Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (66 page)

Loki jerked awake with Merru shouting in his mind. Pushing past whatever Serena had put in the concoctions Marda kept shoving down him, he concentrated on Merru.
“Slow down! Tell me again.”

“There are far too many Shadow Dragons. Maleena must perform a weave that requires all of the elements, but there are no golds there. No Gold Riders. She can’t create the weave without Light magic. Vaddoc is bed bound; he cannot go. Brock is dead. You’re all that’s left.”

Loki’s pulse jumped as he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Have Liora and Arrah saddle you. Don’t ask anyone else. As riders, they’re the only people who will understand.”

Shoving the blankets away that had tangled around his waist, he slowly stood. The sound of Merru’s wings filtered through the doorway to the lair as the gold flew down to the floor of the caldera. Loki’s leg trembled under him as he limped to the wardrobe. He yanked open the door and pulled out his flying clothes, then turned toward the bed. Moving his head to bring it into view, he limped back and flopped down. It was an effort to dress. His muscles were watery, and his body slow to respond to commands.

It didn’t matter if he was weak, if he only had one good eye, if he had one leg that didn’t obey like it should. Maleena needed him for the weave and from what Merru had shown him, without whatever it was Maleena planned, the Guardians would be overwhelmed.

Wind rushed through the door to the lair as Merru returned to the ledge. After shoving his feet into sturdy leather boots and securing his heavy cloak around him, Loki limped into the dragon’s lair with the ankle of his good leg screaming the whole way.

It took three tries to make it into the saddle. The deep ache in his ribs didn’t help. Finally, he made it and got the safety straps secured. Merru leaped off the ledge, opening a Slide as he did.

Maleena glanced up, relief and worry flooding her at the sight of the golden Merru coming out of the Slide. Opening herself up, she began to pull on all of the powers. They thundered into her in thick rivers as she began the weave. The magic poured into her until she could take no more without killing herself and still the weave was only half finished. Anevay had been wrong. Maleena alone wasn’t strong enough to create this weave. Taela wasn’t as strong as Maleena, linking with her wouldn’t help. It would take another as powerful as she to complete it and there was no one. The weave trembled.

Azurynn stood several paces from Murynn. A hot desert wind swept down the empty desert canyon far from the Kormai. She started to tip her head back and take a long drink from the water bag. Everything around her faded as a vision swept through her mind, and she saw what would happen, what was missing.

The bag dropped from her hands to the ground, splashing water across the dirt as the world snapped back. “Oh Fates!” She turned and ran for Murynn, staggering from the wave of dizziness that always followed a vision. After barely catching herself on the dragon, she managed to get into the saddle, not even bothering with the straps. The black lifted off, opened a Jump, and dove into it.

Maleena sank to her knees, the water climbing up around her thighs as she struggled to hold onto the level of power needed for the weave. Inside, she burned from the intensity. In a distant part of her mind, she was aware of the fierce battle now raging in the sky above the lake.

A shadow landed right in front of her. The rider dropped to the ground, waded into the water, then fell to her knees with her hands held up.

“Get away from me,” Maleena hissed through clenched teeth.

Azurynn reached for her hands. “Fool! If you do not accept my help you will kill everyone and darkness will consume everything!’

Maleena looked into Azurynn’s eyes.

“The incomplete weave breeds the darkness. When the sun sets on bloody snow and the shadows touch your hands, accept it else the world will be destroyed by darkness.”
Was this what the Fates meant? There was no time to think. The Shadow Rider before her was the only other person as strong as she in Spirit magic. Maleena lifted her hands and clasped Azurynn’s.

She sensed the power pouring into Azurynn, as the other woman took on as much power as she had. Heat crackled between their palms. Dark rivers flowed through the air winding themselves into the gaps in the half-finished weave.

The weave shimmered, melting together in a mix of light swirled with gray. A challenging roar came from the depths of the lake, reverberating off the surface. Power exploded from the weave, throwing Maleena against the sandy shore with Azurynn beside her, their hands still clasped together. Only their feet remained in the lake as the water punched up in a massive fountain.

Maleena held the weave with every shred of strength she had. Darkness pushed at the edges of her mind and vision. The water continued to fountain and out of it flew the crystalline shapes of every Guardian all the way back to Kumauni. There were hundreds of them, solid enough to fight but unable to die again. Her vision dimmed until she could no longer see the sky or the battle. Still she held on…

Kellinar’s zahri blurred around him as he tried to keep his mind from thinking about the lives he was cutting short. Not the lives of the leaders of Turindar and Hanover who had decided to throw their lot in with the Shadow Riders. Not those same leaders who threatened the lives of the families of the men he killed if they didn’t go to war. Only the lives of those who had no choice that bloodied the ground.

A Shadow Dragon flew low over the field, the wide band of green flame from its mouth burning a swath through the entangled warriors. Many of their own died along with those defending Markene. Black smoke clogged the air with the stench of burned flesh. It filled his nose and choked his lungs. Kellinar coughed and nearly gagged. His stinging eyes watered as he spun the zahri, blocked a blow from one opponent then jabbed it back into another.

The ground fell away as he sailed through the air. It took a moment for his brain to register the weave flung at him. Then he landed, hitting hard. His head bounced off the frozen mess of bloody snow. Air left his lungs in a rush.

Groaning, he reached for his own magic, and rolled to his back. The battle around him grew fuzzy then sharpened before turning fuzzy again. The magic slipped away from him. His head throbbed to the rhythm of the blood pounding through his veins. Then he saw her. Blonde hair blowing in the wind, a malicious smiled stretched across her face.

Rage replaced the pain. A red haze gathered around the edges of his vision. Oksana. She laughed as he lurched to his feet and stumbled, unable to keep his balance. Kellinar tried to pull a weave together, fumbling it before it could form. Even with the anger flooding his system, his mind wouldn’t work quite right.

Oksana laughed again and raised her bow. Kellinar stared at the black bolt aimed at him, the same kind that had killed Anevay. At the moment of release, something crashed into her, his fading vision unable to comprehend what he saw. Her bolt shot across the distance faster than he could move. Agony ripped through him. Was he on the ground again? He gulped air down his throat to lungs that didn’t seem to remember how to work properly. Tried to reach for his zahri with arms that felt too heavy to lift. The red haze at the edges of his eyes began to fade to black. The battle sounded as if it were far away. Somewhere from beyond the darkness that was pulling him under, Shryden roared.

Taela sprinted across the snow fueled by the fury that raced through her body, her eyes on the woman that had killed her bondsister. She flung herself at Oksana, realizing as she collided with the woman that the arrow released from her bow was intended for Kellinar.

It struck home. Her heart stopped. Kellinar dropped to the ground. Then she and Oksana were rolling across the snow in a tangle. Taela recovered first. With a scream of rage and fear, she pounced on top of Oksana and drove her fist into the blonde’s face.

Oksana’s head snapped back, slamming into the ground as blood sprayed from her flattened nose. Taela snatched the long-bladed knife from her belt and plunged it into the Shadow Rider’s chest. With both hands on the hilt, she twisted it, felt Oksana spasm beneath her, and then yanked it free.

Over the din of battle, a Shadow Dragon shrieked as it died.

Taela shoved the knife back into its sheath and drew her sword. The blade, already covered in drying blood, whistled through the air in a blur of movement as she carved a path to where she’d seen Kellinar fall. She found him laying on his back, eyes closed, the shaft of a black arrow sticking up from the right side of his chest.

There was no time to check to see if he was alive. From her position she couldn’t see Shryden anywhere. She sent a prayer to the Fates. Here was where she would make her stand. She flowed in smooth motions around where Kellinar lay, the dragon bond making her moves faster than her opponents could hope to match.