The ball of magic burned like pure fire but needed no fuel beyond her own power. She directed it off to one side of the cavern and then summoned several more of the little balls into being.
The brighter light now revealed her son chained to the bare bedrock by coils of twisting and shifting power. She’d designed the spells to leech energy from him, preventing him from losing control of his magic but also to stop any attempts at escape. Her spells had continued to strip his magic from him until the levels had stabilized.
For now, he was safe, but this intervention wasn’t a long-term solution. She’d have to begin teaching her son this night if he had any hope of surviving free of the Battle Goddess’s influence, as well as avoiding Gregory’s notice.
“I will destroy you. All those you love will know agony. This world will burn with my death!” He struggled, heaving himself a few inches off the ground. The magic tightened, roughly slamming him back down. But it only seemed to fuel his need to escape, and he continued to twist and thrash as he tried to snap the coils holding him.
After a long battle accompanied by snarled curses in a good two dozen languages, Gryton collapsed back to the ground and panted, his fit over for now.
Hmmm. Gryton did not seem like he would be the most willing of students.
Well, she would not be the first mother who had to deal with an unruly child.
She walked around him in a half-circle and then knelt next to him. He uttered something else unpleasant in a guttural tone that was actually rather impossible.
Daryna raised an eyebrow and then chuckled as he continued to spew venomous words at her. “Is that any way to talk to your mother?”
Reaching down, she flipped up his helmet’s visor.
Ah. His eyes. Hooded and intense, they were beautiful. Dark, liquid chocolate irises with a ring of flaming amber around the outside glowered back at her. The pupils were vertical, like a cat’s. Hmmm. Or a dragon’s.
Briefly, she wondered what form her soul had been clothed in when she’d conceived Gryton. Having one’s memories wiped was a great annoyance, but one she wouldn’t allow to get the better of her. She would recover as much knowledge as she could and put it to good use.
But first, she would just drink in the sight of her and Durnathyne’s son.
“You are beautiful,” she said and took in the sight of his smooth, pale skin and high cheek bones where they sloped down into perfectly sculpted cheeks and jawline. Presently, his lips were marred by a sneer, which she ignored. From what she could see that wasn’t hidden by the rest of his helmet, he possessed a mane, black and thick and sleek, unlike his father’s somewhat unruly one.
She fingered a bit that had escaped the edge of his helmet. It was soft. The only softness she could find. His eyes had narrowed dangerously, and his lips pulled back from his fangs. He suddenly drew in a deep breath and a rumble built in his chest.
Daryna placed a single finger across his lips. “Before you try to breathe fire on me, there are a few things I’d like to say, my beautiful one.”
Her actions or words seem to surprise him, for he held himself still and watched her with some uncertainty showing in his expression.
“I truly am sorry your father and I could not have been there when you were first born to guide and train you in the use of your powers. The Divine Ones recalled us to the Spirit Realm and wiped our memories within moments of your birth. But I am here now. I will teach you what you need to know to survive and control your power.”
To add credence to her words, she waved a hand at the coils of magic holding Gryton down, and they vanished, freeing him. While he was still too shocked by her words and actions to even think to escape, she continued.
“My aid comes freely, and I require nothing of you in return. However, if you come to trust me and are willing to assist me, we can achieve greatness together. If the Lady of Battles is allowed to continue as she has, she will rampage across all three realms until her madness and twisted grief destroys all creation. I do not plan to allow that to happen.”
She stood and then held out a hand to him. He stared at her offer of help but did not take it, instead rolling swiftly to his knees and standing without aid.
He towered over her, but she did not feel threatened.
His chest still rose and fell rapidly from his earlier exertions, but he did not attack.
“Why?” The word came out in a growl.
“Why am I willing to help you? Or why am I willing to go after the Battle Goddess?”
Gryton tilted his head and studied her. “Both.”
“Because I am your mother. That is reason enough. But if you want more it is also because I think the Divine Ones were wrong in their judgment. My gargoyle protector and I have served the Light since the beginning. We have never served our own desires over the needs of the Light. But in our last life, we chose differently and were punished for our choice. I can see that in your memories.”
Gryton took a step back as if that small distance was enough to prevent her from seeing into his mind. It wasn’t. “Durnathyne and I chose to create you. I do not know the full reason, but I can guess. Even then we knew where the Battle Goddess’s madness would lead.”
Her son reached up and slammed his visor back into place and then half turned, like he was planning to leave—or more likely flee.
“You are my son. I fully believe that no child born from the Avatars great love for each other could ever be inherently evil. I offer you my loyalty, love, and knowledge freely. I will train you. You are not evil, no matter what the Battle Goddess has taught you to believe. You did not choose to be the way you are. You were given no choice. You protected yourself the only way you could, aligning yourself with the only one who would offer you shelter.”
He laughed and continued away, heading for the tunnel that would lead to freedom. “I am not some soft innocent in need of your protection.”
“No,” Daryna agreed. “But you do need training. A great deal more training to reach your full potential and to learn how to hide completely from my other half. Your father is set in his ways. It will take some time before he is ready to meet you.”
Gryton halted but kept his back to her. “You would pit yourself against your other half? For me? Why?”
“Because it is a parent’s role to raise, guide and train their offspring in order that the young one is skilled enough to survive in the world. But I also believe it is a parent’s duty to love their child as well.”
“Love?”
His snort of disdain was at odds with the wellspring of need she felt rising from him. Like any child, he’d craved his parents love at one point. He’d since buried that need, but it was still there under layers and layers of disdain.
“However, I do not need to pit myself against my other half in this. He will not need to know this for a while. Only once you are trained, and I have overthrown the Lady of Battles and the Lord of the Underworld, will I introduce Gregory to his son. He will see what I have already seen, that you are not without redemption.”
“He’s tried his hardest to kill me each time we’ve met,” Gryton pointed out. But Daryna noticed he’d turned and walked back toward her. “Somehow, I don’t think the one who sired me will ever greet me with…open arms.”
“Not yet, no. But you inherited some of his memories. You know we chose to bring you into being; it wasn’t an accident.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for starting my miserable existence?” Gryton’s tone was incredulous.
“I…do not believe that was our intention.” What could she say to that? She had no memories of her own, only those few chaotic ones Gryton had inherited from his father.
“For whatever comfort it gives, I think you meant to leave me a gift of all your memories and knowledge,” Gryton said. “You knew you would not be able to train me yourselves once the Divine Ones discovered what you planned. Moments after I awoke and took my first breath, I felt a great spell ripped away from my grasp and shattere
d across the Magic Realm. Moments after that the first of the gargoyles came to slay me.”
Gryton pulled off his helmet and braced one fist against his hip. “I know well what the Divine Ones think of me. And the gargoyle legion. And Lord Death. I don’t know why I told you this.”
Suspicion entered his gaze.
“I have weaved no spell over you. Unless honesty has that same power.”
Gryton grunted in a very Gregory-like manner.
But Daryna sensed a softening in his resolution. “One day, if you’re amenable to it, I would like to glean more of our last life from what memories you did absorb before the spell was destroyed. Then, when it is time, I will share them with Gregory.”
“Don’t you fear what the Divine Ones will do to you? They wiped your memories once.”
“Yes. But they did not unmake us. They didn’t even demote us, as it were. We are still their Avatars. Perhaps they have allowed us to return this time to do what they themselves could not.”
“To kill the Lady of Battles and the Lord of the Underworld? You actually believe that.”
“Yes.”
“But why should I trust anything you say?”
Daryna stood and raised her arms away from her sides and turned her palms out, showing them empty of any weapon, be it magical or cold steel. “Look within my mind for the truth. I know no other way to reassure you.”
She lowered the shields, both physical and mental, that surrounded and protected her.
Gryton’s nostrils flared in surprise, but he swiftly stepped up to her and pulled off one gauntlet and then the glove underneath. His strong fingers closed upon her jaw and even as he closed his eyes, his magic reached into her, seeking all that she was.
His soft, quickly drawn breath told her when he found her memories, her present thoughts, and plans. And also, her devotion to him. Family. He was family. The one thing she’d always wanted but could never truly have until him.
After long moments, Gryton released her jaw. His eyes blinked open, and he just stood, silent and staring for long moments.
“Are you ready to accept my offer of training?”
He sat cross-legged on the floor. Once he was settled comfortably, he looked up at her. “I will allow you to teach me. If you later think to betray me, I will return the favor. What lesson shall we start with?”
“Why, the first one.” And so Daryna did, settling to sit cross-legged opposite him.
She had less than three hours to begin his training, but Gryton proved an able student. By the time the sky to the east had taken on a pinkish hue, he’d already learned better ways to harness and control his power without leashing it so tightly that it fought him to be free.
Daryna regretted that her first session with her son was already ending. But there would be other days, although, escaping her gargoyle protector unnoticed might prove difficult. She couldn’t risk using the collars a second time. In truth, she couldn’t stomach the thought of enslaving Gregory to her will. No. The collars would come off this day.
She would just have to use something else as a distraction. Daryna frowned, not liking where her mind went, but Lillian would be the easiest distraction to use against Gregory if it came to that.
Glancing at Gryton, she said, “If I can’t escape tomorrow night to continue your training, take what I’ve already taught you and reinforce those lessons until they become second nature to you. And think on my plan. I do not require an answer right away.”
“I will think upon all you have told me.”
She sensed Gryton still didn’t entirely trust to the new path fate had set him on, and given his past, Daryna couldn’t blame him. Everything that had shaped him reinforced that he could only trust himself. But he was also a creature of logic more than passion, and the intricacies of her plan to slay the Battle Goddess had impressed him.
“Good. Even if Gregory finds your trail and puts a wrench in my plans, I will make certain you don’t have to flee back to the Magic Realm empty-handed. But we will talk more on that later. I must go.”
“I will be here waiting.”
Daryna nodded. He would be. She sensed no deception in his words.
With some regret, she turned from her firstborn son and summoned magic. The portal swirled to life in a vortex of power, and without a backward glance, she stepped through it and appeared in the forest she’d left behind only a few hours before.
She made her way back to the stone cottage and continued inside until she was again looking down at her most beloved other half. She patted him gently and crawled into bed and curled into his warmth.
He slept on, unaware of her treachery.
Chapter 5
After an awkward breakfast in their room, Lillian again found herself in the company of Daryna and the ever-watchful Gregory as they made their way down to the center of the maze where her hamadryad grew. Daryna had said that she was capable of summoning the magic she would need to remove the collars herself, but that by using the hamadryad to channel the flow of magic from the Spirit Realm, it would be less wear and tear on her new body.
While Daryna had explained the spell work to Lillian, Gregory circled them like an overprotective border collie. Any soldier or scientist who came too close got a warning snarl. Her gargoyle protector had been out of sorts ever since he woke up and found he was sandwiched between his mate and his Sorceress.
Lillian might have felt sorry for his apparent confusion if Daryna hadn’t been caressing him when she first woke up. It was evident he’d enjoyed his Sorceress’s touch until he saw Lillian’s expression. At which point, he’d bolted from the bed like she’d set his tail on fire.
The one saving grace was that Gran was waiting for them just outside the maze’s main entrance with a dozen other Fae in tow. The new arrivals gave Lillian someone else to walk and talk with. Thus, giving her an excuse to ignore Daryna.
Lillian soon learned that Gran had recruited other Fae in case of trouble with the military or the accompanying science team. In the end, there wasn’t any trouble though. Gran’s evil eye was more than enough to keep the scientists in check.
If she were given a choice, Lillian preferred the soldiers over the scientists. At least the soldiers only watched them with eagle-eyed distrust. Which was better than being viewed as a specimen for study.
When they reached the center of the glade, they found a good two dozen soldiers stationed inside. Lillian noticed a variety of flags decorating the different uniforms. It looked like half of the world’s other militaries had come to join the fun.
“After seeing what one of the Battle Goddess’s minions could do all by himself,” Gran said as she gestured at the scorch marks that scarred the area, “the joint taskforce has tripled the number of soldiers in the glade in case more enemies than just Gryton came here with him. The military knows the hamadryad is the easiest way to travel between the realms.”
“I see the alliance has developed a little more diversity.” Lillian nodded to a variety of uniforms.
“It’s funny how the threat of a demigoddess from another realm has convinced many of the world’s politicians to put aside their petty bickering.”
“It’s actually reassuring.”
“To you maybe,” Gran said. “All I see is a big political headache and the likelihood of even more scientists arriving. At this point, even if we devastate the Battle Goddess’s armies and win the war, the Clan and the Coven will never be able to disappear into the relative safety of obscurity.”
“One problem at a time. At present, I’m more worried about the possibility of more Gryton-type minions arriving than I am of what might happen three months or a year from now.” Lillian still remembered all too well the damage Gryton and the collar had inflicted upon Gregory.
Gran sighed. “I’m not even certain who has military command at this point, but I did convince Major Resnick and his superiors to agree to pull some of the soldiers back while Daryna works with the tree to remove the collars.” Gran gr
inned. “Well, convince might be too gentle a word for what I did. There might have been mention of angry demigods should anyone get between them and the hamadryad.”
Once they reached the tree, Gran and the other Fae dropped back and stationed themselves around the inside wall of the maze with the military personnel.
Lillian again found herself alone with a stoic sorceress and a watchful gargoyle. While she wasn’t happy to be indebted to Daryna, she was glad that the collars would be removed soon.
It would also mean that Gregory would be free to call upon his own powers without limit or command. That would be another great weight off her shoulders.
They halted just under the drip line of her hamadryad’s canopy. Standing in the shade of her tree’s sheltering branches, some of the tension that had lodged between her shoulder blades eased. Her worries were not completely gone, but they lessened as they always did when she was out with her hamadryad.
After a moment, Lillian turned her attention to Daryna, where she’d started to summon magic for a spell.
“When I studied the tattoos while I was still a hamadryad, I learned a great deal about how the spells of enslavement worked. The threads of power linking them to your bodies are easy enough to undo from outside. There were a few other nasty bits of spell work involved, but nothing I can’t handle. Although, I will start with Gregory. He’ll be able to protect himself better than you would be able to. And while I’m confident, I won’t risk our child on an arrogant notion that I know all there is to know about the collars.”
Lillian nodded her understanding and agreement. Normally, she would have been quick to volunteer first, but now with the child, she had to be more cautious.
“Gregory, whenever you are ready,” Daryna said.
He took a step closer to the Sorceress, and then he knelt on the ground and closed his eyes, tilting his head back almost in supplication. An uneasy feeling rose within Lillian again. But Daryna merely rested one hand on Gregory’s right shoulder while she fingered the tattoo that circled his throat.
Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset 2 Page 4
