“Hey,” Anna shouted. “Start with me. Leave the kid alone.”
No emotions showed on the demigoddess’s face. Anna’s words went unheeded as power fell from the Battle Goddess’ bare palms as if she was pouring water upon Shadowlight. Where the magic splashed against his skin, it glowed brightly for several moments before seeping into the pores.
The strange, radiating warmth came as a surprise. Gargoyle hide was impervious to most magic, but it barely slowed this demigoddess’s power.
At first, it was just a strange heat beneath his skin, and then it dug deeper, burrowing through his flesh and into his bones as if it searched for something. A panicked growl escaped, and he fought the chains as the power continued to increase.
“Shadowlight, reach for me with your mind.”
“Anna?”
“Yes, kid. Just do it. I think I can help.”
Instinct urged him to listen to her, so he did, obeying with a mindless kind of desperation. Their link flared strongly and suddenly it was like he was no longer in his own body. He blinked in surprise. The pain was gone entirely. Even though he could still see magic flowing down onto him from the Battle Goddess’ open palms, there was no more heat or oppressive power trying to squeeze past his skin and into his body.
He clung to the link Anna had helped create and just waited for her next command. When it didn’t come, he realized she was now sheltering something from him.
“Anna?”
“It’s fine, kid. I’ve got this.”
And he realized she did. Somehow, she’d figured out how to pull his pain into herself. He shouldn’t have allowed her to do it, but he didn’t fight to regain control, either. “Anna, I’m sorry.”
“No worries. You can return the favor when you’re older. I’ll hold you to it.”
Anna paused, and he sensed pain was clouding her thoughts, but she kept talking because it allowed her to distract herself. “We’re going to survive this. I promise.”
Anna might be as much a prisoner as him, but he believed her. She’d never failed him yet. He wouldn’t fail her either. With that thought fortifying him, he reached and took command of their link.
“What are you doing?”
“We’ll share whatever punishment they toss at us.”
He sensed she wasn’t happy with his statement, but she didn’t fight.
Eventually, the power flowing into his body subsided, and he released her from his mental hold and his consciousness return to his own body. He was weak, shaking, and covered in sweat, but the pain was just a dull, phantom ache in his joints.
He blinked sweat out of his eyes and turned his head to find the Battle Goddess now stepping away from him.
Shakily, he fought his chains but was brought up short by a command from Gryton.
“Easy, youngling. You did well.” Gryton was standing at his shoulder, a silver bowl held in his right hand while his left gripped a knife. “Don’t fight. I only need to make a small nick on your arm.”
He obeyed, holding still while Gryton made a cut and positioned the bowl below it. Once he’d collected enough blood, he turned from Shadowlight and approached Anna.
Shadowlight snarled, but there was nothing he could do when Gryton reached to pry open Anna’s locked jaws and pour the blood into her mouth. He was swift to slap a hand over her mouth and nose, so she couldn’t spit out the blood.
Struggling against his chains, Shadowlight growled and cursed at Gryton.
After a few seconds Anna started to struggle, but Gryton just held her fast.
“Swallow and I’ll let you breathe,” he said in a calm voice.
Anna continued to fight and Shadowlight snarled and fought alongside her. But even as his struggles were ineffective to free him, so too were Anna’s. Eventually, Anna’s need for oxygen won out and she swallowed. Shadowlight could see her throat working, but she continued to glower at Gryton in a silent battle of wills.
Gryton released her and Anna choked, gasping until her lungs stopped spasming.
“Anna, are you okay?” he asked using their mental link.
“Been better, but I’ll live. You?”
“Yes,” he said and realized it was true. While his joints still ached and his muscles twitched and quivered, the pain was receding. He should be well enough to move in a few minutes if they unlocked his chains.
The Battle Goddess, who had retreated a few paces to allow Gryton to carry out the last ritual, now stepped forward to study them both with an assessing gaze. She seemed to like what she saw because a mesmerizing smile brightened her expression.
“Younglings, you’ve done well. I am most pleased with this first session.” She nodded at them like a mentor pleased by a promising new apprentice. “Already, I can feel the new strength of your magic. Soon your physical bodies will grow into that power, and you will be ready to lead my armies.”
Was that what this was all about? She was trying to force his body to finish maturing? He glanced down at himself, but besides the ache in his joints, everything seemed as it should. Lowering his head back to the stone, he waited to be set free.
The Battle Goddess turned and mounted the steps, swiftly striding away. Shadowlight listened until he could no longer hear her footfalls or the scrape of chains against stone.
When some of Gryton’s soldiers came and unlocked Shadowlight from his shackles, he didn’t fight them, more interested in getting to Anna to see what his blood had done to her.
Gryton was at her side. Once the manacles were off, he held out a hand to help her rise from the altar. She snarled and brushed away his offer of help. When Gryton moved to the side, Shadowlight saw she looked the same as she had before. At least he couldn’t detect any more physical gargoyle enhancements. Then again, the changes might be internal, or his blood might still be working modifications upon her body.
Whatever the case, he was just happy she seemed mostly unharmed.
“How are you?” He asked.
“I’d be better if I could sink a knife into Gryton’s smug face. Since that’s not going to happen, I suppose I’m well enough, considering what just happened. You?”
“Well enough.”
“Good,” Anna hopped off the altar and took a couple stumbling steps before she found her footing. “Because we’re still going to find a way to escape.”
“Yes.”
Gryton surveyed them for a moment before speaking, “If you can walk without falling down, I am to take you to the hall where you will meet some of the twelve captains who lead the Battle Goddess’ armies.”
“Pass,” Anna said with a sour look aimed at Gryton.
“This is not a request. You will meet the other captains, and I will determine which ones will be the best mentors for you.”
“You’re not going to beat on us yourself? I feel slighted,” Anna said.
“Oh, fear not. Once the mentors deem you worthy to be tested, they will bring you before me so that I can test your newly developed skills.”
“Can’t wait,” Anna growled and then hobbled over to Shadowlight.
He sniffed at her cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She batted his muzzle away. “I’m alive and plan on staying that way.”
“Come,” Gryton barked.
The collar around Shadowlight’s neck flared a warning, but before it could force him into motion, he padded after Gryton.
Anna stayed as close as his own shadow.
Chapter Thirteen
Still feeling like she had danced with a wrecking ball, Anna doggedly followed close at Shadowlight’s heels. From what she could tell, he’d fared a bit better than she had, for which she was grateful.
If the kid had been seriously hurt...
It only hardened her resolve. She needed to find a way to escape. She had to for Shadowlight’s sake.
While Anna’s mind churned, Commander Gryton led them through the twisted path of corridors until they arrived at what could only be the hall he’d mentioned. Th
e low rumble of conversation, the rattle of dishes and the scent of food confirmed it.
Shadowlight’s ears perked with interest. At least he still had an appetite. Anna wasn’t sure if she could eat yet. The coppery taste of the young gargoyle’s blood still coated her tongue.
Gryton marched them under the tall archway, Shadowlight and Anna following close behind. The troop of guards that normally followed them around stayed outside in the hall, strangely enough.
They entered the large hall a moment later, and the reason the guards weren’t needed became clear. Anna put Shadowlight between herself and Gryton.
The hall was easily the size of two football fields filled with long tables laden with various foods. Like the chamber she’d just left, this one was lit with torches mounted on the outside walls and more circling each of the enormous pillars that supported the rest of the structure above them.
Ordinary candles set out on the tables provided additional light for the diners. Only about half the spaces were occupied.
Oh, but the half that was filled was enough to make even the most well trained Special Forces operator flee in terror. Anna thought she was getting used to all the weird. Nope. Even the strangest Clan and Coven members looked downright ordinary compared to what she was gazing upon now. A sea of horns, tusks, scales, spikes, and extra appendages met her gaze. Made all the stranger because they belonged to otherwise mostly human-shaped bodies.
It reminded her of an intergalactic bar scene in a sci-fi movie.
At Gryton’s entrance, some of the monsters turned in their seats to stare. Soon others were noticing their friends’ distraction and turned to watch what was so interesting. Gryton ignored the looks and walked along the wall, heading towards the front of the hall. They’d entered from a side entrance she noted.
Anna gave Shadowlight a little shove when he froze in place, but he ignored her and pulled his lips back from his teeth in a snarl.
Great.
“Keep the aggression under wraps,” Anna warned, “you’re giving too much away, again.”
Shadowlight uttered one more menacing growl before dropping to all fours to stalk after Gryton. Anna matched his pace and they reached the front of the room at the same time.
Their new location wasn’t any better than the last. Now every creature in the room watched them in silence. Gryton ignored the watchers and gestured Anna and Shadowlight forward, onto the raised dais where the high table sat. They walked half-way down the length of the long table.
“We set aside a place of honor for the two newest acquisitions to the Lady of Battles army.”
“Flattered,” Anna muttered.
Shadowlight growled softly at the creatures already sitting at the table. Anna assumed these must be the other captains since Vaspara was just a few feet farther down the bench. Gryton settled between a hulking man and an equally brawny woman of some unknown species and then gestured to indicate Anna and Shadowlight should sit.
Shrugging, Anna settled next to the mountainous male and tried not to gawk at the delicate pattern of scales covering his skin or his boney shoulder spikes. He flared his nostrils, dragging in a deep breath as he took her scent. It wasn’t every day someone ran into a human-gargoyle hybrid, she supposed.
She looked away from her neighbor and studied the dark wood of the table, but not before she’d seen the ridge of horny bone growing out of his forehead near his hairline.
While she’d been occupied staring at her bench buddy, Shadowlight had been glowering at Gryton. “Come on, kid. We’re going to be cheek by jowl with them soon, so might as well get used to this.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Can’t say I’m fond of it either, kid.”
Shadowlight took the spot to her left, but his blade-tipped tail came to land on the bench next to her right hip. His tail slapped the padded seat a few times in threat, and Anna realized the scaled male was reaching to touch her hair.
She blocked Scales and he pulled his hand back. Glancing at the kid’s tail, he made a weird, hissing sound. It took her a moment to grasp it was his laughter.
“Your hair, teach your servants how it’s done and then have them teach mine,” he said and pointed at his own thick brown hair. A bit of leather held back the wavy mess.
Gryton leaned back on the bench so he could gaze past Shadowlight’s wings. “Anna, meet Captain Sorac. He commands the fourth company. Sorac, this is Corporal Anna Mackenzie and Shadowlight.”
Sorac merely nodded and looked them over. “They’ll break the first time you put them in a practice ring with me.”
“Shadowlight isn’t yet mature but already quite formidable, and Anna has gifted me with a wound. Underestimate them at your peril. And if you’ve forgotten, that human-gargoyle hybrid managed to sneak in and break him out of his cell. If I hadn’t been tracking her for the better part of a day, Anna might have succeeded.”
“I’d heard that. I also heard Vaspara now owes you her life. If the two had escaped on her watch, it would have gone ill for our favorite succubus.” Sorac made that strange sound in his chest again. “I wouldn’t mind having Vaspara in my debt for a moon cycle or two.”
Gryton barked out a laugh. “She would make a necklace out of your balls.”
“Probably,” Sorac huffed out in humorous agreement. Then gave Anna’s tunic covered chest a lingering glance.
“I might not know Anna very well since in the past we were usually trying to kill each other, but I would wager she is the type to roast a male’s balls over hot coals rather than invite him into her bed. You’ve been warned. Besides, our Lady has said the young gargoyles are not to be touched.”
Sorac chuckled. “And it’s never a good idea to make an enemy of one who will grow to take command.”
“A wise choice,” Gryton agreed, then turning his attention back to Anna he said, “Captain Sorac is a half-breed like you. Part firedrake and part Astarte demon; He was once worshiped as a fertility god.”
Great, another sex demon.
Shadowlight’s earlier antics made a little more sense.
“You knew what he was?”
“Yes,” Shadowlight replied in a growly mental voice. How he managed that, she didn’t know.
“You could’ve told me.”
“I did.”
“With words next time. But keep up the good work. You’re the best little brother ever.”
Shadowlight’s ears perked and he turned to look at the female on Gryton’s other side as if he was about to tell Anna what she was, but Gryton got their first.
“This is Captain Bervicta. She’s harpy stock.”
The female didn’t show the least bit of insult, so Anna guessed either the female had heard it hundreds of times before or being called “harpy stock” wasn’t an actual insult.
Bervicta looked more human than most sitting at the table. But a closer look showed that what she’d taken as spiked hair was actually a short-feathered crest. Her eyes were large and more rounded than a human’s, and her face almost came to a point at her narrow chin.
When Bervicta returned to her drink without comment. Anna’s gaze slid to the male on the harpy’s other side. While she was studying him, she reached out for Shadowlight’s thoughts.
“What about the female?” Anna asked.
“She radiates hostility, but it’s not directed at us. She’s annoyed with the male sitting next to her. I think she’s safe enough.”
“As much as any of them. Got it.” Anna’s gaze roamed over the male on Bervicta’s far side. He was rather too pretty. When he looked up, his dark eyes locked on hers. He smiled and Anna, who had sworn off men after her last two disastrous relationships, became aware of him as a virile male.
“That one is not safe.” Shadowlight’s said and flashed his fangs at the male in question.
“Eh?”
“He’s a male version of Vaspara. An incubus.”
Eyes narrowing, she leaned forward so Shadowlight wasn’t blocking her view
of him. “Hey, you.”
His smile grew wide.
“Yeah, you. Take that come-hither smile and shove it up your ass or I will do it for you.”
Gryton choked on a mouthful of wine, but manage not to spray it across the table. When he could speak, he half turned to address the other male. “Honnan, she will attempt to follow through on her threat. If she doesn’t, I will.” He paused and looked at Shadowlight. “Although, allowing the cub to tear you apart, might be fun to watch. He’s not overly fond of others playing with his pet human.”
The male nodded, stood, and then with an elegant, old-world elegance, he bowed to Anna. Once he straightened, he picked up his plate and goblet and took himself off to eat with some of his officers at one of the tables near the front of the hall.
“That was Captain Honnan. And that female at the end of the table there,” he pointed out a tall and ridiculously curvy female, “is Captain Ninara. She and Honnan are twins.”
“More sex demons. I’m seeing a theme.”
“The Lady of Battles does not judge those loyal to her.”
“Whatever. Ninara can go elsewhere too. There’s a new no perverts rule at the table.”
“What about Vaspara?” Gryton asked in a dry tone. “You didn’t seem too concerned about her.”
He was wrong. At first, she’d been concerned with Vaspara, and she still knew better than to trust anyone here, even the more reasonable seeming ones.
Anna shrugged. “You’re all the enemy. But Vaspara doesn’t give off the pervert vibe like the sex twins.”
Gryton’s amusement only grew, his teeth flashing white against his brown skin. The rest of his face was hidden in the shadows created by his helmet.
“Vaspara has spent more time around the youngling. A succubus’s power goes dormant if they spend too much time around juveniles. You need not fear for Shadowlight until he hits maturity and by then he’ll be able to fend for himself if he wishes.”
“Shadowlight, for the record, we’re going to be long gone before then.”
“Good.” He agreed, but his gaze was locked on to the servants approaching the high table with platters of food.
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