Now the tides of war were finally changing. Sometime during all the dancing, the ale finally caught up with me, and I was giggling with Kate and Sabella at one of the tables, at what I couldn’t even remember.
Forrest, Craig, and Tristan were playing a game of some kind at the other end of the hall. There were smiles and laughter everywhere I turned. And during those few hours, I swore I sensed Thorne’s presence.
The ends of my hair lifted again on a warm breeze, and I searched the crowd for his familiar face. I was on my feet, about ready to chase after a figure I thought was him, but then it was gone.
“Mori? You okay?” Kate asked through her hiccupping laughter.
“Yes, I’m good,” I said, sitting back down. “Can’t decide if I’m tired or over-tired, though.”
“Same.” Sabella yawned. “I think I’m going to turn in. Hey, furball.”
Tristan’s head whipped around, and he gave her a wolfish grin that turned into an eye roll as she staggered into him. “Are we having problems?”
“Nah, just be a good alpha and carry me to our room.”
He chuckled as he threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She complained and tried to get down, but he started walking off with her.
He growled, “You didn’t specify how.”
“Oh, aren’t you just a smartass tonight.”
Kate and I giggled as they left the hall. Craig and Forrest sauntered their way over and plopped down at our table.
“What are you two grinning about?” Kate asked as they seemed to be having a hard time not bursting into laughter.
“Nothing, just having guy talk. Can’t we do that, just like you have your girl talk?”
“You can,” Kate replied slowly. “But it makes me more suspicious when you do it.”
“Now you know how it feels.” He leaned back toward her. “Hmm, what do you say we get out of here?”
Kate and Craig were the next out of the room, holding hands.
I leaned into Forrest and was content watching everyone dance and sing the night away. It was peaceful despite the noise, and I could’ve stayed there all night long. But between the fight and the ale, I found my eyes closing. Then I was in Forrest’s arms.
“Where are we going?” I asked sleepily.
“Getting you to bed so you can rest some more,” he informed me. “So we both can.”
“You don’t sound annoyed with me anymore. I’m going to take that as a good sign,” I said, loving the growl that rumbled through his body. I shut my eyes, curling against his chest and letting the motion of his carrying me put me to sleep.
When I opened my eyes again, we were in bed, the torch burning dimly in the room, and Forrest’s arm was wrapped securely around me.
I shifted, and he grunted in his sleep, pulling me closer to his chest in protest.
I settled back down again, sinking into his warmth and smiled to hear the distant sounds of music still playing well into the night.
16
Mori
We’d gathered in the hall, after a measure of sleep.
“So, what do our numbers look like now?” Kate asked the following morning in the hall.
“Better than before,” Danielle replied. “But we still aren’t strong to mount a full-out assault against Baladon’s forces. These people have been caged for months. Their weak, sickly. They’d be slaughtered.”
“Right so a full-on attack is out,” Kate agreed. “What about a distraction?”
“Distraction, for what?” Danielle was tapping her mug on the table in a steady rhythm, grinning slowly as Kate, Sabella, and I all exchanged a look. “You know you three are damned dangerous together.”
“That’s what we’ve been saying all along,” Tristan chimed in. “What are you thinking about?”
“We need to cut Baladon off from the abyss,” I insisted. “It’s the logical next step—”
“Not until you’ve had more time to recuperate,” Forrest argued, cutting me off. “I will not have you doing this blood magic while you’re still weak from the last bout you used. Your magic might have returned, but the darkness is still affecting you. All of us.”
I considered arguing, but it wasn’t worth it. Not when I knew he was right. “I’m not saying we go do it right this second, but it’s what we need to decide to do next. With that said, we’ll need a distraction.”
There was more to it than just a distraction, but until we got into the details of what would need to happen, I would keep the extremely dangerous part of this next mission to myself. No need to worry him more than he already was.
Kate started to talk about what we could do—
Sabella let out a curse, gasp and fell backward. Tristan growled and rushed around the table to her side. He caught her, and we all fell silent, waiting to hear what would fall from her lips this time.
“The field,” she gasped, her face crinkled in pain. “I see them at the field… they’re looking for us… all of us.”
“Right now?” I asked alarmed.
“Think so, they’re there. I can’t—I can’t see anymore,” she whispered, then opened her eyes.
“Take it easy,” Tristan whispered, helping her sit back upright on the bench. She was shaking, but at least this vision hadn’t been as terrible as the last one.
Still, it was bad news.
Danielle was on her feet, moving toward the door. “I’ll send out the scouts—”
Two elves sprinted into the hall, shouting her name.
Danielle turned to the elves. “What is it?”
“Baladon’s forces, they’re on the move,” one exclaimed.
“Where?”
“The field where you escaped to. At least fifty minions and monsters. We didn’t cover our tracks as well as we assumed,” the second blurted. “If we don’t stop them now, they’ll reach us. Here.”
Forrest glanced down at me, but I grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him close for a kiss, and then shoved him on. “Go, kill some minions for me while you’re at it.”
“Tristan, Craig? Up for some hunting?”
“You’re not leaving us behind.” Sabella shook her head as she and Kate rose. “Let’s go.”
Danielle said she would round up Hank, Luca, and a few others to tag along.
Forrest stopped for a heartbeat at the door, his eyes locked with mine, and then was gone.
I let out a heavy breath, wishing I could go with him, but he was right. Using so much magic had been smart and dumb at the same time. I was weaker than I expected and not recovering as quickly as I’d hoped.
I finished off my coffee and then searched for Lucy throughout the fortress. There was much I needed to discuss with her anyway regarding closing the abyss. And maybe she had some understanding about how the six of us were meant to kill Baladon in Sabella’s vision. Everyone agreed simply marching up to him was a bad idea, especially when he was still so strong. But after he was weakened, we’d have a limited window to take him out, before he found a way to build himself back up again.
Part of me felt the orb had something to do with the endgame, but as of this moment, it had only been used as a doorway, a tool to travel between worlds.
We couldn’t trap Baladon, not this time. We couldn’t afford to. No this time we had to destroy him completely.
I searched several different areas of the fortress, speaking with those who stopped me. I gave them all encouraging smiles, keeping morale as high as possible, and finally came across Lucy, Abby and several other witches. They were in a room by themselves. The same room I’d found Kate and Sabella in the other day.
“What’s with all the hustle and bustle?” Lucy asked as I joined them.
“Scouts reported Baladon’s forces at the field. Forrest and the others have gone to wipe them out, hopefully stop them from tracking us back here,” I explained. “I was told to stay behind to heal a bit longer.”
“And from the look on your face, I’d say you’re not too upset about that
, for once.” Lucy’s brows drew together, and though I was old, her eyes shone with the wisdom of her long years and all she’d been through.
“No, because there’s something I need to discuss with you. Several things actually.”
“And those would be?”
I considered finding a less blunt way to say it, but at this point, the truth was easiest. “To seal the portal to the abyss will take more than blood magic, just as it did to open it and keep it open,” I told her, keeping my voice low, as though Forrest would magically appear behind me.
“What else must be done?” Abby asked.
“It takes the power of a god and blood magic fueled by sacrifices. I’m assuming Baladon used his minions and monsters to open it the first time, possibly some of the prisoners,” I rambled on, hating I could not be delivering good news. “My plan is to drive his forces into the abyss and use them to seal it for good, but… ” I trailed off, unable to say anymore.
“But what?” Lucy urged. “Mori, you might as well just tell us.”
I flattened my hands on my thighs as I forced the words out. “There’s a chance any who are near me when I recite the incantation will be sucked into the void, too. I can’t have any of our own near the abyss, but there’s always a chance we’ll lose someone.”
“Or that it won’t work with Baladon’s minions because they’re not truly living, as we are,” she added, saying what I refused to. “Well, that certainly complicates the matter a bit.”
“A bit?” I blurted. “A lot you mean. As in it might be impossible. If we can’t, though, he’ll continue to pull his power from it. And no matter what the prophecy tells us, we will never be able to kill him. Which, funny, we still have no way of knowing what to do.”
I held my head in my hands praying that a simple answer would fall out of the sky for once.
“There is a way you may be able to see,” Abby said.
I looked up.
She and Lucy were nodding. “It could be dangerous.”
“How?”
“It may harm you, and there’s a chance the magic will backfire, and instead of seeing what you need to see, you may be faced with something much darker instead,” Lucy said.
I had a feeling she wished Abby hadn’t said a thing about it.
Lucy fidgeted. “We can’t perform the spell, but you can. It might be our only way to get the advantage back.”
“What do I have to do?”
Lucy kept her mouth shut, but Abby hefted herself out of her chair and said to follow her. “You don’t win wars by hiding out in mountain fortresses, Lucy,” she called over her shoulder. “Come, Mori, I’ll have you mix the potion, then all you have to do is drink it and use your mind and your starlight to guide you toward what you need to see.”
“And you’re sure this will work?” I asked, hurrying to keep up with the old witch.
“Eh, fifty-fifty.”
“Abby, those are not good odds,” I pointed out.
“Where’s your sense of adventure, child?”
“Child?” I laughed as she threw a mischievous look over her shoulder at me. “You do realize how old I am, yes?”
“Ah, but who has truly lived more, you or me? Trust me, if you want answers, this is the way to get them.”
“But what’s this darker something I might face?”
She came to a dead stop in the hall so fast I nearly ran into her. “Yourself, my child, you may wind up facing yourself. The darkest part of yourself. And if you’re not careful, if you can’t remember what’s real and what’s not, there’s a chance you will lose yourself.”
“Oh, is that all.” I paced the width of the hall as she watched, weighing the risk against the reward.
Was it truly worth it? If Forrest heard anything about this, I’d never hear the end of it. But if he came back and I had a way to stop Baladon, he couldn’t hold it against me for too long, right?
I was strong, I could do this. For everyone in this fortress, I would risk myself so we could end the war.
“Let’s just hurry,” I finally told Abby. “I’d like to have this over with before Forrest gets back.”
“That’s the spirit,” she said firmly, and we set off again deeper into the fortress.
17
Forrest
Kate and I—in our dragon forms—touched down a good distance from the field, attempting to keep our massive bodies out of sight, but carrying fighters with us was the fastest way to reach the field. We couldn’t see them yet, but I heard orders being yelled out to follow the tracks. I lowered my shoulder and let those on my back hop down. Kate did the same, then we shifted.
Tristan sniffed the air in the direction of the field and snarled. “Trolls. A basilisk or two. Had to kill them with fire the last time.”
“Consider it done,” I asserted. “What else?”
He sniffed again and then sneezed. “Something that smells like rotting flesh. Ghouls maybe?”
We had faced a small band of those when the darkness had first fallen, and I grimaced at the thought of facing them again. They were terrifying, gaping mouths filled with grossly distended teeth. They ambled instead of walked, a creeping gait. They moved far faster than should’ve been possible. The worst part was the manner with which they attacked. There was no thought or method. They spotted their prey and threw themselves at them, teeth clacking together as they went for throats and whatever else they could sink their teeth into.
“Let’s move,” Craig said, lifting his hand high. “Have to cut them off. Luca, I want you and Nora to go back and erase the rest of the tracks from earlier. Make sure there’s nothing anyone could follow.”
The two demons took off into the trees while the rest of us turned and made for the field. As we neared the open space, we crouched lower, watching Baladon’s force moving outward in a circle. They were searching for tracks, and they’d find them soon enough unless we stopped them. There hadn’t exactly been time to come up with a plan. We decided if Baladon was here, we’d fall back and come up with one, but since he was absent, all that was required was we destroy anything moving in that field.
“Kate?” I whispered and glanced skyward.
She nodded in agreement and nudged Craig, whispering to him. He gripped Executioner in his hand firmly, but tapped the side of his head and motioned himself and the others running in after Kate and I made a first pass over. If we could turn them away from this side of the field, it’d give our fighters a good shot at attacking them from behind and taking a number of them out before they had a chance to react.
Kate and I backed away from the line of fighters to the clearing we first landed in.
“Ready to burn them all?” she asked, sounding far happier than she should’ve, for one heading into a battle.
But then again, so was I. “You have no idea.”
“Should we keep track?”
“Track of what?”
“Oh come on, you and I have never had a chance to fight as dragon and dragon. Bet I kill more than you do.”
“So it’s like that, is it?” I nodded as I looked back toward the field. “Fine, you’re on.”
“I’m so going to kick your ass. What are the terms?”
“Terms are if I win, you admit that I am a better dragon than you.”
She pursed her lips.
“If you win… if you win, then I won’t tell Craig that you told Mori and Sabella about a certain something that you two do… if you catch my drift.”
She gave me the death stare, and I burst out laughing. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“If you win, I won’t.”
“How do you… Mori, really? She told you?”
“How many times do we have to tell you all this? You all tell us everything that you all tell each other. It’s a very vicious cycle. Deal?” I held out my hand and waited for her to shake it.
She growled but clasped my hand. “You’re going to lose. Hope you know that.”
We separated from each other and s
hifted together, letting our dragons stretch their wings. We pushed off the ground and soared high up into the grey cloud cover. Kate veered left, and I went right, circling around the field once as we got a good view of where the enemy stood. The basilisk was at the center. It reared back and was much larger than I expected. The ghouls were hunched together, sniffing at the ground frantically.
I tilted my head and was thankful my dragon’s stomach was stronger than my own or I might’ve lost my breakfast. They’d found the dead we’d left behind and were currently disposing of them.
By eating them.
There were at least twenty minions and five trolls. They were still scouring the field as we circled back around again. Together, we opened our jaws, drew on our fire and let the flames fall to the ground, burning anything in their path. The screams that reached my ears were glorious, and I sucked in another deep breath, blasting the field with more flames.
We turned the attention of the attackers toward us and away from Craig and Tristan as they led the charge into the tall grass. They hit the minions first, taking them out prior to the fight breaking out into utter chaos.
I pumped my wings hard, readying to turn back around and aim for the basilisk that was moving toward our fighters. I opened my jaws wide, prepared to set it alight, only to discover it was too close to Craig.
I settled for snatching it up in my claws and carried it away from them, but the damned thing started to squirm in my grip. I though I had firm hold I had on its neck, so it couldn’t rear back and bite me. But it seemed I didn’t as my grip slipped.
I dropped the massive reptile before it could latch those fangs into my scales and watched as it plummeted to the ground.
Suddenly, there was Kate roasting it as she pumped her wings enough to keep her off the ground, but near enough so that she fried the beast until there was nothing left, but ash and bone.
I huffed in annoyance, smoke rising from my nostrils, as she winked at me and took back off into the clouds.
Our forces had overtaken the minions fast enough, but the trolls were giving them trouble, as were the ghouls. A shifter howled as it was swarmed and torn apart in mere seconds.
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