by Amelia Jade
Now that their position was solidified, Gabriel knew his men would strike the flank of the Remnants like a sword thrust to their vitals. They would be the killing blow that ensured the end of the war.
He opened his mouth and bellowed an open challenge to any who dared defy him as loud as he could.
Behind and around him the forest erupted with noise as the rest of the Green Bearets joined him, four hundred strong. Above, the Pegasi let loose their piercing banshee-like war screams, and the gryphons’ beaks reverberated with the predatory calls of their eagle brethren.
Gabriel snarled mentally.
It was time to end this, once and for all.
Chapter Twenty
Stephanie
Even as she’d watched him disappear down the road, she’d known that it was up to her now to ensure that Gabriel came back to a world that didn’t hate him. A world that understood who and what he and his men truly were, and what they were doing to protect the human residents of Cloud Lake.
That meant that she had to stop her boss from publishing that story.
Andy would never listen to a thing she said over the phone, that was certain. If Stephanie wanted him to delete her story, she would have to see to it in person. But that meant traveling back to Morgantown. There weren’t seven hours to spare on a bus. He could be printing the first version of it anytime. That was the downside of electronic news. Although the story wouldn’t be complete without footage, they could always run an update with that. In the news world, being first was key. Andy wouldn’t sit on it for long.
So Stephanie had made her decision, chosen her course of action. And now she was heading back to Morgantown in her rental car as fast as she could. There was no money left in the bank; she’d spent the last of it on the vehicle. This was it, she knew. The actions she would have to take would ensure she never got another job in the media industry again, and that filled her with sadness.
But Gabriel was worth it.
I’m sorry, Gabriel. This isn’t how I wanted anything to happen.
Nothing would have happened this way if she hadn’t acted so rashly. It was her fault, she knew that now. Even if Gabriel had thought things with her were a mistake, he had never treated her badly. Even if he decided that they weren’t meant to be and let her go, it wasn’t like he was laughing about it, bragging that he’d fucked her and then left her high and dry.
No, he didn’t deserve the fate that would come of him and his men if her story made it on the air. So she would have to put a stop to it.
***
Stephanie’s steps faltered slightly as she pulled up outside of the high-rise that her news agency was headquartered in. The long three-hour drive—which she’d completed in just over two, but don’t tell anyone that—had given her a chance to calm down. To re-evaluate things a little.
Probably what I should have done with Gabriel.
By the time the elevator chimed and the doors opened on her agency’s floor, she was almost ready to…
To what? Ask Andy to delay the story? You know you can’t publish it. He doesn’t deserve that, no matter how things work out between you two. You went and fucked yourself by angrily sending off such a damning report. So, time to own up to your mistake.
Regretfully she stepped off the elevator. She would miss this place.
“Awhoooooooooooo!”
The howl sounded out through the office before she’d taken twenty steps off the elevator. Chelsea Hammelin appeared from nearby and sent out the call again, before breaking down into giggles and heading for Andy’s office.
You know what? Fuck this place.
Stephanie marched over and waltzed into Andy’s office like she owned the place.
“Get out,” she said icily to Chelsea, who was regarding her as if she were too stupid to realize that they were having a private discussion.
“Excus—Ow!”
Stephanie didn’t give the other woman a chance. She walked up to her, grabbed her by her perfect blonde ponytail, and unceremoniously threw the slightly larger woman out the door before slamming it closed on her face.
“Pippi?” Andy asked in surprise as she turned to face him.
“Do not call me that,” she snarled.
“Okay, okay!” Andy said, looking exasperated. “What are you doing here? Did you get that footage already?”
“No, Andy. No footage. As a matter of fact, I won’t ever be getting the footage either.”
Her boss stared at her, but then his look of confusion slowly turned to a mocking smile.
“Let me guess. You found one that you liked, and you don’t want to reveal the truth about him?” he teased. “Listen, Pippi, get me the damn footage, or you’re out of a job. Got it?”
“Delete the story,” she said through clenched teeth, ignoring his constant reference to another redheaded pigtail-wearing female.
“What?” he asked, leaning back in shock, before beginning to laugh in her face. “Delete the story? Are you out of your mind?”
“No,” she said, the single word reaching out and slapping the humor out of the room. “Now delete the fucking story, Andy.”
How could I have ever wanted to come back to this? I only spent a handful of days in Cloud Lake, but I think I learned a lot about what I want out of life. Did I really want to work for an ass like this, with people like her, full-time?
Stephanie wondered what the hell had been wrong with her. Only an insane, asshole nutjob would want to work here.
“I’m not deleting the story,” he said. “Now go get me some fucking footage.”
Stephanie walked around the desk, until she was right next to Andy, who was still seated in his chair.
“Delete it,” she said calmly, pointing at his computer screen. “Please.”
She felt sick, asking nicely, but clearly being rude to him wasn’t going to work. So perhaps if she were nice, he would listen.
“No.”
Okay, fine. I tried.
Stephanie’s left hand came around, cupped the back of Andy’s head, and without any further hesitation, slammed his face into the wood desk before he had a chance to react.
“Owb!” he cried out, blood streaming from his lip and, a moment later, his nose. “’at ba hell was b’at b’or?
“Delete it. Now,” she snarled once more.
“O’bay, O’bay!” he said, wiping blood from his face with the sleeve of one arm.
She watched him go into his email and delete her story, and then also made him search his desktop for it, in case he’d saved it. He hadn’t, and once she was satisfied, she headed for the door.
“B’ey! You’re b’ired!”
“Fuck you, Andy, I quit,” she replied, slamming the door behind her as she left.
“You little bitch!” Chelsea hissed at her as soon as she was outside.
Stephanie noted with some humor that the “tough” other woman was staying a solid three feet from her even as she launched into a tirade of insults about Stephanie, her mother, her lineage, who she was fucking, and even her looks.
“Have a nice life, Chelsea,” she said calmly as the door closed behind her.
The last expression she ever saw on the bitch little blonde’s face was one of utter astonishment at the polite dismissal from the redheaded stepchild of the office. It was worth it.
I mean, beating her face in would have been fun too, but then I’d have to deal with the police, blah blah blah.
With one task finished, she only had one more to go. Find Gabriel, find out what the hell he’d meant about her being a mistake, and then figure out her life from there.
Simple.
Except for the fact that he was off fighting a war surrounded by hundreds of other shifters.
Minor details. I’ll handle them as they come.
First step: Get back to Cloud Lake.
Chapter Twenty-One
Gabriel
They were almost at their destination.
Based on updates from the dragons, w
ho could speak while in their animal form, the Green Bearets had closed on the battlefield from the south. To the east, though they couldn’t see them yet, came the ranks of shifters from within Cadia itself. And from the west and north came the Fenris Remnants.
Once we crest this hill, we should be able to see the valley below, where I guess everyone is assembling.
A dragon swooped down from above, but instead of pausing, this time he actually landed. Gabriel slowed, as did Luther. Behind them the other Green Bearets followed suit, taking deep breaths. They’d been running for nearly four hours now to reach this spot. The sun, no longer visible, was well into its descent by now.
“What is it?” he asked as he shifted to his human form, having to shout to be heard over the wind.
Behind him he heard the bears sink to the ground, taking deep breaths as they recovered their energy in whatever brief amount of time was left to them.
The magnificent green dragon turned to look at him, its scales the same jade as his own eyes at that moment in time. “Apparently our efforts at attempting diplomacy have paid off. The Remnants have agreed to meet with our representatives.”
He waved a wing at Gabriel, encouraging him to come closer.
The wind had risen again, and as he climbed to the top of the hill, it whipped at him harder. It showered him with constant debris, such as fallen leaves and other parts of nature that were light enough to be thrown about. He shielded his eyes, until the dragon extended one wing to shelter him.
“Thank you,” he said gruffly, grateful for the assistance, but unhappy that he needed it. Showing weakness in front of others was not something he was used to doing. Then something else came to him.
“Won’t you landing here give away our position?” he asked.
His force was supposed to strike a surprise blow. If Fenris realized they were there now…
“No. Several others of my kind have landed at various points, as if simply seeking somewhere to land. The Fenrisian aerial shifters are sticking close to their main body. They won’t come this far to scout.”
Gabriel shrugged, unable to do anything but take the dragon at his word.
“If you say so, Blaine,” he said, addressing him by name.
Any further words died on his tongue as he crested the hill at last, and took in the valley before him, and all that it contained.
“Oh,” he said, suddenly feeling very little.
The valley below was packed with shifters. Drawn up to the east were the assembled defense forces of Cadia, its Guardians, and any other shifters that could be drawn into the effort, he was sure. They had just finished coming down from the mountain pass by the looks of it, and were arrayed with their backs to the majestic range of peaks.
To the west, on his left, were the massed forces of the Remnants. The Fenrisian rebels were larger than the forces opposing them, though once Gabriel’s hidden command was factored in, the numbers flipped in favor of Cadia, but not by a lot. He’d hoped that more troops could be brought forth from the homeland, but it appeared they simply hadn’t had the time.
“Is this going to work?” he asked Blaine.
Blaine Wingstar was the second-in-command of Top Scale Academy, their equivalent to his Base Camp, and was an ancient shifter in Gabriel’s eyes, having lived for a number of centuries. He’d heard a rumor that the green dragon was nearly three and a half centuries old, but he wasn’t sure if that was true or not. Dragons were, outside of themselves, a rather mysterious lot.
“I hope so,” came the rumbling reply. “The last thing I want to do is kill more of our kind.”
“Agreed,” he said heavily.
There was a soft flutter of wings, then a clatter of hooves. A moment later Ava stepped up next to him, the last of her feathers going flush with her skin as she returned to human form.
“Diplomacy,” she spat. “Why are we trusting them?”
Gabriel arched an eyebrow in surprise. Although he’d only known the Pegasus shifter for a few months, she’d never struck him as one to be so overly spiteful of anyone, even her enemies. So this side of her was unusual.
“Because we came here to fight,” he said. “We’re still ready to fight. If it doesn’t work, we fight, like we expected. But on the off chance it does work, then think of all the lives spared.”
“I’m not so sure I’m as indifferent to sparing their lives as you are, Gabriel Korver,” she said formally.
He snarled at the suggestion that perhaps he had a soft spot for them. “I’m not thinking of them,” he replied icily. “I’m thinking of my men. The men that won’t be standing at the end of today if this goes through. There are six of your kind here, Ava. Six. Just behind me there are four hundred of my brethren. And over there?” he said with a gesture at the other Cadians. “Hundreds more. So relax, and look at the bigger picture.”
What the hell had gotten into her?!
Ava stiffened as he spoke, but after he finished, she hung her head. “I am sorry, Gabriel. That was terribly out of line. You did not deserve that. I am simply…the prospect of a fight. It’s…tough to keep it contained.”
He nodded. “Believe me, I understand that all too well.”
Part of him wanted to go at her some more, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. She had apologized, and he needed to accept it, and move on. They were all on edge, and the last thing they needed was to be at each other’s throats.
Below in the valley a section of shifters set forth from the Cadian lines.
A moment later a matching group strode forth from the Remnants.
“This could take a while,” he muttered to himself as they met and began to talk.
“Take some rest,” he called, using arm motions to get his point across.
Without moving, his men all began to return to human form. In seconds they had lain down where they were and fallen fast asleep.
“Is that wise?” Ava asked. “If things go south, they’ll go south in a hurry.”
“True,” he agreed. “But we’ll see it coming. They won’t do anything until their emissaries are back within their lines. Then they have to organize their troops and charge. We have to then wait until the Fenrisians are almost engaged with our troops before we reveal ourselves. I peg all that to take two to five minutes.” He shrugged. “Plenty of time for my men to wake up and shift.”
“I see,” Ava said, not sounding like she truly understood.
“This way my men can rest their minds, as well as their animals. They had a much more strenuous journey to get here than you did,” he reminded her.
“Ah, right. Sorry, I’d not taken that into account,” she said.
“It’s okay,” he replied, but his attention was focused on the meeting happening in front of him, as the two sides came together.
A minute later, when violence had yet to break out, Gabriel realized he had been holding his breath in anticipation of something disastrous. Now he let it all out in one go, drawing looks from both Blaine and Ava.
“Sorry, just a little nervous,” he replied. “I really hope this works.”
He glanced over at the Cadian lines. More shifters were streaming down from the mountains as they waited.
“Someone needs to stop that,” he muttered.
“Stop what?” Blaine asked.
“The reinforcements so visibly joining them,” he said, pointing at the shifters in groups of two or threes coming down the trail. There weren’t many of them, but if they kept coming, they would begin to add up.
“Why?” Ava pressed.
“Because,” he said, as if this should have been common knowledge. “Right now Fenris thinks it has the upper hand. If that changes…” he trailed off, letting the others fill in the blank.
“They might attack anyway,” Blaine said. “I’m on it.”
Without another word he hopped forward slightly away from them and then launched himself into the sky. Gabriel was forced to flex his knees and shield his face with a forearm to prevent himself fr
om being blown over or taking a face full of debris, but he was glad that someone else was willing to take action.
His eyes continued to play over the Cadian ranks. “You know, Cadia itself is practically undefended right now,” he mused. “If the humans knew that…”
Ava snorted. “Humans take forever to do anything. This will be over by the time they even find out it was about to happen.”
Gabriel wasn’t so confident, but he didn’t say anything. Instead he sank down to his haunches and prepared to wait.
***
The sun was starting to set in the west when there was finally a commotion from the negotiating parties.
“Gabriel,” Ava hissed.
He sat upright immediately. They had taken to watching in turns, as time went on. It had been nearly two hours. Almost six hours since they set out.
The parties were separating from each other, the Cadians backing away frantically.
“This doesn’t look good,” he commented.
He turned and quickly sent out a series of hand signals to the lieutenants on watch with the rest of his men. In moments they were all up and ready to shift at a moment’s notice.
Without warning one of the hovering Fenrisian dragons darted down to unleash its devastating breath weapon against the Cadian group. Gabriel held his breath as the red dragon barreled forward at unbelievable speed. It opened its mouth and he saw flame forming within its gaping maw.
“Oh shit!” he yelped as a brilliant flash of white slammed into the dragon from above.
The screech of the dying red echoed out over the valley as the magnificent white dragon that had intercepted it ripped it to shreds, and then contemptuously spat a ball of ultra-cold ice down the red’s throat. Then it pushed off and flung itself free, moments before the dying red dragon slammed into the earth, raising a cloud of dust that billowed out to envelop both of the negotiating parties as they retreated.
