Wanderers 3: Garden of The Gods (The Wanderers)

by Richard Bamberg

  My last thought as I lost consciousness was, couldn’t I ever catch a break?

  Chapter 29

  Therese

  Rafe somehow pushed me out of the dragon’s path and its jaws snapped shut on him.

  Blood sprayed in every direction for a second, and as the dragon raised its head, I saw Rafe’s boots drop to the ground.

  I screamed and raised my crossbow, but I hadn’t had a moment to reload.

  That’s when I hit the ground. My shield had reformed into a sphere, just as Rafe had said it would when I went airborne.

  I rolled a short distance and then canceled my shield. Getting my feet under me, I stood, lowered my crossbow to the ground, and stepped into the cocking stirrup. Pulling back on the lever, I latched the string as the dragon flipped its head back as if it was gulping down a treat.

  I loaded a bolt and took a hurried aim as the dragon spread its wings. I couldn’t let it fly off with Rafe.

  I screamed at it, trying to draw its attention back to me.

  It ignored me.

  I centered the sights on where I guessed its heart might be and let fly.

  The bolt flew straight across the intervening yards and struck exactly where I aimed. It disappeared.

  For a moment, I was stunned. What had happened? Did the bolt disintegrate, bounce away, or was it just too small for such an enormous creature?

  Then I noticed a growing stream of red from around the site. I had hit it. The bolt had sunken past the fletchings.

  The dragon shook its head mightily as I cocked and loaded another bolt.

  It leapt into the air, its head shaking from side to side as if it were trying to dislodge a rider. I set my sights near the bloody spot on its chest and fired again. My second bolt rose into the sky after it and struck home less than a handbreadth from my first shot. I couldn’t believe my accuracy. With each beat of the dragon’s wings, the air swirled around and an arrow should have been affected far more than a bullet, but my bolt still went where I aimed.

  Of course, Joe’s blessing.

  The dragon opened its mouth and screamed in pain.

  Damn! This was working.

  I hadn’t had time to consider Rafe’s status. I refused to consider that he might have died instantly when the dragon engulfed him. No, there would be time for that later, for now; I had to kill the dragon.

  I reloaded and raised my sights.

  The dragon had stopped climbing. Its wings still beat the air, but it wasn’t rising. I set my sights again and just as I released the bolt, the dragon’s mouth opened and a torrent of blood poured out.

  Blood rained from the sky, reaching the ground in seconds.

  I had dropped my shield while firing my crossbow, but now I triggered it, almost in time to keep from getting drenched. I wiped at my eyes with the back of a gloved hand and stared upwards.

  The dragon’s wings had slowed. Blood kept fountaining from its partially open mouth, but my arrows couldn’t have done that much damage.

  With a thrill, I understood that Raphael was still alive!

  Only Rafe could be swallowed by a dragon and then kill the dragon.

  I felt a breeze and heard the sound of wings, feathered wings.

  I glanced up to see Maia touching down behind me.

  “It’s not safe here anymore. Please come with me,” Maia said.

  “What? When has it ever been safe here?” I wondered.

  She looked up, and I understood what she meant. Without another word, I gripped her neck feathers and swung onto her shoulders. She leapt from the ground before I could even get seated properly.

  A great shadow passed behind me, more felt than seen, as we fled toward the east, and a mass of air shoved us faster.

  Then there was a gigantic splat and what sounded like trees snapping, as the dragon smashed into the ground. Just where I’d been standing a few moments before.

  I looked back, saw its broken body, and spent blood and said, “Take me back, Rafe needs me.”

  Maia reversed course without comment. Before we could land, Beast touched down beside the dragon’s misshapen head. As we landed beside him, he began using his claws on the dragon’s head. Great chunks of flesh flew off with every pass of his forelimbs.

  I slid off Maia and ran to Beast’s side.

  “Is he alive?” I asked.

  Beast growled something without pausing.

  I moved back a step to avoid the spray of blood and flesh that he flung to either side as he worked.

  “Can I help?”

  “I’ve got this,” Beast growled.

  Suddenly, he stopped. Reaching a paw into the deep wound he’d torn in the dragon’s face, Beast seized something and pulled.

  In a couple of seconds, I saw Rafe’s leathers come into view. I ran forward as Beast gave another tug and Rafe popped out of the gap and onto the ground like some bizarre birth.

  Even as I ran, I pulled Loki’s amulet from beneath my own leathers. Dropping to my knees beside Rafe, I placed the amulet’s leather strap over Rafe’s head and then cast the healing spell I’d learned. There was a pull of energy as the spell activated. I reached for the ley line with my mind and drew more energy into me.

  Lowering my face to Rafe’s, I could feel a slight movement of air as he exhaled.

  “He’s alive,” I cried.

  If he was alive, then the healing spell and Loki’s amulet should restore him, no matter what the damage. I wiped at his face, trying to clear the blood and some kind of weird green gunk from his eyes, but it didn’t do much good. My leathers were already covered in dragon’s blood and wiping at his face just smeared it around.

  “Allow me,” Beast growled.

  I looked up as he lowered his face to Rafe’s. Beast’s long thick tongue came out and dragged across Rafe’s cheek. Where Beast licked, Rafe’s skin was burned. Places were raw and others blackened from fire. Beast made a spitting sound, and a glob of the green gunk hit the ground near us.

  “What’s that stuff?” I asked.

  “You don’t want to know,” Beast said as he went back to licking Rafe’s face.

  I ran my hands over Rafe, checking my boss for injuries. The obvious ones were the legs missing from just above the knees. I felt for broken bones and anything else, but except for his missing legs, his only damage was the burn on his head.

  “We’d better get him out of here,” Maia said.

  “Why?” I asked as I looked around, expecting to see that bastard Rowle getting back to his feet. I could see no sign of Rowle. The black energy from Rafe’s night magic tattoo had vanished.

  Good, the spell must have totally dissolved him.

  I realized the gods had all disappeared. A few of Rowle’s minions had survived both the flood and the battle and were moving in this general direction. I could probably try to finish them off. Between Rafe’s Colt and my crossbow, I might be able to get them all.

  I stood up and unslung my crossbow.

  “There won’t be time for that,” Beast growled. “Maia’s right. We need to leave, now.”

  I followed Beast’s gaze. Coming up behind me, I saw dozens of flashing red lights.

  “Oh, well I guess you’re right. Beast, can you lift Rafe onto Maia? I need to find Rafe’s boots,” I said as I slung my weapon across my back again.

  “His boots can be replaced,” Maia said.

  “But his knife can’t be. I can’t leave it behind,” I said.

  “I’ll get his boots and knife. Just get on Maia,” Beast ordered.

  Maia knelt, and I slung a leg over her neck. As soon as I was settled, Beast lifted Rafe’s unconscious body and draped him across her neck in front of me.

  “Maia, can you glamour us? I haven’t learned how, yet.”

  “It’s already taken care of,” she said. “Hold on.”

  She leapt into the air. I looked back for Beast, but all I saw was a hawk sailing low over the battlefield. Without Rafe’s enhanced senses spell, I couldn’t see through Bea
st’s glamour. Maia, of course, looked natural to me because she’d cast the glamour on her passengers also.

  We rose up into the morning sun, gaining altitude and staying away from the half dozen helicopters that had shown up. The news helicopter had moved higher and away from the immediate area, but still close enough to get everything on video. The other helicopters were a combination of Blackhawks and Apaches with U.S. Army painted on their sides.

  I didn’t know who had authorized gunships on American soil, but I could guess that the local commander decided to do what he thought best after seeing the television broadcast. Rafe was not going to be happy about the publicity.

  As long as he was alive, I didn’t give a rat’s ass about the public seeing a few dozen mythological creatures roaming Colorado Springs.

  “Where to?” Maia asked.

  “I guess we should head back to Joe’s cabin. We’ll need somewhere to rest and get Rafe healed. I’d like to return to my Aunts’ house, but someone may make the connection between their kidnapping, the fight at the airport, and that mess back there. Yeah, Joe’s cabin is our only safe place.”

  Maia turned more southerly, and we flew over the morning traffic on the Interstate.

  Beast caught up with us before we were halfway to the cabin. I wouldn’t have realized it was him, except that I didn’t think hawks could fly that fast. He leveled off a dozen yards away and paced us the rest of the way.

  Maia set down lightly at the foot of the steps to Joe’s porch. I slid off and then studied Rafe’s unconscious body. I wished I knew his trick for putting energy into his muscles. I looked from him to the dozen or so steps and wondered if I could get him up them.

  “I’ll put him on the porch for you. Can you handle him from there?” Beast asked.

  I saw that he’d dropped his glamour. Rafe’s boots, his knife still in its scabbard, lay on the ground beside Beast. Except for the knife, the bloody boots were empty.

  “What happened to his, ah, legs?” I asked.

  “I didn’t see any reason to bring them, so I left them behind,” Beast growled.

  “What about DNA? Rafe’s always concerned about leaving something behind that could be used against him.”

  “I took care of it,” Beast said.

  I stared at him. What had he done? Did he eat Rafe’s legs? No, that would just be too gross. Still, he didn’t elaborate.

  I shrugged. “I trust you, Beast. Yes, please move Rafe to the porch, and I’ll get him inside.”

  Beast grunted an acknowledgment and then stood on his hind legs to use his forelimbs to lift Rafe from Maia’s back.

  Beast eyed the wooden steps warily, and then ignored them and raised Rafe high enough to slide him onto the porch. I ran up the steps and knelt beside him.

  He was breathing easily, but still unconscious. His leather jacket and gloves were intact, but his pants were now leather shorts. I checked his stumps, the flesh there was raw and oozing blood and viscous fluid, but the healing had begun. His leathers were already tacky from the congealing blood.

  I went inside, Joe never locked his doors, and his ward let me pass without issue. I located a couple of towels and went back to the porch. After stripping Rafe’s bloody clothes from him, I rolled him onto the towels. Getting a firm grip, I dragged Rafe across the threshold and into the cabin.

  I couldn’t stand him up, but I got him into a sitting position in the shower. Then I stripped off my own bloody clothes and piled them into the sink for later. It took a long time to get both of us clean enough that the rinse water no longer ran red. I dried us off, being extra careful around his stumps and burns, and then I dragged him into the bed we’d shared the last few nights. I pulled the covers back and stopped to catch my breath.

  Lifting a dead weight of nearly two hundred pounds was going to be tough. But it had to be done.

  I stood over Rafe and tried to imagine how he poured energy into his muscles. There wasn’t a spell, but I knew he could do it almost effortlessly. Was it like the first trick he taught me? The lighting of a candle. That just required focusing on where you wanted the energy to go. I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. I imagined my muscles warming with raw magical energy. Energy that was already stored throughout my body, but now I needed to convert it, like converting potential energy into kinetic. I concentrated on the concept of my body as a system of muscles. I felt my body warming. Something was happening.

  I bent and slipped my hands into Rafe’s armpits and…lifted.

  He came off the floor as though he weighed no more than a child.

  A thrill went through me. I’d actually performed magic without his instructions. Hastily I moved him onto the sheets before my elation caused me to lose my focus. I laid him out with his head on one of the pillows and then relaxed. The warmth gradually left my muscles.

  I pulled the sheet over him and then hurried to the front door.

  Beast and Maia were still at the foot of the steps. In bare feet, I stepped out onto the porch. A cool breeze came from the west, ruffling my short hair, and covering my flesh in goosebumps. The cabin was in the shade of the mixture of ponderosa pines and spruce trees.

  I crossed my arms under my breasts and realized I’d come outside unclothed. Well, it wasn’t as if either Beast or Maia cared. They never wore clothes.

  “He’s going to be okay. I got him cleaned up and into bed,” I said.

  “Has he woken?” Maia asked.

  I shook my head. “No, but he seems to be sleeping well. I’m going to get in with him and get some rest myself. Can one of you guys stick around today to make sure we're not disturbed?”

  “It’s our duty,” Beast growled.

  “Thank you, Beast. You can take turns. I’ll let you know as soon as he’s awake.”

  “Thank you, I would appreciate it,” Beast said.

  I went back inside, not locking the door behind me. I wasn’t worried about anything getting past our familiars or the cabin’s wards.

  Rafe hadn’t moved on the bed. I doused the lights, pulled back the covers and slipped in beside him. I snuggled up to his backside, molding my naked body against his, trying to get as much contact as possible. Loki’s amulet was still pulling power from me, but I’d maintained my own tap on the ley line that crossed over Joe’s cabin. Hopefully, I could keep the tap going while we slept.

  I kissed the back of his head and my lips contacted the short, singed hairs that had survived whatever fire had burned him.

  Without realizing when it started, I found myself crying. This damn man was going to be the death of me yet. Twice now, I’d almost lost him. How many times could I keep pulling him back from the edge? Was this my life now? One fight after another? Our lives always on the line?

  I inhaled sharply through my nose and then rubbed my eyes against the pillowcase.

  If that was a Wanderer’s life, then so be it. I’d be there to rescue him as long as I lived. Then a thought crossed my mind. How had Raphael A. Semmes made it as a Wanderer for more than forty years without me?

  Chapter 30

  Raphael

  I awoke in pain. A lot of pain.

  Resisting the urge to moan aloud, I opened my eyes and examined my surroundings. I recognized the bed and the room. I was back in Joe’s cabin. A light sheet covered me, and I felt a warm body at my back.

  Outside the window, the sky was dim, either darkening or lightening, it could be either. How long had I been out?

  My bladder was what woke me. I was surprised I had even noticed it with all the pain coming from my legs. I remembered what had happened well enough anyway.

  I was going to have to grow new legs. Luckily, I still had that spectral prosthesis spell I had used on Tess. At least I wouldn’t be bed-ridden for the weeks it would take.

  I was also starving. I knew I should have been adding fat. I hoped Joe had a well-stocked larder.

  Thinking of Joe made my throat tighten. There was another friend I had out-lived.

  Tess’s hand
moved against my chest, tickling the hair and sliding down across my abdomen. Her fingers enveloped me. I was erect, but it was a morning piss-hard.

  “I still think it’s funny that you always wake up with one of those,” Tess said an inch from my ear.

  I turned my head to see her, and her lips met mine in a hungry kiss.

  When she broke off the kiss, she propped herself up on one elbow and stared down at me. The sheet fell off her as she did and I couldn’t keep my eyes from going to her bare breasts. Had they always been that perfect?

  I cleared my throat and raised my gaze to hers. “Did you have much trouble getting me back here?”

  “Not too much. Beast and Maia helped,” Tess said.

  Her eyes bored into mine. I stared back, expecting something. I didn’t know what.

  “Yes?” I said at last.

  “How did you ever manage without me?”

  “Maybe it’s you,” I said.

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, maybe you’re a danger magnet.”

  She stared at me for another second, maybe two, and then she rolled on top of me. Our parts lined up, and she gave a little wiggle.

  She grinned down at me. “I guess you’re going to want to use the facilities first.”

  “Well…”

  She bent down and kissed me lightly. Her tongue stroked my lips and then she was off me and off the bed.

  “How bad?” Tess asked.

  “How bad what?”

  “How bad do you need relief? Do want me to carry you in there or can you take the time to cast that prosthesis spell?”

  I considered and then cocked my head to the side. “Carry me?”

  She placed her hands on her hips and struck a pose. “You think I can’t carry you?”

  I took a good long look at her body. Damn, but she was beautiful. Maybe my bladder could wait.

  I reached for her.

  She stepped back out of reach and smiled. “Feeling frisky, eh? I’d have thought you’d be in a lot of pain.”