Bloodlust (45 page)

Her gaze went back up to the forest. The dragon still hovered there, but the elf on its back was gone.

With a loud bellow, the dragon swooped toward them.

Ivy shoved the morning star into her belt and grabbed Lukor's arm. "Come. We're going to help the elves."

"Me." The skuleader approached.

After a moment, Ivy nodded.

Deep into the forest they went. Lukor kept her swift pace, but his breathing was labored. That was when she saw the blood.

"You're hurt."

"I'm fine. Do not worry about me."

Ivy wanted to stop, to give him time to catch his breath, to help him. But as the elf had said, they did not have time to spare, so they rushed along past where the dead goliatha lay, running beyond where Lukor had killed the goliath.

Colorful arrows streaked with red, orange, blue, or green flashed between the trees. The elves were fighting fifteen different similar elves. Black Ruby must have duplicated himself.

Ivy fired off several shots with her stolen silverbow, but each arrow fell short of their mark. She abandoned the weapon. Lukor and the skuleader had already engaged two of the Black Rubys, and Ivy followed their lead.

A morning star identical to hers appeared in his hand, and he blocked the blow with ease, his strength far greater than she anticipated, her biceps burning in agony. Toward her head he brought the morning star. She ducked and slammed her morning star into his chest. He lowered his head to look at the weapon, and she smacked the flat of her palm onto his neck. The Black Ruby crumpled to the ground. Foot on his shoulder, she jerked out the morning star and turned to face another one when the skuleader yanked on her arm.

She glowered at him until air rushed behind her like a fierce tornado wind. Her Black Ruby had climbed to his feet and had tried to destroy her back. The troll leader had spared her life.

"Thank—" Ivy's morning star knocked down a red arrow aimed for the skuleader, and the two returned their focus to the battle.

A female elf shrieked, and her skin turned ashen as she sank to the ground. Another female and a male had already been slain, their bodies grayer than stone. This couldn't be all of the elves... could it?

How strange, how lifelike each of the duplicates were, each identical save for their weapons. Even the elves were showing equal attention to them, seemingly unable to differentiate between the faux and the true.

The gaping hole from her morning star remained within the elf, but he continued to attack her with ease, parrying each attack and countering with gusto. She blocked down low, near her knees, and Lukor swooped in from behind Black Ruby to choke off the hand holding the morning star. The weapon disappeared, and Ivy smashed the morning star into Black Ruby's neck. The elf started to fade.

"That's it." Lukor sliced the saber across the elf's throat. Now it was merely an outline.

Ivy grabbed an axe from the ground and hacked off the head. Before it could land on a bed of blue flowers, the head and the body disappeared.

"You have to decapitate it," Lukor called out.

The infuriating elf returned, "We know that already."

"A sentence to have explained that to us earlier would not have been remiss," Lukor muttered as he ran over to help the skuleader.

Ivy hesitated a moment. Only four good elves remained compared to seven Black Rubys. Including the other rulers, that made seven versus seven, but Ivy had a feeling they were far outmatched.

They had to turn the tide in their favor if they had any hope of surviving.

One of the multiple elves swiped a scythe at Lukor's head. He ducked, bending his back, the arced blade narrowly missing him. Another threw a glowing spear at Lukor, and he jumped out of the way. The skuleader had his hands full. Lukor had been helping with that one, but too many were here, focused on him.

Ivy fared better than he did. He wished he could admire her body as she pivoted and lunged and squatted and thrust, but he was too busy trying to keep his head attached to stare.

A small bird flew overhead. Ivy kicked her foe back and slashed at the bird. It plunged to the ground, still alive. She darted over to it, her back now to Lukor. He chopped one of the elves' spears in half and retrieved the now-discarded bird as yet another foe had attacked her. That she kept glancing at the bird had Lukor examining it closer, and he spied a small hole in its feathers.

Five of the look-alikes remained now. Four. An elf, in a slick move, leapt off a high tree branch and crossed two blades to slice off the head.

The skuleader hacked away at one's neck and managed to kill it. An arrow flew through the air, toward the troll leader’s back, and Lukor, reacting on instinct, threw the bird. It collided with the magical arrow, sending it off course.

Toward Ivy. But she saw it and swerved out of the way. Flipping heels over her head, she landed on her boots and sliced and cut off yet another's head.

Only two. Lukor raced over toward one and engaged its hellebarde. Several parries and Lukor struggled to find an opening, but the distraction was more than enough for an elf to use a feather that appeared to be made of steel to chop off the head.

Only the last remained.

His smile flashed teeth so white they almost had a blue hue to them. "You've all certainly put up a fight."

"More than you bargained for, Black Ruby." A male elf wiped blood from the corner of his mouth with a leaf.

"More than you." Black Ruby held out his hand and stepped on top of the fallen elves. "Only three elves remain in all the world." He cupped his long, bone-like fingers around the female's chin. "How would you like to rule by my side? We could—"

She lowered her head and bit his finger.

"You always were a—"

"Have some respect." Lukor eased between them, not liking the harsh tone in Black Ruby's voice. "What exactly do you want?"

"The world. For the goliaths, barbarians, and trolls to be wiped out. Abominations, that's what you all are."

"And the dwarves and the humans?" Lukor stepped to the right, toward the dead bird. It wiggled slightly.

Ivy scooped up the bird, but Black Ruby did not seem to notice.

"Inferior as well, but as long as they accept my leadership, all shall be fine. I've always been the strongest. I deserve this." Black Ruby shoved his thumb toward his chest.

Lukor slid to the right a little more.

"No one understands what I have been through," Black Ruby continued.

The goliath held out his hand. Ivy threw him the bird. Lukor yanked out the destroyer dread. The insect was wingless so he had to shove it onto the elf's finger. It burrowed its way in.

Black Ruby closed the fist of his right hand, and his left index finger disappeared. He furrowed his brow, and the hand vanished next. Then his forearm and upper arm.

"It's too late," the male elf said with satisfaction.

Black Ruby's face turned red. "No. It cannot be. I am invince—" He collapsed.

"You're dead." The elf slammed his spiked cane into Black Ruby's ear. The elf twitched a few times before laying still.

A few minutes later, the destroyer dread wormed its way out of Black Ruby.

The elf blew onto his wrist, and a speck of fire appeared, singeing the air, flying toward the dread.

Ivy jumped in front. "Do not kill it." She managed to capture the creature in a patch of jagged hide. Wolf, maybe?

The bemused expression on the elf's face had to be identical to Lukor's.

"So ends the threat." The elf clapped his hands as if to get rid of the dirt and blood from them. He turned to Ivy. "Thank you for all of your help. All of you." He bowed deeply to each of the ruler's in turn.

The female elf dipped her head three times as well, her blue lips blowing each of them kisses. "Yes, thank you."

"So that's it?" Lukor nudged the dead elf's body with his foot.

"Aye. His dragon your people have killed, and no more threats exist to terrorize the races." The female elf closed her eyes. A single tear slowly slid down her cheek.

"None save time," the male added. "I am Gold Tongue. She is Blue Ice."

"So glad you finally designed us worthy of learning your name, Gold Tongue," Ivy said dryly. "Are you two truly all that remains?"

Blue Ice nodded regally. "I fear we are. We know how much you want the barbarians to continue on, for we wish the same with our own race, but the stars have foretold the destruction of one race would give rise to a new one."

"But a female human could yet save us, right?" Ivy stepped forward, swaying. Lukor raced to her side, but she pushed him away. "The line will be diluted, like my own, but the barbarians could still flourish one day."

The hope in her chest burned within Lukor's. He did not envy his future wife's plight, but he also saw the resignation within the elves' eyes.

"Not any two of different species can produce children. A new race can only ever be created through a love so true it defies all odds. Love like yours. One that survives and thrives despite the dangers inherent of loving one from another race." Gold Tongue glanced at Blue Ice.

She held his hand for a moment. "I have loved Gold Tongue for many centuries now. Even if he were to have fallen during this battle, I would not have ever been able to mate with another race, barbarian or otherwise." She tilted her head back, exposing her long, white neck as she gazed at the sky. "The stars have foretold this. We had no knowledge of which race would fall though."

"So the stars know for certain that no human female could fall in love with the barbarians." Ivy tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. "I do not believe that. You two can go off and have a zillion elf babies because time is on your side, and soon there will be more elves than ever before, but the barbarians will die out in maybe twenty years, if we're lucky. Is that what you're telling me?"

"I'm afraid so." Gold Tongue clasped Ivy's hands. "I am so sorry."

Ivy jerked free. "Do not ever ask for our aid again. And do not ever designate yourself as our guardians. If you ever dare to try to manipulate us..."

"That was all Black Ruby. Allow me to reassure you—"

"We're done here." Ivy glanced at Lukor and then the skuleader. As one, they turned away.

"Wait. At least allow us to heal you," Blue Ice called.

"We do heal over time," Lukor called over his shoulder.

The three rulers marched through the forest to rejoin their people. Several fires burned, dragon meat cooking over them. It warmed Lukor's heart to see that each fire was circled by multiple races, working together, talking. Maybe not laughing and singing but progress nonetheless.

"Peace." The skuleader shook Lukor's hand before giving Ivy a one-armed hug. "Peace."

"Yes, peace." Lukor wrapped his arm around Ivy's small waist, his other hand he lifted in the air. "Everyone, the threat to us has been killed. We are safe. And we have proven today that we are stronger when we work together than when we are..."

"At each other's throats and hearts," Ivy supplied.

A few chuckles erupted.

"To represent that sense of togetherness..." Lukor glanced down at Ivy. If he was wrong and his people still were not ready to accept Ivy, he would renounce the crown. "I plan to spend the rest of my life with my wife. And I am pleased to present to you that she is none other than Barbaroness Ivy."

A few gasps, much talking, but not jeers or vulgar exclamations. 'Twas a miracle.

"I love Ivy," he continued, gazing into her purple eyes, now holding her left hand in his right. "I believe this union will be the marking of a new beginning for us all, if we allow it."

The skuleader placed his hand on theirs and squeezed. "Blessing. Much happiness." Then he stepped back and slowly started to clap.

The barbarians joined in first, even some trolls. Eventually, most of the goliaths did as well until only one older goliatha sat near her fire, not moving. After a long moment, she stood and clapped loudly. Gremma grinned at him and nodded.

Some goliathas and female trolls ushered Ivy back into the forest, and Lukor felt lost, uncertain what was happening. A flurry of activity had men rushing about, rearranging things, fashioning seats out of tree branches and rocks, and gradually Lukor realized the wedding was going to take place here, now. The crowning ceremony for them both could wait until at their respective castles.