Earth Born (The Earth Born Cycle Book 1)

by N. E. Conneely

  He looked into her eyes, his final breath washing over her in a foul stench. “You’re even more unnatural than I am.”

  She yanked her sword out of his chest, watching dispassionately as he fell to the ground. She stepped to the side, and in one swift move that had every one of her ribs throbbing, swung her sword down and removed his head from his body. “I am the daughter of Michelle and Elron. I was created by the very earth that gives all of us life. You’re a monster who twisted yourself until your outside matched your inside, using blood magic and the pain of others. You and your creations are the only unnatural thing here.”

  With his death, the shield went down. Screams, hisses, and the clash of metal against metal filled the air. She lifted her eyes from the body at her feet, realizing that the shield had prevented sound as well as passage. All around her, brownies and a few dragons were fighting more of the misshapen creatures. She scanned the battlefield but couldn’t see Cord.

  The intensity of blood magic ratcheted up, scratching at her shields once more. Shasta turned to the spill. It’d reached Mr. Evil’s feet, and something about whatever magic was left in him was fueling the spells. She was afraid to probe it, because if she opened herself to it, there was a chance it could latch on to her magic and either corrupt her or drain her to fuel whatever it was trying to do. A true witch, especially a gifted one like her mom, might be able to undo the spells. She didn’t have the power, ability, or training to attempt such an undertaking.

  With one arm cradling her rib cage and the other grasping the hilt of her sword, Shasta knelt down. She dropped the sword on the ground and pressed her fingers into the earth. She offered what power she had left to this twist of magic and elven desire. “Encapsulate the spell spill, in rock and in fire, so it may never again taint the earth or carry out this monster’s desire.”

  The earth took her magic, including most of the pain block. It rumbled under her, surging up until both the creature’s body and the tainted ground were in the center of a depression. Bright yellow magma swirled up the sides, cascaded over the top, and began encasing it. As the rock cooled, it slowly created a shell around the blood magic. Behind that, earth crawled over the oval capsule, hardening as it went. In a matter of moments, the ugly magic and the creature’s body went from tainting the earth to being trapped inside a diamond-encrusted oval. It was resting atop a pillar of earth, like a trophy after a battle.

  “Thank you.” For doing what I could not, she added silently.

  The grass moved to tickle her hand.

  Shasta grabbed her sword and pushed herself to her feet. While the dragons might think that was a nice trophy, there were still parts of the battle that had yet to be won. She shuffled toward the trailer holding poor Branstan.

  One of the twisted dragon-human creatures swooped down at her. She held her sword up, ignoring the creature’s slashing claws, and let the creature’s own momentum cut it open from sternum to tail. It fell to the ground, twitching and screaming. She slashed at its throat and kept going. She dodged around two brownies fighting a dragon-human and then fought another one of the creatures herself before she finally got to the trailer.

  Before, Branstan had lain there limply, but this time he looked at her with big, pain-filled eyes. There was blood dripping from cuts on his face, and along one shoulder she could see where the scales had been ripped out.

  She dismissed her sword. “Branstan, do you recognize me?”

  “Release me.” He hissed.

  “Gladly, but I’m gonna need a real answer first.” She held her ground, unwilling to get any closer to the dragon before she knew how aware he was of the current situation. She didn’t want him to mistake her for one of the bad guys.

  “Shasta, our savior.” He closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. “Help me.”

  “Can’t do much to heal you right now, but I’ll get you out.” She moved first to the big links that would unscrew and quickly released the pressure on his neck. Then she did the same for the ones holding his feet down and the big straps over the bulk of his body. Finally all that was left was the collar. She climbed up onto the trailer, clenching her teeth against the pain from her ribs, and felt around. As far she could tell, it was like the last one and didn’t have any easy way to open it. She summoned her sword and rested it against the metal. It took a few moments, but it did melt its way through. She leaned over his back and did the same thing on the other side, breathing shallowly the entire time. As soon as the sword melted its way through, the bottom half of the collar slipped off his neck and onto the trailer with a heavy thunk.

  Shasta dismissed her sword and slowly climbed off the trailer, sighing with relief when both her feet were once again on the ground. She crossed over to Branstan’s face. “Can you move? I think I got all the chains undone. You aren’t totally free, but if you’re willing to wait, the brownies or I can undo the rest once we’ve dealt with the remaining creatures.”

  Branstan stretched out his neck and flexed his wings. “I’m well enough for now. See to your partner and to the others.”

  Shasta nodded and turned away. More dragons, mostly adults, were active now, and from the spouts of flames illuminating the night, they were making short work of the remaining creatures. A few brownies had one cornered and were in the process of putting it down. A blur of movement near where she’d been fighting Mr. Evil caught her attention. There were two creatures attacking someone.

  Shasta summoned her sword and started jogging in that direction. A spout of flames erupted nearby, and she could see Cord between the two creatures. She broke into a run and came at the creatures from behind. She slashed across their wings, rendering them flightless. One dove to the left, and the other rolled to the right. Shasta followed the one to her right.

  It popped up on its hind feet, swiping at her with its talons. She leaped back but not fast enough to spare her clothing or avoid another set of shallow scratches. Her ribs ached in protest. She darted forward, and with one quick movement slit its throat. It fell to the ground, gurgling as it died.

  She swung around, ready to charge to Cord’s rescue. Instead, she found him standing there, the other creature dead behind him, breathing heavily as he looked at her.

  She started over to him. “You’re okay. I was afraid—”

  He took a step back.

  Shasta stopped, her feet suddenly too heavy to move.

  He unclenched his jaw. “All these years, why didn’t you tell me? I confessed my love, and you still didn’t tell me who you really are?”

  Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “It’s not like that.”

  “Then tell me. Tell me!” he screamed.

  She popped one eye open.

  His breathing was ragged. His voice lowered. “Tell me, because I don’t understand.”

  Even though it hurt, and she was sure it would hurt him, she told him the truth. “How could I tell you? How could I explain it to anyone? You and my family had a hard enough time believing the earth created me. Would you have believed a child who said she was made to finish her parents’ mission?”

  “What mission?” He vanished his sword as he motioned with his good hand. “They’ve done everything they set out to do.”

  Overhead, a dragon shot flames into the air. In the fleeting light, she could see Cord’s furious eyes clearly. “Mom and Dad are considered the last Hunters. They killed the last of the demons, but there were two others whose lives were forever changed by the demons, and all four of their visions went into creating both my brother and me. My dad’s first wife, Sylvia, was a demon’s host for hundreds of years and dreamed of a world without evil. Varro, an ancient fey who died helping them kill a demon and taught them the ways of the Hunters, spent centuries wishing for a new order, one that could take over the Hunters’ mission, not simply killing demons but all evil.”

  He opened his mouth, but Shasta couldn’t stop. “Then there were my parents. An elf and a witch can’t have children. They wanted a family and were start
ing the adoption process when you helped me find them. You see, the earth, the spirits of the land, water, sky, and others without name love my parents. My dad has spent his life being her shield, and they hoped for people who could carry on in their place once they were gone. My mom, she was once a broken witch without any power. She wanted to die, tried to, but still prayed for another to help the police, to fight magical problems others couldn’t face.

  “All those dreams mixed. Varro and Sylvia were owed for what they had sacrificed and suffered. My parents were loved for what they had done for the world. Victor and I were created by the earth. We’re the genetic children of Michelle and Elron, a witch and an elf, formed of dreams, desires, and needs.” She finished, hoping with everything in her that he could understand.

  “That didn’t answer my question.” His voice was hard enough to cut diamonds. “Why didn’t you tell me? I rescued you from that horrible home and helped you find Michelle and Elron. I’ve been your friend ever since. You said you trusted me!”

  “I do!” she shot back. “But who would believe a child who said they were created to hunt evil? Who would look at a child and see what they would become? Besides, I don’t think you’ve been truthful with me either. What’s your Calling?”

  Cord clenched his jaw and lowered his eyes.

  “Tell me,” she said. “What is your Calling?”

  He swallowed and looked up at her. “If I have one, it’s tied to you, but I’ve never been sure. I don’t know how to be sure.”

  Her voice softened. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  Cord didn’t answer.

  “I didn’t tell you for the same reason you didn’t tell me. I was afraid. Terrified really, of losing Mom, Dad, and you. I didn’t want any of you to think I was crazy. I didn’t want to be sent away.” Standing there under his glare, she felt like a child again.

  He huffed out a breath and shook his head. “You wouldn’t have lost me.”

  “How was I to know that? Days ago you threatened to leave because you love me. How is that, at its core, any different?” She stood there with what felt like half the world between them. “You didn’t give me a chance that night, but I have some thoughts you need to hear. What if you got it wrong? What if you saved a girl and fell in love with a woman? A young woman, but a woman all the same.”

  Cord held one arm stiffly by his side, and blood dripped to the ground as he gazed at her across the battlefield.

  “What if you didn’t seduce me? What if we willingly seduced each other?” she said, challenging him. “What if I fell in love with a man who was gentle enough to help the frightened child who didn’t understand the world around her and strong enough to follow me into battle? What if I was afraid that you couldn’t love me knowing what I really am? What if all these months, the problem has been me, not you? What then, Cord?” Shasta implored. “Then could you accept my love? Could you be my partner in life and at work?”

  When he didn’t say anything, she kept saying all the things she should’ve said months or even years ago. “All those years ago, I didn’t think you would believe me if I said I was created by the earth to fight evil, but this is me. Given a choice I’d settle down on a farm and adopt children and live a quiet life. The earth told me I’d get that one day, but until then I am what I was made to be: Shasta, killer of evil, one of only two half-elf, half-witch creatures to walk the land, taught by my father and you to fight with body and steel, taught by my mother to use my magic, given parts of the memory of the last elf to be a demon’s host.” She licked her lips. “I was never a normal child, but even if I had been, even if we’d only met a year ago, I still think I’d love you because you’re a good man, and when I imagine my life without you, it’s like living with the sun hidden behind a wall of heavy gray clouds.” Shasta finished in a rush of words. Seconds ticked past. If he would simply say something, anything, to break the silence, to free her heart from not knowing if it should rejoice in love or mourn a loss.

  There was pain and a mix of emotions she couldn’t read in his eyes. He lifted his chin. “What if I love you, but I’m not sure I knew you? Do I get a chance to know this Shasta, or do I have to make a decision now, when I’m not sure if I loved what I thought you were or who you really are?”

  “I could say the same to you.” She could, but it wouldn’t be true. A Calling, tied to her or not, wasn’t going to change her feelings, but her past could change his. She closed her eyes and tried to push back the pain of her heart shattering. Taking a deep breath, she met his gaze. “We take time. We see if each of us is what the other thought. We decide if we can be work partners or if we need to be assigned different cases.” She held on to the other words, the ones where she admitted she wasn’t sure she could love anyone else, where she begged him to love her the way she loved him. She refused to breathe life into those words because right now, while she was filled with pain and surrounded by destruction, she wanted something to hold on to, but tomorrow she would be stronger. Tomorrow she wouldn’t want to beg, and tomorrow she’d know there was life without him. Perhaps not the life she’d dreamed of but perhaps a better life than she’d dreamed.

  “It’s not a no.” His voice was sharp, making her jerk her head up to look at him. He walked closer, close enough that he could reach out and touch her. “It’s not a no. It’s time.”

  She nodded, afraid that if she spoke, she’d say something she’d regret.

  Cord’s eyes were hot and fierce as he leaned down and caught her lips with his own, stealing her breath away with a hard, frantic kiss. “It’s not a no.” His breath was warm against her skin. “I’m an elf, and we think things through, remember?”

  A small smile broke through the pain of her shattered heart. She lifted her hands up and pushed him away from her. “You get space to think, or you get me. You don’t get both.”

  He took five steps back. He looked up at the sky and then down at the earth before finally locking his eyes on her. “Fair, but we’re still partners.” He turned on his heel and stalked away before she could say anything.

  Men. She shook her head, trying to clear the haze left behind from his kiss.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When her head cleared, she took a long look around. The fighting seemed to have come to an end. Dragons were waking up across the town, and brownies flooded the area, some carrying first aid kits and others already hard at work collecting bodies and body parts.

  As if it were some sign, the last fragments of the pain block faded away, and her four broken ribs loudly reminded her of their presence. When she inhaled the pain from them, it blotted out the discomfort from the plethora of lacerations and handful of pulled muscles. Shasta settled on the ground. She was so tired she could sleep sitting up and in enough pain that rest was impossible.

  Under her the earth hummed contentedly. The sour note she’d detected was gone. In spite of the pain and fatigue, she found herself smiling. The dragons were safe. Cord was safe. The brownies were safe. She was alive, and her dented heart would mend, though it would be a lot easier to work through the hurt emotions if the rest of her weren’t so banged up.

  The diamond-encrusted egg sat in the center of the field, and false dawn’s light slowly edged across the sky. She’d have to get her mom out here to see if the mess of blood magic was well and truly contained. Under no circumstances did she want any of that evil leaching out.

  Cornelia hurried over, a big satchel slung over her shoulder. The brownie’s eyes raked over Shasta. “Ribs?”

  “Yes.”

  “Any other serious injuries under all the grime?” Cornelia knelt next to her and started rifling through the bag.

  Shasta held back a sigh, mostly because it would hurt her ribs. “Nothing of note.”

  Cornelia nodded and tugged two charms out of the bag. She held them up. One was about two inches in diameter and the other closer to four. “The large one is for the bones. The small for the rest. Let the first do its work before the second.
”

  “Thank you.” Shasta poked at a scrape on her arm until a drop of fresh blood oozed out. She smeared it across the large charm and held it against her body. Breath by breath, she could feel the bones knitting back together. Within moments she could breathe normally again and the pain had faded away.

  Shasta celebrated by sucking in several lungfuls of the crisp morning air. The sore muscles and various cuts still ached, but having healed ribs had been more than she’d hoped for this morning. She picked at the same scrape again, this time managing to catch the drop of blood on the charm. Then she tucked it in her pocket and pushed herself to her feet. It could work while she was moving.

  She helped drag bodies—some she’d killed, but most she hadn’t—to the edge of town. Most of the time she was alone or with a brownie, but she moved two corpses with Romeo and one with Matilda. Around her, the rest of her class pitched in, dragging bodies and helping awaken the rest of the dragons.

  While she worked, she heard news from the rest of the battle. Several dragons had injuries, but so far she hadn’t heard about any deaths, and she was hoping it stayed that way. Two of the brownies had died fighting for the dragons. They were laid out on the stone tables in the dining complex. She expected there would be a funeral later today or tomorrow. She hauled a forelimb over to the pile and tossed it on top of the rest of the body parts.

  There must’ve been some signal she couldn’t hear, because when the sun’s first rays peeked over the horizon, all the dragons stopped what they were doing and looked to the east. She turned with them, but all her half-elven eyes could see was the sunrise. After long moments of red light washing over the ground, Shasta spotted a smudge high overhead. In the time it took her to blink, it was the size of an eagle.

  Hardly a second later, it was large enough for her to see pearlescent scales reflecting the morning’s reds and purples. Even high above her and diving steeply, it was the largest dragon she had seen.