Tales of the Feisty Druid Boxed (Books 1-3): Age Of Magic - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Tales of the Feisty Druid Boxed Set)

by Candy Crum

Arryn shook her head, confusion in her expression. "What are you talking about?"

  "The remnant! I've fought those bastards more than a few times. They're smarter than people give ‘em credit for, and I’ve gotta bad feelin’. That remnant attack ain’t gonna be the last."

  Cathillian sat down on the opposite end of the couch from Samuel. "Arryn came home yesterday telling me about that. I don’t know a lot, but what I do know is they typically look for places they can rip apart easily. They like fighting and a challenge, but they don't wanna walk into a guaranteed loss. I highly doubt they know what’s happened here in Arcadia. They probably still think Adrien is in charge, which works in our favor because they’ll also think the army is strong and well-trained.”

  Cathillian paused as he thought over his next words. “That being said, while I doubt they’ll come in this direction, I also think it's completely and totally irresponsible to leave the city unprotected."

  Arryn nodded. "Same here. Don't just prepare for absolutes, prepare for possibilities. If the entire city is prepared all the time, then nothing can stand in their way. Cathillian may be completely right. Hell, we may never hear of another attack. But it would be stupid not to prepare for the possibility. Amelia agrees, and she’s trying to help, but I think we can do a bit more."

  Samuel smiled. "There’s what I was lookin’ fer. Well, this was even easier than I hoped, and I figured it’d be pretty simple. So, now that we’re settled, what do we do about it?"

  Arryn sighed as she came over to sit in a chair off to the side.

  "Emotions are off the charts right now," Cathillian offered. "I think everyone needs to take a breath and slow down. As we've all agreed, or at least Arryn and I have agreed, the odds of another remnant attack are slim."

  Arryn shook her head, leaning forward in her chair. "Yeah, we did, but we also agreed it’s stupid to leave everyone underprepared. There've been two attacks. A murder. A change in government. And one of the students was attacked by several Boulevard students. Have you heard there have been some robberies as well? The poor have only gotten poorer and the nobles are being pulled down to middle-class. It makes sense that they would be so afraid.

  “Everything in the city is completely unstable right now; Adrien left one hell of a mess. I don't care if it seems crazy or irrational, I think we need to do something to ease their minds. Even if it’s not because of an imminent threat. They just need to feel some control. Let’s give them that if we can."

  "Couldn't agree more, lass, so I propose we gather ourselves a group and see what we can do," Samuel stated.

  "I already spend my entire day with you ass hats," Cathillian quipped. "What else do you wanna do?"

  Arryn laughed sarcastically. "Is that a serious question? Well, for starters, the city needs archers. I would gladly teach the men how to shoot. I might not be the best at magic, even though I got roped into being a teacher, but archery I can do. The two of you can handle hand-to-hand combat. If we find them to be brave and fast enough, we could train them the druid way. No holding back."

  Cathillian's eyes widened. "Are you insane? We heal, that's why we can train like that."

  Arryn's left eyebrow rose as she looked at him incredulously. "We heal each other, dork. We can heal them if they get shot in the leg with an arrow. It'll be fine. And like I said, we only warrior-train those who want to learn hard and fast. Although, everyone we recruit should be of that caliber. We shouldn't be wasting our time on anyone who is only capable of mediocre skills anyway. That's the problem with the Arcadian Guard right now—they're too damn slow and dopey."

  "I think we got ourselves a plan," Samuel told them. "If we can't get this taken care of the good old-fashioned way, we’ll take care of it ourselves. I ain’t never been one ta let a little thing like rules stand in me way, anyway. Don’t particularly care fer ‘em."

  Cathillian threw his hands up for a moment before they fell back down to rest on his legs. "Well, I guess that's it then. That's the plan. Not that I had much say about it."

  "Oh, hush, lad. Ya know damn good and well that ye'd have said yes anyway. Yer ass just stings because the lass agreed before ye did."

  Arryn laughed. It always amused her to give him a tough time, and when someone else did it, it was even more special.

  The trio launched into forming a plan to get some of the Arcadian Guard to follow them, to really learn how to fight for their city. Arryn just hoped it wouldn't get her arrested for treason in the process.

  More and more every day, she found herself hoping she was making her parents proud.

  ***

  The evening was off to a beautiful start. As Talia walked through the quiet streets of the city, a city that would one day be hers, she thought over the plan she and the mystic had put in place.

  After having discussed the meeting with Scarlett, they both decided it was time. Talia really needed to take control now. If things were going to go her way, and her plan was to continue working the way she needed it to, then she needed to get them on her side.

  What better way to do it than by offering more power?

  They’d decided to use an old legend to their advantage. This story said if one drank the blood of another, he or she would absorb their power. It was impossible, of course; Talia knew that, but their group of sheep didn’t, and they didn't need to. All Talia required was for them to believe it.

  Talia didn't mind doing the dirty work, but she hated wasting time on the hunt. She had far too much to do with running a school, keeping the Chancellor happy, and planning their next move to worry about much else, so she delegated the task of picking the next victim to Scarlett.

  To Talia's surprise, Scarlett's answer had come rather quickly. The next victim would be one of the Boulevard students who had attacked Jackson.

  Shaking her head and putting a hand in the air, Talia disagreed. “No. Jackson had an argument with Amos before I took him, and it made him look guilty as hell. That’s why he was attacked. If we pick another student he’s been in an altercation with, he will not be overlooked this time. Not by the students and not by Amelia. It took a lot of convincing on my part to keep Amelia off his ass the last time,” Talia had told Scarlett. “We won’t be doing that again. We need him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t give a damn.”

  But Scarlett had several points of her own.

  “That’s exactly right, we need him. It’s our job to protect him. He’s helping us, helping you. We should do this for him and show him and that group we won’t tolerate violence against our own. Show them we are deadly serious about our plan and taking back the city. They’ll trust you implicitly.”

  Talia had already heard enough, but she decided to hear Scarlett the rest of the way out and had encouraged her to continue.

  Scarlett had smiled. “Jackson was far too weak to take the four of them on alone—obviously. Take a good look… Do you ever see those boys walking alone? No. They’re always together. Therefore, Jackson wouldn’t be able to take them on by himself now which gives us a great opportunity if you’ll let us take it. If you ask me, I think we should stop doing things so subtly and let me take a more active role. I’m here. Use me,” Scarlett had replied with a playful wink.

  She was right. If Talia wanted to move further and make a difference with Jackson and the others, Scarlett was her best chance.

  With a heavy sigh, Talia had decided to listen to her partner and take her advice. It was hard for Talia to do, but she believed Scarlett was onto something.

  The mystic had already taken the initiative to arrange for two of the four boys to take a walk that evening just after sunset.

  Talia would do the dirty work on one of them—their leader, Dallas—while Scarlett convinced the other he'd seen someone else. It would be dark outside, so they’d decided that only subtle hints would be required.

  It was still early in their game, and they wanted to leave their options open. They weren't ready to pin things on any one person yet, though Talia certainly had a pers
on in mind whom she'd love to see go down.

  Arryn.

  It would be easy to set her up, but the time needed to be right. As close as Amelia and Arryn had become in such a short time, it wouldn't be easy to take her down. She needed to study her enemy before she made any moves against her.

  As Talia walked closer to what used to be a large park area, she saw the boys walking, just as Scarlett had instructed them. When she saw movement from the opposite direction, she froze, but her body relaxed a bit when she realized it was her compatriot.

  Engage them, Scarlett said telepathically. I have a connection to them, so pick whichever one you want. I have an image already in place. Dark and shadowy, female, and obviously not Jackson.

  Good, Talia replied. Have the bottles ready. It's going be a busy night, and I plan to make the drinks extra special for our guests later this evening.

  Talia smiled as she stepped forward, her eyes locking on Dallas as she pulled a knife from her jacket.

  ***

  Celine stood in Lord Girard’s back yard, Arryn’s bow in hand and knives on a patio table next to her. She’d been staying with Arryn since they’d found one another.

  The first few days had been slow, taking the time to get used to one another again, but soon after, they were inseparable.

  Celine’s world had changed the moment she saw Arryn standing in that old house. All the years of hatred and anger melted away the moment her eyes came to rest on the young woman’s features—features so like her older sister, Elayne.

  Now, the only thing that mattered to Celine was keeping her family safe, and that included Cathillian.

  The only problem with that was she was the weakest link.

  Celine had no weapons or formal fighting skills—only what she’d picked up getting into fights in the street over her traitorous whore of a sister, as they’d called her. The nobles had not been kind to Celine once Elayne’s body had been recovered along with the Hunters she’d killed.

  But none of that mattered anymore.

  Celine knew how to throw a good punch, and hell, she knew how to take one, too. Her fighting style was raw, explosive, not unlike that of a rearick, but she needed skills with weapons.

  Every night, after the house was quiet, and everyone else was asleep—including the rearick, Samuel, who was now taking up residence as well—Celine came outside, taking Arryn’s bow and Cathillian’s throwing knives to practice.

  It was slow at first, learning on her own, but that’s how she’d done everything since Elayne had died. Learned and grew on her own.

  She thought about asking for help, but decided it was best not to. They already trained so hard, and now they planned to take on even more. Celine didn’t want to hinder them, not when she could learn alone with lots of practice.

  But, sometimes, things don’t always work out as planned.

  “What’re ye doin’ out here, lass?”

  Celine jumped, missing her shot entirely when the rearick spoke.

  “What’d the air ever do to ye? I ask because that seems ta be the only thing ye can hit.” Samuel approached with a smile on his heavily bearded face, but his eyes appeared exhausted. He’d been asleep at some point.

  Celine looked down to the pilfered bow then back to Samuel. “I practice at night. I didn’t mean to wake you,” she replied.

  He waved a hand in the air. “Don’t worry about it. But with the noise yer makin’, I thought fer sure I’d find a mess of dead targets.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not that great. Not yet, anyway. But I’ll get there; you’ll see.”

  Samuel laughed. “In a few years maybe. I don’t know shit about archery. That’s yer niece’s thing. Maybe the bigger lad, too. But I can sure as hell teach ye ta throw a knife. Maybe we should start thar before ye accidentally kill a squirrel, and its forest friends come ta tell the druids on ye.”

  Celine laughed before nodding. “That’s a plan, rearick.”

  Samuel made his way over to the table and picked up the knives. Pulling one free, he pinched the bladed end of it between the side of his index finger and thumb.

  “Don’t squeeze too tight,” he said, moving his wrist back and forth to show the blade swaying just a bit to demonstrate the tightness of his grip. “Don’t death-grip it, or it won’t spin. Just squeeze tight enough that it won’t fly outta yer hand when ye pull back ta throw. Watch me.”

  Samuel stepped up, and with a firm, yet relaxed grip on the knife, he pulled his arm back, the handle of the blade falling back parallel with his wrist. He moved fast, his arm almost a blur as he threw the knife, the blade making a full turn before stabbing hard into the target she had set up.

  “Wow!” she exclaimed. “Let me try.”

  Stepping forward, Celine took a knife and tried to hold it just as Samuel had. Laughing a bit, Samuel stepped forward.

  “Yer not throwin’ a ball, lassie. Yer arm is too far out ta the side.” He gently took hold of her arm at the elbow and wrist, repositioning it. “When ye throw, yer hand will stay almost directly over yer shoulder, tucked in tight, but not uncomfortably so. Here—try this.”

  Celine threw the blade, but not hard enough. It spun too many times, and the handle hit the target first before falling to the ground.

  “Hey!” Samuel shouted.

  Celine grumbled. “What do you seem so happy about? I missed!”

  He smiled and patted her hard on the back. “But ye didn’t! Ye hit yer target, girlie. The only flaw here is ye didn’t have the confidence to throw harder. Keep practicin’. I’ll check on ye tomorrow, and ye better be hittin’ somethin’. Got it?”

  She smiled as she switched from looking at the target back to Samuel, nodding. “I will. Thank you for the help. That’s the first time I’ve hit anything.”

  “Aye, no problem. Focus on the knives and leave the archery ta the nature users fer now. Seems the blades are what yer sweet on. Perfect those, and ye can’t go wrong. Get ‘em right and then try on somethin’ else.”

  “Thank you,” she said again, smiling as he made his way inside.

  She picked up another knife and held the tip between her fingers, feeling the weight. Tossing the blade into the air, letting it tumble over, and then catching it by the blade again, she thought, I’ve got this.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Talia made her way through the streets to the meeting, keeping her eyes open for any Guard that might be lurking. So far, Jackson had been very accurate. This part of town was not only devoid of people, but the Guard was nowhere to be found either. She was able to walk around freely and do as she pleased.

  She found the road Jackson had told her about, and turned down it. She walked quietly, making sure every footstep was completely silent. She inspected every window for the red curtains, until she finally found a beautiful house with deep red drapes.

  She studied it for moment before taking several steps forward and testing the doorknob. It opened right away, and she looked inside to see that magitech lights were on. Pushing the door open farther, she saw a lot of people sitting in a living room with sheets over the furniture.

  The interior was exquisite. There was a beautiful fireplace across from the couch. She could tell that a large picture once hung above it since the wall was a slightly lighter color in that spot. The entire house was full of dust. As she closed the door, she saw three swords sitting in the corner behind it. They were beautiful, ornately crafted.

  "Dean Talia!” Jackson exclaimed. "So happy that you could join us."

  Talia smiled and gave him a quick wave. Talia noticed there were more people than Jackson had told her about. He'd originally said there would be seven or eight, but it now appeared there were far more.

  Jackson stood before the group and motioned to Talia. "Hey, everyone. As you can see, she decided to come. She hasn't promised to do anything yet, but Dean Talia, I'm going to let you introduce yourself properly and ask any questions you might have."

  Before Talia could even respond, S
carlett made her way in the door. She sauntered across the room with a large smile on her face and a bag on her shoulder. "Greetings everyone."

  One of the other teachers began to stand, but Talia and Jackson both put a hand up to still her.

  "She's the one who pulled me away," Jackson said. "She's the one who saved me from those shithead Boulevard students. She’s new to the Academy, so I’m not sure who does and doesn’t know her yet, but this is Scarlett. Anyway, she’s safe."

  The teacher only nodded before relaxing and sitting back down.

  "What are you doing here?" Talia asked Scarlett in a hushed whisper. “You were only supposed to drop the bag off outside for me to grab when I needed it.”

  Scarlett shrugged. "You didn't think I’d miss out on all the fun, did you? Besides, he invited me, and you need me here."

  Talia stifled the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't need anyone. However, Scarlett could certainly be useful in such a situation. "Good. I expect you to work then. Get into their heads. I need to know if I can trust them, and quickly."

  Talia turned to the group, studying each of their faces to see just how many of them she knew. Only two of them had been hired since she'd come to the Academy, which meant that all the others had been upset about their situation since the beginning. There were six other teachers, and nine students. With Talia and Scarlett, that made a good-sized group.

  With all the people in the room, Talia decided to take note of everyone here.

  First, the teachers: Victoria, Rebecca, Bernice, David, Daniel, and William. Then, the students: the twins, Caydon and Camdon, Lisa, Connor, Hugh, Leon, Brandi, Margaret, and Jackson.

  "Good evening," Talia began. "I know it's probably strange to have me here. I’ve been very open about helping the city and also about staying a neutral party between the Boulevard students and the nobles. That being said, one thing I know for sure is that when I saw how badly Jackson was hurt, I folded. No matter how I felt before, at that moment I knew something had to be done."

  Talia made sure to speak slowly and eloquently, doing her best to give Scarlett enough time to peek into the minds of everyone there. She turned to her companion, her eyes imploring the mystic to give her an update.