“I doubt that,” Gryton muttered to himself as he turned away.
Chapter 9
Gryton
THINKING WHAT HE WAS about to do was folly, but also knowing his father was correct about needing to face the dragon head-on, Gryton stomped over to the Null. What he was about to do didn’t affect just him. As strange as it was to dwell on how his actions might affect another, a new part of him knew Erika deserved to know what he was about to do could also affect her adversely.
When he reached her side, he stood looking down at her, trying to figure out what it was about her that the dragon obsessed over, what it was about her that made the great beast so protective and possessive.
Then he decided it was her soul, not the body that housed it, that drew the dragon. Gryton’s shoulders slumped as he admitted he found her personality as enchanting as the dragon did. She was fierce and determined and abrasive and smart and strong. But most of all, she was loyal. A trait both he and his dragon admired. And that kind of loyalty deserved honesty from him.
“The dragon is dangerous. My father wants me to embrace him and fly you back to the island. You haven’t fed enough to glut your power. If you try to travel through a portal spell, the results might be very unpleasant and very fatal.”
“Hmmm. Yeah, I caught that part of the conversation you were having with your father.”
“The decision is yours. A longer flight on the back of a gargoyle or I attempt to call forth the dragon.”
“I also caught the bit about how we might not get back in time. We can’t afford to be late for a fight that might cost us so much if we lose. Call the dragon.”
“The dragon is dangerous.”
“I know that. But I also know he isn’t as dangerous as the deranged demigoddess or the soulless blood witch. This is our destiny, Hot Stuff. Let’s go meet it head-on.”
“Fine. So shall it be.” And just like that he closed his eyes and released the caged beast. The dragon seemed startled at first, but it swiftly got over its surprise and surged forward, up out of the depths of his soul.
“Everyone relax! He’s shifting, but not to attack!”
He hoped his Null’s words were the truth since he didn’t know what kind of mood the volatile creature would be in.
Then the dragon was ripping its way free again, easier this time since he didn’t fight it. As soon as the dragon had command, Gryton could feel it overriding his personality. But then it surprised him. Before he’d even put up a fight—and he was planning on fighting for control this time—the dragon was surrendering some of its control back to him.
Or perhaps the dragon was allowing Gryton’s consciousness to coexist with it. Whatever the beast’s reasoning, they were now merged, and together they trumpeted their claim to the Null at their side.
Claim made, he lowered his head down, his muzzle dipping as his tongue darted out to taste her scent. She was as he remembered. Strength and calmness and steadfastness.
Three traits that soothed him.
While he wanted to scoop her up and fly, to spirit her away from the others around them, he remembered his conversation with his father. It was a battle of sorts to convince the dragon of the merit of his parents’ plan to use shadow magic to hide his presence while he made the return journey. At least the dragon was wise enough to see the benefit after Gryton explained.
The Null couldn’t yet read the dragon’s mind, but she was astute enough to sense the beast’s unease at having others work magic upon him. She patted him comfortingly, telling him he needed to wait just a little longer until his sire and dam could weave a glamour around him.
Shadow magic wasn’t one of his natural abilities, but he saw the worthiness of their plans and the dragon allowed them to do their work—with a little more soothing from Erika. At last, it was finished, the new power resting like a cool mist against his scales. It wasn’t cold enough to be displeasing, and he soon ignored it for Erika was scrambling upon his back.
Then roaring in pleasure and challenge, he summoned his wings. They emerged from his long supple form, bursting out from just behind his shoulders, spreading wide enough to cast the ground behind him in long shadows. Then the shadow magic spread to cover them, and even his own shadow disappeared.
This time, as he prepared to take flight, Erika was nestled just behind his head where his neck merged into his skull. A spikey mane grew from between his horns and parted around his rider, giving her something to hold on to. Gryton admitted it felt surprisingly right to have her there.
Spreading his wings wider, he launched himself off the side of the cliff and sailed out over the ocean, each wingbeat driving him higher into the sky.
His rider issued one startled yelp before she managed to bite it off. He leveled out, cruising at a lower altitude to give her a chance to grow used to flying with him. At first, she clung to him, her body tense with the fear of falling, but soon she started to relax and enjoy the freedom of flight. He dipped playfully several times, and Erika’s earlier yelp of fear was replaced with one of delight and laughter.
She shouted for him to go faster, and he did. Joy flowed between them, feeding off each other’s emotions. He was soon embracing the joys of sailing through the skies with his Null. He was the king of the sky realm.
Behind them, the others of their supposed escort took to the air and gave chase. With a disdainful snort, he left the Avatars and the other gargoyles with their human riders far behind as he winged his way back toward Lord Draydrak’s temple. If the god of Death thought he was defeated, the other demigod would soon realize his mistake.
The dragon screamed another challenge to the heavens, taunting even the Divine Ones to try and take his Null away and see how much of their beloved creation he destroyed in a plague of fire.
The world could bow before him, or it could burn. The dragon didn’t really care which as long as his Null remained with him.
Chapter 10
Erika
SEVERAL EPIPHANIES came to her while she was riding on the back of a dragon. First, Erika absolutely loved the freedom of flight. It was the most exhilarating thing she’d ever experienced. Second, she could be both warm and cold at the same time—her legs had been toasty warm thanks to the dragon’s generous heat, but her upper body had chilled quickly once they were moving, and at one point she’d feared if she got much colder, her nose might freeze off.
And third, the dragon could be just as much of a cocky bastard as Gryton. She’d found that out when two hours into the flight she’d said she was cold and asked to land on one of the islands forming the archipelago below them.
In response, the dragon had arched his neck and shot straight up into the air and rolled. When he was at the pinnacle of his arc, gravity had won out over Erika’s grip on his spikey mane. She’d screamed as she fell, only to have the sound cut off a moment later when he completed his aerobatics and caught her in his front claws so he could hold her against his chest, his hands sheltering her from the wind.
After she’d had her breath back and her stomach had returned to where it belonged, she’d scolded him for the next half-hour of flight. Eventually, a very sheepish dragon had come in for a landing on one of the islands so she could have a midday meal of some fish he’d snapped out of the ocean for her before they’d continued their journey.
At last, they spotted the rounded peak of the volcanic island where Lord Draydrak had built his temple. As it grew larger, it seemed to rise out of the ocean at the edge of the horizon, and Erika thought it the most beautiful thing she’d seen. She couldn’t wait to sit on the hot sand or maybe a sun-warmed rock. She’d had her fill of flight for now.
But dressed appropriately in layers? Oh yeah. She wanted to fly with the dragon again soon.
THE DRAGON CAME IN for a gentle landing, barely jarring her at all. And he was equally gentle as he deposited her on the warm sands. When they’d first approached the island, the beach had been empty, but now she spotted gargoyles flying in their directio
n.
Beside her, the dragon tensed, his eyes tracking the newcomers as a growl rumbled in his chest.
“Easy. Don’t lose your shit. It’s likely just an advanced guard unit come to escort us to wherever your parents are waiting.”
At least she hoped that was an honor guard and that the Avatars had already arrived and soothed things over with Lord Draydrak. If something had happened to delay them returning by portal spell...
But just then she spotted another group of gargoyles winging down from one of the steep slopes of the extinct volcano. Among them, Erika recognized two female gargoyles. They had to be Anna and Lillian, which likely meant Gregory and Obsidian were part of that group as well.
Erika relaxed and then reached up to give the dragon’s scale-covered chest a good scratch. She’d learned he liked that. And as far as she was concerned, a happy dragon was a safer dragon.
Heck, she would sing for the dragon if she thought it would put him in a good mood. But there was no time for a song.
The two groups of gargoyles had nearly reached them by the time a bigger concern came galloping along the beach toward them. This time Lord Draydrak didn’t have his swords out.
She took that as a good sign.
The dragon seemed less convinced.
Reaching up, she gave him another good thump. “You’re magnificent, and I know you could beat his horse’s ass in a fight any day. However, I’m a bit tired after that flight and would love to be able to just sit and chill for a while. No fighting, okay?”
Large dark eyes with flame-ringed irises looked back at her for a moment before homing in on Lord Death again.
“Behave? No more brawling? Please?” She smiled up at the dragon hopefully. “I won’t even ask you to shift back to your two-legged form.”
Though she really would have liked it if Gryton was in charge when they met with the Avatars and Lord Draydrak, but she figured that would be asking too much.
The two groups of gargoyles and the centaur-like demigod all arrived within seconds of each other. Lord Draydrak spoke first.
“Peace.” He raised all four of his hands, showing them empty. “I mean you no harm. I’m sorry for my earlier subterfuge, but I needed to force the dragon out. He will be needed in the coming war. And now there is much I must tell you.”
The elemental dragon didn’t attack, which was good. Though he didn’t relax either. Erika figured that was a start.
Chapter 11
Vaspara
WITH AN AFFECTIONATE pat to the firedrake’s muscular shoulders, Vaspara dismounted. It was a feat she never thought she’d get another chance at, but after she’d been healed, Sorac had asked for an appointment with the Battle Goddess. Once there, she’d learned he’d demanded to be allowed to engage Gryton in the final battle on Earth.
The Battle Goddess was so impressed by the firedrake’s rage over what Gryton had done to Vaspara, the goddess had granted him his wish. Once they marched upon that world in the Mortal Realm, Sorac could take out his rage upon the other fire elemental. While Sorac alone likely wouldn’t be enough to destabilize Gryton’s chaotic power, with the djinn’s aid, they would have a much better chance at victory.
The rest of the Battle Goddess’s army would work to keep the Avatars busy.
The knowledge that if they won, Sorac would die—there was no way he’d be able to escape fighting in such close quarters with Gryton—pained Vaspara. Her one bit of solace came in the knowledge she would die at his side since the Battle Goddess had decided Sorac would fight longer and harder if Vaspara’s life were also over should he fail.
So, she would fly to war on the back of her beloved firedrake, and they would die together as she’d always imagined their ending. As for their draklings, the Goddess had instructed the djinn to store more than enough of his power in dozens of ward-stone containers so if the djinn was dragged back to the Spirit Realm by the Avatars during the war, there would be enough compatible magic in storage to feed the little ones until they were weaned and able to fend for themselves.
It wasn’t how Vaspara would have wanted things to end, but at least if they won this war, Sorac’s young would have a chance to grow up. That was all she could really ask for. After all, the Lady of Battles was showing great benevolence by allowing Vaspara the opportunity to die with Sorac.
And before that end, she and Sorac were to be granted some leniency. Like today, they were allowed to travel together with the other captains to the valley network where the stone sleepers were stored under layers of magical protections.
The Lady of Battles knew of the logistical problems of having such a vast standing army. It required enormous amounts of resources, more than what could be easily sustained, so in order to overcome that problem, she’d come up with the idea of enchanting two-thirds of her army until they were needed.
Vaspara admitted it also had another benefit. The most savage and unruly of the army could be enchanted to sleep like stone statues, effectively resulting in a way to keep the peace with as little effort as possible. As each new generation was trained up until they were masters in the art of combat, they were either enchanted to sleep until they were needed or were held back to complete the next level to become officers.
But war was upon them, and there was no more time for training, which was why she and Sorac and all the rest of the captains had been dispatched to this place today.
Tilting her head to glance up at Sorac, she leaned forward and then rested a hand on his right foreleg.
“Thank you. As always, it’s much quicker to fly than ride out here.”
He dipped his broad muzzle and breathed in her scent. “It is always a pleasure to fly through the skies with you on my back.”
A rare smile touched her lips but soon vanished.
While she had shown much leniency, the Lady of Battles hadn’t forgiven them. They were both still wrapped in layers of the djinn and the blood witch’s magic. Sorac was forced to remain in his firedrake form, forbidden to shift back. The longer he remained in his true form, the harder it would be for him to change back to his two-legged shape. If he stayed in his drake form long enough, he’d lose the ability to shift to a man.
The time they made love when he was healing her a few days before might be the last time they ever made love again. Vaspara wasn’t looking forward to having to feed on another male to keep her strength up, but she hoped if they both behaved and proved they were the most skilled and respected of the captains—not counting Bervicta—then she hoped the Battle Goddess would relax that restriction and allow Sorac to resume the form of a man upon occasion.
But today they needed to wake their battalions and show them to be the most disciplined and most highly skilled of all the army. They also had another motive for coming more swiftly than the other captains. In the center of the valley, between her and Sorac’s battalions was another group of elite warriors.
They were Commander Gryton’s special pupils. He’d always had contingency plans, which was why he was such a good commander. These males and females were trained in the art of command and were intended to act as a secondary leadership for the army if their enemies somehow managed to take out the primary leadership at some point in a future war.
The Lady of Battles hadn’t ordered they be awakened, but Vaspara thought that was likely because she didn’t know Gryton had segregated them from the regular battalions and kept them tucked here in this valley between her and Sorac’s forces.
“Should we awaken our own battalions first and get them up to speed on everything that has happened? Or wake the Elite?”
“Let’s wake our own first,” Vaspara said with a hint of unease. “We’ll see how that goes.”
He nodded but remained silent, and she imagined he was thinking the same thing.
Part of the waking process required that they share their memories with the sleeping battalion members. Always before she’d shared all her accomplishments with a bit of pride. It let the battalion know she was s
till a fierce and skilled warrior, worthy of leading them into battle and dying beside them if that was required. But now they would see that she’d turned her back on her goddess and convinced the big firedrake to come with her. They would know about the draklings and that she loved them and their father more than her Goddess.
Many would see that as treason and weakness.
“They will probably seek to depose me, and rightly so.” She paused as she looked at the firedrake. “You must allow them to do that if that is their wish. It is their right. A battalion must have a strong leader they can believe in. Otherwise, there is the risk of everything falling apart on the battlefield.”
Sorac growled menacingly, but after a moment he nodded his agreement. “I will not let them harm you, though.
“I do not believe you need to worry about that. They will see that I am valuable as a way to control you.”
“I will still stand beside you, my beloved,” Sorac hissed, his lips pulling back from his teeth. “And make sure they see all that has been going on. How the Battle Goddess has allowed a blood witch far too much leniency. How we had to steal away our own servants to save them. How even Gryton has abandoned the Lady of Battles.”
Ice suddenly ran through her veins. “Sorac, no! Do nothing to incite a civil war. That way leads to all our deaths.”
He huffed softly. “Fine. But I won’t hide the truth from them. I’ll let them see everything and decide for themselves. And if one or more of them decide to dispose of the blood witch and the djinn, so be it.”
“No. We need to keep the djinn around until he has stored up enough of his power that if something happens to us, our draklings won’t starve.”
The big drake nodded once and then he bowed his head close to hers. “I wish there was a future where we could have lived out our days in peace, raising our little ones and watching them grow and have little hatchlings of their own.”
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 185
