In Deception's Shadow Box Set: Book 1-3

by Lisa Blackwood

  Another bolt slammed through the abandoned line of tents, shredding or snapping everything in its path. The canvas of the nearest tent smoked around the edge of a substantial hole. By the haze curling out of the interior, it looked like magic could spawn true fire. Soldiers huddled on the ground, keeping their focus upon the arch, trying to estimate where the next strike would fall before they began moving forward again. A new, higher-pitched hum emanated from the arch.

  Kandarra dropped next to Ashayna, her wings flowing over the ground. “You should see your face.” The phoenix chuckled, her shoulders shaking with the force of her mirth. “Don’t worry, we’ve managed to protect everyone from the mage blasts that thing’s throwing, and by the sound of it, the Elders on the other side seem to be getting it under control.”

  Forks of lightning no longer arched across the camp. Maybe Kandarra was right. “What is it? What happened?”

  “That was a Gate. And your Larnkin destabilized it by accident. Unless you tried to assassinate my brother and other members of the delegation?”

  “No…no, I wouldn’t. I swear.” Would they believe her? She hadn’t known there were others on the other side of the gate. What if those Elementals thought it was an attack…

  “Relax, Kandarra is teasing.” Marsolwyn hunkered down next to them. “Your Larnkin is a youngling, just learning her strength. No doubt she was curious about the Gate, and when she tried to explore it, lost control. Now hurry, toss your sword close to the Gate. Later, we’ll claim its iron-tainted metal interfered with the Gate’s magic.”

  Ashayna did as instructed, if somewhat awkwardly. Her blade glittered in the light of the archway.

  Queen Marsolwyn nodded. “Now move towards the shelter of the tents. I’ll go delay the soldiers. Kandarra, stay with Ashayna and inform me if her Larnkin misbehaves again.”

  Ashayna boiled with questions, but Marsolwyn had already vanished. With little else to do, she allowed herself to be led to the nearest tent, the last in a line running along the curve of the river. The tent had withstood the wild magic with little damage; only the flag pole was missing.

  Near at hand, soldiers were organizing into ranks. Yet none noticed her standing in the shadows. She’d bet her favorite dagger Kandarra used magic to hide them. Exhausted, Ashayna rested her back against one of the tent’s support poles.

  The Gate shuddered once more, and as the fire within the arch vanished, a blur of indigo was expelled onto the ground a few paces away. With a sharp snap, the Gate disappeared. The lump on the ground shivered. Massive wings unfolded. Another phoenix had just joined their midst—somewhat against his wishes, Ashayna would bet. When he finally gained his feet, he shook his head with a hiss.

  Even over the distance, Ashayna heard his enraged tone. He remained where he was, his talons flexing in the soft earth, and one hand resting on a hilt of a sword encased in an ornate scabbard.

  No longer blinded by the Gate’s bright light, she could make out his features. Ashayna caught her breath, her heart dropping. She’d seen him before. Gems shone in his longest crest feathers. Gold glittered at his neck and circled his bare biceps and wrists. His high, finely honed cheekbones and a narrow blade of a nose reminded Ashayna of a bird of prey. Piercing, blue-black raptor’s eyes, several shades darker than his feathers, surveyed the humans nearest him.

  Oh yes, Ashayna remembered him. The phoenix from her vision. Instantly her Larnkin stirred, dancing beneath her skin with a warmth as unsettling as it was pleasant.

  Something in her chest tightened until she couldn’t think. A burning sensation unfurled under her heart, spreading outward to travel down her arms. Heart racing, breath rasping, she fought both panic and her Larnkin’s grip. Her vision darkened, folding down to a narrow point. Her body became a vague and distant thing. Ashayna swallowed, realization hitting with the force of a hammer’s blow.

  Reunite…safety…home.

  The wordless communication, echoing up from some unknown source within her soul, scared her as nothing else had. Her Larnkin tried to force her to move forward. When force failed, it swamped her with feelings of peace and contentment. Her hand crept towards the necklace hidden in her vest without her consent. With an extreme act of will, she closed her fist and lowered her arm.

  “Not this time,” she told the magic and stomped it back down to where it belonged.

  “I’ve heard awakening Larnkins are temperamental. I think the elders understated the facts a bit.” Kandarra shook her head, disbelief in her eyes.

  “Nice time for a warning,” Ashayna snapped. She’d forgotten about Kandarra until then. Embarrassment and fear made her sharp. Kandarra seemed not to have noticed.

  “That’s my brother Sorntar, Crown Prince of the Phoenix.” Kandarra sounded distracted. She cocked her head, looking puzzled. “He doesn’t look pleased by your Larnkin’s impatience. In the future, it will be easier if you don’t fight your Larnkin. Maybe then she’d be more tactful.”

  “If I don’t fight, it will have me throwing myself at his feet.” She gestured at the crown prince. “I don’t even know what she wants. I don’t care. I’m not going to bow and scrape to him.” Ashayna wasn’t about to trust Kandarra, or the Larnkin. She wasn’t even sure if she could trust herself.

  Sorntar jerked his head to one side. Ashayna followed where he looked. Glittering in the torchlight, her sword rested in the grass where Queen Marsolwyn had instructed her to toss it. Sorntar picked her blade up and studied it, seemingly unconcerned by soldiers closing in on all sides.

  Captain Nurrowford approached, shouting out orders to hold fire. The order came too late. A volley of arrows streaked towards Sorntar. The phoenix held his ground, a frown darkened his expression. An arm’s length from their target, the arrows ignited and burned to ash. Sorntar narrowed his eyes and focused on the archers with a deadly intent as he brushed a dusting of ash from his chest.

  ***

  The echo of his battle cry dying on the wind, Sorntar wrenched control from his Larnkin moments before it could decimate the enemy. Sword forgotten, his Larnkin focused its rage on the humans when they rained their arrows down on him. He launched into the air, desperate to escape their weaponry—and save any form of negotiations. Two fierce beats of his wings and he landed on an outcropping of rock thrusting out of the east bank.

  Rubbing powdery ash from his chest, he stared across the distance at the neat rows of tents. What had affected the Gate so deeply?

  Whatever it was had forced his Larnkin to absorb a vast amount of power, more than he could safely contain. The wild current of magic stripped away the little control Sorntar had left.

  His twin swords flashed silver in the darkness as he eased them from their scabbards. Blue flames blinked into being along their lengths as the blades cleared their leathers; fiery tongues leaping higher to wrap around his forearms. Living entities, the fire crept along his body into his wings, his tail, his crest—until all was ablaze.

  He could feel his Larnkin stirring again, its instinctual need to protect foremost in its thoughts.

  “Not now. Please, let me deal with this.” Sorntar struggled to retain control. “There is no danger to me, be at peace. Sleep.”

  After a brief pause, his Larnkin relinquished its hold. With it resting, Sorntar refocused, channeling his magic into the ground. The stone under his talons buckled as fissures formed. Widening cracks spread across the ground, reaching deeper into the earth with each beat of his twin hearts. The surrounding ground ruptured and heaved, spitting a plume of molten rock far up into the air.

  Humans screamed, retreating from him. He dragged in a deep breath, inhaling the stink of their fear. His lips pulled back in a hiss, disgust rearing within him. They’d been quick to attack when he’d been unprepared. Now, when he was ready to face them, none wanted to challenge him. Another hiss rumbled in his chest.

  To attack without provocation, and then flee from an opponent...such cowardice.

  He shouldn’t be surprised. Humans we
re without honor, as the acolytes had proved well enough.

  These humans were no different than the acolytes—suspicious, close-minded, and unreasoning in their hatred of magic. Fools. If they wouldn’t coexist, then let them damn themselves. When he returned home, he would report as much to his mother. But he had a task to complete first. Where were his sisters?

  Raising one hand, he held it suspended above the ground at shoulder level, palm facing down and allowed his eyes to drift closed. With his fire raging around him, he was safe from mortal attack.

  Below him, the earth hummed with magic, awaiting his command. With a slow, graceful movement, one that was part-show on his part to stoke the humans’ fear higher, he turned his palm up. Magic answered his summons, crawling up from the fissures like a thick, blue mist.

  With a mental push, he ordered it to find his sisters.

  Settling back on his rock outcropping, he waited. The human soldiers didn’t advance on his position, which was for the best.

  The next human to cross his path wasn’t going to enjoy the outcome.

  ***

  The first tendril of mist reached Ashayna. The surrounding guards held their ground, but shifted nervously as the blue mist swirled around their boots. She could hear a few whimpered prayers.

  Her magic reverberated in harmony with the mist. She gasped, then snapped her teeth together hard enough to creak. A rippling in the magic, like a stone disturbing the surface of a pond, was the only warning before her shields dropped.

  Heat caressed her, touching something deep within. She yelped and leapt away from the mist.

  It pursued, curling around her ankle to begin a slow ascent up her leg. Swatting at the mist didn’t scatter it as real mist would; instead it clung to her fingers and encircled her wrist. Gooseflesh rose where it touched her arms, yet a strange heat swirled through her blood. A terrified scream locked in her lungs, she backed up until she collided with tent canvas, tangling with ropes and support poles.

  The substantial presence of another mind brushed hers...a stranger’s thoughts flooded her mind...his rage, his worry for his sisters...his realization that Ashayna shared his thoughts. The flood of anger changed, shifting rapidly to mild shock and then curiosity.

  She was already off-balance when a compelling pull rolled over her.

  Unable to resist, she looked up in time to see Sorntar turn in a swirl of feathers and blue fire. His talons flexed against his stone perch. Dark eyes searched the shadows where Ashayna stood. Frozen in place, she waited. Any moment, he would lock eyes with her. Panicked, Ashayna stumbled around the side of the tent, half-running. She succeeded in outpacing the main cloud of thick mist and it disengaged a bit at a time until the few remaining wisps floated to the ground and vanished.

  With it, the stranger’s thoughts disappeared. Her arm still felt like something rested upon it. When she would have rubbed it again, the compelling pull of his power distracted her.

  “Easy, Ashayna—he’ll not learn of your presence until I wish it.” Marsolwyn gave Ashayna’s shoulder a brief pat. “It’s best if Sorntar remains unaware of your existence for now. That a human will be joining our ranks may cause some…tension. And with his Larnkin awakening, Crown Prince Sorntar is already too dangerous.”

  Ashayna rubbed at her arm while she tried to calm her pounding heart. “Can it get any worse?” She allowed deliberate sarcasm to seep into her voice. A few guards looked in her direction. She didn’t care if they thought the pressure had cracked her mind, and she continued to talk to Marsolwyn out loud. “Oh wait—he’s going to burn the whole damn camp to the ground along with every human in it. Sound about right?”

  The lupwyn didn’t deny her accusation. Ashayna sobered, her earlier giddy hysteria a cold lump in her stomach.

  “I’ll not let it get so far the damage cannot be repaired.” For once, Queen Marsolwyn’s tone held the appropriate level of seriousness.

  Ashayna felt ill. But the magic didn’t let her wallow in self-pity for long. Another power rippled along her shields. This wasn’t coming from the crown prince. For a second time in one night, Ashayna witnessed a Gate being born. This one flashed into being faster than the first. Before the thunderous echo faded, dozens of armored lupwyn and phoenix guards spilled out of its broad expanse.

  Human soldiers rushed towards the new arrivals. Opposing sides met in a clash of swords. Archers fired arrows at the intruders, but, as with the crown prince, their arrows burned to ashes far short of their targets. More human soldiers pressed in upon the Elementals.

  A brief flash of green light from an unknown direction swarmed over a large swath of soldiers. Eyes tearing, Ashayna blinked to clear the white spots blurring her vision. When she could see again, her gaze locked on the soldiers and her stomach tightened with dread.

  They lay crumpled on the ground, limbs sprawled at awkward angles. None of them moved. She couldn’t see if their chests still rose and fell, the distance too great.

  “Merciful Creator,” Ashayna breathed half to herself, her companions forgotten.

  After a brief, shocked pause, yelling filled the clearing. Rage and fear sounded in the soldiers’ voices, but training took hold and her father’s soldiers shook off their shock, engaging the enemy once more. All along the line, there were more of the green flashes and soldiers continued to fall.

  Marsolwyn stepped into Ashayna’s field of vision, flanking her almost protectively.

  Ashayna might have been helpless to stop the spreading violence, but standing within arm’s reach was someone with the power and authority to put a stop to this useless violence.

  “Do something! This is your fault. If you hadn’t come here, none of this would be happening.”

  “Don’t worry, they’re not dead. They’ll just wake up with a headache. And this would have happened one day soon, with or without our arrival. Don’t fool yourself otherwise.”

  A change in the pattern of fighting caught Ashayna’s attention, momentarily drawing her gaze away from Marsolwyn. Soldiers were advancing on Sorntar. A burning, spicy scent assaulted her nose. More magic was being summoned.

  “I will deal with Sorntar.” Marsolwyn tilted her head in her companions’ direction. “Vinarah, Kandarra, get to Prince Sorntar’s bodyguards. Prevent them from harming the humans. Be quick or we’ll never be able to secure peace. Ashayna, go to Captain Nurrowford. Tell him the Gate going rogue was an accident caused by the nearness of your sword. Convince him this was not an attack.” Marsolwyn ducked under the silver flash of bared swords. Running on all fours, she looked like a dark streak, dodging both soldiers and arrows with ease.

  Before Ashayna could react, Vinarah darted at the startled guards and leapt into the air, sailing over their swords. Kandarra followed a moment later, heading in a different direction.

  A lieutenant shouted orders to the scattered cavalry, urging them after the escaping captives. While the crowd of officers surrounding Captain Nurrowford thinned, Ashayna used the opportunity to sneak in a private word with him. She had just reached his location when a fearful, lingering howl filled the air.

  It rode upon the night breeze. Its haunting melody reminded her of a wolf’s homage to the three moons. First, one sang, then a second and third voice joined in, until the eerie song grew to a deafening pitch, fed by six hundred throats. As quickly as it had come, the song died. The chaos of battle stilled. Swords and bows lowered amid the tension gathering like a storm. Soldiers stared out into the surrounding night. A moment later, the darkness was banished by hundreds of fiery white lights born out of nothing. They hung in the air, bobbing above the heads of hundreds of armor-clad lupwyns encircling the camp.

  The lupwyn army had arrived.

  Chapter Four

  Silence hung in the air, heavy and thick, as the last notes of the lupwyns’ song faded away. Captain Nurrowford stepped into the open, flanked by his senior officers, his attention on the army.

  Seizing her chance, Ashayna slid up next to him. “Captain, I
’ve an important message from Queen Marsolwyn.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Let it be good news, we’ve need of it at the moment.”

  “She says it’s a misunderstanding. Their Gate went rogue. Their army believes we just tried to assassinate one of their royals.” Ashayna gestured to where Sorntar perched. “He’s their crown prince.”

  Nurrowford’s eyes narrowed in understanding, the color bleaching from his face. “The crown prince thinks we tried to assassinate him?”

  Ashayna nodded.

  “Bloody gods!” He stared at Ashayna, his jaw taut. “We don’t have magic. How can they think we’re responsible?”

  “The lupwyn queen said I was too close, and the metal of my sword interfered with its magic.” Ashayna squirmed at her half-truths.

  “Do you believe this lupwyn is telling the truth?”

  “I don’t know why she’d lie.” Ashayna hoped Nurrowford didn’t detect her own lies.

  He turned to the nearest officers. “Send word to every commander. Halt the attack. Keep the enemy surrounded, but do not engage.” Captain Nurrowford studied Ashayna, making her uncomfortable. “Let’s hope you’re right.”

  A horn blew three quick blasts and the sounds of battle subsided. Both human and elemental soldiers stared balefully at each other, though neither side made further hostile moves.

  Captain Nurrowford surveyed the camp, his look encompassing both stilling chaos and encircling lupwyn army. Then in a low whisper, one Ashayna didn’t think she was supposed to hear, he mumbled something suspiciously like ‘lucky to see the dawn.’

  A disturbance shifted the enemy ranks. Dozens of lupwyns from further back moved forward. These ones didn’t move with the grace she’d come to expect. At first, she thought they’d sustained injuries. She blinked as understanding dawned. Strapped to their backs were rope-bound bundles.

  One lupwyn, shrouded from muzzle to tail-tip in black and gold plate armor, advanced ahead of the army. Prowling up and down the line, the newcomer scented the breeze. He let out one short, coughing bark. Ashayna jumped. Nearby, several soldiers shifted nervously.