by LJ Andrews
She shrieked and clapped a hand over her wound. Rot and the tang of blood burned the air. Already the skin festered like boiling water.
She staggered back, paler, but managed to glare at me. Her eyes shadowed to black so dark it wouldn’t reflect the light. Arms out to the sides of her body, a wave of shadows followed. The green swords clattered at my feet and I opened my arms wide. No time to block, all I could do was accept the shadows, try to mold them into something I could use. No mistake, a drip of fear that this would corrupt me to the core pounded in my head. But a warmth bloomed in my chest, a nudge to accept it.
Too late to change my mind. The blast slammed into my chest.
I curled over. Breath was lost to me. I gritted my teeth as darkness drenched my body. Wherever the shadows touched, my skin raised, bubbled. As though the dark magic tried to melt my skin from my bones. I clenched my fists, closed my eyes.
The shadows clashed with my magic.
A storm erupted in my chest, coiling, tightening. Both sides of the energy fought to best the other. Up my spine, spreading to my shoulders, the prickle of the seal at my back, the armor on my arms hardened.
In the corner of my mouth, my lips curled into a sinister grin.
Whether the threat to Jade, the attempt on my life, or because my armor knew a foreign power had entered my body, it fought back.
The shadows within me absorbed into my power. Where they weakened me at first, now they added strength. They buoyed my own ability to a new kind of potential.
The mage lowered her arms and gasped as I took on all her twisted darkness without falling. “You took the night energy?”
I folded my arms over my chest, and gathered the fury there, called it out. I offered her a final, scathing glance. She watched with horror and a bit of awe. In the next breath I flung my arms open wide and all the energy she’d tried to kill me with blasted back at her. But now it gathered in a strange collision of night and day. A flash of gold and ebony swallowed her head to toe.
The surge didn’t stop with the mage. A ghostly river of mixed powers attacked a pair of lindworms. Both serpents roared and fell at the feet of Mitch and Raffi. Next, zomoks rushing a Leoch and Yaba. The enormous snake trying to bite off Thane’s head.
All the night creatures within twenty paces of me crumbled. Bloodied and very dead.
The ground shuddered, trees swayed, and one towering pine cracked and fell forward.
Athika laughed behind me. “That is how the leader of the mages would fight!”
I staggered, losing energy, but turned my gaze to Thane. The warrior had drifted, tangled up in a new battle with a particularly large dark mage. Our connection began to fizzle as Thane slit his sword over the mage’s throat.
He wheeled around, I assumed looking for me. Blood splattered over his face making him more formidable than before.
Another shimmer in the center of the meadow brought me to pause.
Another roll of the earth.
My grip pulsed on my swords when I lifted them from the ground. An excited buzz filled my chest, and if I focused enough, the distant pounding—like someone dropped steel blocks—rumbled over the meadow. A constant hum under the soil.
Lindworms shot from the ground, some with mages on their backs, and they darted toward the sky, but not too high above the battle. I eyed them curiously, then like a fresh breeze striking my face, I realized the mages were blasting energy at something unseen.
They fought against an invisible force.
Fought desperately, I realized, to keep something large and powerful hidden.
Chapter 25
“Watch over Mitch,” I shouted at Athika, before I tore across the meadow toward Thane.
The warrior rose from his knees after slicing through the heart of a lindworm. It didn’t matter that Thane was in human form, he had no trouble slaughtering the snakes.
“Thane!” I bellowed. I pointed toward the sky. “Up there! They’re keeping them in.”
Thane followed my gaze, his smile filling me with more confidence. Without needing me to ask, I watched Thane’s human body peel away until his enormous wyvern form took its place. The warriors roared with a chilling power when they watched their leader take his true form. It seemed to invigorate all the wyvern warriors, and the meadow filled with more shrieks as lindworms fell.
Thane lowered his broad head just enough for me to leap onto his back. Instantly, the connection returned. I didn’t sit, I balanced along his massive spine and clutched to the broad, russet horns on his head.
Thane paused in the air when we approached the first line of lindworms and mages shooting power at whatever was hidden to our eyes. The mirror shimmers were blinding. I could see a shape concealed among the trees like the faint outline of large, iridescent dome.
I couldn’t see inside, but this was the cage. Doubtless inside was a fury of magic trying to burst out. Thane blasted the first lindworm with his golden pyre. The lindworm shrieked and fell taking its mage to the ground with it in a ball of flames.
“Take me up,” I shouted.
Thane carved through the clouds, and I carefully positioned myself along the edge of his shoulder. He blew a puff of steam as he saw me inching closer to the edge, as though he didn’t agree with what I was about to do.
“Trust me.” Thane shook his massive head, but took me higher.
With a deep breath and when I was positioned just so, I leapt from Thane’s back. The warrior rained fire along smaller lindworms at my sides and took to fighting them with his claws and teeth.
I plummeted through the sky. Cold air brought tears to my eyes, but with a calming breath I embraced the energy pulsing from the invisible prison. Holding my blades out from my chest, I aimed for the enormous lindworm hovering over the shimmering space in the sky. With a booming cry toward the clouds, the lindworm writhed when the points of my swords sunk deep into its back.
I’d struck from behind, then again, rule four of the wyvern warriors was to throw out the rules when it came to the lindworms.
The beast flung its body, desperate to shake me off, but I only dug the swords in deeper until the dragon let out a long breath and went limp, falling to the ground.
Thane dove beneath me as I leapt from the dead lindworm’s back. A palpable force drew closer. I couldn’t see it, but reached the jade swords out. A spark flashed when the points touched something solid.
It was here.
My freefalling feet touched Thane’s spine. I took two running steps and launched back into the air, stabbing the solid thing with my swords.
Red, green, fiery orange sparked as the steel carved through the enchantments, as it drew the glare of the dome into view. The ground was fast approaching, and the energy erupting from my swords burned my hands.
I thudded along Thane’s back a few yards from the ground. The hardness of his scales knocked the air out of me. When he landed, I rolled off his back, a sharp ache spreading along my forearms from carving into the prison.
The battle quieted.
Something pounded in the distance again.
The mirrors in the empty space blinded everyone. Power shifted. More energy, more magic, connected to a deep piece of me.
Thane stomped next to me; his wings spread wide as he waited. The lindworms’ fear was palpable. Then it happened.
The ground rolled, violent enough I lost my balance. The blast was as if someone with years of pent anger finally had the chance to release their angst, and energy tore through the center of the earth. I imagined that was exactly what had happened.
The meadow split with an angry gash in the soil. Elemental warriors and lindworms alike rushed to the safety of solid ground. In a flash of white, the empty space along the meadow burst in blinding rays of light, and the blast sent half the field sprawling as they tumbled forward.
I was on my hands and knees and Thane’s face was turned away, but slowly we both glanced toward the blast site.
Smoke, fire, and falling bits of
earth surrounded the approaching ghostly figures. Through the wreckage were people. Shadowed at first, but they became clearer. Hundreds of people. And at the head, I saw her.
My heart fell to the pit of my stomach when she scanned the meadow. A flash of rage in her golden eyes. I knew who she was the second her presence entered the meadow, and the burn behind my eyes proved the fury of emotion cascading over my heart.
Gaia was free.
She was young in the face. Her auburn hair long over her shoulders. She dressed in rich black, and it only made her mage armor stand out more in gilded green hues. Her arms were bare, but they were coated in green markings that trailed along her neck, then curled around her temples and jaw in delicate strokes.
There was nothing delicate about the way she glared at the lindworms.
The battle roared to life once more when Gaia raised her hands over her head. Thane bellowed along with the warriors and lunged toward fleeing lindworms.
Gaia dragged a flow of energy toward the army of mages bracing behind her. She opened her palms to the sky, and with brilliant crashes of power, a flash of blinding energy struck at every lindworm near her broken cage.
I swallowed hard watching the carnage. With a simple touch, the lindworms’ skin peeled off their bones, leaving steaming, haggard corpses on the grass.
The mages at her back rushed around her and chased after any dark mages left to fight.
I didn’t even raise a blade. Truth be told, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
Gaia lowered to her haunches and touched the earth. The deafening sound of splitting stone echoed through the meadow, and a blast of molten rock shot up from the crevice. Nearby lindworms and dozens of dark mages cried in agony when the hellish liquid devoured their bodies.
“Dude,” a breathy voice was at my side. Mitch had a gash along his cheek, but his eyes were wide in awe. “Is that your mom?”
I didn’t look at Mitch, simply watched as Gaia pulled a blade from a fallen dark mage and smirked at one of the last remaining lindworms daring to approach. I nodded slowly, the same disbelief in my voice. “I think so.”
Mitch scoffed, his white smile shining through the blood and grime on his face. “She’s hardcore.”
Gaia sliced through the lindworm easily, and with a furious cry, she stabbed the sword deep into the ground as I’d done. The blast was enormous. Mitch ducked, but I accepted every speck of energy she pounded across the field.
It was over. Gaia’s last attack sliced through the meaty flesh of the remaining lindworms, and the final, traitorous dark mages fell.
I released a breath and took in the meadow. The earth was shattered, ravaged between all the mages fighting. Behind Gaia I saw an entire civilization. Huts now littered the meadow as the mage prison took shape entirely. Dust settled, and I looked around for my friends. Mitch was still at my side. Athika propped up a wounded mage. Raffi made his way across the field when he caught my eye.
Thane was behind me, but I didn’t see until he shifted. Bare chested now, he was stronger than I thought, and the scar more brutal. The wound was jagged around his heart, as if someone tried to dig it out.
But my gaze stopped at his arms. Frozen, I blinked to clear my eyes, believing me to be seeing things.
Blood pounded in my skull and no matter what I did, the marks on his arms wouldn’t leave. Two golden seals, with a hint of green were etched into his forearms. They reminded me of Jade’s seal. Written in mage language and covering the space from his wrist to elbow.
My jaw dropped, and I tried to meet his eye, but Thane looked nowhere but across the meadow. Through the smoke and debris Gaia stared back at the warrior. Unblinking and unyielding, they seemed desperate to memorize the other.
“Thane . . . what are those?” I muttered.
Raffi shifted by my side, brow raised. Had he noticed the seals too?
Thane dropped his eyes from Gaia and followed my gaze to his arms. He stepped next to me, one hand cupped around my head, so his fierce eyes could meet mine.
“They are mage seals,” he said, voice hoarse with emotion. “One for my mate. And one for my son.”
He released me and sprinted across the meadow. I was breathless, his words bouncing in my head.
“What did he mean by that,” Raffi snarled. “Teagan, what did he mean?”
I didn’t speak. Shock was a funny thing—I couldn’t move, but I also took in everything around me as though nothing was wrong.
Thane scooped Gaia into his arms. She squeezed him to her and buried her face in his neck. Thane lifted her feet from the ground and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. Gaia’s energy filled my body, and I clutched my chest feeling her relief, her pain, her love—for Thane.
Raffi’s mouth dropped. I understood the feeling.
We all gawked a bit as Thane brushed Gaia’s hair from her face, then crushed his lips against hers. They held one another as though death and blood weren’t strewn at their feet.
“Hey Teagan,” Mitch whispered again. “I think . . . I think Thane’s your dad.”
“Yeah,” I replied without blinking, my voice a breathy whisper. “Yeah, I think so.”
The connections, the strange bond and comfort I’d felt around Thane. My head reeled.
Raffi’s eyes darted constantly between me, to Thane, then back to me. I swallowed my tongue when Thane pulled away from Gaia and glanced at me. I wasn’t sure when Mitch, Raffi, and I started drifting toward them, but I heard Gaia whisper as she brushed her hand over Thane’s cheek. “I knew you’d find me. I heard you shout my name, and I knew you had come.” She looked nowhere but at him.
Thane kissed her quickly before tugging on her hand.
I wanted to run, unsure if I was ready for this moment, but my feet froze in place. Thane held tightly to Gaia’s hand when they came closer.
“He’s here, Gaia,” he said.
I met his eye. Thane was nervous, maybe even more than me, but he smiled, urging Gaia in front of him. Mitch and Raffi backed away when I turned my attention to Gaia’s eyes. Their color was like honey, but they were wet with tears. She reached out a hand—it seemed to take forever until her warm palm touched the side of my face.
Instantly, I was enrobed in familiar, loving energy. I lowered my gaze, tears in my eyes. I didn’t want to break down in front of the warriors.
“Teagan,” Gaia whispered, her voice breaking when she stepped closer to me. I was taller than Gaia, but not by much. She clasped my other cheek. I blinked and a few hot tears dripped onto my skin. Gaia returned my emotion with a watery smile.
“You’re alive,” she said in a soft breath. “I never lost hope, but . . .” She shook her head and looked to Thane for a fleeting moment before returning her focus to me. “I missed you. I love you so much.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist—I guess, in this moment, I didn’t care who saw. Gaia clutched my shoulders and held me against her slender body. I heard her gasp and her own tears fell to my cheeks. When I pulled back, she brushed her hand over my face and turned to Thane.
I dared meet his eye as a warm rush of affection came for the warrior who had already found a place in my heart. “You’re . . . you’re my . . .”
Thane nodded and hooked one arm around my neck, pressing me to his chest.
I clung to him—as though a small boy again—I hugged Thane and reveled in the empty hole in my heart that slowly filled the longer we embraced.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked, wiping at my eyes when I pulled back.
Thane’s jaw tensed, and now he glanced at Gaia. “I couldn’t believe it at first. For years I thought you were dead—truly. Our enemies created a way to completely wipe your energy from us after Gaia was trapped. Then I . . . when you came to the warriors, I didn’t know how to explain it without your mother. I didn’t want to overwhelm you. I hope you’ll forgive me. I want you to know there hasn’t been a day that has passed where you haven’t been in my thoughts.”
I bi
t the inside of my cheek, trying to keep my emotions in check. Gaia wrapped her arms around my neck once more, and Thane joined her. I clung to them. I had endless questions, but for now it could wait. I had found them, the parents I’d always missed. They were here—a powerful mage and a warrior dragon.
The entire army of mages and wyverns sat huddled around several fires—most staying near Thane and Gaia. Athika was silent on one side of Mitch. When she’d learned the truth of her High Priestess and Thane—well, I had a feeling any doubt she had about my love for Jade was gone.
Raffi found a spot next to me. He cleared his throat and handed me Thane’s sword.
“Son of Thane,” he said. “This belongs to you.”
I groaned and shoved the sword away. “Son of Thane?” I shook my head and glanced to where Thane grinned and whispered something in Gaia’s ear. “Raffi, the name’s Teagan. We’ve met many times. Don’t get weird on me.”
Raffi cleared his throat and sheathed the sword again. “I don’t know how to act now. You’re Thane’s son!”
“Act normal,” I said. “But you should do everything I say, and maybe I’ll put in a good word with my dad.”
The word sort of slipped awkwardly off my tongue.
Raffi glared at me, then turned away. “You’re an idiot.”
“There he is. That’s the Raffi that needs to stick around.”
Silence enveloped us. I wanted to bury Thane and Gaia in questions, but my voice died. That’s where Mitch became a good guy to have around.
“So,” Mitch said, lightly. “You’re Teagan’s mom and dad. Can he, like, change into some sort of magic dragon?”
“I’ve never seen him shift,” Thane said, grinning. He glanced at me. “But when you were young you had wyvern abilities. With enough focus, I imagine you could communicate with me in my true form. There were times we came close.”
I nodded against a rush of emotion. I was talking to my father, who was holding hands with my mother. “I’ve felt that way sometimes even now.”
“Look out, Raffi,” Mitch said. “Soon Teagan will be able to hear your mind-talk.”
