if he refused the Battle Goddess’ aid?”
Gregory could hear Lillian’s teeth snap together. She was silent. He reached out to her mind to find it calmer than his, but just as uncertain. She felt responsible for Gryton’s actions. Gregory silently agreed with her assessment. A monster had been born into the universe because of the Avatars. That made Gryton and all he’d done their responsibility.
Somehow Gregory would have to make this right.
“How,” he said at last. “How did it happen and how are we still here? The Divine Ones should have destroyed us for such a violation.”
Daryna glanced down at her hands and then after a moment reached out for his.
“I don’t remember the how, either. But Gryton said he had inherited some of our memories—like a father gargoyle would pass memories to his son, or a mother dryad would pass them to her daughter. But when I asked Gryton what he knew, he said he did not understand why we acted as we did. All he knew was that our coming together was not some accident. It was a deliberate choice we made.”
Gregory snorted in shock. “What?”
That…that would mean they’d acted against the will of their creators purposely. It wasn’t just a moment of passion that had gone too far. Which would have been bad enough. But to have willfully choose this?
Sorceress at War (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 4) Page 18
