***
The three-mile hike over bumpy terrain had gone a little way in cooling our collective heels.
The spent adrenaline from the fight with the coatyl, the strangeness of encountering the life breathers, and the reality of what lay ahead was beginning to combine and sap some of the fire from the soldiers and the warriors. I knew my energy was running at a low ebb and the men who walked with us wore similarly grim expressions.
I was traveling somewhere between the lead and middle of our party. Mark and Claire and the higher-ranking soldiers like Raun and Tyheen led the impressive procession. Mid-to-higher-level warriors and archers made up most of the middle. Aranu's men brought up the rear and, together with the nymphs, flanked the sides of the group. The nymphs alternated between traveling on foot and moving high in the trees, swinging easily, silently, from branch to branch. They would be our early warning system and as such, our first line of defense. The breathers also marched with us, with half positioned on either side of Mark and Claire and the rest providing cover for Aranu's men.
I shivered in the ever-decreasing light of the forest, knowing we wouldn't make it to our destination before the full pitch dark of night set in around us. Not that it mattered so much tonight, I reasoned, casting a quick glance up at the bright moon. Pure white light speared through the few places along the path where the vegetation was slightly thinner than average. The rest of the woods around us bore a gentle overall glow that was brighter near the tops of the trees as the moonlight attempted to penetrate the dense foliage overhead, and I tried to focus on this, for now, anyway, rather than what the rest of the night would hold.
On any other night it would have made for a pleasant evening. It was the kind of night that brought people out onto their decks and porches after dinner, then lured them down well-worn country lanes and sleepy suburban avenues. I breathed in the fresh linen scent of gildwood and pine blossom and marveled at the beauty of the outer edge of the meadow. Brilliant, glowy white flowers crept up the trees like ivy, and I paused for a second, thoroughly enchanted with the spectacular sight.
The further into the meadow we walked, the thicker the snowy, ivy-like flowers became, until we were deep in the interior and the gorgeous vines and blossoms crept delicately up each and every tree. Murmurs went through the crowd, especially the nymphs. This was the path to Kahn's evil lair? Really? I was half tempted to ask if we had taken a wrong turn somewhere, but Mark and Claire and the others on the front lines continued ever onward without slowing our steady pace, so I figured we weren't lost.
A few paces ahead, Mike slowed his pace until he fell into step beside me. Great. I smothered a sigh and kept walking, trying not to feel guilty for using him earlier. The fact that Mike wasn't aware of the way I'd used him to wound Aranu should have made me feel better but didn't. A chill slid over my spine and I shivered again, moonlight and exquisite, climbing ivy forgotten as darker thoughts edged their way in.
"Hey."
I tossed him a quick, sideways glance and nodded but otherwise kept silent.
"Good job tonight," he said, kicking at a small rock on the trail, sending it skittering sideways and somehow missing the people beside us. He shoved his hands into his pockets and puffed his cheeks out before he exhaled. "You scared the living hell out of me, but?nice work. The fighting, and-"
"Thank you," I interrupted, deciding to take pity on him and effectively end his rambling.
"Your boyfriend doesn't look too happy."
My eyes snapped to his and I almost quit walking. He wanted to talk about this now?
"Sorry." He shook his head. "Not the time. And not my business."
The last was said softly and a tinge of regret colored the words. My face heated in the semi-darkness of the luminescent meadow, and I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Mike was absolutely correct about one thing-this wasn't the time to discuss our?what? Past? Because we no longer had a relationship. Hadn't in a long time. Wouldn't have again.
I could accept that now for what it was. But maybe now was the right time to air it out and lay it to rest, despite our small audience. After all, if Kahn and the Lahuel killed us all tonight, at least Mike and I would go without unfinished business littered between us. That was something. Besides morbid? Dumb bitch Aries seemed to ask. Yeah. That, too, I thought with a silent shrug.
"He's not my boyfriend," I replied, making an effort to keep my voice from carrying to the people around us. "In fact, I'm pretty sure after today, he's lost any and all respect he ever had for me." I sighed, half afraid to glance at the momentarily speechless man beside me. Was I hurting him by talking about Aranu? Even though he'd asked?
"I saw the two of you arguing by the fence earlier."
"Yes. He didn't want to leave us."
"You mean he didn't want to leave you."
"Well, yeah. I guess so." I cringed, suddenly sorry we were having this beyond awkward conversation.
"So why did he?"
"What?"
"How did you finally convince him to let you go?"
"Oh, ah?" I hedged. "I made it easy for him to walk away," I finally said, forcing my chin up a notch. "And I'd do it again, if I had to. He was putting my entire team in danger and he could have gotten us all killed."
"Ah."
We'd walked another quarter mile or so in silence before I confessed my sin. "I said some personal things about his character." I opened my mouth to say more but the words wouldn't come. Somehow, it didn't feel right telling another person, telling Mike, just exactly what I'd said to hurt Aranu. It felt wrong. Like I would be betraying Aranu all over again by showing Mike what had the power to hurt the other man. "It doesn't matter. I did what I had to do." I shrugged and picked up the pace.
"He loves you."
"I know." I closed my eyes as a wave of pain hit me, hard. Because being reminded of what Aranu felt, or had felt, for me?hurt. Almost as bad as I knew Mike's next question would hurt.
"Do you love him?"
I nodded slowly. "I didn't realize it until?" I paused, shook my head. Mike didn't need to know the whys and hows of it and he probably didn't want to know, either. None of that changed the bottom line.
"I'm sorry," he sighed, looking down, then glancing over at me. His eyes caught the moonlight.
"Why?"
"You want the list? Okay. I'm sorry I left you here two years ago. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. I'm sorry that things are," he gestured to the space between and around us, "like this," he finished. "I'm sorry things are such a damn mess. I didn't want it to end this way between you and me. I'm just?sorry." His lips curved wistfully.
"This wasn't exactly what I'd planned, either?" I snorted, fell silent, now barely noticing the beauty that surrounded us. The path had narrowed several paces back. We were fast approaching the end of the meadow. "Maybe this doesn't have to be the end for us." I tossed the words out there quickly, so I wouldn't be able to take them back. "What I mean is, you aren't going anywhere and neither am I. Claire is like family and Megan is great. What I'm saying is, I think we're all going to be stuck with each other for a while."
"Forever." Mike nodded, a smile touching his lips.
"Right." I nodded. "So. Maybe we could learn to live with each other." I took a deep breath as the soldiers in front of us gradually came to a stop. "If Claire can manage to avoid killing Carl, I think maybe we can learn to be friends," I pointed out, feeling my stomach plummet at the thought of being Mike's friend. I wasn't sure I was ready to make that leap. It felt tense and uncomfortable, like wearing a shirt that was a few sizes too small. And I couldn't lie, traces of the old familiar hurt and anger toward Mike still lingered. But hating him wasn't really going to do any of us any good, was it? And we had to start somewhere.
"I want you to be happy, Ari. Even if it's with him." Mike jerked a thumb in the general area behind where we stood.
"Thanks." I rocked on my heels and raised my eyes to the canopy over
head. "But I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen anytime soon."
"Don't be so sure. I wouldn't be surprised to find a knife in my back any second now. He looks royally pissed off." Mike snickered and leaned toward me.
"Mike." My voice held a none-too-subtle warning. "Don't antagonize him."
"All right. Fair enough." He smiled and shrugged. "But if you ever decide he's not what you want?"
"Mike."
"Right." He held up his hands. "I'm done."
"Thank you." I sighed, leaning around him for a better view of what was happening up ahead. "Do you see anything?"
He craned his head and searched the darkness before turning toward me. "Nothing. Isn't this where we're supposed to stop?"
I nodded. "This is about right. I know the entrance to Kahn's private quarters are at the end of the meadow, but I thought there was supposed to be a gate." I stood on tiptoe. "I mean, there may be one up there. It's hard to see over everyone's heads. Oh, well, I guess we'll find out soon enough."
Mike took a deep breath. "Are you ready to do this?"
"Yes. Of course." I injected an artificial note of confidence into my voice. "Everything will be fine."
"Uh-huh."
"Hopefully," I tacked on with a wry smile.
The blast came out of nowhere, rumbling through the trees and exploding in a white haze of light. Whatever response Mike had been about to make was drowned out by the boom. I pulled myself off the ground with the assistance of a nearby vine. The glowing white flowers were crushed between my fingers, their light snuffed out in an instant. Screams filled the night air, and a thick black smoke billowed from a dark shadow several feet away. Holding a hand to my throbbing head, I pressed hard, felt the wetness, and knew I was bleeding. I must have hit my head when I fell?
I wiped my hand across the hem of my shirt and leaned down to help one of the soldiers to his feet. The shadow in front of us began to take a more solid shape and my heart began to pound. The Lahuel. The war demon's faceless, shadowy form seemed to grow larger and larger, until it towered over us and blotted out the light from the moon. But no, that wasn't right. It wasn't the Lahuel that was growing, but a thick black smoke that was spreading through the night.
"He's trying to screw with our vision," I muttered to the soldier I was still propping up.
"They set a trap for us. Kahn won't be far behind the Lahuel. Get to Mark." The man swayed when I took my arm out from under his shoulders. "Don't bother with me. They won't waste time with us, anyway. But they'll take out Mark if they can. Or his wife."
I wasn't exactly on Kahn and the Lahuel's good side, either, but the soldier was right. They'd try to kill Mark first, or Claire. Quickly, I eased the man to the ground. He winced again and leaned his head back against the trunk of the large tree he rested against, urging me once more to go.
"I'll find Mark. Nothing will get near him or Claire," I promised, pressing the end of my sleeve against the wound on my forehead and squinting into the thick, dark smoke.
Was that easier said than done? Of course it was. But had I just made a promise I had no hope of keeping? A second wave of nausea hit as I realized I couldn't see more than three feet in any direction. The smoke was getting worse. Shit. Shouts and screams and confusion continued to roil around me.
My hand fell to my side as an idea sparked. Maybe I couldn't find Mark and Claire. But in all this smoke, would Kahn know that? Eyes narrowed, I turned a slow circle. No, I finally decided, visibility was damn near zero now. So I couldn't bring myself to Mark and Claire and the others. And they wouldn't be able to see through this fog any better than me, but I was willing to bet Kahn wasn't quite so limited by human frailty. If I was wrong about that, well, no harm done. But if I was right?
I would bring Kahn straight to me. With any luck, Mark and the others would follow the commotion to us. If not?well, at least it would buy them some time. Possibly. I didn't exactly relish the thought of self-sacrifice. But throwing myself to the wolf for nothing? Yeah, that really didn't sound like a good time. So, how was I supposed to know what the final outcome would be? I couldn't. How was I supposed to make the chips fall the way I wanted them to? Hell. I couldn't do that either.
I sighed and closed my eyes, let the pain and regret wash over my skin. When I opened them again, I was clearer, stronger-determined, and yes, maybe a bit resigned, too.
With a deep breath, fists clenched at my sides, I started to scream.
"Mark? Claire? Guys, answer me! I'm over here!"
There was no answer. But then, I knew there wouldn't be. I sucked in another lungful of air, felt the smoke burn a little as it went down.
"Hey! Claire! I think I see you! Claire, thank the stars, it's you!" I shouted, forcing my voice to remain steady as I projected the sound through the mist and the smoke. "Oh, no, are you okay?" I yelled to the air.
The smoke was getting thicker now. Wrapping my sleeve over my fingers, I clapped a hand over my mouth. And that's when I felt it, when it hit me. Ice slithered across my senses. He was closing in on me. So close?
I planted my boots deeper into the soil and forced myself to hold still when every instinct I possessed reared up and screamed at me to run. My hand shook as I brought it away from my mouth and down to my side. I would not run. Besides, it was much too late for that now. With one final deep breath, I threw the dice.
"Come on, Claire, we have to get away from here! Run!"
I wasn't at all surprised when cold, hard fingers clamped over my upper arm. The man who stepped out of the shadows was dark and beautiful. I'd never before seen his face, but the jewel-green eyes were familiar. Kahn?
So this was Mark's father. I could easily see the family resemblance. His eyes narrowed and a chilling smile crept over his face when I winced in response to his grip. No, I decided, he wasn't like Mark at all. Only the unusual color of his eyes connected him to Claire's husband. And thank the stars above that nothing else of this man lived on in Mark. Our Warrior of the Ruins was strong and compassionate and warm. The man who bared his teeth at me in a terrifying mockery of a smile was?evil. That was the only word for it.
"Where is she?"
His voice was smooth and polished, cold and menacing like the rest of him. I gasped when he twisted my arm, but laughed and my lips curved, and I was surprised to feel triumphant after all. I was probably going to die. At the very least, I was about to get hurt.
"She's not here."
Still holding me fast, his other hand shot up and he backhanded me.
"And you're a fool," I added.
"Am I, now?" he growled, losing some of his polished sheen.
"Get away from her!" Something flew at him from behind.
The impact knocked him off-balance and his weight almost brought me to the ground. At the last second I twisted one leg around his and ducked under his arm. His hand slipped away from my arm, and I shoved at his shoulder. The distraction and my quick maneuvering bought me the few precious seconds needed to get free of his grasp. I spun around quickly to see my rescuer.
"Claire!" I grabbed her now-frozen form and yanked her out of the way of Kahn's fist just in time.
She shook her head then and seemed to snap out of it. The "I can't believe I just did that" look was still pasted to her face, but when her eyes met mine, she was at least coherent.
A second later, Mark darted out of the mist and rushed Kahn before the wizard had the chance to attack us again.
"That's him, isn't it?" Claire jumped back and gasped as Mark viciously plowed his fist into the wizard's jaw. "Kahn."
I nodded before realizing she wasn't looking at me. "That's him," I said.
"I heard you screaming but we couldn't find you until we saw the darkest shadow begin to move. We followed it to you."
"Kahn's shadow." I nodded, my gaze riveted to Mark and Kahn as they circled each other.
"No," Claire whispered and my head snapped up at the raw fear in her voice. She was staring fixedly a
t a point behind me. "His."
I whirled and came face-to-face with a solid black wall. The startled cry that formed never made it past my lips. The blackness wasn't a wall.
Lahuel. The war demon had moved lightning quick, surrounding me in a matter of seconds. His pitch-dark shadow hand was surprisingly solid and strong as it wrapped around my throat. Instinctively, my hands shot up to grip his arm and even though it looked like my fingers should have simply passed through that arm, they didn't.
It didn't even feel like he was applying pressure and yet my throat was steadily closing. My lungs were on fire, burning, and my head began to swim. Dimly, I heard Claire shouting but couldn't make out the words.
I watched her rush forward, felt her hands close over the Lahuel's, where they wrapped around my throat. She was trying without success to pry his fingers off of me.
"Somebody help us!" she screamed, close enough to my ear that I understood every word.
There would be no help. Mark was fighting Kahn. No one else was close enough to hear. And even if they did, what were they going to do? I thought miserably as I watched the Lahuel's free hand slowly come up. He pointed it at Claire's shoulder. Then he was touching her. Just one ink-black finger but the instant it made contact with her body, she screamed and doubled over in pain.
I exhaled then, the last of my breath slipping from my lips in a defeated sigh and with it, a small, shimmering burst of silver-and-gold light. The demon recoiled at the light, and through my half-closed eyes, I watched as his black shadow form quivered and lightened. The places where my light touched his shadow seemed to sparkle before they faded away. Light to dark?
I sucked in what meager air I was able. His black, empty shadow eye sockets seemed to gleam with a rich, oily darkness and the pressure on my throat increased until I saw stars behind my eyelids. Eyes closed, I blocked out everything else, the Lahuel, Claire's shrieking, thoughts of my family and friends and my home, the fervent wish to live? All of it was tamped down. I focused solely on the light. Pictured it. In my mind it was a deep, burning, vibrant red. It was powerful. It was life.
In my mind's' eye, I watched my lips purse and saw the fine red, glittering mist escape in a powerful torrent, felt the Lahuel's fear as the crystalline mist enveloped him. Light to dark.
The pressure on my throat was gone. My eyes flew open and my hands went automatically to my neck. I was alive. The Lahuel writhed in front of me as shimmers of red-and-silver light tore through the shadows that made up his body. The black hole that had been his mouth opened in a silent scream and he dissolved in a final burst.
Oxygen rushed into my lungs, spearing through my body and awakening the starved tissues.
"Oh?" Claire breathed, climbing to her feet and leaning against my gasping form.
All the remained of the Lahuel was a pile of gray ash at our feet. A second later, the wind kicked up and carried the demon's remains away, scattered them through the night. Abruptly, the smoke cleared and with it, the mist that surrounded us also evaporated into the night. The demon's spell was broken.
"Are you okay?" I wheezed, rubbing at my throat and wincing.
Claire finally nodded. "I think so."
But there was no time to rest. At the same time, we became aware of the battle that still raged on, just behind us.
With the smoke gone, we were all able to see each other. Hundreds of warriors stood scattered around the meadow. A few were injured and just about everyone looked dazed. I didn't spot Aranu or Mike in the crowd. Comprehension returned swift and sure, with all eyes trained on the two men locked in combat at the center of the meadow. Although, maybe combat was a strong word?
Like the life breathers a few hours ago, Mark was getting his ass handed to him. Claire rushed forward and a well-meaning soldier grabbed her and held on tight.
"You can't go to him."
"Like fucking hell I can't!" she raged, rounding on the man who held her captive. "Let go!"
"He wouldn't want you getting hurt," the soldier protested, then grunted as Claire's foot made contact with his kneecap.
Mark fell to his knees, and Kahn stalked around him, blue lightning crackling and sizzling from the tips of his fingers.
"Let her go," I ordered the soldier who held Claire. "She's right. He's going to get killed out there."
"But he wouldn't want-"
"Screw his male pride. I'm sure he'd rather be embarrassed than dead and there's no sense in the whole damn army standing here useless, watching him die." I shook my head and as soon as he'd released Claire, I turned to face the crowd of soldiers and breathers. I shouted a single, hoarse word.
"Fight!"
Claire and I rushed forward and the rest of the men followed, weapons drawn.
Kahn definitely saw what hit him-but he never had a chance.
In a matter of minutes, the wizard had fallen under our onslaught and just like that, Kahn's long-running reign of terror came to an end.
Claire and I each took up a side and pulled Mark to his feet. He groaned and clung to Claire. I backed up a step but remained close, just in case. He was bruised and I counted at least three lacerations where blood seeped, and he didn't seem too steady on his feet. But, from what I could see, anyway, his wounds looked to be mostly superficial, although I was sure he would feel like absolute hell by morning. I winced at the blue-black lump on his temple.
"I love you." He squeezed Claire one last time before letting her go to address the large group gathered around him. If the rest of the warriors had been expecting a rousing, patriotic speech, they would have been wrong. Still, nobody was disappointed. Mark simply glanced at the bedraggled, worn-but-still-fierce group and said, "Thank you. All of you."
One arm snaked around Claire's waist and the other clenched into a fist that was thrust high into the air. "Today we are victorious!" he roared.
Weapons were raised to the sky and deafening shouts rang through the crowd, filling the meadow to bursting with a swell of vibrant energy.
When the noise finally died down, several long minutes later, our much lighter at heart group passed through a grove of trees where fat green gemstones hung like glittering fruit, past the black gates at the end of Kahn's Meadow, and into what had once been the realm of the dark wizard.
I pressed a little closer to the soldier beside me as we all filed into the wide-open space. It wasn't what I'd been expecting at all and if the collective sharp intake of breath around me was anything to go on, I wasn't alone in that thought.
In direct contrast to the lush beauty of the meadow, this place was a barren wasteland. Everything here was dead. The ground was cracked and dry and dusty. No grass or plants of any kind grew here. Pools of lava boiled to our left, and a thin, gurgling river of red snaked through the dead land to disappear around a towering onyx-and-pearl castle. Craggy mountains rose behind and to either side of the dark palace. The moon cast no real light here, only picked up and reflected the undertones of the river so that the world seemed to take on a faint red tinge.
Claire and I, the other nymphs, the breathers, and the majority of the soldiers waited close by the gate as the castle and the surrounding grounds were checked for survivors, or prisoners. Mike had caught up to our group just before we'd reached the gates and he waited with us now, in silence. I'd caught a brief glimpse of Aranu as Claire and I had taken up our posts to wait, but now he was nowhere in sight. It was probably just as well. Much like earlier, his eyes hadn't lingered on mine.
Within the hour, Mark and the others returned.
"It's empty," he confirmed, holding out a hand to Claire.
"What do you want us to do?" a soldier questioned with a backward glance at the towering structure.
Mark didn't look back as he gave the final order.
"Burn it to the ground."