Bran leaned forward to whisper, “You wouldn’t be here if Aeval and Titania didn’t think you were the right person for the job. Queen Asteria, as well. Remember that.”
I glanced back at him, giving him a quick nod, and tried to keep my thoughts focused on the climb.
As we approached the pile of rocks that littered the side of the mountain and tumbled down below the path, I reached out, trying to sense if anything was there. Smoky had slowed, and was cautiously approaching the first pile of rubble, when a massive, dark figure rose from behind the opposite end of the rocks. Even in the fading light of dusk, it was obvious that we were facing a dubba-troll.
Crap. Dubba-trolls were the worst. Two-headed, they also had twice the strength and half the brains of other trolls. They were immune to bullets and any bladed weapons not made of silver. Hammers, mallets, maces—all worked well against the creatures, but we were sadly lacking in the blunt-weapon division. And far worse, we were on a precarious mountainside with a one-way ticket to an early grave if we fell off.
Smoky immediately called for Shade to join him. Which meant, of course, some jostling. “Camille, Venus, Chase, get to the end of the line. Bran and Delilah, behind us.”
We shuffled around, trying not to knock each other over as we shifted positions, all the while the dubba-troll was grunting, forcing his way through the rocks. The best possibility we had was for Shade and Smoky to tip him off balance and send him over the side.
Delilah drew Lysanthra. The blade would be able to pierce the troll’s skin, at least. And Bran brought out his own sword, which glowed faintly in the dim light. A magical blade as well.
I motioned for Chase to work his way back to the end of the line. “Keep your eyes open. We don’t want anything to surprise us from behind, so if you see anything that looks like it might be a danger, give a shout out. Venus, watch with him. I’m going to call on the Moon Mother’s power. We have a clear sky so I doubt I can find enough energy in the air to call down lightning, but there are other ways to kill a dubba-troll. Damn, if Morio was here, we could cast some form of death spell his way.”
Venus joined Chase without a word, keeping watch over the trail behind us. Meanwhile, Smoky and Shade quickly conferred, with Smoky taking up position first and Shade close behind him. As Smoky engaged the dubba-troll, I turned away. It was best for my magic if I didn’t watch—it was too distracting.
I raised my arms to the sky, summoning the Moon Mother’s power. She was waning, moving into her shadow phase, which was my power. I had started out focusing on the full moon’s energy and my spellcasting had always been wonky, with a good chance of backfiring. But once I had learned that I worked best under the dark moon, my magic had grown stronger and I was less likely to screw up my spells.
The crescent was rising just over the horizon, visible from where we were on the mountain. I gazed up at the Moon Mother, closing my eyes as I reached out to her. I could feel her power crackling around me, the power of shadow and veils, the power of dusk and twilight and the night sky. The wind rose as I called her down into me. What had been a steady breeze strengthened into a stiff squall, buffeting against us. I could hear fighting behind me but brought my focus back to the Moon Mother and her energy.
Give me your strength. I call down your force and your might. Help me, my Lady of the night sky.
As I silently mouthed my prayer to her, the wind turned into a wild whirl of gusts, and the clouds began to gather, racing in from the distant east. They drove forward, huge and luminous, and the sky took on an ominous green tinge. I could feel the rain heavy within them, and the crackling touch of ozone—the smell of lightning—began to build. She was with me, my Lady, in her waning light. She tickled my fingertips, sending trails of prickles along my arms so that the hairs stood straight up. Then her light vanished as the clouds covered the sky, and my stomach tensed. The lightning was there, the energy at my fingertips.
I turned, slowly, holding onto the power, and focused on the dubba-troll as the electricity began to surge into my hands. Holding out my palms, I aimed the fork of lightning at the troll, doing my best to avoid Smoky and Shade, who were launching their attacks at him.
Smoky saw the bolt coming first and jumped back, knocking Shade to the side. They landed against the hill behind them. The dubba-troll paused, then turned my way as the shriek of the lightning hurtled toward him. The brilliant light lit up his face and I could see first the confusion, then the terror as he stumbled back, trying to get away from my attack. But it was too late. The lightning hit him square on the chest, then ricocheted off to blast into the stones on the slope of the mountain below us.
The entire rock face gave way, thundering down the mountain, shaking the upper rocks loose. Smoky and Shade scattered, racing back toward us to avoid the sudden avalanche. Shade grabbed Delilah as he came to her, and they managed to clear the rocky area just before the entire deposit gave way and roared down the mountain below us. As the rocks cleared away from the path, taking the troll with them, I caught my breath. My hands were still tingling.
The clouds burst then, drenching us with a cool rain, and the lightning began to play against them, thunder echoing behind. My heart was racing as Delilah pressed against me, her eyes glued to the storm that I had called in. I knew what she was feeling because I was feeling it, too. Ever since we had been caught in the massive sentient storm that had destroyed Elqaneve and killed both our father and Queen Asteria, we had both been leery of thunderstorms. But this one, I had caused. And all I could do was hope that it played out quickly and then departed.
The downpour soaked us within less than a minute. My cloak helped deflect some of the water, but it still managed to get through. I shaded my eyes to stare up at the play of lightning against the clouds.
“Might want to put away weapons.” As I spoke, it occurred to me my staff had a metal tip, and I lowered it, holding it so that it was horizontal rather than vertical.
“Troll’s dead,” Bran said. “Rocks are gone.”
“And we’re all going to catch our death in this,” Delilah grumbled. But even as she spoke the sudden squall vanished and the clouds started to part, heading off again for whatever climes they had hailed from.
Smoky snorted. “Nah. I may not be able to transform into my dragon shape, but…” He motioned for us to back away, then in the next moment, launched something toward the ground. It hit and the temperature suddenly soared, along with a brilliant flash. “I stole one of Rozurial’s firebombs,” he said with a grin. “Crowd in and the heat should dry us out in a few moments.”
The air around where the bomb had exploded was toasty warm and there was a tidy fire burning. It was almost too warm, but right now that was good for taking the edge off. The heat radiated into our clothing and while it didn’t dry us out all the way, we were a lot warmer and drier. We stood there until the heat began to dissipate, then Smoky motioned for us to fall in line again.
“Let’s get moving, and hopefully anybody else along the path will have seen what played out and will think twice before attacking us. Because there’s no way they could miss all of that.”
He set off again, and we followed suit. We marched on for another hour, gradually making headway up the mountain. According to my computations, we were halfway there. Another pile of rocks littered the way, although smaller and easier to see around. There was enough room to crouch behind, but Smoky checked out the rock fall closest to the mountain and gave us the thumbs-up.
“Nothing here, and the rocks down the slope are too far to worry about as long as we keep an eye out.” He glanced at me. “I suggest we stop and if you need to relieve yourselves, take advantage of the rocks for privacy.”
He had a good point. We couldn’t march all night without going to the bathroom. We’d reach the Cavernica Redal around two in the morning, by my calculations, and we had all eaten and drunk plenty of water. I motioned to Delilah and we headed to the back of the rocks. She kept watch
while I made use of the makeshift privy, and then I stood guard for her. Thank gods somebody had thought to bring toilet paper on the trip. Leaves weren’t all that comfortable, nor were they plenty in this area.
The men took their turns while I pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer, then handed it around. “You know, I used to think about what I’d miss when we returned home from Earthside, after our stint was up. I guess that’s a moot concern now. Now, I have to think about what I’ll miss about not making the rest of my life over here in Otherworld. At least we can visit, though.” I paused, then looked at Delilah. “You still don’t know where you’ll end up, do you?”
She ducked her head, frowning. “No, the Autumn Lord hasn’t given me a clue. Shade, do you know?”
He shrugged. “I’m about as clueless as you are, to be honest. I don’t know where he’ll want his child raised. Our child.”
I thought about her path. Delilah was slated to become the mother of a child by the Autumn Lord, with Shade as the proxy father. Given the choice between her fate and mine, suddenly ruling the Court of Dusk and Twilight didn’t seem so intimidating. Kids were never on my “must-do” list. But Delilah was suited for motherhood, and I suddenly hoped the Autumn Lord would keep her Earthside. I wanted to know who my niece—or nephew—would be. I wanted to play auntie and buy them outrageous presents that she would never agree to.
“What are you thinking about?” Smoky wrapped his arm around my waist. “You look so far away. So wistful.”
I leaned my head against his arm. “I guess…destiny. The Hags of Fate. Where we started and where we’re all ending up. If anybody would have told me when I first came Earthside that I’d end up marrying a dragon…or a youkai-kitsune…I would have laughed them out of the house. If I had known Trillian was going to be coming back into my life, I would have been terrified. The thought of taking my place with Aeval and Titania would have sent me running back here to Otherworld. Now, it all feels so right, even though it’s still a little scary.”
“Destiny doesn’t usually look the way we imagine it,” he said. “Destiny has a way of waiting till we turn our backs and then rolls in like a whirlwind, throwing all our plans to the wind. But when they settle down again, changed—sometimes beyond recognition—we realize that what we thought we wanted wasn’t really what we needed at all.”
“You two are very philosophical tonight,” Chase said. He had been standing close enough to hear us talking. “I never dreamed my life would become what it has. I still don’t know where I’m going to end up. And I’ve decided that, as long as Astrid and Sharah are safe, I’m okay with that.”
“You’ve come a long way from the Chase we first met when we came Earthside.” I patted him on the shoulder. “I’m happy you found your love.”
He paused, looking like he was going to say something, then shook his head, pressing his lips together. But the look on his face wasn’t altogether happy.
“Is something wrong?”
For a moment, I didn’t think he was going to answer, but then he let out a long sigh. “I know that Sharah’s expected to produce an heir—one who is full-blooded elf. I’ve known for a while but I couldn’t talk about it, while I processed what the implications were. Astrid can never take the throne, and I’m actually happy about that. I think ruling a kingdom is too stressful for most people.” He stared at me and I couldn’t help but wonder if the comment was also pointed at me, but this wasn’t a conversation about my journey.
“How do you feel?”
“Angry. Sad. Resigned.” He shrugged. “I’ve come to realize that in the end, it doesn’t matter what I feel or think. Sharah’s the queen of Elqaneve. They have traditions going back tens of thousands of years and they aren’t going to change them just because I want them to. Nor is she an empress or dictator. She can’t just abruptly tell her people that everything they’ve grown up with is being tossed aside because she wants it to be.”
“Unfortunately, you’re right. I’m sorry, Chase. But that doesn’t mean you and she can’t still be a couple.”
“No, but it means that my idyllic vision of a happy little family, just the three of us, is blown apart. Smoky, you talked about destiny not being what we always want it to be. I think I’m finally realizing that. And I’m learning to accept that it will be what it needs to be. I’m not in control of the universe, but I’m in control of how I react.”
The detective looked and sounded so much older than when we had first met. He was also, sadly, wiser in the way that the world worked. That was one thing I missed about both him and Delilah. Both had been idealists. Delilah had been naive in so many ways, and Chase had been so resistant to doing anything other than the way he been taught was right. Now, the pair of them had both grown and evolved, but a certain innocence had fled with the shedding of their skins.
“Everything works out as it must. Maybe not how we would like, but usually, there’s a reasoning to life’s currents, even though we can’t always see the big picture.” It was pithy advice, I knew, but the only thing I could think of to say at the moment. “Come, we’ve got to keep moving.”
Smoky took up the lead and once again, we set out. The sky was once again clear, and the path had grown steeper. I was extremely grateful that I’d brought my staff because it gave me leverage as we climbed up the dirt trail, so hard in places it was almost slick. The rainstorm had been isolated, and the further we distanced ourselves from the dubba-troll’s hideout, the steeper the climb became.
About thirty minutes into the fifth hour of climbing, I began to hear whispering on the wind. The voices blew past me, impossible to catch, but the susurration echoed in the back of my mind, as though the winds themselves were trying to tell me something. I fell into the rhythm of the hike, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. A few minutes later, Delilah worked her way up past Bran and Chase.
“The spirits that Keth talked about? They’re here. I can see them. The mountain is cloaked in a shroud of ghosts.” She was looking a little green around the gills. “I’m blocking out their ability to know that I can see them, but they’re calling out for us, trying to lure us off the path. Be cautious if you hear anything. They don’t have our best interests at heart, I can tell you that.”
I shivered. “I can hear them, although I can’t hear what they’re saying. I can just hear the whispering of their voices.”
“I can hear them too,” Shade said, surprising both of us. Ever since he lost his Stradolan powers thanks to an energy-leech that had invaded our house, his abilities to work with spirits had drastically decreased except when he was in his actual dragon form. “Something is happening to me as we climb the mountain. I didn’t want to say so before, because I thought it was my imagination, but there is heavy magic here and it’s affecting me. I’m not sure what’s going on.”
Delilah, looking worried, turned to him. “Honey? Are you okay?”
He nodded. “Yes, but it’s as though…it’s almost like if I just tried hard enough, I could reach out and snatch my powers back. I want to try, but I’m worried that it might be a trick the ghosts are playing on me. That it’s actually something set up to harm me.”
Delilah glanced at me. I shrugged, not sure whether or not his assessment was right. If he had a chance to reclaim his powers, we needed to give him the leeway to do so. But what if he was right and it was a trick? What if the spirits were trying to trick him into doing something that would harm either him or us, or both?
I turned to Bran. “What do you know about this mountain? Anything?”
“All I know is that Pentangle has been spotted around this mountain way too many times. The Mother of Magic doesn’t usually show up unless there’s something incredibly powerful about a place or event.” He frowned, staring up at the peak that was dimly illuminated against the backdrop of the night sky. “I think we have to walk softly and keep our eyes open lest we fall into any number of traps and tricks.”
“Good adv
ice,” I murmured. Turning back to Shade, I asked, “What do you want to do? What’s your gut instinct?”
He frowned, closing his eyes. “Whatever it is, if there is a chance for me to regain my powers, it’s farther up the mountain.”
Smoky nodded, then motioned for us to start in again. “Onward, and ignore the voices around us. We can’t afford to be led on any wild goose chases.”
We climbed through the hours following, one hour, two. When we were—by our reckoning—an hour away from the cave, we paused for a snack. Delilah handed out apples and cookies that the monks had given us, and we ate in silence. I was feeling the power of the mountain pressing down on me. The immensity of the magic here was wearing, and it was giving me a headache because my magic didn’t mesh all that well with the innate magic of the Tygerian monks and their mountains.
When we finished, we took up again and at this point, I kept my attention carefully focused on my feet. We were all carrying flashlights. The light of the crescent moon wasn’t strong enough to illuminate our way.
Another thirty minutes and Smoky held up his hand, slowing. “I think I see it. Up there.” He nodded toward a fork in the path that led to a dark blotch against the mountain. The opening to the cavern.
As I stared at it, something inside resonated deep and loud. There it was. And I knew that the diamond was in there.
“Let’s go,” I said, focused only on the end point now. Every instinct inside was screaming to get there before someone came along to interfere.
We were nearing the turnoff when a deep rumbling like an earthquake raced along below our feet. I threw myself to the side of the hill, trying to keep from slipping off the edge of the trail, which was slanted at a highly uncomfortable angle. The trail flattened out again ten yards ahead, but here, it was more vertical than horizontal.
The others followed my lead, and we clung to the side of the hill as a large mound of dirt began to form ahead of us, pushing up from below the ground from deep inside the mountain. I pressed hard against the hillside, holding on for dear life.