“To Elm?” Gaelyn asked absently as she tried again to detect a lighted path.
“Yes. You need to follow the unicorn to Elm. Are you paying attention?” Silkkie asked.
Gaelyn’s head jerked up from where she stared at the burned circle the unicorn had stood in. “She wants to use my care for Elm against me. Why me?”
Silkkie walked the perimeter of the barren circle. “Exactly. What are we missing?” She looked up at Gaelyn. “From the beginning it was about the Dr’gon’s Fang. It’s powerful; we know that.”
“The Dr’gon’s Fang is very powerful and unpredictable without the proper user,” Hazel added.
“Needs a Dr’gon?” Silkkie asked.
“Yes,” Hazel said. Gaelyn saw something else in Hazel’s face. Something worse than the Fang being lost to Monad. Could it be that now Hazel was worried that Monad would come back armed with whatever power she could manage from The Fang, and this time take Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty, and no one could stop her?
Gaelyn thought back to their discussions in her chambers just before Monad interrupted them. Great and Mighty had been using the Ancient Dr’gon languages book to decipher the text, and she had mentioned Gaelyn. “Great and Mighty, was there anything in the scroll Hazel found with the Fang that gives us a hint why Monad would ever be interested in me?”
Hazel reached into her pouch and pulled out the scroll. Great and Mighty took it and went over the scroll quickly. She frowned and started to say something, then she looked at Hazel like she was not sure she should speak. But Gaelyn was almost sure she saw Great and Mighty form the word “Death,” even if she didn’t say it aloud.
Gaelyn looked at Hazel, not sure how her Dr’gon Partner would take this. She decided to ask a difficult question. “Did you read something about a Fae wizard being able to control the Fang?”
“Just a guess here,” Cl’rnce said. “You’re really Fae, and you’re the Fae wizard you’re talking about?”
Hazel growled but said nothing more.
“I am the first Fae wizard.” Gaelyn bent down and hovered a finger over the burnt circle. Heat came up at her, which was odd. Although the remains looked ashy, there had been no fire. But then there were other ways to heat things besides fire. A mixture of just the right elements could make things combust.
Great and Mighty slid in beside Gaelyn. “I did read that. But … Cl’rnce was poisoned. The scroll says a Dr’gon and Fae Wizard Partners were needed to fully use the powers of The Fang. I’m confused. You’re a Fae wizard; I am not. But you are not Cl’rnce’s Partner.” She stared into the distance. “Oh. And there is that bit about the Fae Queen. And that Death for Dr’gons was stored in the Fang.”
Hazel’s mouth dropped open, then she snarled. “You got it wrong. That Ancient Dr’gon is a tricky language. Dr’gons are not immortal. We can die without the Fang.”
Great and Mighty nodded. “But only a Dr’gon can cause the death of another Dr’gon. The First Primus ordered his Wizard Partner to store the Death other creatures might inflict on a Dr’gon in the Fang. They then hid it to protect the Dr’gon Nations. But the problem was that magick has balance. If the First Primus protected Dr’gons form Death, he also had to provide for a vulnerability.”
Hazel paced. “Then the Fang can’t kill Cl’rnce. Monad can’t kill Cl’rnce. He’ll be fine.”
Gaelyn spoke softly, “I think the magnitude of that kind of magick stored in the Fang might make it unstable, eventually. Dangerous. If Monad got hold of it along with the Dr’gon and Wizard Partners she needs, she can … bend it. I bet that’s the vulnerability—that the Dr’gon and Wizard Partner can change the protective nature of the Fang. Monad could kill not just Cl’rnce but any and all Dr’gons. She could wipe out or enslave the Dr’gon Realms.”
“So that’s how she will attack the Primus,” Hazel said. “Or will she just use a Fae Queen to attack him, like is mentioned in the scroll?” She didn’t look at Gaelyn.
“No. Not attack the Primus exactly. I mean I get how you can think that’s the translation. But it’s more like the Fae Queen will stand with the Primus.” Great and Mighty didn’t say more but instead sat on her heels looking down at the blackened earth. “Do you think the unicorn scorches the earth wherever she goes? She’s a kind of poison?”
“WAIT!” Hazel hissed. “Are you sure Gaelyn, I mean a Fae Queen, isn’t going to attack, like during the Fae and Dr’gon Wars when the First Primus hid the Fang?”
Great and Mighty shrugged.
Not wanting to go back to that argument, Gaelyn concentrated on protecting Great and Mighty. She held out her arm to keep Great and Mighty from touching the soil, Gaelyn answered. “Yes, Great and Mighty. Monad is poison. I think this is another of her traps. She is …” Gaelyn wasn’t sure what else the unicorn was, but she had a fearful idea.
Sniffing, Great and Mighty bent over Gaelyn’s arm. “It smells of plant life. That’s odd for a burnt and poisonous residue.”
“A transportation spell.” Gaelyn stood up, pulling Great and Mighty with her. “It’s a combination of a forced transportation and imprisonment.”
“Tell me about being forced, imprisoned, and dragged all over,” Silkkie snarked.
“You know about this too?” Hazel took a swipe at the cat-Jinn who darted away.
“I know about being forced to do what a bat-crazy unicorn says or be tortured.” Silkkie’s head turned as she eyed everyone around her.
“Even though Monad slipped away and could be anywhere, she wants us to follow her. That’s why this trap is both transportation and prison. You say she’s gone back to Elm,” Gaelyn said, turning to Silkkie. “That’s pretty complicated. Why not stand here and force me to help her?”
“You’re the first Fae wizard.” Great and Mighty said. There was the tiniest note of relief in her voice. Gaelyn didn’t blame her. The little wizard had been through so much before and since she became joint-Primus with Cl’rnce. She’d never asked to not help, but she certainly had the right to be relieved to not be the focus of all this. Great and Mighty smiled. That was surely odd.
Even though Hazel was still hurt about the secrets between them, Gaelyn had to say it. “I’m not making excuses, but it makes sense. A Fae wizard is unique. Never before has a Fae attended Wiz-Tech and become a Dr’gon trained wizard. Fae have their own magick. If this Fang has been corrupted or is close to it either by age or by Monad, our combined magicks could still win. Dr’gon and Elm Magick used together. Maybe.”
She held up her hand when both Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty opened their mouths, she was sure, to ask why if she had magick of any kind, she had come to the school, let alone why she’d let herself become a Wizard Partner? They each shot a glance at Hazel, whose eyes were furious slits.
“I needed to come. I was sent, because I needed to come.” Gaelyn squatted down by the burnt dirt again. “I’m going to have to go back and deal with this. Maybe Great and Mighty should go over that scroll again. The whole Dr’gon and Wizard Partners may be mis-translated. I have this feeling the only thing we need right now is for me to take care of Monad, and I’m not sure the Partners are part of that.”
Before anyone else could move, she grabbed up a handful of the burnt dust and bowed her head over it, breathing in the deep vital green of plants mixed with the ashy deadness of the unicorn as if she needed it like a medicine. One that could kill her.
Using the Unicorn’s magical residue worked too easily. Gaelyn crossed the planes without Silkkie’s or Hazel’s help. As she landed back in the center of the circle of Fae guards in Elm, Gaelyn opened all her senses. Ian and the guards had gathered in the center, but looking outward. They whipped around to face her when she appeared in their midst. Holding up a hand to gain a moment to scan, she listened and breathed in the odors of Elm. At last she sensed the unicorn. Monad was close.
The Fae guard, the one who had earlier stumbled over her words allowing the Jinn to nearly kill Ian, smiled at Gaelyn. “Welcome.” Ign
oring Gaelyn’s upheld hand to stop her, the Fae strode to Gaelyn, knocking down other guards in her path. “Just in time to die or …” Her smile sent chills down Gaelyn’s back.
The Fae glanced back at the fallen guards. Ian lunged at the rogue Fae, his dagger gripped high, ready to stab the threatening Fae’s chest as she turned to him. But she whirled quickly back to Gaelyn, winked, and snapped her fingers. When she winked, Gaelyn felt dark magick hurl toward Ian. She cast as quickly as her combined Dr’gon and Elm Magicks would allow, adding special instructions. Before the dark spell crashed into him, Ian disappeared. Gaelyn had sent him to Summer Court in time. She hoped that was a good idea.
She held her face as still as she had held her hands, so the attacking Fae would not detect that Gaelyn had used a spell. “Monad?” Gaelyn croaked out. She was finally ready to use the power of the unicorn’s name.
The female Fae giggled. Her voice rang with insanity. “Not at this moment. Soon enough I will join with the All-Powerful Unicorn. I will be Elm Queen.”
Quietly, calmly, and slowly Gaelyn asked a question she hoped would confuse the Fae guard. “Where is Ian?”
The Fae turned and looked around them. “Who?” The female’s brow creased. The self-assurance she had exuded was gone. Her face went from satisfied to bewildered. “What a mess.” She turned her back on Gaelyn and paced to the nearest Fae she had knocked down in her race to reach Gaeyln. The rogue Fae leaned over and held her hand out. The Fae on the ground looked from the tall female to Gaelyn. Gaelyn shook her head and tried to signal to be careful.
The downed Fae took the tall female’s hand and stood. As if nothing had happened a moment before, the tall female turned to Gaelyn. “You never asked, but my name is Morgu. Why didn’t you ask? You never asked anyone’s name.” Morgu squinted at Gaelyn in hostile accusation.
Gaelyn ignored the surprised looks on the other Fae as she considered her reply. She’d been away many years, even by Fae counting, but she had recognized all the Fae, including this one. Years ago, Morgu had been called Egla. She was a foundling rescued by a Fae couple. Egla meant hope and light. Morgu meant death bringer. This Fae’s changed name was not the strangest thing happening, but it made Gaelyn wonder what else was wrong in Elm that she had no clue about.
“Morgu, I apologize. My memory is faulty after so many years in the Dr’gon Realms. I thought I knew your name.”
Morgu continued to frown.
The other Fae were back on their feet by then. Gaelyn nodded to each of them. “I’m glad to see you all again, Morgu, Freig, Thorence.” She named each, hoping the others retained their old names and had not become instruments of Monad too. Even more, she wanted the other Fae to stay away from Morgu. Who knew what this Fae could do if she was connected to Monad? She’d already wielded dark magick, something the Fae of Elm did not do.
“Where did Ian go? You must be very powerful.” Gaelyn didn’t want to infuriate Morgu, but maybe she could confuse the bent Fae by acting as if she thought Morgu’s magick had affected Ian. Maybe Morgu would give away a secret.
Morgu turned in a circle looking as if she was hunting for a lost item. “That’s odd. Where did he go? Do you think he deserted us?” She put a hand over her mouth and raised her dark silken eyebrows. “Or could he be with Monad? She’s quite irresistible, you know.” Morgu nodded.
Gaelyn wished she knew more about the effects Monad had on Fae. Morgu hadn’t attempted any more magick, if she even remembered snapping her fingers and casting at Ian. Maybe the Fae had never cast. Maybe in that instant Monad had used Morgu and thrown the magick Gaelyn had felt.
And there was that other problem. Gaelyn had sent Ian to his mother’s Court. Summer Queen had sent her son away long ago. Uncle Firth had spoken little about Summer, but when she’d once asked about the Queen, he’d said, “Do not trust her. Trust her sister even less. And above all, do not ever become the kind of Queen that Summer and Winter are.” With that he had refused to talk more about Summer or Winter. Would Ian be safe with his mother? Would she destroy him for breaking his banishment and invading her Court?
Gaelyn walked closer to Morgu, slowly so as not to startle her. “I can help you,” she said.
“I know you can,” Morgu leaned forward. Her previously hazel eyes burned red. She grabbed Gaelyn’s arm. “You will help me, if you ever want to see your precious Ian again. Understand, Fae Wizard?” Morgu’s voice was different, lower and more threatening, without a trace of confusion. Her face blurred and grew paler and paler.
“Monad,” Gaelyn whispered. The Fae in the circle looked around as if scanning for the unicorn. Not one of them looked to Morgu. They did not see Morgu becoming Monad. They hadn’t heard Monad speaking through Morgu and threatening Ian.
Monad’ satisfied laugh rumbled out of Morgu. Not bothering to look at the other Fae, she whispered, “The others think you’ve caught Morgu’s insanity. They are so easily influenced. If I were a more patient unicorn, I’d manipulate your subjects and have myself put in your place, Queen.” She cackled again. “But I have waited long enough. Waited for you, Wizard Fae. I want all the power, all the magick including the Dr’gon Magicks, and I want it now.”
Her heart beating like a line of war drums, Gaelyn called together all the calm she had learned from her schooling at Wiz-Tech, and even more from dealing with an excited Hazel when her brother caused trouble. She used that and knowledge about how unicorns constantly needed to energize. Gaelyn looked up and away from Morgu as if studying the sky. “A beautiful day. Do you like the sun?” She shook her head as she cast a spell for a solar eclipse and added a bank of dark clouds. As fast as she thought the words, black shadows blanked out the sun. The bright day turned to almost night. “Oh, it’s gone. And no moon or stars. That must be draining. No sun or moon to feed off.” Gaelyn smiled at Morgu.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Morgu said. “Why do you think I chose this Fae? She has skin like a sponge. With all the greenery powering her magick, I’ll be fine.” She laughed, but the sound was off. Gaelyn felt the lie.
Gaelyn smiled again. Monad had used up power traveling the planes and without the sun would weaken quickly. This gave Gaelyn an idea. It wouldn’t be easy. Although the ability to move your essence from one body to another, as Monad was doing, was fearful magick, it was magick with vulnerability. If Gaelyn could force Monad to let go of Morgu and get out of the Fae’s body while Gaelyn kept the sun eclipsed, and perhaps added more thick clouds to further darken the day, then she might be able to incapacitate the unicorn. And then what? How did one capture or destroy a unicorn?
Morgu walked over to one of the Fae guard, and before it could dodge away, she had him by the neck, holding him in the air. “If there is one thing all creatures Fae or human or even Dr’gon needs, it’s air to breathe. How long will it take this one to die?” She grinned like she’d just made a huge joke. “Will you restore this Fae before it dies?”
“What do you mean? What do you want?” Gaelyn asked, not letting her voice show her fear or revulsion. Instead she walked up to Morgu and knocked her arm down, forcing her to let go of the Fae.
Morgu jumped away, and for a second her face showed shock, but as quick as a blink a fuzzy visage of Monad replaced Morgu’s confusion on the Fae’s face. “Attacking me physically will only work once. It was merely the surprise that made me let go. Not very impressive but have it your way. You can save these.” She waved a slender arm at all the Fae. “But how will you save your precious Ian?”
Gaelyn stood perfectly still. If she said a word about the spell she had cast to save Ian, it would only give the flagging unicorn important information.
Hazel’s lesson on being a strong leader reverberated in her head. No matter what, Gaelyn had to appear strong, confident, and powerful in front of this creature. Monad could not know that Gaelyn had any doubts about her own magick or Ian’s fate. Gaelyn might worry that Summer had allied with Monad, that Summer might bring Ian here, but Monad couldn’t know.
When ten long seconds had drug by, Gaelyn closed her eyes and opened them sighing. “Can we end the threats and bragging? What exactly do you want?”
Morgu twisted and screamed as she morphed fully into Monad in her unicorn form. The unicorn stomped a hoof, smashing a granite boulder and sending its moss coating flying onto everyone nearby. “Get on my back,” she ordered Gaelyn.
Surprised at the strength Monad showed, Gaelyn stepped back. “I will not. But if you wish me to transport us both to my Court …”
“I don’t trust you,” Monad said, kicking one of the Fae guard and pinning her to the ground. She poked her horn at the Fae she held under one hoof. The Fae squirmed to avoid the deadly touch.
Gaelyn cast an immobilizing spell on the Fae Guard to protect him. If he did not squirm, Monad got no pleasure from her torture. Keeping her emotions buried, Gaelyn said, “Neither of us trusts the other. We are at an impasse.” Gaelyn knew what she would do. She had to manipulate the next few minutes, and she had to time it just right for her plan to work. “Do you have a suggestion?”
Monad’s lips curled. “You pretend to be brave and in control, Elm, but you are losing. I have a hostage. Do you wish this Fae to die hideously? You will deliver us straight to the Court, no tricks, or I kill the hostage.”
Gaelyn nodded. “Fine. But you will release the Fae when we arrive in my Court.”
Monad shrugged, her unicorn shoulders rolling. “I will. I will have no need of hostages in Elm Hall.”
Uneasy that there wasn’t time to ask what that meant, Gaelyn concentrated on being fast. She began with a fog spell and wrapped the rest of the Fae in it while at the same time chanting the transportation spell for Monad, the single captured Fae, and herself to the Court. As she felt her insides twist from the transportation spell, she hoped Monad would not notice that she had cast an invisibility spell on her guards even though she had to leave them behind. She hoped the Fae Guards would soon follow and help.
Dragon Bonded: A Bumblespells Novel Page 15
