Blood Bonds

by Yasmine Galenorn

  I glanced around, suddenly in awe of the vast history of this place. The Scorching Wars had changed the face of our home world, and destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives over a long period. If we failed to kill Shadow Wing, he could easily bring another reign of terror to the land.

  I took a step closer to Menolly, who glanced at me, nodding as if she could read my thoughts. “It seems fitting to stage this battle here, then.”

  “A blighted land for a blighted enemy.” Raven Mother paused before adding, “And I bring one other card to the game.” She stepped back, turning toward one of the large trees. Out from behind the tree stepped a woman who looked like she was made of silver. I blinked, but Camille gasped and stepped forward.

  “Lady Pentangle,” she whispered, kneeling.

  Pentangle was one of the Hags of Fate. The Mistress of Magic.

  Pentangle was shorter than I was, but she felt oh so incredibly powerful. Dressed in a silver-beaded silver and ivory corset over a long flowing ivory skirt, she wore a headdress that shimmered like ice and was crowned with crystal antlers. Her eyes were deep black, sparkling with silver flecks, and she held a glowing wand in one hand while her other hand trailed a wake of sparkles as she gestured.

  I glanced over at the daemons, who were watching her with fear in their eyes, then back at the Mistress of Magic, wondering what she was doing here. It seemed odd to me that she would keep company with Raven Mother.

  “I come to help balance the worlds, but my help is limited,” Pentangle said. “I can offer you one gift, but it comes with a steep price.”

  “What is it?” Camille asked, rising to stand before the mother of all magic.

  Pentangle waited till we were all silent, listening to her. “You must all agree, or I cannot grant the boon. Raven Mother will be exempt from this, of course, given her nature. As will her son and the Black Beast.”

  Smoky nodded. “Understood.”

  I sucked in a deep breath. Whatever her gift was, it was bound to be a doozy, especially if we all had to agree. The entire clearing felt charged, like a live wire, and I had the sudden image of a clock with a timer, and the minutes were counting down. Which, I supposed, they were.

  “I can cast a Circle that will prevent Shadow Wing from leaving the area. He will be trapped in here, but so will all of you. You will have twenty-four hours to fight him before the barrier vanishes. I hope you will not need to use all of that time.”

  “Why can’t you just trap him in a Circle and leave him? Do we even have to fight him?” one of the daemons asked.

  Pentangle turned a cool eye to him. “I could, but at some point, he would find a way to emerge. Time continues to run in this world, and while the Hags of Fate and their kin are immortal, our magical creations are not. I could try to freeze him within a magical circle, but there would be no guarantee that it would last. Especially when he wields powerful magic himself.”

  “We can’t just leave him for future generations to deal with. We will not bequeath this monster on our children, or their children in turn,” Trenyth said.

  Something about his words struck me as odd. I looked at him. The emphasis on “our children” had been strong—too strong. He glanced up to see me staring at him, held my gaze for a moment, then looked away.

  “Trenyth is right,” Camille said. “We came to destroy a threat to all worlds. I suggest we focus on that. And if Pentangle can give us the gift of a twenty-four hour trap to keep Shadow Wing from bolting, I suggest we willingly accept. It means we’re all in more danger, given we can’t get away from him, but it means he’s within attack range for that long.”

  “Put it to a vote. You must be unanimous before I will create the barrier.” Pentangle walked over to Raven Mother’s side. “Remember: while someone may enter the barrier, no one will be able to leave it.”

  “Do we need to debate this?” Camille turned to her husbands. To a man, they straightened and put on their game faces.

  “All right. Let’s hear it,” Menolly said. “I’m in.” She pointed to Nerissa.

  “I’m in,” Nerissa echoed.

  Wilbur spoke up. “I’m in it to win it.” He sounded steadier than he had in a long time.

  Menolly pointed her way around the Circle. When she came to me, I glanced at Shade, who nodded.

  “Accept Pentangle’s offer,” I said.

  No one disagreed, not even Trenyth. When we had taken our vote, Camille went over to talk to Pentangle. I motioned to Trenyth, who frowned, but joined me.

  “Can we talk privately for a moment?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Chase wasn’t in earshot.

  He didn’t look happy about it, but nodded. “All right, how about over by that tree stump?” He pointed a few yards away to where a broken stump jutted out of the ground.

  I followed him. When we were away from the rest of the group, I took a deep breath and decided that directness was called for. We didn’t have time for small chat.

  “Our children? Why did that feel personal?” I tapped him on the arm as he started to turn away. “Tell me, so that if we come through this, I can help prepare him.” I knew, as sure as I knew my name, what was going on.

  Trenyth cast his eyes toward the ground. “You surprise me. Usually, you’re… Well, never mind that. All right, though truly, you have no business knowing this.”

  “I have every business knowing it, since Chase is my friend and blood-oath brother.” I leaned in. “You’re fathering an heir to the throne, aren’t you?”

  He stiffened, then behind those ancient, unreadable eyes, I saw a spark glimmer.

  “Yes, even now, Sharah carries my child. But I will never become king to her queen. I honor Chase and respect the man, but my first duty is to Elqaneve and the Elfin race. Sharah understands her duty as well.”

  “What about Astrid?”

  “You know that my race will never accept an heir who is not full-blooded elf. It’s been this way since time began, and it will be the way far longer than you or I will tread this soil.”

  I shook my head, staring at my feet. “I never would have thought you capable of this, Trenyth.”

  He let out an exasperated sigh. “This was not my idea. Sharah asked me to father her child. She truly loves Chase, and she didn’t wish to bring someone to her bed who would demand the right to share it after the child is born. I agreed. My heart will always belong to one who no longer walks this world, and Sharah knows this. She also knows I won’t ever seek to supplant Chase.”

  I fell silent for a moment, thinking. Trenyth was an honorable man. He would obey Sharah’s wishes, and he was still—and forever would—hold a torch for Queen Asteria. But how would Chase take the news?

  “If the pregnancy holds—will she be required to give birth to more than one heir?”

  “Two, three would be preferable. Chase will just have to accept that’s a part of her life. Her heart belongs to him, but she is subject to the laws with which she governs.” Trenyth nodded at Camille and Pentangle, who were talking. “This is neither the time nor place to discuss this. Leave it till after the battle. Focus on the immediate need. Control your emotions, Delilah. We all have to be at the top of our games.”

  I wanted to argue, but he was right. I closed my eyes, focusing on my breathing as I brought my attention back to the present. We had a battle to win, and in the long scheme of things, perhaps Sharah knew best. Perhaps Chase would understand. And this way, she was free of marrying someone for the sake of birthing a child, and perhaps Chase could join her as her consort.

  “I’m sorry. You’re right, this isn’t the time to discuss this.” I turned to go.

  Trenyth stopped me. “Delilah? Please, don’t think ill of me.”

  “I don’t. But why is your race so freaking stubborn?”

  He chuckled. “We wouldn’t be elves if we weren’t. This is our way. It’s our custom.”

  As I returned to where Menolly and Camille were, Menolly gave me an odd look.

  “
What’s up?” she mouthed.

  I shook my head. “Best leave it for later.”

  Camille finished with her meeting and now she called out, “Shamas, I need you and Welbourne over here.”

  As the two men moved toward her, another shuffle in the bushes alerted us and then, out stepped the Black Unicorn. He was massive. Even though he had been reborn only a couple years ago, he already outstripped the biggest horse I’d ever seen. He was vibrant, thoroughly alive and in his prime. He was black as night, black as pitch, black as the darkness of an empty soul, yet his horn was crystal, with strands of gold and silver running through it. Once every thousand years, like the phoenix, the Black Unicorn shed his body and was reborn. His hide and horn would then go to someone chosen to bear them, powerful magical artifacts.

  Camille stepped forward, wearing her robe made of his hide, and she withdrew her unicorn horn. Then she knelt by his feet.

  “Stand, Queen of the Dusk and Twilight.” He didn’t speak, but his voice echoed within our minds. “I am here. I will stand with you over this battle.”

  He said no more as Raven Mother moved to his side.

  Shade was beside me then, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Can you feel it?” he whispered. “The forest feels like it’s watching in anticipation. The world knows that we’re standing at a crossroads in time.”

  I looked up at the sky. Overhead, the stars were twinkling down, an icy backdrop to the night. The moon was silent, hidden in her shadows, cloaked in her mystery. The temperature was dropping, and I shivered as I realized how cold it was getting. Shade snuggled close and then he turned me to him, and pressed his lips to mine. We kissed, ignoring everyone around us, locked in one last desperate kiss.

  And finally Camille spoke. “It’s time to begin. Shamas and Wilbur are preparing to cast the Demon Gate. It will take them a couple of hours, so I suggest we spend the time in meditation, to steady our nerves and prepare.”

  “I will cast the barrier as soon as the Demon Gate is ready for use,” Pentangle said.

  Shade and I moved off to one side, sitting in silence on a log. Smoky was lighting a fire to keep us warm until then. Camille and the rest of the Keraastar Knights formed a circle, with Morio and Trillian guarding them, and while I couldn’t tell what they were doing, I had a feeling they were merging their energies, blending their powers.

  Menolly and Nerissa had wandered to one side as well, and they were doing much the same as Shade and I were—spending the last couple hours we had until battle, with each other. Wilbur was helping Vanzir and Roz, and the daemons were keeping guard around the clearing. Feddrah-Dahns and Trenyth were holding quiet conversation with Raven Mother and the Black Unicorn.

  Shade pulled a thin blanket out of his pack, draping it around our shoulders. We didn’t speak, merely held each other, as the night wore on and we learned whether we would have a future to look forward to.

  Chapter 12

  Camille

  THE GATE WAS ready. It stood twenty feet tall, a construct made from two of the charcoaled tree trunks from the surrounding area. Smoky and Shade had helped to build the structure, carrying the trees as if they were toothpicks, and planting them in the ground in the southern quadrant of the clearing. Shamas had spent the past three hours covering the logs with runes, drawn in his own blood. Wilbur had helped him. Each time he cut his arm to gather blood, Wilbur bound up the cut.

  “Let me put antibiotic salve on it,” Wilbur said, but Shamas shook him off.

  “No, it won’t matter, not in the end.” Shamas pointed to the gauze. “Just bind the rune, and give me another shot out of the bottle.”

  I knew what was in the flask. Shamas had prepared a mixture of herbs from my magical herb garden, steeping them in 151-proof rum. The mixture smelled deadly, and could probably blind you if you drank enough. But it gave him the steel nerves he needed tonight.

  Wilbur handed him the flask and Shamas took a slow pull on it, then handed it back and went back to the next rune.

  To reach the upper part of the poles, Menolly carried Shamas on her shoulders, flying him up and holding him steady as he deftly drew them out. By the time they had finished, the poles were covered with the symbols. I could see the faint glow of magic outlining them, even though Shamas hadn’t cast the spell yet.

  “Do you need time to recharge before opening the gate?” I asked, trying to calm my nerves.

  He shook his head. “No, we can’t let too much time lapse or the energy from my blood will fade. Pentangle should cast the barrier now.”

  I nodded, holding his gaze. “Do you think—”

  “Don’t even ask. I’m trying to focus on one step at a time. Our future—the future—will come on its own, regardless of what we do, or not do, this night. We’ll either be there to meet it, or we won’t. Gather everyone. It’s time.”

  I headed over to where Pentangle was standing. “We’re ready, Lady.”

  She reached out and took my hands in hers. “This was destined from before your birth, Camille. Understand that Fate chooses who she will to create history, and the Hags of Fate weave her wishes into being. In the end, you and your sisters would have always come to this moment. There was simply no other path open to the three of you.” She picked up her wand. “I will cast the Circle now, and then I will stand back and keep vigil. I will not be able to help you once the circle is cast. You understand this? No matter what happens, I cannot change matters.”

  I nodded. “I do. You intervene but only where you’re allowed to.”

  As I made my way back to my Knights, Smoky swung in by my side, then Morio and Trillian. I stopped and we formed a tight huddle, our arms around one another.

  “Whatever happens tonight, we’re soul bound. Together, forever. If one of us falls…the others carry on,” Trillian said. He looked up at Smoky. “Iampaatar, you and Morio are the only other men I’d ever willingly share my wife with. We are, and always will be, a family.”

  Smoky’s hair rose on the wind that gusted past, and he encircled us all with it. “We are bound, by choice as well as by ritual. I will lay down my life for you, all of you.”

  Morio let out a slow sigh. “Let’s do this, and in a year, we’ll look back and celebrate victory. There can only be one option. Entertain no other thought.”

  Tears were threatening to surface, and I pushed them back. They could come later, when all was said and done. For now, I needed to be the queen I was. I needed to be my father’s daughter once more—ready to take on the world.

  “I love you. Each one of you, more than anything in this world. Don’t hold me back tonight. Let me do what I was born to do. Protect whoever you can, but don’t fear for me. I will be at the mercy of the Fates, my loves.” I looked at each one of their faces in turn, holding the vision tight to shore me up.

  “Camille?”

  I turned to see Raven Mother and the Black Unicorn standing there. “Yes?”

  “Pentangle is almost finished.”

  I nodded, turning back to my husbands. “It’s time. Get ready to rumble, boys. Shadow Wing’s coming to town.”

  WE WERE IN place, with Shamas and Wilbur directly in front of the poles. The rest of the Keraastar Knights were circling me, ready to sweep Shamas into our group the moment the gate began to open. Joreal’s daemons were surrounding the gate. They would help pass Shamas through their ranks, back to the Keraastar Knights, when it was time, while attempting to keep Shadow Wing at bay. The others stood behind the daemons, readying whatever they had to volley at the Demon Lord when he came through.

  “Are you ready?” I called out to Shamas.

  He glanced back at me, nodding.

  I closed my eyes, holding the unicorn horn in one hand and my new dagger in the other. Focusing on the horn, I projected myself into the center of it.

  WHEN I OPENED my eyes. I found myself standing in the room I had been in so many times before, with Eriskel in front of me.

  The jindasel bowed. “What may I do for you, Your Ma
jesty?”

  I swallowed hard. “It’s time. I need all your powers to bear. We’re facing Shadow Wing, and I need the Lady of the Land, the Master of Winds, the Mistress of Flames, and the Lord of the Depths to give me everything they’ve got when I call for it.”

  Eriskel sobered. “As you command, Lady.” He stepped back, waving his hands toward the four massive screens in the room. “They are yours for the summoning.”

  I stepped up to the north screen and raised my hands. “Lady of the Land, I summon thee forth to do my bidding.”

  As I waited, a deep throbbing resonated through the room as a woman with skin as dark as the land appeared. Her hair was spun corn silk, and her eyes were the color of lemon chiffon. She was wearing a dress that flowed like vines from her shoulders, and she knelt, bowing to me.

  I turned to the east screen. “Master of Winds, I call upon thee. Come forth, to do my bidding.”

  The screen began to glimmer, and mountains appeared—the highest peaks of the world. A leather-clad man, with hair the color of spun flax, appeared. He was carrying a sword that flashed with lightning, and he dropped to one knee, lowering his head.

  Another turn, and I faced the south. “Mistress of Flames, creep forth from your lair and attend me. I command your presence to do my bidding.

  On this screen, a rolling river of lava appeared and a woman with skin the same color emerged. Her hair flowed down, blending with the molten rock, obsidian locks grounding her into the flaming channel. She knelt, her eyes alight with anticipation.

  Once more I turned, this time to the west. “Lord of the Depths, rise and hear my call. Come forth to do my bidding.”

  And once again, the screen cleared, and out of a churning sea rose a man with cerulean skin and a shimmering scaled tail. He was carrying a bronze trident and he thrust it overhead with a shout.