The Avatars Series: Books 1-3

by Blackwood, Lisa

  The kid was correct—his father had been busy weaving dampening spells all over the base.

  Shadowlight butted her in the stomach, looking for a head scratch. “Gryton would, as you say, be taken out before he could harm us.”

  Anna grunted and studied the map in a new light.

  Well, damn. So much for feeling the kid was safe from harm. Now the reason for all the guards in the room took on a new light. She’d just thought they were there to ‘guard’ her, the kid, and Gran and to ensure the other gargoyles and Fae behaved.

  Anna glanced back around the room, seeing it with new eyes.

  All non-essential personnel had been removed—even the scientists had been ordered away, much to their loud and strident denials. Besides the ever watchful guards, only a handful of the command staff were present. It made sense.

  They were relaying intel to a secondary command site elsewhere.

  She and Shadowlight were still present only because no one could forcibly move the half ton of gargoyle against his will.

  Around the outside walls were the screens showing real-time data, satellite and drone feeds, radar, troop placements—everything trackable was being tracked using both magical and mundane means.

  “Gryton isn’t trying to evade left or right. He’s moving in a straight line.” Gran pointed at the markers on the map. “He knows he’s fallen into our net. Now he’s only interested in escape using the hamadryad. Keep your men out of his path. He’ll kill them before they have a chance to inflict serious harm on him. Leave him to us.”

  Anna could see Colonel Tremblay having trouble following Gran’s suggestion. After a long hesitation, he ordered the teams to keep their distance and allow Specter Team to execute.

  Anna grinned at the name given to the gargoyles.

  “I want a team name,” Shadowlight said. “Why don’t we have a name? We’re a good team. We almost beat Gryton when he attacked us.”

  “That’s not how I remember it going down.”

  “He wanted to take you both alive,” Gran said in all seriousness and then added, “You’re T-team,” She grinned, “As in toddler team.”

  “Nah, more like Pre-School One.” Anna turned serious again as another green blob floating above the map flared and went dark. Her fists tightened in silent rage. It marked the present position of a team just forty feet to the northwest of Gryton’s current location.

  The darkening of the tracking spells couldn’t tell the watchers how many in each team had been killed. It only signal a powerful wave of magic had just rolled over that unit’s location.

  Human tech didn’t fare any better under the intense magical attacks.

  Colonel Tremblay ordered more teams to assist.

  Anna just hoped there was more than bodies to assist when they got there.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  From her position underneath the boughs of her hamadryad, Lillian watched and waited.

  And waited some more.

  Dropping to all fours, she paced around the tree’s perimeter, the weight of her new armour and swords shifted slightly as she moved, but as promised, they made no noise. At first, the change in her balance had felt strange to her, but she’d grown used to it quickly enough.

  When her feet made to wander even as her mind was, Gregory huffed out a warning growl. She tilted her head in acknowledgement and stalked back to the tree’s base.

  Gregory had commanded her to wait at the hamadryad’s base, saying the tree would protect her from Commander Gryton.

  Lillian wasn’t so sure. What she felt from the tree was vague, confusing, but it didn’t feel like a warning or alarm. She’d already told him of her concerns more than once, and he denied them flat out. She was debating revisiting that conversation again. If there was even a slim chance her hamadryad and Gryton were working together, it was just too important to ignore.

  “Gregory,” she called to his mind. “Link with me. You need to feel my tree’s emotions.”

  He turned an ear back in her direction but didn’t move from his spot next to the stone pillar marking the north entrance to the maze. Darkness was guarding the south entrance. They both claimed Gryton would likely navigate the maze instead of going through it or over it since the cedar maze had a taste for blood and magic, thanks to the leshii.

  If they got through the next few hours, she planned to thank Greenborrow for planting and designing the maze all those years ago.

  Long after Lillian had given up on getting a response from Gregory, he answered her earlier inquiry. “The hamadryad is alert, sensing our battle readiness, but she is not concerned. She does not consider Gryton a dire threat to us and trusts me to be able to dispatch him.”

  Lillian decided Gregory was a little rusty on hamadryad speech. “I think you might be a little overconfident there.”

  “That is why we have Darkness, Greenborrow, River, two dozen Fae archers, and many more human snipers.”

  Lillian didn’t correct him on any of it, not even the snipers. The soldiers, while they did carry big guns and looked like they knew how to use them, weren’t snipers. Then again, maybe the snipers were far enough off she couldn’t sense them.

  That was all well and good, but the hamadryad might not consider Gryton a threat because she had brought him here for some purpose.

  Lillian liked her tree better before she started thinking and waving all her magic around.

  She could feel the steady current of magic as it flowed away from the tree and on out into the Mortal Realm. Not for the first time she wondered if the tree was planning on converting the Mortal Realm into a second Magic Realm.

  “As much as I didn’t like having command of all that power, I think I still preferred me being the Sorceress instead of you,” she mumbled to her tree. “At least that way, when everything goes sideways I’ll know who to blame.” But now?

  Perhaps sensing her agitation or understanding her words, the hamadryad’s branches shuddered, and three of the closest reached out to touch her on the shoulder.

  It was a pat of reassurance.

  She wasn’t reassured.

  All will be as it should be.

  Lillian jerked back in surprise. Ha, and Gregory says hamadryads can’t talk—bullshit.

  The hamadryad retracted her branches and Lillian was still mulling over the words when the tree added something else.

  The bright warmth has come.

  That one took her off guard for a second before she deciphered the meaning.

  Gregory had said Gryton was some kind of a fire elemental, beyond that no one seemed to know what he was.

  But bright warmth might refer to the warmth of a fire.

  “Gregory! Gryton is coming. I think he’s already within the maze.” Then as an afterthought, she shouted a final order at him. “Do anything you must to kill Gryton.”

  *****

  Lillian’s words of warning and final order spurred Gregory into a higher level of battle readiness.

  Shadows and the intense power from the Magic Realm swirled around him in a strong half-seen current. The abundance of raw power was waiting for him to shape it into whatever spells he would require.

  In truth, he didn’t know what Gryton was, or what it would take to stop him.

  He just hoped magic from the Spirit Realm wasn’t required. Lillian’s fears about that power might actually be warranted. To call it a second time would probably kill him. The scars were still visible against his dark skin from his last near-fatal attempt.

  There was a slight click and then a short sound of static from the humans’ radios, and then silence again.

  But it was enough to signal Gryton had been spotted.

  Gran had said that was how the humans would know when Gryton was almost upon them.

  Stretching his senses out beyond the glade’s centre, he scanned for the commander within the maze’s corridors. As he’d expected, there was no sign of his opponent.

  Lips curling back from his teeth, he growled softl
y. Darkness heard and answered from his position at the other end of the glade.

  Whitethorn had demanded to be present though Gregory thought it might just be to guard against any human treachery.

  The other’s distrust and tension crawled across his skin and Gregory’s wings shuddered at the prickly sensation. Jaws agape slightly, he tasted the breeze, seeking information on his enemy. Nothing.

  His ears tracked every little sound, every little shift the humans and Fae made—though the humans were louder. Each heartbeat, each breath, each rustle of the leaves, he looked for what didn’t belong.

  Still nothing.

  He sent another wave of magic outward, seeking his prey’s thoughts, hunting intentions as he would any target. It had never failed him before.

  Why could he not sense their enemy when the hamadryad already had?

  It made no sense.

  Then with a sudden dreadful understanding, he knew why he couldn’t sense Gryton. The slave collar had another master besides Lillian.

  Gryton had created them, he might be able to use it to hide his presence. Panic threaten to steal his confidence, but he forced the useless flood of emotions back. Reason returned. If Gryton had the power to command him as Lillian could, his opponent wouldn’t risk a fight here, nor would he have attempted to use Shadowlight as bait. He’d simply have commanded Gregory to take Lillian and return with her to the Lady of Battles’ temple.

  That gave him a tiny bit of comfort. Lillian started toward him again. He glowered at her, and she halted but didn’t return to her spot. At least she was still within the protection of the hamadryad’s branches.

  His gaze was just sliding away from Lillian when Darkness burst into motion, leaping toward the maze entrance he was guarding.

  Shadows raced ten feet before him and collided with a wall of fire which exploded outward from the maze’s opening to meet the gargoyle’s magical attack.

  Bright light seared Gregory’s eyes when the two opposing forces met.

  His vision was still obscured by dark spots, but he was already summoning a spear of magic to penetrate his enemy’s shields.

  A loud explosion of sound abused his ears as the human soldiers nearest Gryton’s position found a target.

  A shard of fire broke away from the wall and raced toward the humans. Gregory was faster. A wall of his own power deflecting Gryton’s away from the human soldiers and into the green cedar walls beside them.

  The cedars burst into flame. Gregory didn’t have time to worry about the maze, but raced toward it, calling more shadow magic to mix with the smoke and flames. When it was a sufficient churning mass to hide his energy spears, he sent it ahead as he raced toward Gryton.

  Gregory circled to the right, avoiding Gryton’s shifting wall of flames and sent a spear of power at his enemy. Swatting the spear aside at the last moment, Commander Gryton lunged to the side and nearly into Darkness’s drawn sword.

  Gryton deflected the point, and side stepped away from the gargoyle and took several steps into the glade before a rain of arrows and bullets diverted him back toward Darkness.

  Gregory leaped toward the enemy fire elemental just as he lashed out.

  Somewhere behind him, a massive ball of fire and molten heat rose up from the ground, shaking it hard enough to lift Gregory off his feet. He tumbled sideways through the air until he collided with the tall cedar walls of the maze. Their springy growth softened his landing, but it took a few precious seconds to free himself. Each second he expected to feel Gryton’s punishing fire upon his skin.

  Finally free of his green prison, he dropped to the ground and sought out Gryton. He was only twenty feet away, still close to the maze’s south entrance. Darkness was doggedly hounding him with little sharp bits of shadow magic, preventing him from getting closer to the hamadryad.

  The other gargoyle was not without injury. One wing membrane was split and blackened by fire, and he was favouring his left foreleg. Other oozing burnt patches crisscrossed his hide.

  Gryton was not without his injuries either. One of the Fae had managed to land an arrow. The shaft went straight through Gryton’s thigh where the armour was missing from the earlier attack on Shadowlight.

  It had probably been the Fae’s last act in this life. A glance behind confirmed what his other senses had already told him.

  Many of the Fae and human soldiers had been killed, Gryton’s formidable power having incinerated all the magical protections he and Darkness had erected.

  Gregory stalked Gryton, calling on more magic from the Magic Realm, but fearing it wouldn’t be enough to stop this fire elemental.

  The hamadryad was also summoning power. This from the Spirit Realm, he felt its renewing chill against his skin. That cold power might be the only thing capable of extinguishing Gryton’s fiery magic. At least Lillian was safe, protected by the Sorceress.

  He thanked the hamadryad silently and then reassured of Lillian’s safety, he turned his full attention back to the lethal enemy who must be destroyed at all cost.

  Gryton was not some low-level servant of the Battle Goddess. He had to be one of the last surviving fire demons from the ancient time.

  Gregory had thought he and the Sorceress had eradicated ones such as him long ago. They must have missed one, or he had been hiding behind the Battle Goddess’s power all this time.

  Either way, it was past time Gryton return to the Spirit Realm.

  Gregory and Darkness lunged at the same time. Gryton lashed out with a howl of pain or rage, and another wave of burning power slammed him. Gregory returned the magic blast for blast.

  What would have vaporized most any other enemy had little effect on this one. Worse, Gregory could feel himself weakening faster than his enemy.

  It had to be the tattoo, draining some of his magic away harmlessly, so it wasn’t reaching Gryton full strength.

  Gregory was pondering this new problem when Darkness raced past him and shouted. “Protect my children.”

  “Stop!”

  But Darkness had already raced into the river of Gregory’s magic and together, their combined power was enough for Darkness to slip past Gryton’s defensive shields. Gregory lunged after him, clearing the swirling mist, fire, and smoke in time to see Darkness impale himself upon Gryton’s sword.

  The visor of Gryton’s helmet was up, and Gregory saw his enemy’s startled expression.

  Darkness snatched at Gryton’s wrist, locking them together and Gregory realized what the other gargoyle was trying to do.

  Chilled power from the Spirit Realm rushed toward them, turning Darkness’s skin to stone, as his soul prepared to depart.

  All gargoyles returned to Lord Death upon their own demise, and Darkness was planning on taking Gryton with him.

  If Gryton was an ancient fire demon as Gregory speculated, Darkness’s sacrifice might not be sufficient to drag their enemy along with him.

  Lillian screamed her father’s name as she started toward them.

  Darkness fought to hold onto Gryton, but he was losing the battle.

  Jerking with a desperate strength, Gryton freed himself.

  Gregory attacked, driving his sword’s point forward, but the commander’s second blade deflected his own. In retaliation, he used his blade-tipped tail to slash at Gryton’s unprotected face. The fire elemental proved to be just a hair faster.

  Drawing his second sword from its scabbard, Gregory sent the deadly sharp tip slicing toward Gryton’s neck.

  The commander caught the sword, the force of the blow cutting deep.

  Fire and blood welled up from the cut. An intense wave of molten heat rushed up the length of Gregory’s sword, vaporizing both blade and hilt.

  Pain lanced up his arm and shoulder, but he drove into Gryton, grappling with him and driving him back, away from the hamadryad one step at a time.

  “Let me go and no one else need die this day,” Gryton rasped. “I only want away from this cursed land before it brings about the death of us all.”


  Ah. Truth. Gripping his enemy by the throat, Gregory felt something of Gryton’s thoughts, emotions, and power.

  He was a fire elemental, but not a fire demon of the ancient world. He was something else, something newer—young compared to Gregory’s vast age.

  And half trained as he was, he was ruled by his power—he didn’t control it.

  Could he be crossing swords with the Battle Goddess’s son?

  How had such a thing come about? If so, how had she hidden him for so long?

  Gryton’s power surged again, greater this time than before. Only Gregory’s talons, where they had pierced through the commander’s armour, held his enemy locked in place and prevented him from being tossed aside by the blast wave.

  The power raced past him, out into the glade where it caught Lillian as she ran to his aid. The force lifted her off her feet and tossed her back toward her tree where she hit the ground and rolled with the limpness of death or unconsciousness.

  He slammed his weight into Gryton, forcing him to his knees.

  Lillian wasn’t dead, he would have known instantly if she was, but still he worried for her.

  Without his spirit magic, he knew he couldn’t defeat Gryton, not quickly, certainly not fast enough to prevent other friends, allies and family from dying.

  But Darkness had shown him the way.

  With a last look where Lillian lay, the mother of his yet unborn child, alive and beautiful in her gargoyle form, he closed his eyes and called to a power greater than himself.

  It answered his call with a joyful rush. His scars flared to life and began to glow as the trapped power looked for the easiest route of escape.

  Gregory locked his jaws against the first wave of pain as his body struggled to hold itself together even as more magic flowed into his body from the Spirit Realm.