“But, my Lord, one of them is female. A female gargoyle, surely this is what the Divine Ones prophesized long ago.”
Ah. Of course, his gargoyles would wish to believe the coming of the first female gargoyle would mark his own mate’s arrival as the ancient prophecy said.
“I am sorry my old friend, I very much doubt this is Divine will.”
The gargoyle huffed out an amused snort. “It’s not for myself I ask, or even the rest of the gargoyle Legion—the dryads suit us well enough. I had hoped for your sake this would signal the beginning of the prophecy.”
Dray’s lips curled back from his fangs as he grinned down at Thayn. “Foolish old gargoyle. I am too set in my ways to want a mate. Besides, what female would be brave enough to court death?”
“The female the Divine Ones chose for you, I would assume?” The gargoyle replied with dry wit.
Draydrak chuckled and gestured at his own body with all four of his arms. Once he’d made his point, he folded his arms and allowed his wings to expand to catch the ocean breeze.
But it wasn’t his physical form that he was worried about. It was within his power to take other shapes for short times. No, his true fear was rooted in what had happened to his sister. She had once been loyal to the Divine Ones. At least until the day her mate, the Shieldbearer, had decided he wanted the power over life and death and was willing to kill Draydrak to secure it.
When Draydrak had killed his twin’s mate, her grief over losing him had twisted her soul until she became the darkly obsessed being that now wanted to rule all of creation so every living creature would feel the sorrow she now felt.
That’s what love had done to his twin. He would avoid such a fate at almost any cost. So far, the Divine Ones seemed to concur, for they had not used their Avatars to birth another demigod into the universe to become his mate.
“Well, then, if you’re not going to order the gargoyle Legion to invade your sister’s territory, what are your orders instead?”
The old gargoyle wasn’t going to give up just yet.
Dray had no time for a foolish prophecy or an equally foolish romantic old fool. No, he would deny fate, prophecy, and even meddling elderly matchmakers.
“Continue training the young ones as you have been,” he said, but then surprised himself by adding, “And send more gargoyles to scout along my sister’s domain. I will see what I can learn about her two newest projects and discover if they are slaves or willing servants. If the latter, and should they attempt an escape, I want some of my army near to collect them and bring them here.”
And just like that, he felt Fate tightening her clutches. Still, he didn’t take back his words. Rescue mission or assassination attempt, foiling his sister’s plans for these two would be a worthy use of his time.
PART 1
Chapter 1
ANNA HAD BEEN FOLLOWING a river for most of the morning when she spotted what looked like a path cutting along one side of the valley. Her first thought was that it was a game trail because she hadn’t seen any signs of civilization since she first arrived in fantasyland last evening.
Last night she’d found a spot to shelter beside a fallen tree and used her night vision goggles to scan for signs of hostiles. There’d been nothing but wildlife. Deer and wolves were plentiful. So too were the sizeable hairy mountain goats. She’d even spotted a big cat-like shape on the opposite slope.
Fantasyland looked a lot like the Rockies. Well, if one removed roads, towns, and people.
This morning she’d started out near dawn and traveled alongside the stream she’d landed in yesterday, eventually coming to the river she now followed. Not once in the fifteen-kilometer hike had she seen another human or other fae. Which made her wonder if the locals knew better than to venture in the direction she was headed.
She hiked for another three kilometers and then spotted something that made her halt and crouch low. After a moment, she rose from her crouch and then slowly traversed the rocky ground until she reached a large outcropping. She used it to hide.
Peering through her scope, she scanned the terrain ahead. A break in the thinning greenery was what had first caught her interest. The view through her scope confirmed it was too uniform for a game trail.
Someone had built a road to cut through the mountain pass, and a road almost always went somewhere. It had probably been running alongside the river all along, its location hidden by the thick tree canopy. Now that the vegetation was sparser, she could clearly see the pale line of the road.
This one led out of the valley and began to snake its way up toward a pass in the mountains. The higher the road climbed, the sparser the cover. Fewer trees and shrubs meant less cover to hide her movements.
While that was unfortunate, it wouldn’t stop her. This road led in the direction her magic said Shadowlight lay. She thanked whatever god was responsible, for as long as that magic tugged her closer to him, she knew he was still alive.
If he was alive, she could rescue him.
She scanned the rough road again before rising from her crouch behind the cluster of boulders. It would be too dangerous to use the road even if it would make her route marginally quicker. Anna hadn’t seen any patrols, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any.
Jogging cross country might take a little longer than following the road, but it was better than getting captured.
After hoisting her pack, she adjusted it and then checked her gun. Once everything was in order, she broke into a lope.
“Hold on, kid. I’m coming for you.”
ANNA STAYED CLOSE TO the road for the rest of the day. The sun was just beginning its descent when the road reached the narrow pass she’d seen earlier. The trees were thinner here, the ground rockier. Staying close to the western side of the pass, she hid herself using shadow magic.
She marched two more kilometers before the pass dumped her into another valley. Instincts screamed a warning, telling her this one wasn’t empty of habitation. Glancing around, she slipped between the cliff wall and a section of rock that had fallen from above.
After Anna had inched her way up the rock pile, she peered toward what she’d only glimpsed before. Blinking against the glare of the setting sun, she studied the mountainous city carved out of the northern slope of the valley.
This, then, was the road’s destination. Midway up the slope, pillars cut from a blood-red stone rose out of the ground and flanked the road. Studying the rise of the land through her scope, she saw where the road merged into a staircase two-thirds of the way up the mountain.
From her present vantage point, it didn’t look like the slope on either side was scalable without climbing gear.
Not good.
If she wished to go farther, she would need to call upon her gargoyle shadow magic after dark and attempt the climb with the hope no one discovered her. There was no way she was turning back now. Her eyes drifted higher to study the fortress or city or whatever one called an evil overlord’s abode.
Regardless of the dangers, she was going to infiltrate that place.
Shadowlight was somewhere inside.
Beyond the fortress’s tall, impenetrable outer walls, she saw the high peak of what must be a temple. That was Shadowlight’s most probable location if Daryna’s intel was accurate. Anna would have a better idea once she scouted around. First, she had to get inside without getting caught.
She scowled at the sun. To gauge by its position above the horizon, it would be at least another forty-five minutes before it was dark enough for her shadow magic to hide her entirely.
Crouching down behind her present sheltering outcropping of rock, she pulled food and water from her pack. She’d eat and then cross the valley floor and see if there was any other way inside besides the front door.
Chapter 2
THE HUMAN-GARGOYLE hybrid had been this way already. She’d done a fine job of covering her tracks as she’d followed the lay of the land until she’d come to the road. The human had possessed th
e wherewithal to know not to walk the road in broad daylight, but she’d followed it as she tracked the young gargoyle’s location unerringly to the Battle Goddess’s fortress.
When she’d first exited the pass, she’d waited until full dark to call her shadow magic and start the last leg of her journey. She moved with stealth and cunning, hiding her presence from the sentries that patrolled these lands. He’d have to have his captains discipline the men sleeping at their posts. A human, even a half-gargoyle one, shouldn’t have slunk unnoticed past his guards.
Still, anger didn’t manifest at the realization. Perhaps he should discipline himself while he was at it. This human had once managed to use one of his own daggers against him. A lucky toss, perhaps, but she’d still bloodied him.
Overpowering her now and taking her to the Battle Goddess might be wise, but he was curious just how deep into their territory this female would manage to infiltrate. He could always capture her later.
And this little exercise might make an excellent example of what the young gargoyle’s Kyrsu was capable of. It might even please the Lady of Battles to learn that, although human, Shadowlight’s future second in command could overcome her birth handicap and grow into a truly formidable ally.
Commander Gryton grinned up at the night sky as he followed Corporal Anna Mackenzie into the heart of the Battle Goddess’s territory.
ANNA INCHED PAST ANOTHER set of guards, slowly placing one foot in front of the other without so much as shifting a pebble. So far, she hadn’t given herself away. Not yet.
She wasn’t sure how much longer her luck would hold, but it only had to last for a few more hours, just long enough to rescue Shadowlight. Once free, they would follow Daryna’s instructions and hope for the best. Anywhere was better than here.
When she’d first reached the gate and beheld the biggest set of stone doors she’d ever seen, she’d had to wait for shift change before attempting to enter the city. But luck had been with her, and she’d arrived not long before new soldiers had come to relieve the ones on duty.
All the guards were dressed similarly to Tin Man in heavy body armor. The rattle of their armor and weapons helped disguise Anna’s soft footfalls. Still, she didn’t relax as she made her way farther down a cobblestone street and crossed paths with an increasing number of enemy combatants. After all, gargoyles could hear something as soft as a heartbeat and these guards might have senses just as developed.
She took the first side street she found, a narrow alley with almost no traffic. She needed to find a place to hole up for a few hours where she could wait for the nocturnal citizens of this fortress to sleep. She’d heed that much of Daryna’s warnings and instructions.
As Anna made her way farther down the narrow alley, the smell of manure grew stronger. Realization struck, and she followed the odor to a large stable complex. The building would be as good a place as any to lay low for a while.
It surprised her that they kept horses here. It probably shouldn’t have, since the weapons and armor all were medieval-looking. But the presence of horses surprised her. How could a primitive, horse-riding culture be a threat to all Earth?
But she knew the answer.
Magic.
It all came down to magic.
Anna entered the stable and soon found a ladder leading into the loft. After glancing around once, she started up the wooden rungs. Once she was safely out of sight, she released her hold on her shadow magic.
Weaving her way between stacks of hay bales, she situated herself in a back corner. It wasn’t until this moment that an uneasy thought presented itself. What if those weren’t horses down there in the stalls?
The pooka and the unicorn could pass for horses easily enough.
Fuck.
Her finger eased against her rifle’s trigger as she waited for some sign that she’d been discovered. But after thirty seconds, and there was still no dreaded outburst from the creatures below, she decided they were just animals. The sound of their chewing, the rattling of buckets, and the occasional nicker as the horses talked to their friends further away in the paddocks all helped to soothe her nerves. With luck, the animals had just been bedded down for the night, and no one else would come until dawn. So far so good.
The first hour passed without incident except the horse in the stall below her took a piss and Anna’s eyes and nose burned from the powerful ammonia vapors.
She silently cursed her heightened gargoyle senses for the first time.
At least no one would smell her over that pungent odor.
The contented sounds of horses lulled her, and she soon drifted into a light sleep. Approaching footsteps on the stone cobbles outside awoke her sometime later. Anna’s eyes snapped open, and she rolled onto her belly, crawling forward a few feet until she could glance between a gap in the loft’s floorboards and watch the stable’s west-facing door. After a moment it swung open enough to admit a hulking figure in full plate armor like what Gryton wore, but since it didn’t have as much bling as Tin Man’s, she assumed this was a soldier of lesser rank.
He eased through the door and glanced around the empty lane and then whispered something to another unseen person behind him.
Anna’s index finger touched the trigger as she peered through the scope.
“The grooms have left for the night,” the big male whispered to the person behind him.
“Good. I don’t have all night.”
The second speaker was female.
“In a hurry?” The male challenged, masculine pride evident in his tone.
“The arrival of the gargoyle disrupted my routine. I need to feed before I report for duty.”
“Ah, I wouldn’t be a very good subordinate if I let my captain go hungry, would I?”
The female stepped forward and shoved the male against the wall with enough force to raise dust. “Stop talking, or I’ll find a better use for your mouth.”
Anna scanned the female and noted she also wore armor, but hers was of a slightly more ornate design than the guy’s.
This was likely one of Tin Man’s senior officers. More importantly, the female knew about the gargoyle, which had to be Shadowlight. This female would lead her to wherever the kid was being held.
Anna’s magic told her Shadowlight was somewhere below her present elevation, which probably meant he was housed in a dungeon of some kind. And it would be a whole lot easier to find by following this female than it would be for Anna to poke around on her own and risk discovery.
So far, the two below hadn’t sensed Anna’s presence or noticed the faint glow given off by her ward-spelled weapons. And soon it looked like they would be too involved to notice her, but she wasn’t taking any chances and remained still with her rifle pointed at them.
The female was aggressively stripping the male of his armor, and he was returning the favor. Anna’s eyebrow arched to her hairline. It looked more like mutual assault than any kind of foreplay, but neither one was complaining.
The female hauled open the door to the empty stall behind them and then shoved the male back into the clean straw lining the floor.
“Vaspara, you spoil a male,” he said with a throaty chuckle.
The stall’s one window allowed enough moonlight in to illuminate the two. The female, Vaspara, appeared human. The male, not so much. He was taller and broader than an average human. Something was odd about the texture of his skin. All she could ascertain in the semi-darkness was that it didn’t look quite normal. But the telltale giveaway was the short pair of horns curling around his head and the spikes growing out of his shoulders.
Nope. Not human.
It was too dark to make out much else, but she thought she saw the white flash of fangs at his mouth before the woman leaned down for a kiss.
Anna scanned the stables once more to make sure someone hadn’t come to check on the noise.
Eventually, the fantasyland porn stars finished up with groans and snarls. Seriously. Snarls. Anna had another reason to curse h
er enhanced gargoyle senses, but then a wave of coppery stink obscured the scents of musk and sweat. And this wasn’t just a few beads of blood from a scratch.
She glanced back at the two, half expecting one of them to be dead. But nope. Both soon rolled to their feet and began to dress. It looked like the male had a few scratches, but the female was the one with the big bite on her shoulder.
She moved like it didn’t hurt her at all. Once they were dressed the male turned back to the female with a fanged grin. “Anytime you need me, I’m always happy to serve.” He purred. “I do love a good roll in the hay with a succubus.”
“It’s Captain. Do I need to discipline you, soldier?”
All playfulness vanished from the male and he came to attention. “No, Captain Vaspara.”
“Good.” She turned and marched from the stables. The big male was swift to return to wherever he’d come from as well.
Once Anna was confident the way was clear, she eased down the ladder and silently picked her way to the stable door. She listened for a full minute but didn’t hear anyone outside. After calling her shadow magic to cloak herself, she eased the door open just a little and squeezed through the narrow space she’d made.
Outside, she scanned the area for more activity. There were guards out in the yard in front of the stables, and she heard a few others patrolling somewhere behind the building, but they were the only ones she sensed close by.
At the opposite end of the cobbled yard, a torch-lit walkway led off to some other part of the fortress. Vaspara was almost out of sight already. If Anna wanted to find Shadowlight quickly, her best bet was to follow the captain.
Anna didn’t fool herself. Walking the city at night, when most of its nocturnal residents would be most alert, wasn’t a good plan, but after what she’d seen and heard she didn’t want that female, that succubus, alone with the kid.
Nope. No sitting and waiting for dawn while that demoness did God only knows what to Shadowlight.
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 98
