by Candy Crum
The sound of loud growling caught their attention. All three leaders were immediately on high alert, looking around. Alaric and Jerick quickly identified the culprit. Two wolves were fighting ahead, males trying to determine the alpha among their pack.
One of the wolves, the slightly larger one, grabbed the other by the neck, and throwing him into a tree only a couple of feet away. Several birds in the tree took flight. Alaric thought the birds would probably linger, not wanting to leave their nests while wolves were fighting underneath, and he was proven right as the birds swarmed overhead.
Shaking his head, he gestured to his brother. "They're just having a squabble over dominance, go on."
"Anyway, if all goes well, we should arrive back to the cave in twelve or so hours. Depending on how fast we travel and how little we sleep, we could be resting in our new home in the Dark Forest in another thirty-six to forty-eight hours," Jerick finished.
Since it had been decided that if the war didn't come to them in a short time, they would seek it out, the druids of the Dark Forest had begun taking extreme measures. Everyone was on high alert, rushing around to prepare for the worst. Arryn had just made her way back into the main village after overseeing the project she had asked the twins to undertake, when she saw the Chieftain kneeling by two wolves.
"What's going on?" Arryn asked, having recognized the wolves as scouts.
The Chieftain stood and smiled. "We have news." He gave each of the wolves a scratch under the chin before coming to stand next to her. "I sent the two largest males South, along with a flock of birds. I instructed them to fight one another. If they were simply lurking around, I knew Alaric would be suspicious."
Arryn smiled. "Fight for alpha?"
He nodded, also smiling. "They did a pretty good job, too; they got rowdy and 'disturbed' a flock of birds, and the birds were then able to get close. The dark druids were close to home when the wolves and birds found them. Once they get back to the cave, they’ll be making quick preparations and heading this way. That means we have somewhere around forty-eight hours, give or take, based on the time it took the wolves to return."
"Good. We’ll be ready for them. I wasn't about to take the risk of them using the smoke again, so I took some initiative myself."
"Oh? What did you do?" the Chieftain asked.
Cathillian and Elysia both walked over, and she saw Celine, Samuel, and her father approaching from another direction. She waited for them to arrive, then began to speak.
"Because of how the dark druids attacked the last time, I took the twins with me to the river, well outside of the barrier, and we used magic to create a ditch that loops around. We then allowed the river to fill it, providing us with an endless supply of water. If they begin to blow smoke into the area, we can use the water to absorb and disperse it, as well as put out the flames causing it," Arryn said.
"Not to mention the endless ammo we’ll have by creating ice shards," Celine said with a smile.
Arryn nodded. "Exactly; having constant access to the river gives us endless possibilities. Mostly, my concern was for the smoke."
"Where are the twins now?" Elysia asked. "That much work would have been exhausting, even for them."
"I sent them to one of the guest cabins, so they could rest," Arryn replied.
The Chieftain nodded. "You are one of our most powerful assets, so we need you rested, as well. We have no idea what's going to happen. Right now, I want you to go back to your own cabin and get some rest. Real rest. Sleep. This is not a discussion. We need you at your very best." He turned toward Cathillian. "I need you to send Echo south, and see if she can find the dark druids. We need to know how far out they are, and how much time we have, and she's the fastest we have."
Cathillian nodded then gave Arryn a soft smile before turning and walking away. She returned the smile, and as the Chieftain continued to give orders, Elysia eyed Arryn with obvious and extreme suspicion. A knowing, almost sly smile curved one corner of her mouth.
Arryn gave a curt nod and walked away. As she made her way toward her cabin, she increased her speed. Once she felt she was safely out of earshot, she began to run, knowing Elysia would ask questions. She didn't want to answer them. Not yet.
Unfortunately for her, Elysia was quite crafty.
Just as Arryn reached her cabin, Elysia dropped from the sky directly in front of her. A vine unwrapped from her waist and extended arm, as she gave Arryn the same smile she had several moments before.
"Arryn, so good to see you. I feel like we need to catch up," Elysia said with a strange tone to her voice.
"Well, the Chieftain said I needed to get some sleep, and I have to agree." She stretched her arms out and yawned, exaggerating the movements.
"Oh, I know, you definitely need to get some rest. We need you at your very best! Just like my father said."
An awkward silence hung in the air as Elysia stared her down. Arryn was for the first time in her entire life at a loss for words because she felt guilty. She had no reason to feel guilty, however, because; the druids had a much different mindset than the Arcadians did.
Love, relationships, and especially sex, were all considered completely natural. They didn't get hung up on marriage or a joined future; the only thing that mattered was that both parties were consenting and cared for one another, and that no one was getting hurt in the process.
But the Arcadian in her screamed, "Guilty, guilty, guilty!"
Elysia placed all of her weight on one foot, crossing the other over at the ankle, and crossed her arms over her chest. She quirked an eyebrow, and Arryn knew she knew.
The moment Elysia had looked at her as Cathillian walked away, Arryn knew Elysia knew; but Elysia wanted her honesty.
"Okay!" Arryn said loudly. "We did it. Out by the river. There, I said it. Are you happy now?"
The older woman smiled, taking a much more relaxed position before reaching out and pulling Arryn into a hug. "I always hoped the two of you would see past the silliness and senses of humor to see what the rest of us did."
Arryn suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion.
"I always had a feeling you wanted the two of us to be together. Out of curiosity, what was it that you saw?" Arryn asked.
Elysia pulled back and smiled. "I saw my son find a best friend in you. Then over the years, it evolved. You turned into someone that he would die for, someone he would protect until his very last breath. That doesn't mean anything necessarily, other than my son had picked the person he wanted to be with. What made me, and everyone else, so hopeful was that we saw the exact same thing in you. You would be willing to die for him, to protect him no matter what the cost to yourself. We always knew, but you both have proven this time and time again. I'm glad you both finally accepted it."
Arryn could feel the color rising to her cheeks. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable talking about feelings—she was just uncomfortable talking about her own. She tried to look at it as a strength, not a weakness, but it was still difficult.
"You do realize I'm still going to punch him when he's being an ass, right?"
Elysia's head fell back and she laughed loudly. "And I'm sure that he will still pick on you and knock you out of your seat when you're being one. If I thought for an instant all that silliness would disappear, then the two of you wouldn't really belong together. Both of you seem to have the ability to put relationships aside for your duty to the tribe, and that's important. His father and I were much the same. Anyway, you need to get some sleep. I just remember the last conversation we had about this, and since you hadn't come to me directly, I figured I would help you with that." She gave a wink.
Arryn rolled her eyes. "Oh, thank you. I do so appreciate that."
Elysia gave her one last hug and kissed her on the cheek. She walked away without saying anything else.
Taking a deep breath and blowing it out with force, Arryn walked into her cabin, prepared to do her best to force herself to sleep.
20
> Once the dark druids had reached their cave, Alaric and Jerick meticulously watched over their people as they gathered their things and made preparations. They couldn't afford for anything to go wrong, and wouldn't risk it.
As soon as that had been done, they were moving again.
It had been almost twenty-four hours, and they were already just over the halfway mark. Everyone now had magitech rifles in hand, while Locke’s men carried various additional forms of magitech weapons—including a new magitech grenade Locke swore would tear a hole in the side of a mountain.
On the outside was a pressure switch that engaged a gear on the inside. That gear would tick several times before striking and smashing a small amphorald crystal, which would explode, sending tiny steel beads in different directions. The strength of the explosion would propel the steel balls fast and hard enough to cut through almost anything.
While Alaric didn't like the sound of tearing up his new home, he certainly didn't mind causing a few casualties to claim it.
Overhead, Alaric saw the largest golden eagle he’d ever seen circling. He had seen that bird before; it was hard to miss, and harder to forget.
"That’s a familiar," Alaric said. "Alexander will soon know we're coming."
"So much for the element of surprise," Locke quipped.
"Are you able to reach it with your death touch?" Jerick asked.
Alaric shook his head. "Has to be within twenty to thirty feet. That bird knows to stay out of my way… Clearly, they've warned it about me."
"With the element of surprise off the table, we need to hurry and get ready," Jerick said.
Alaric stopped and turned to the crowd of druids and mercenaries behind him. "We need to move faster. From here on out, no sleep. That eagle that just flew above us will be our downfall. Before the sun reaches its apex tomorrow, we will be at war."
As soon as the sun rose, Arryn and the others began making their way toward the ditch that she and the twins had dug the day before. The water was flowing through nicely; she was happy to see it working so well.
As the Chieftain had instructed her to do, she had spent the rest of the entire previous day locked in her cabin. When she couldn't fall sleep, she had asked Zoe to knock her out.
It was the only thing that seemed to work.
The sun was much higher now, and everyone stood ready for whatever might happen. Echo had returned, and they knew it would be soon; Alaric had recognized her.
The druids were comfortable where they were, and knew Alaric and Jerick would attack head-on. It would be a mistake on their part, but Alexander had no doubt in his mind that Alaric would be arrogant enough to believe the army he had hired would be enough to take them down.
It was his old friend’s worst characteristic—aside from the whole being-an-evil-dick part.
Arryn, Celine, and even Christopher stood at the edge of the river offshoot, ready to end it all. Up in the trees, the Schatten were hiding in absolute silence. All around them, animals stilled. Every man, woman, child, and creature in the forest could sense exactly what was at stake.
The birds did not chirp, and the squirrels stood and watched in the same direction the druids did. Several feet behind her, Snow lay on the ground; to her left was Zobig, and to her right was her son, Dante, who was now the size of a full-grown tiger despite his young age. This time, he would be able to fight alongside them, though he had strict instructions to stay close to his mother.
The other familiars were fanned out, and other animals had joined into the party.
Off in the distance, they heard the screams of animals.
Arryn looked over her shoulder. "What is that? What's happening?"
The Chieftain's fists clenched as his eyes narrowed, and he looked down to meet Arryn's gaze. His face was pure rage. "They’re forcing the animals into submission. They're broadening their army." His eyes slowly lifted as they focused on the sounds in the distance.
Arryn turned, just as angry as he was. She remembered how the deer had screamed and become enraged when Corrine had tried to force it into submission. It hadn’t gone well, but she was much younger than them, far less powerful. Between Jerick’s druids, who were closer to natural druid magic, and Alaric, whose people used only dark nature magic, she had no doubt those animals would submit soon enough.
Flocks of birds took to the sky, flying overhead in frantic circles. They dove and shot back up, warning them.
"Arryn," the Chieftain said, his voice hard. "Ready yourselves. They've lit the fires."
Arryn nodded once, turning to look at Celine on her left and then her father on her right.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" she asked him.
Her father smirked, a look she had never seen him use. It was dark and vengeful, and she liked it. "You bet your ass, I am. I'm going to make them suffer for keeping me away from you all these years."
Arryn smiled. "That's my dad. Just focus on all the pain they caused you. Trust me, that'll be enough to light that magic of yours right on fire. Speaking of which, hands out."
Arryn leaned forward first, placing her hands just inside the tiny creek bed they had created. Celine and Christopher followed suit. Each of them were still, the birds above now resting in the canopy overhead after having given their warning.
A loud screech sounded off overhead as Echo flew over, circling around and landing on the low branch of the tree nearest them.
"The smoke is approaching," Cathillian reported.
Arryn's eyes flashed black as she pushed her magic toward her hands, sending intense heat flowing through them. She felt the energy to her left and right; Celine and Christopher were doing the same. Steam began to roll off the water, just as the poisonous smoke began to blow into a visible area. Behind them, Arryn felt Cathillian, Elysia, and the Chieftain began to call wind.
They gently blew the steam forward. As it connected with the smoke, it mixed in, absorbing it into the steam’s cloud. The idea was that once the smoke had mixed with it, the steam would fall to the ground as water, harming no one in the process.
"Schatten!" the Chieftain shouted out.
Arryn could hear only the faintest rustling of leaves as the Schatten rapidly moved through the canopy of thick trees. Each was armed with large canteens of water. They were to follow the steam, making sure to stay out of the reach of the smoke while continuing to push the steam back as far as it could reach. Once they arrived over the fires, they would put them out as quickly as possible, and kill the men lighting them.
Arryn wasn't exactly sure how well that part would go, but the shadow warriors were the best for that job because of their stealth—not even the dark druids would be able to sense them coming.
Within moments, birds began to flock overhead again. "They're walking through the smoke," Elysia said. "They must've found a way to make themselves invulnerable. They're trying to use smoke cover."
Echo called out again, and Cathillian gave an exuberant, "Fucking yes! Thank you, Echo," he said. "The Schatten were successful, but we did lose one. The fires are out. We should be clear from the smoke, now."
Arryn, her father, and Celine all dropped their magic, and the steam immediately turned back into its original water form, dropping to the ground. The forest would be able to absorb the poisons without any negative effects, as they had discovered with the earlier attack; the animals had only been mildly affected while the vegetation hadn't been affected at all.
"If what I'm seeing in the images from our messenger birds is correct, the dark druids have weapons. Magitech weapons," the Chieftain said.
Arryn stood, turning to look back at him. "They're using magitech?"
He nodded. "According to the wolves and scout birds we used, they came from south of the Heights. Didn't you say that that was where the bandits were originating from?"
Cathillian laughed. "Damn. We might get to end that little battle right here and now. We planned to go after them anyway. How nice of them to come to us instead."
> Bast and Cleo stepped out from behind the Chieftain, their eyes glowing blue. "It's time. We can sense the vibrations in the ground. They're coming."
Arryn sighed before looking to Cathillian. He gave her a gentle smile, and she turned back to the twins and nodded. "I guess you're up."
A dark smile crossed both their faces as they walked forward, easily crossing over the makeshift creek. The girls stood there, their bare feet planted on the ground, shoulder-width apart, and their hands raised to shoulder-height. Their heads were slightly bowed, and Arryn could sense only the subtlest of magic emanating from them.
They’re tracking vibrations.
Watching them in action, even though they hadn't really done anything, Arryn couldn't help but be fascinated. Though she was worried about the travel, and even more worried about what they would run into in a land she had never been to, she couldn't help but be excited to see and learn new things.
Cathillian was right. She sure as hell wanted to see what these girls were made out of.
Off in the distance, the first line in Alaric’s army showed themselves, and the girls dropped their hands, their heads raising. Once again, every movement they made was in tandem. They seemed to be connected at the mind, moving in unison, as if they were the same person, though neither one of them had any mental magic abilities.
Without warning, shouts began to ring out. The girls stomped their right foot forward, dropping down and slamming their right fist to the ground before rising into what reminded Arryn of the warrior yoga pose Zoe had tried to teach her.
As the twins lifted their arms, the earth shook, and a wall of packed earth rose that was wide enough to shield the immediate people behind them. Arryn could hear the sound of several tiny explosions on the other side, and knew it was the magitech rifles. Those shots would have hit every one of them, had it not been for the twins.
She turned to Cathillian. "Okay, I stand corrected."
