Page 11

CAMBION

Mercenary Stronghold

“Then I nearly gets my ass blown clean the fucks off by some stupid ballmunchin’ spellcaster with bad aim,” the annoying sprite says.

“My poor little wings was tryin’ to keep up, but they sneaks out the door before I could get there.

Then, Noni takin’ her sweet fuckin’ time to poof us back here,” he continues to complain while shoveling handfuls of food into his mouth.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and wait for him to finish chewing obnoxiously before I ask anything else. Flumph smacks his lips and grabs a bread roll from the table before he burps loudly, only a few inches from where I sit.

“I seen your dickhead brother. He less crazy than he were, no doubt, but he still ain’t good.”

“I need to know if my brother is safe?”

“Safe as can be ‘spected with him’s body all broke an’ shit. Thought he were gonna fall right over when they were fightin’ them pain in the ass Unseelie fuckers.” Flumph begins to gulp down a pint of ale as I stand and walk away from the table.

I search the Hall of Clans for Eilish, but she’s nowhere to be found. Aima stops me as I make my way towards the barracks.

“She isn’t there, Cambion.”

“Where can I find her?”

Aima shrugs as Myerdoth appears at her side. “Last I saw, Lady Fulthain was near one of the outposts. I think she’s practicing making her wings appear and disappear at will.”

“Out in the open?” I ask, unable to hide my surprise. “Pyre says there are demons out there.”

“There are demons everywhere,” Aima says with a roll of her eyes. “Eilish isn’t helpless, Cambion.”

I know Eilish is more skilled now than she was before I took the mirror to Oronrel, but she still shouldn’t be out on her own. Aima and the stoic gargoyle head off to find Kolvar as I make my way to the south gate. The sentry sees the emblem on my tunic and opens the gate for me.

“Are you going after Lady Fulthain?” A minotaur stops me to ask.

“Yes.”

“Can you tell her our scouts have located some vehicles, but they’ll need magic to get them repaired?” he growls. I glance down at his chest and notice he wears the colors of the Olveroth.

I nod even as I wonder what Eilish needs the vehicles for. The stables are a short walk from the gate, so I fetch a horse to track Eilish through the desert. After hours of searching the dunes, I see a figure shoot up from the ground only to plummet back to the sands.

I race over to see Eilish on her back with her wings spread across the hot ground.

“What in the bloody hell are you doing?” I ask.

She smiles up at me. “What’s the point in having wings if I can’t use them? I just wanted to learn how to fly. Dragan has been too busy and, last I checked, the rest of you don’t have any wings, unless you count Flumph.”

“Have you been successful?”

“See for yourself.” She jumps up to her feet, closes her eyes and a pair of huge, white and feathered wings appear from her back.

I haven’t seen them in a very long time.

Her wings begin to flap and within seconds, she’s airborne.

She comes back down a few seconds later and the wings disappear into her back.

“Impressive,” I say with a big smile. Then I clear my throat because I have news to relay and I don’t want her to feel I’m wasting her time.

“Flumph and Noni have returned and apparently Baron, Dragan and Pyre freed Theren from Oronrel, but I don’t know much besides that.”

“Are they all unharmed?”

“From what I could understand, yes. Though Theren sounds to be in bad shape, which is to be expected, given the fact that he was a prisoner to the Unseelie.” I take a deep breath. “I can’t necessarily rely on the sprite for reliable information.”

“That’s great news,” Eilish says as she takes the steps separating us and wraps her arms around me. I’m surprised at her exuberance and it takes me a second before I return the hug. Then I hold her tight, feeling the excitement inside her as though it’s my own.

“Yes, I’m relieved,” I admit as she pulls away from me but neither of us drop our arms. I swallow hard as I look down at her full lips and the way her eyes stare into mine.

“I don’t want to further disturb you,” I say and I don’t understand why I feel so uncomfortable all of a sudden. “I know you were busy practicing.”

“Cambion?”

“Yes?”

“Stop talking.”

She leans up on her toes and presses her lips against mine. I feel the familiar roar of ecstasy in her kiss, but there’s more. Before I’m able to understand it, she steps away. I can’t help the feelings of disappointment that pass through me but I don’t say anything. Instead, I just stand there.

She walks over to her water canteen to hydrate herself. “I’m so happy Theren’s alive, Cambion,” she says and she sounds just as uncomfortable as I feel.

“Yes, I am too.”

She nods. “I can’t imagine what he’s been through. When he reached out to me on the battlefield, I was pulled into his mind and he seemed so afraid.”

“You and I have been toyed with by Morrigan in the past. It most likely won’t be the last time it happens before all of this is over,” I say calmly as I glance back the way I came and think about returning.

I can’t stand being so close to her and yet so far away.

Moreover, I can’t stand this awkwardness between us.

It feels so unnatural. I almost prefer the way we used to bicker or ignore one another.

“We need to make sure Theren is well and then we need to keep moving forward,” I say, not even truly paying attention to my words. “Whether he joins us or not. I was blind before, but never again will I allow harm to come to this resistance because of my actions or Theren’s.”

“Speaking of moving forward, I have a few things in place.” Eilish walks over to the horse and climbs into the saddle. I reach for the saddle horn and mount the horse behind her. The heat of her body seeps through my tunic and I have to fight against brushing my lips on her neck.

“And what do you have planned?” I ask.

“Rovers?”

“Pardon?”

Eilish chuckles and clucks her tongue to get the steed moving. “I’ve established outposts through the realms with a few of the clan leaders, and there are people feeding us information on Variant’s movements…”

“But?”

“But I think we need groups policing the cities, safe houses on the borders,” she says. “And Rovers—volunteer vigilantes that travel through the regions who are willing to place themselves between Variant’s brutes and innocent fae.”

“You’ve been busy.”

“Yes.”

“Is that why you need the vehicles?” I continue. “One of the sentries said the scouts found some vehicles, but they need magic to do the repairs.” I clear my throat. “I was asked to deliver that message to you… Lady Fulthain.”

A smile appears on her face and we speed back to the stronghold. Eilish jumps from the saddle before the horse comes to a stop. I guide it into the stables and hand the horse over before chasing after her.

She runs to the dungeon beneath the barracks, where Morrigan’s artificer hunches over a desk, sketching out what look like pans. The walls of the cell are covered in other drawings and diagrams of strange contraptions.

“What is this, Eilish?” I ask.

***

BARON

Mount Dolgum

I want to punch him in the face again, but Pyre stops me.

Theren’s sarcasm knows no end and I’m tired of listening to him dance around our questions.

Pyre may be able to see things from Theren’s soul, but he’s oath-bound as a necromancer not to give premature knowledge or reveal the true meanings of the prophecy.

Which means he’s just as big a pain in my ass as Theren at the moment.

No matter what I ask, Pyre and the Unseelie bastard rebuff my efforts.

“How the hell are we supposed to take him back to the stronghold if we can’t even trust him?” I insist.

“You don’t have to trust him, Baron. You just have to trust me ,” Pyre says.

“This cryptic routine of yours is pissing me off,” I say and head back over to Dragan and Theren. The gargoyle straightens and scowls down at the Unseelie with nothing more than annoyance in his gaze. Eilish must have talked to him already, or he’d be just as furious as I am.

I grab Theren by the front of his blood-soaked shirt and haul him upright. Pyre has healed the majority of his injuries, but Theren’s not altogether healed—just enough that we can make it down this godforsaken mountain.

“What now, vampire?” Theren insists and Dragan watches me with a suspicious gaze. “Beating me will do nothing. I already told you. Those like Pyre and I are bound by forces much greater than you will ever comprehend. Even the gods who declared our practices forbidden don’t know the full truth.”

“The full truth about what?” Dragan asks.

“We have oaths,” Theren responds, as if that makes any sort of fucking sense.

“Yeah, well, I took an oath once, too, and that got me killed. So don’t try to feed me some bullshit about honor-bound promises and destiny, just tell me what the fucking hag has planned.”

Theren’s jaw ticks and he looks at Pyre for several minutes before replying. It’s as though they’re speaking telepathically or through expressions alone.

“There’s a prophecy,” Theren starts. “Not the one Morrigan is following, but the one she’s trying to avoid.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I demand.

He glares at me and continues. “In the Midnight Queen’s time, magic as we know it didn’t exist. She and her coven were the first to discover magic. And they kept it secret. Morrigan, however, got greedy.”

“Glad to hear not much has changed,” Dragan says.

“Not greedy for power, but greedy for love,” Theren continues.

“She fell hard for Abedon and he gave her what she needed to unlock her potential. It wasn’t long before she discovered the prophecy that would be her undoing.

.. that would be the undoing for all the gods and those who fought for power,” Theren mutters through bruised lips.

“What prophecy?” Dragan asks.

“A prophecy that said six warriors, three of darkness and three of light, would pledge their love and loyalty to a new goddess who would rise in the aftermath of a cleansing shadow.”

“And then what? The end of days?” Dragan asks.

“No,” he hisses. “A new beginning for all!”

“What new beginning?” I ask.

I look at him. “The true balance, one birthed of love and not fabricated by magic.” He pauses for a moment. “Morrigan fears she’s not the one from the prophecy…”

“But Eilish is,” I answer.

Theren looks at me. “Yes. Eilish will be the one to bring the war to end all wars.”

“So, what’s the prophecy Morrigan’s trying to complete?” Dragan asks.

Theren lowers his gaze. “She only told Variant. Morrigan was careful. In the event that one of us was released from her magic or corrupted in some way, she wanted to be sure that neither Variant nor I knew everything. So she only told us each certain details.”

“Abedon is alive,” Dragan says. “He’s imprisoned, yes, but there are signs everywhere that indicate his rise is imminent.”

“And Silvanus refuses to answer Eilish’s call,” I add. “For all we know Silvanus could be focused on his own agenda.”

“Maybe, but we need to focus on the Cockatrice,” Pyre says.

I press the heel of my hand into my left temple, trying to banish the headache brewing there.

“The Cockatrice that went after Eilish is still out there?” From the look of Theren’s face, I already know the answer.

I kick one of the red crystals on the ground.

It hits a rockface and shatters. “Great. At least we know one of Abedon’s enforcers is doing his bidding while we waste our time chasing after Morrigan.

If you ask me, Abedon is the biggest threat to Eilish’s safety. ”

“He’s the one who infiltrated the Unseelie Court,” Theren says. “Variant may have control over the throne and the soldiers, but the crown means nothing if the Court isn’t on his side. Oronrel is torn. It may never know peace again so long as there are two rulers at opposite ends of this war.”

“And what about you, Theren?” I ask finally. “What side are you on?”

“Unlike my brother, I’ve always known what was at stake. If not for Morrigan’s spell, I would have been in this fight long before any of you.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

He looks at me and narrows his eyes. “I’m on Eilish’s side. I always have been.”

For a moment, I see red. I leap toward Theren and wrap my hands around his neck.

I hate it that he knew Eilish before I did, before any of us did.

I hate it that he loves her without fear.

But most of all, I hate it that I’m starting to believe him.

Dragan is the one who pulls me away this time.

I shake off his hold and close my eyes as I talk myself down, but the gargoyle won’t shut up.

“We need Theren. If not for his magic, then we need him to help us sustain Eilish’s strength.”

“Quiet!” Pyre turns his back on us and walks to the edge of the cliff. His senses seem to make the air vibrate, not unlike the Echoing Spire’s energy. “Orc raids on the borders. If we don’t hurry, they’ll be here by nightfall.”