Page 50 of Lord of the Lone Wolf (Bonded Hearts #3)
Maseo
N othing could have prepared Maseo for the horrors of battle against the lichen.
Their skeletal forms moved with unnatural grace, ancient armor hanging from their frames from long-forgotten wars.
Each step brought the clicking of bones against bone, a sound that raised the hair on his neck and sent ice through his veins.
Sweat stung Maseo’s eyes as he ducked beneath a rusted axe, the weapon passing so close that he felt the disturbance in the air.
He countered with a swift strike to the lichen’s ribs, his sword finding the gap between bones to pierce the glowing green soul within.
The skeleton collapsed into dust that scattered in the wind as the soul turned white and flew to the Beyond Realm.
Another lichen was already upon him, its blade descending in a brutal arc.
Maseo parried, the impact jarring his injured shoulder.
The ring on his finger remained cold and inert, offering no protection against the undead warrior.
He had learned that lesson early in the battle, when a lichen’s blade had carved into his skin.
In the back of his mind, he was concerned about Kitsuki’s well-being after his massive display of power in eradicating the necrowings and soulvores.
He had glimpsed the king’s dragon form faltering in the sky, his wings beating as he struggled to remain airborne before falling as a man.
Jaega had caught him in time, but worry gnawed at Maseo’s heart.
But he couldn’t dwell on it. The lichen continued their relentless advance, an endless tide of the undead washing over the battlefield. For each one he cut down, ten more appeared to take its place.
Maseo was so focused on the fight that he didn’t realize he had become separated from the main battle until he found himself alone in a small clearing.
The sudden absence of enemies left him disoriented.
He could hear steel clashing in battle, the shouts of the living, the unnatural groaning of the undead, but they seemed distant, as if coming from another world.
Not wanting to abandon his position, Maseo turned to return to the area he had strayed from. But a single word stopped him cold.
“ Maseo .”
The voice was hollow, echoing as if spoken through a vast emptiness. Yet beneath the otherworldly distortion lay a cadence he had carried in his memory for years, clinging to it during the darkest moments of his life.
“Mother?” The word escaped him in shock as hope and disbelief warred in his chest.
He turned, afraid of what he might or might not see.
A skeleton stood at the edge of the clearing, its bones gleaming white in the sunlight filtering through the surrounding trees.
Unlike the other lichen he had been fighting, it wore no armor and carried no weapon.
Most striking was the soul at its center and the fire in its eye sockets wasn’t the noxious green of necromancy, but a soft, luminous blue that pulsed with soothing light that reminded him of his wish pendant.
It moved toward him with a grace that spoke of life rather than death, its movements fluid and purposeful.
When it neared him, it raised its hands, weathered bone fingers extending toward his face with heartbreaking gentleness.
Maseo stood frozen, unable to retreat or advance, caught in a moment suspended between terror and desperate longing.
The skeletal hands cupped his cheeks, the touch not draining him as the other lichen had.
The familiar gesture transcended flesh and bone as the thumbs brushed against his skin lovingly.
“My beautiful pup,” it said with more warmth than death should ever contain.
“What a fine young man you’ve grown into. ”
A dam holding back years of grief and loneliness broke inside Maseo. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he stared into the blue flames burning in the eye sockets and saw the echo of his mother’s eyes that had looked at him with love when no one else would.
“It can’t be you,” he whispered in shock. “You’ve been gone for so long.”
The skeleton’s head tilted, a gesture so reminiscent of his mother that it sent fresh pain through his heart.
“Unfortunately, your father is a vicious man,” she said, the blue flames dimming with sadness.
“He had Ishibiya summon me to kill you. But neither of them understands that a mother who loves her son could never raise a hand to hurt him.”
One last twist of the knife by using his most precious memory as a weapon was something Nasume would do.
Maseo sheathed his sword as tears flowed down his face.
“I’ve missed you so much, Mother.” His hands trembled as he placed them over the bony fingers still cradling his cheeks.
In his mind, he could feel her soft, warm skin.
“I’m sorry your life has been filled with such sorrows after I left you alone.
” A finger wiped away a tear, the gesture so tender it threatened to shatter what remained of his composure.
She continued. “I never realized when I asked Mireya for a lifetime of love and happiness for you, you would first pay the price of so many miserable years of abuse and sadness. I can only pray you’ll forgive me. ”
“It’s not your fault,” Maseo said. “It’s mine for wasting so much time with Kio and Phaedra because I believed misery was the best I could do.”
The skeleton moved its hand to stroke his hair, another gesture from his childhood that unlocked memories of comfort and safety.
“You have always deserved to be loved,” she asserted with fierce conviction.
“It is my biggest regret that you have a father who is incapable of it. But your suffering will soon end.”
She stepped closer, her bony arms encircling him in an embrace that should have felt wrong but carried the essence of every hug she had ever given him. “I promise the greatest happiness and love are waiting for you on the other side of this war.”
A broken sob escaped him as he held the skeleton that contained his mother’s soul. In his mind, he could smell the kalinia incense that always clung to her from her work at the Wish Power Temple, where she served as a wishmancer.
Before he could ask what she meant, a flash of light illuminated the clearing. Kitsuki stood at its edge, radiating power that crackled like lightning. His eyes burned silver with his dragon’s presence, and flames of the same color flickered around his sword as he raised it for attack.
Maseo threw himself in front of his mother’s skeleton, arms outstretched in desperate protection. “Wait!”
Kitsuki’s voice carried the dual timbre of dragon and man. “We cannot stay our hand when you are in danger. Step aside.”
“Please, it’s my mother, Corina!” Maseo pleaded, his heart racing with fear that he would lose her again. “Don’t hurt her, I beg of you.”
“That creature may have told you it was her, but it lies,” Kitsuki’s dragon growled. “We will not allow it to harm you.”
To Maseo’s surprise, his mother’s skeleton stepped around him, moving toward Kitsuki with dignified purpose. She gave a low, formal bow that spoke of respect rather than subservience. “It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty.”
The dragon monarch held his flaming sword in a defensive position, his expression a mixture of suspicion and confusion. “Give me a reason not to sever your soul in half to destroy you for daring to take the form of his mother.”
“You are a good, honorable man who cares for my son,” she said with calm certainty. “You cannot strike me down when you know it will devastate Maseo to lose his beloved mother by your hand. We both know he has seen enough sorrow.”
Something shifted in Kitsuki’s expression. His dragon receded as compassion took its place. He lowered his sword but remained alert. “How do you still possess your rational mind and ability to speak? The necromancy should have stripped you of intelligence and will.”
“Because Nasume has never understood that I’m stronger than him and his hatred.” Pride resonated in her voice, a mother’s fierce love that even death could not diminish. She gestured toward Kitsuki’s neck. “May I?”
The dragon king raised his hand to cover the wish pendant hidden beneath his armor. “What do you intend to do?”
“Something that will allow you to defeat that awful man who has hurt you both.” Though her skeletal face could show no expression, the warmth in her tone conveyed what might have been a smile.
“Please let me do what I can while I’m able to help.
I don’t have much time left.” Her tone shifted, taking on an edge of amusement.
“After all, I deserve a little revenge on Nasume for all the sorrows he has heaped upon my son. What better vengeance is there than making my son happiest with the person who would most hurt Nasume?”
Kitsuki’s gaze flicked to Maseo, uncertainty clear in his expression.
“The only thing more powerful than praying to Mireya for a wish to come true is a mother’s love.
” With a gesture of her bony hand, the pendant around Kitsuki’s neck revealed itself, floating above his armor.
The silver filigree cage held an orb pulsing with indigo light, the power that made wishes to Mireya possible.
Some of the blue light from her soulflame escaped her rib cage into the pendant.
It entered through the openings in the silver filigree, merging with the magic within.
The steady pulse of light shifted between indigo and blue.
“Because you’re the one who will grant my son’s greatest wish, I entrust my power to you.
I can rest in peace knowing you and your mate will love my son the way he deserves. ”
Her certainty left both men speechless. The pendant settled back against Kitsuki’s chest, the flames within dancing with new vitality. With a formal bow, she returned to Maseo.