"This isn't going to be easy to say so I'll just say it. We are too weak on our own. We need your help."
"We all knew that a while ago, didn't we? Or have I given you too much credit?"
"Maybe, but nobody is going to agree to the idea of fighting with you." The Demon shrugged.
"We're not thrilled about the idea either, but here we are, all of us in the same place. If we're going to remove the White Witch from power, we’ll need to work together."
"The White Witch?"
"Yes, the one that commands the demons. She has control of the natural forces in a way that hasn't been seen for centuries. It sustains her. You could say that she feeds on it like a mother's milk. The other witches are parlor magicians in comparison." That was significant news to Morrigan. Possibly a key to winning but it wouldn't be enough to sway the Benandanti.
"I don't think you understand. I'm already close to being tossed for insubordination. If I suggest that we work with you, they will laugh the entire way to my new prison cell."
"Nonsense. It looked like you had complete control of the meeting."
"You were in the conference room?"
"I didn't come just to stand out in the hallway and talk to you, but I'm happy that it's worked out that way." She was happy too, though she wouldn't admit it. His offer to show her another vision had been creeping into all of her thoughts. He took a slow step toward her. A small part of her was still holding onto the self-made promise to resist him, but with every step he took she was nearing the breaking point. She couldn't let this control her.
"So I have your word? You promise your full support?"
"All you have to do is call my name and we will be there." All by herself, she had formed an alliance with the demons. There wouldn't be any following him to find out where he got into the base. She would have to trust him now, or at least feign trust.
"That's not the only thing that I came for. Are you ready for what I have to show you?" He asked like he knew what she was thinking.
Only I can read your mind, and it would be better if you kept your distance from him.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." He was only a few steps away. When had he crossed the space between them? His voice had a melodic sound that she hadn’t noticed before. Like a lullaby.
"I can promise you that you’ll want to see this." She was waiting for him to lift his hand and point his finger, but this time it was like he was waiting for her to make the move. She wanted to lift her arm, but she was afraid of losing control. Afraid, but also excited. Did that mean that she was becoming more like an animal? Like a monster?
Don't let him trick you.
If they were going to war soon, she wouldn't have another chance at this. She didn't want to feel like she was betraying Matt, but what if the visions that she saw somehow involved him? It would only be a touch. She could feel her arm slowly lifting into the air and her index finger pointing out toward The Demon.
Morrigan, you don’t have to.
Every second stretched as she held her breath and waited for the terror and the exhilaration. The Demon lifted his own hand and they connected.
The feelings flooded her again first with warmth and compassion. She felt like she was experiencing a new understanding of love. To love and be loved. She saw her future daughter again but this time as a little girl. She was training with a man. It was Matt. Did that mean that Matt would be the father? Would she marry him? She felt a surge of emotions that she couldn’t untangle. For a moment it felt like The Demon was laughing.
Then the scene shifted and this time her daughter was older. Maybe a teenager and she was holding a sword. It was Morrigan's own sword. The one that had been presented to her by the master of all sword makers as a gift to the Dragon Huntress. Her daughter was training with other Benandantistudents and their spirit animals. Did that mean that they would really build a school for training their people at a younger age?
The scene shifted another time and it was the war that The Demon had shown her before. Her daughter rode with confidence on the back of Loric, just like she did. Like she had. Her daughter was a phantom queen, conquering the landscape of demons and witches battling against her people. Morrigan swelled with pride for a daughter that she had never met, but would have to become a part of this world if her people had a chance of surviving the war.
Morrigan herself had preached to Matt a hundred times that they should be given a chance to make a decision for themselves before they were old enough to sense the spirit animal bond. It was ironic that her own daughter would have no chance at such a decision. Loric had told her that passing the spirit bond to her daughter would be complicated. She probed Loric for the answer, but he wouldn't respond. He was ignoring her. She had been standing there for too long.
She summoned all of her strength and severed the connection between herself and The Demon. Her legs wobbled as she caught herself and leaned against the wall. The Demon was smiling at her like he knew a secret. She would make him tell her. She focused and stood up straight as she stepped close to The Demon. His beautiful smile gave away nothing.
"What is it that you're not telling me about my daughter? Are these things that you're showing me meant to happen?"
"Yes, but things don't always happen like they're meant to."
“Like they’re meant to?”
“Or the way that we wish they would.” She lowered her voice.
"How can I make sure that these things happen?" The Demon smiled more and raised his palm up next to his face. She didn't have to ask what to do. She put her palm against his and the feelings coursing through her from The Demon were overwhelming.
She expected to see her future daughter again, but instead she saw herself. It seemed like it was present day, in a building just like this one. The room was small, filled with mops and brooms and shelves of cleaning supplies. Had someone locked her in? No, she had locked herself in, and she wasn't alone. Someone pulled her close. A man kissed her neck, but not the way that Matt kissed her neck. This was more forceful. She had to know who it was. She tried to lean her head back to see his face but she had no control. Then the man pulled his head back and she saw The Demon’s wicked smile.
She strained her entire body as she pulled free of the connection again. He caught her as she nearly collapsed to the ground. It couldn't be true.
"What did you just show me?"
"I think you know," he said while helping her get to her feet. He smiled at her just like in the vision. She hated him but if the visions were true, then she also needed him. She searched for some counsel from Loric, but he remained silent. She knew that she had become many things to many people, but right now she needed to be more than just a girl with a dragon. She needed to be a catalyst for the future of her people. She decided to act before she had the chance to change her mind.
She turned the knob to the door on the wall next to them and pushed The Demon into the room. Recognizing the familiar brooms and shelves of supplies, she closed the door and locked it. She could do this, could be this, if it was what her people needed. What her daughter needed. She truly had become a monster.
A dragon.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
AN HOUR LATER, Morrigan, Matt, and Mat's rat left the base on Loric for a woods several miles away. She hoped that the darkness had saved them from being seen and any relationship rumors that might spread. They were usually very careful and never traveled together, but the tip from The Demon about the White Witch couldn't wait.
"So Loric told Gregors that I needed some assistance?"
"Yeah. That's how I knew to come and find you." His rat sat on his shoulder and at some bread from Matt's hand. Loric had been quiet in her head during her time with The Demon.
I was holding my breath, hoping that he didn't do anything that he would regret.
"I was fine. That guy gave me a really hot tip."
"He gave you a hot tip? Or he was the hot tip?"
He's got you there.
> She thought it best to ignore Matt's comment.
"He told me something that we needed to know. There's a witch with bright white hair. I didn't think much of it at the mountain. She was quite stylish actually, except that one of her eyes were white also."
"Maybe she can't see how she looks in a mirror. You should send her some hair dye."
"She was the witch that revealed the hole that the demons came out of. Somehow she's able to control them."
"So if we can kill the witch, then we can stop the war?" She hadn't thought it through like that. She had been so focused on the war being sometime in the distant future.
"You mean if we can find her."
"How many places could she be? The cave is the only place we've allowed them that's large enough to train an army of demons."
"You think they need to be trained?"
"I don't know. They have to do some sort of training or coordinating."
Demons are born with more knowledge about scheming than the witches will ever have.
"So if the demons are at the cave, then we could find the White Witch."
"In theory. We could also find hundreds of witches and even more demons." It didn't sound like a fun picnic.
"That cave isn't very big. It might be difficult for Loric to move around in there,” said Morrigan.
It's plenty big for me.
"A dragon isn't what I would call inconspicuous. I think this would call for more stealth than sheer might." Loric groaned his disagreement.
"He's right, Loric. If she's deep into the cave, we won't be able to get very far inside. We’ll need to draw her out."
"How will we do that?"
"A distraction."
Morrigan, I don't like where this is going.
"Remember that we're trying to avoid a battle against the witches,” said Matt.
"We don't need to battle them. Someone else can do it for us."
"Who?"
"The Demon from the gully told me that the majority of his kind are opposed to their alliance with the witches. He's promised to send an army to help if we call for them." Matt looked into the sky.
"Demons fighting against demons? That isn't something that could easily be explained away at your court-martial. How do we know that the witch would even come out?"
She probably wouldn't.
"If we go with a small team and then call the demons to the mouth of the cave, we should have the distraction that we need. Then a team could go in through that back door that was reported earlier in the year and catch her with her robe down." This could work perfectly. There was the chance that the demons would turn on them, but at least the rest of the forces would be spared. It was worth the risk if there was a chance of catching the White Witch.
You don't think that I would be a big enough distraction?
You may have to be if the demons don't show up.
"How soon do you think that we could pull this together?" she asked.
"Considering how distracted the base is right now, nobody is even going to notice. I think it would be easy to put it together in the next 24 hours." She hugged Matt and Gregors ran back-and-forth across their shoulders. They had a real plan that could prevent thousands of deaths as long as the word of a demon was worth something.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MORRIGAN FLEW to the cave with Loric, but the remaining six-person team had to drive an hour through the night to reach the cavern in Kentucky known as the Witches Cave.
It was a part of the large cave system that stretched for hundreds of miles underground. The only entrance to the large, unmapped chambers was through a small lake. The witches had to create a pocket of air that they could use to travel through the water, or they simply swam. It had been a secret rendezvous of the witches for centuries, so instead of trying to push them out, the Benandanti had set up a permanent base in Kentucky to monitor the witches. Then the base had led to the building of the underground University.
The witches were aware of their watch and mostly ignored them. One thing that they didn't know, though, was that several years ago the troops had found a small entrance to the cave system that dropped straight to the witches cavern. The discovery had been kept fairly quiet, but Matt happened to work in the office that had received the report on the finding. So far it had only been confirmed by a fox, but tonight they would all see if it was true.
The group huddled around the small opening that had previously been covered by fallen rocks for centuries.
"Loric and I will help create the distraction at the lake entrance to the cave. Then when we can get away, we will come back here and try to catch up to you."
"If you can catch up to us. You won't be able to fit Loric down this hole," said Josie, a trooper from Landborne. Everyone that had come on the mission was from Landborne except for Morrigan. Their spirit animals waited for them to descend into the man-sized hole.
Each team member had been chosen for their spirit animal's specific skills. Two jackrabbits came with Abby and Trevor for their small size and speed. Two black jaguars came with Luke and Natalie for their strength. Marcy came with her snow monkey for its climbing ability, and Matt had his rat for sniffing out enemies. Since many of the monsters that Morrigan hunted were land travelers, she had worked with all of these hunters several times in the past. If everything went like it was supposed to, they would be in and out in two hours or less.
"Loric will head back to continue the distraction. If nothing else, I should be able to help you get back out after you've captured the White Witch."
"You mean killed," said Matt. There was no doubt how important it was to remove the threat of the witch, but her bad habit of playing catch was hard to break.
Could you imagine the death count if we killed every single time?
"That will be up to you. Just be ready to bail if she turns out to be more than you can handle."
"Don't worry. You guys make a big noise and we’ll get down to the bottom of that pit," said Luke as he loaded an ammo magazine of silver-laced bullets into an assault rifle. "Loric is sure that she will be down there?"
She doesn't like to fight her own battles. She will be down there, hiding.
"He's sure." She shook each of their hands, giving a meaningful look to Matt that she hoped communicated how much she cared about him and watched as the twelve of them dropped down into the hole.
"Let's get going," she said aloud, willing herself to leave the hole.
I can't wait to see the looks on those witches faces when we show up.
Loric was always the first one to get excited about surprising the witches. From what she had heard, going into the Witches Cave would be suicide. She had heard claims like that before.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
MORRIGAN AND LORIC flew the short distance to the lake entrance of the witches cave and landed on the shore. The quiet landscape was untouched by the normal houses that surrounded most lakes. The witches wouldn't allow it. This lake had looked the same for centuries. There was a loud splash from the lake as they touched down.
That was either a witch or a fish that smelled like a witch.
"Well, let's find out if the whole night has been a waste of time."
If we need to fly fast I'll grab you with my feet.
Morrigan screamed into the night, "Malicious!"
"Yes?" Morrigan almost fell over as she spun to see The Demon standing behind them. As usual, he looked like one of the most beautiful men that she had ever seen. It was overshadowed by the nights earlier events. Loric didn't look surprised, but he did have the tell-tale smoke rising out of his nostrils.
I hate it when he does stuff like that.
"We’re ready."
"Are we having a party?"
"Yes, and hopefully we're preventing a bigger one."
"Where are your troops?"
"There's a team of them down in the cave system as we speak. They're going to hunt down the White Witch and stop this from going any further."
"
And the rest?"
"I'm the rest."
"I see. So you're hoping that my demons will take the brunt of the battle." Morrigan paused for a moment, hoping that she was saying the right thing.
"Yes, I am."
"I know. I've foreseen all of this already. I just wanted to see if you had the guts to say it. With the spirit of a dragon, I'm not surprised."
The lake surface began to ripple, and then it roared as several large air bubbles came splashing up out of the water. Inside each bubble could be seen dozens of demons in a variety of colors. Morrigan climbed back up onto Loric and they spun to face the huge floating bubbles.
"Now's the perfect time for you to call your friends."
"Don't worry. They will be here when they need to be."
I've seen them do this before. Get ready to fly at the last second.
She held on tight and hoped that Loric was right. When had he seen something like this before?
Over five hundred years ago.
The huge bubbles continued to float out of the water until there were ten of them flying through the air. They flew until they all formed a large, low-hovering ring surrounding the three of them. One final bubble rose out of the water containing a group of witches. Loric had been right. None of them had bright white hair.
I usually am right about witches.
The amplified voice of one of the witches could be heard through the bubble.
"Dragon Huntress, we’re honored by your visit, but you've obviously come here to die."
"Yes, death is what I'm here for."
"Our demon army will enjoy repaying you for several lifetimes of ruin."
"That's not what we had in mind. How about you come here and repay me yourselves?"
"We would rather watch you die from here, Huntress." All at once, the bubbles containing the demons popped just above the ground, and the demons fell to the earth. Instead of flying, Loric stood his ground.
Dragon Spirit: Cry of Revenge (Huntress High Book 1) Page 5
