“Here,” Gran said as she shoved first a crossbow and then a wooden longbow into her hands. “Hold these for me.”
Lillian did, and followed Gran around the room until they were both leaden with knives and enough arrows and bolts to do some serious damage.
“One more thing before we go,” Gran said as she made her way over to a long low table. There she pulled a couple lengths of fabric from a basket and brought them over to Lillian. “Gregory was working on these for you. I think he planned them as a gift. The beading isn’t finished yet, but they are functional.”
There was a soft rustle of fabric and the gentle clank of beads as Gran handed the bundle to her. She unfolded it to see one item was a beaded loincloth similar to what Gregory wore and the other was a long scarf-like construction. With a bit of wrapping, it could be secured into a top of sorts, one which looped up over her neck, crisscrossed over her breasts, and tied behind her waist. It wouldn’t interfere with her wings when she was in gargoyle form.
She ran a thumb over the soft fabric and tiny beadwork. Sudden moisture gathered in the corners of her eyes and she had to swallow past a lump in her throat. Gregory had been working himself to exhaustion each day, but he still took the time to make this gift for her because she’d asked.
“Here,” Gran said, “I’ll take the longbow.”
It was probably for the best, since Lillian doubted she possessed enough skill to effectively aim one of those deadly weapons with any accuracy. The crossbow suited her better.
She donned the clothing Gregory had been making for her with a quick efficiency. And then as silently as they had come, they left the secret room and made their way back up to the outside world where the unicorn waited in the gardens behind the house.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lillian tightened her hold on the heavy crossbow as she stepped under the shadow of the maze. It was darker inside, the newly risen moon’s light not reaching the ground within. She made her way using memory and touch, and still it seemed an age until she reached the maze’s center. Worry for Gran and the unicorn didn’t help.
When the maze had first become visible in the distance, Gran had ordered them to split up and breach the maze using a three-prong tactic. They were each to make their way to the center, searching for traps along the way. Once there, they would await Gran’s signal and all attack together, or if the situation inside made it too dangerous, Gran and the unicorn would draw the siren’s attention to give Lillian a chance to escape with Gregory.
Not liking the part where Gran and the unicorn might sacrifice their own freedom, Lillian had bridled at Gran’s plan, but realised there might not be another choice if any of them were to escape.
No one said she had to like the plan. She just had to pull off her part and not fail Gran.
She scanned the central glade while still hidden by the shadows of the maze. The clearing was more than wide enough to allow moonlight to bath the small glade in its soft radiance. Lillian took an immediate dislike to what she saw.
Arranged in a semi-circle in front of Gregory, with their backs to Lillian, a mixed group of Fae stood unmoving. They might as well have been as stone-like as Gregory. Some she recognized; Greenborrow and Whitethorn were two, but the others were strangers or triggered only a vague recollection in her.
She’d only met a handful of the Fae before she’d nearly died twice, once at the hands of the Riven, the second time by an axe wielded by a fellow dryad named Sable. Having slept for three months while she healed, now felt more like three years. Many more Fae had joined them while she and Gregory slept, further compounding the problem of trying to keep everyone straight in her head.
Now she really missed the knowledge, and most especially what powers those unknown Fae might command. Even if she hadn’t considered Greenborrow and Whitethorn family friends, she still wouldn’t have left them to their fate.
It chaffed at something deep in her soul. It was doubly so to think of Gregory enslaved.
Her blood drummed in her ears and tingles rushed across her skin, raising gooseflesh in its wake. It wasn’t until her claws prickled against her own palms that she drew a calming breath and hauled back on her run away emotions. Gran had specifically said not to take gargoyle form until absolutely necessary. Her grandmother had yet to steer her wrong.
With a mental shake, the last of the wildness bled from her body, and her thick black claws returned to the soft pink, useless nails of a human.
Now another worry inched up her spine—where the hell was Gran and the unicorn? Had they been captured? She hadn’t heard even the slightest noise to hint at a skirmish. Maybe the other route was blocked or guarded in some way and Gran and the unicorn were both forced to double back to Lillian’s position?
Well, she might as well see what she could learn while she waited for any sign of her companions.
From the sheltering dark of her cedar maze, she scanned the small assembly again. Her eyes briefly settled on Gregory, and then behind him to her redwood, and the large expanse of pure darkness at its base. Moonlight couldn’t penetrate its dense foliage, and there might be twenty more Fae hiding in those shadows.
Seeing no other choice, Lillian reached for the otherness she associated with her gargoyle bloodlines, the same wildness she’d just pushed away, needing it now. Left to her own terms, she wouldn’t be controlled by it.
Closing her eyes, she listened. The night noises sharpened. Crickets, frogs, the hoot of a Great Horned Owl, and even the splash of water as the stream cascaded down the small series of flagstones functioning as a tiny waterfall in the north end of the clearing—all these things reached her ears, making her straining senses tingle.
She filtered all the natural noise out like Gregory had shown her. Now the deep throb of the statue like Faes’ heartbeats reached her ears, and the soft hiss of their breath. Otherwise the clearing seemed empty of threats, but she doubted it was as innocent as it looked.
Lillian crept forward, muscles tense and senses on high alert as she made her way across the clearing toward Gregory. There was no point in attempting stealth, it would do her little good if she was walking into a trap. She was halfway to Gregory when water surged against stone, disturbing the peaceful night. Frogs and crickets grew silent even as Lillian sought the source of the disturbance.
Her gaze slid to the north end of the clearing, where the largest of the otherwise tiny waterfalls dropped down into a pool stocked with water lilies and goldfish. The surface moved in an unnatural way for several more seconds, then a head and shoulders emerged through the covering of water lily leaves.
The woman, for it was unmistakably a woman rising partway out of the pool, her bare breasts easy to make out in the moonlight, brushed back strands of damp hair from her face.
Lillian spotted several lines running down her neck, the last ending at the curve of her shoulder. They fluttered and expelled water. If the gills hadn’t been enough to tell her this was indeed the siren, the great fan-shaped tail jutting from the surface of the water about five feet from her shoulders was a dead giveaway.
The Fae pulled herself up onto the rocks at the edge of the pool. She made no other move. Merely watching Lillian.
The being in the pool looked nothing like the woman who called herself Tethys, but she felt the same, especially the strong current of power against Lillian’s skin. After a moment, she identified what it reminded her of. An undertow, the ocean’s power far inland from where it would naturally exist, but still recognizable all the same.
The siren’s gaze was a physical weight, all stern willpower and focused magic crashing against Lillian’s mind, raising gooseflesh along with defensive instincts.
At any moment, she expected to feel a sharp pain as Gran’s spell triggered and shredded her eardrums. One moment passed and then another and another, and still the siren didn’t sing.
“Welcome,” Tethys said, her voice clear and buoyant, free of anything that could be called musical enchantment.
Lillian only gave the siren a slight nod in answer, but she eased forward away from the green maze walls. She didn’t relax, was in fact more than ready to launch into a full heart-pounding, adrenaline filled sprint for safety, but managed what she hoped was an outwardly calm exterior as she said, “Why did you attack my people and what do you want?”
“An attack implies harm. And I have harmed none here tonight. And as for why I’m here?” Tethys made an elegant gesture with one hand in the general direction of Gregory. “Why, I want the same thing as him, ultimately.”
Lillian hadn’t expected a response, not in words at least and was taken aback by the siren’s easy answer. However, she highly doubted Tethys’s and Gregory’s end game were even remotely in the same ballpark—they probably weren’t even on the same planet for comparison purposes.
“Nice try.” Inwardly, Lillian winced at her flippant tone. It always helped to aggravate older beings of immense power, after all.
The siren tilted her head in thought and fanned her tail to splash water over herself. When her upper body was again thoroughly wet, she pointed at Gregory with one long finger. “Deep down, and it might not even be very deep, he wants the same as me—to help this world find its balance so it can heal.”
“Heal you might say, and yet your tone implies the opposite.” Lillian paced a wide circle around the statue-like Fae as she made her way toward Gregory. It didn’t matter if it was a trap, she had to know her gargoyle’s condition.
Tethys aligned herself to Lillian, but she made no threatening move to prevent her from reaching her goal. “You must not know the other half of your soul half as well as you once did.” She nodded at Lillian and continued, “I wish for us to be allies against the seductive darkness, the taint which touches all in this land, even you.”
Lillian mimicked the siren’s elegant gesture and pointed to the statue-like Fae. “Not the way to gain allies.”
“No, but the situation demands immediate action if this world is to survive.” The siren glanced at Gregory. “Your gargoyle knows this even if you have forgotten. The Fae trapped in this Realm have become complacent. They can feel the world slipping toward disaster, yet they do nothing to guide the humans. Now the humans are nearly too powerful to counter.”
Tethys splashed herself with water and then used her powerful tail to drive herself higher up the grass covered bank until she was three quarters of the way out of the water. “Humans have a weakness at their core, a rot they’ve never been able to outpace, a greed which demands more and more. They are never satisfied with what they have. They think only of themselves, never about the planet as a living entity.” The siren made a vague, yet all-encompassing gesture with one arm. “They think the planet is theirs. Such ignorance. They are such a young species, and unlikely to become an old one. Early on, I hoped they would grow beyond their self-destructive tendencies, but they have not and the world is running out of time. The planet will flourish without them, but they will not survive without the Earth.”
She knew where all this was going, but didn’t know how to derail the conversation or change the siren’s mind. If it was even possible. Lillian had come here with the plan to save her gargoyle, having to save the whole damned planet hadn’t factored into her plans.
Oh, hell. I have to try something. “Many of the humans are aware of the crisis and are working to change things.”
The siren laughed. “A handful of humans trying to undo the damages created by the rest of the human horde will not save this Realm or the billions of innocent non-human victims.”
“No, but what if we help them. The humans have so much drive, so much potential and creative power, so much passion to offer. They deserve a chance to fulfill that potential and find their place in the universe. You said it yourself. They are a young species. They can still learn. Surely the Fae can help heal the damage already done.” Even while Lillian’s brain spat out the words, she knew they were said in desperation. How could she hope to convince Tethys when she hadn’t even been able to sway Gregory, not really?
“You think the humans will just welcome the Fae and their guidance? Humans hate anything different. They commit murder over religious differences and even something as minor as skin of a different tone. How do you think they will treat the Fae? Look to the past. They burned their own kind. No, I have wasted too much time waiting for the humans to overcome their inherently flawed natures. If one cancerous branch of the evolutionary tree must be pruned out for the survival of the rest, so be it. And if I must lead by example, I shall. But I cannot take on all the billions of humans by myself. I will need allies. First among them will be you and your gargoyle.”
“Ah, I care to differ.” Lillian wished she had more of a plan. Why did the villains always come so freaking well informed and in possession of a kickass arsenal? But more importantly, what had become of Gran and the unicorn? Aloud she said, “Besides, I have a problem with doing what I’m told. Just ask Gregory. I’m always going behind his back and getting into trouble. Oh hell. Maybe trouble just likes me. But for whatever reason, I’ve been forced to get myself out of a tight spot a time or two on my own. There’s no way I’m going to just roll over and allow you to use either Gregory or myself.”
Tethys gave what could only be called a long suffering sigh. “I had hoped to reason with you and the gargoyle,” she said and then tilted her head and frowned at Lillian. “Did you know you once saved my life, long ago before I mistakenly came to this Realm? I was much younger than, and arrogant in my youth. I’d thought myself strong enough to take on a demon, a true demon from the age of darkness before there was light in the universe—not one of those weak half breeds which call themselves the Riven. I misjudged the strength of the beast laired in a volcanic vent near my home territory. It was tainting everything near it with its’ evil. I hunted it to its lair and attempted to slay it. I managed to hurt it, but it did me greater injury, a mortal wound.”
Lillian inclined her head when the siren hesitated.
“I thought I was going to die there at the mouth of the vent, surrounded by its evil, my soul forfeit, never to know peace. As a last act, I sent out a call to warn all my fellow sirens of the danger. A siren’s power spikes just before death, and my call went out far beyond my ocean realm, out across the realm of magic in all directions. I never expected help to come. But you answered.”
Tethys looked Lillian up and down. “The Sorceress, as you are supposed to be, not as you are now. You came, your power a vast light around you, chasing away the shadows, exposing the ocean floor and leaving the demon in the light. So blinded by the brightness, the creature didn’t even see your Gargoyle Protector until he’d already cleaved the demon in two. While your gargoyle dispatched the taint and healed the living creatures around the vent, you cocooned me in your power and healed me. You made me far stronger than I was to begin with.” The siren chuckled, “and you ordered me to ask for aid the next time I planned to battle a demon from the ancient times.”
Stronger? What a dumbass thing to do. “What unfortunate judgment on the part of my older self,” she said and then realised the filter on her mouth had failed completely. To be honest, she been taken aback by Tethys’s words. The siren had known the Sorceress, had actually shared something freely, which would have taken months to drag out of Gregory.
Lillian loved him and trusted him with her life; however, he had kept secrets from her in the past, and he almost never talked of what she was like as the Sorceress, or at least he never shared stories about their past lives. Was that normal, or some new mechanism he’d developed to protect his emotions?
But now wasn’t the time to worry over their personal lives, not when there was an age old siren talking of the extinction of the human race like she was talking about wiping out a nest of termites.
“I was surprised to find your hamadryad is in fact the Sorceress at the moment. Did you know I tried reasoning with your tree before I attempted to put your gargoyle under my s
pell? But a dryad’s tree, while intelligent after a fashion, doesn’t think like either of us, and I couldn’t make her understand the threat the humans represent. She knows good and evil, but she doesn’t understand why complacency empowers evil. I suppose the nature of a hamadryad is not one of action.”
“Never really thought about it.”
“Your gargoyle, he and I had an interesting conversation while he slept. He loves the humans no more than I, but he loves you, and you somehow extorted a promise from him to allow the humans to continue as they are without intervention. With such a promise, you made him go against his very nature. He is a protector, a balancer, a destroyer of evil.”
“I figured he had enough on his plate at the moment.”
Tethys flicked herself with water in a lazy fashion. “Did you know the Riven could not exist without the weakness of man? Yet, you asked Gregory to turn a blind eye to the human evil all around.”
“Strange, I thought the Fae were also in danger of becoming hosts to the Riven.”
“Only here, in this Realm, where they are forced to expend so much magic simply to hide themselves from the humans.” Tethys flexed her arms and lifted herself into a sitting position. “Beware dryad, there is a greater danger than the Riven; you are changing your Gargoyle Protector, infecting him with your mortal weakness and your human centric moral compass. You have also taught your gargoyle how to lie. He is an Avatar to the father of us all and yet he has come close to breaking some of those vows for you. He yearns to love you as a mate.”
The Avatars Series: Books 1-3 Page 41
