Demon's Dream (High Demon Series #6) (35 page)

"Now that we've cut the stones, you have to choose which you like and then select the setting," the man said, smiling. A black velvet tray was brought out, with cut Tiralian crystal lying on it. The stones glittered brightly against the dark fabric. A cut round stone was presented, along with a square stone and an oval.

"What do you like?" I looked up at Edward.

"The round one is my favorite, and we can put it in the center, with small, square cut crystal surrounding it," Edward said. "Show her the setting we looked at last time." The clerk nodded and pulled a comp-vid from his pocket. He had the ring image displayed in no time.

"This ring is done in diamonds," the clerk said, showing me a beautiful ring. "The Tiralian crystal will be even more stunning."

"Edward, I like this," I said.

"Is that what you want?" I watched his mouth as he smiled at me. He was such a beautiful man.

"Yes," I nodded, mesmerized by Edward Pendley. I looked into his eyes and there were stars there. I didn't know anything else for quite a while.

* * *

"We're shielded," Kiarra announced to the huge crowd. She looked out at the Saa Thalarr, who'd changed to their fighting forms. The Spawn Hunters were prepared if they didn't have another form. Four Dragons stood together—Red, Gold, Silver and Black. The Lace Feathered Eagle, Refizani Skycatcher, Silver Eagle, Golden Eagle, Wyroc and Driskilhin Night Hawk represented the giant birds. Kiarra stood between the Black Gryphon and the Snow Leopard, prepared to turn to the giant Unicorn. A Gold Wyvern and a giant, Black Wolf were nearby. An array of Panthers, Wildcats, Leopards, Black Lions, a Hellcat plus a Bengal and Black Tiger represented the big cats, and then there were more giant Wolves. Several members of the Saa Thalarr had once been werewolf; they'd kept that shape when asked to join.

Norian had come and he led Farzi, Nenzi and all six of their brothers as lion snake shapeshifters. Lendill came, backed by Kaldill, Faldill and one hundred elvish warriors. Five Larentii had come initially, but that was before Shanalar, the first female Larentii born in a very long time, arrived with six of her twelve daughters. Pheligar didn't say a word about her appearance; he merely communicated battle positions to the new arrivals.

The Copper Ra'Ak had come, led by Prince Maldak, six thousand strong. The Black Ra'Ak, five thousand of them under King Youon, also appeared. And then the High Demons came, led by Jaydevik Rath. Jayd had brought one hundred of his High Demon guards and soldiers. Glinda wanted to come, and she and Jayd had fought about it. Glinda stayed home. Gavin, in charge of Le-Ath Veronis' forces, had brought as many vampires as could stand in daylight—Tony, Roff, Aryn, Rigo and Cheedas. Of those, only Roff was a Winged Vampire. Rylend appeared with his father, Erland, and fifty warlocks at his back. Grey House had sent a handful of wizards.

"You know, this makes me think of the battle in
The Lord of the Rings
," Gavril slapped his oldest brother on the back.

"Yeah. Except the Rohirrim aren't on their way to save us at the last minute," Ry sighed. "And since we don't know what's waiting for us, we have to make do with what we have."

Be ready; we will drop the shields
, Pheligar's mental voice filtered through to the gathered forces. Everyone tensed. The shields came down.

* * *

Cynthin Gerg was terrified. Had she expected her homeworld might become the battlefield for the apocalypse? Realization dawned that she'd had a hand in it. Shuddering, she huddled inside the tiny tent she and Naldill had put up. Some of the creatures outside she recognized—from tales and mythology. They weren't real. Couldn't be real. Except they were.

Naldill informed her that the giant, coppery, snake-like creatures that ate humanoids in a single gulp had destroyed these creatures long ago. Some of those creatures were currently allied with their destroyers and Cynthin had unwittingly joined with them. Had she ever thought herself safe? She would never sleep peacefully again, provided she lived through the day. Hydras and Minotaurs stomped past her tent, making the ground shake. Harpies flew overhead, screeching out filth as they flapped past. Giants with only a single eye centered on their foreheads wielded clubs, growling and fighting amongst themselves. Naldill had pulled Cynthin away from the Satyrs earlier, they'd leered at her and she'd begun to undress in front of them. Naldill's comments hadn't been kind, either, when he jerked her away.

"You think you're going to survive with that crowd out there?" Cynthin hugged herself tightly.

"I will be in charge of them," Naldill preened. "I'll have my power back and we'll do what we please after that." Cynthin poked her head out of the tent briefly before fearfully jerking it back inside.

"There are Chimeras out there," she hissed. "And Manticores, Trolls and Kobolds."

"Nice, isn't it, when the Ra'Ak can transcend the timeline? They gathered these from the Dark Realm in the past. Too bad that fool of a god who created it promised not to interfere. We offered them life again, and these were the ones who agreed. The rest promised to fight us with their last breath, but that won't be long in coming," Naldill laughed.

"If I were you, I'd sleep with one eye open from now on," Cynthin muttered.

"You, Ms. Gerg, may be the last surviving member of your planet after this," Naldill smiled nastily. "None of those out there know how to repair the core after Reldill tapped it. It didn't help him much at all; somehow, the elves can't use that power efficiently. Looks like only the warlocks can do that. We were supposed to be good, you know. My father is probably pitching a fit right now, if he knows what we've done."

Cynthin didn't say anything. Her parents lived, still. They'd likely die soon, at the hands of creatures they thought didn't exist.

"The shields are coming down!" Someone shouted outside.

"Showtime," Naldill laughed.

* * *

"Farzi! Take your brothers through there!" Gavril shouted. There was a path between roaring Ra'Ak, leading past the vanguard to the creatures standing behind them. Some of those might be vulnerable to lion snake poison, and the lion snakes might be difficult to see crawling through the grass. Farzi nodded and Norian, standing with him, joined the others.

Kiarra's Unicorn, leading the charge of the Saa Thalarr with Dragons and giant birds flying overhead, ran at the forefront with large cats, a Gryphon and Werewolves racing on either side. The Falchani Spawn Hunters, Turtle and Lok, were joined by Flyer, blades flying as they waded into the huge army of spawn set against them. The werewolf Spawn Hunters joined that battle, while Rylend's warlocks destroyed the ground beneath the charging feet of Minotaurs, Kobolds, Satyrs and Cyclops.

Wizards from Grey House joined their warlock brothers, throwing trees, boulders and anything else available at the advancing army. Ry, without much time to think, still wondered at the hundreds of thousands of creatures set against them. The Ra'Ak had emptied planets to bring these enemies. The Larentii, stationed around the perimeter of the battlefield, were keeping any from escaping, but that might mean nothing in the end. At the moment, they were keeping the population of Xordthe safe and little else.

Lendill and his elvish forces were setting traps for unsuspecting foes, removing deep pockets of earth and disguising them for creatures to tumble into. Once that happened, earth slammed down on their heads, cutting off the air supply. Kaldill knew that all of them required air to breath, and few besides the Ra'Ak had folding ability. Lendill looked for Reldill among the melee, but there was no sign of him.

The giant birds and the dragons dropped downward toward the center of the oncoming army, the birds clipping off heads with deadly talons, the dragons coming to earth with a thump and a mighty roar. Dragon was the first to breathe fire, and all backed away from him except the hidden army of rogue High Demons. Gavril, seeing this, went to work. Enemy High Demon heads began to explode with regularity.

The great cats crashed into a line of enemy Copper Ra'Ak and right behind them, Maldak's army came, clashing with their Copper cousins. Youon and his Black Ra'Ak came next, fighting viciously with the others. There was growling, hissing, screaming, and then dying.

* * *

"Ready?" Edward slapped Zendeval's thick armor. Zendeval nodded. Two thousand Greater Demons stood at his back, ready to go. Heavy pikes in hand, they thumped the iron shafts on the stone floor of Zendeval's courtyard.

"Good," Edward said. "We'll go." They disappeared.

* * *

"No!" Gavril shouted in anguish. Norian had sent mindspeech. He'd gathered five of the reptanoid brothers out of harm's way, but a Kobold had stamped down with a giant foot, crushing three. Gavril, doing as his mother could, wept and cursed silently as he became mist again and crowded inside unsuspecting heads before blowing his mist outward.

I've lost twenty!
Lendill's voice came, then, and he was weeping. Faldill had been one of those, victim to a hundred charging rogue Ra'Ak. Glendes of Grey House had lost several wizards to rogue High Demons before Gavril could reach them. Jayd's forces were taking on as many High Demons and giant Cyclops as they could.

The Unicorn was goring any enemy she came across, and they exploded as soon as she touched them, but the numbers didn't match up. The enemy's forces were overwhelming, and this was a battle to the death. The Larentii were prepared to step in when the flaming meteorite flew overhead, crashing into the center of the battlefield and lifting gouts of earth, rocks and enemy high into the air.

None escaped the raining debris that fell afterward and most ducked to keep from getting dust in their eyes. Then the strangest sight of all came. Taller—much taller than anything on the field, two creatures emerged from the burning ground where the meteorite fell. One unfurled golden wings—the other, feathered wings of solid black.

Chapter 16
 

I brushed myself off. Edward said we had to make a grand entrance, so we'd get the necessary attention. We'd gotten their attention, all right. Then, when our army of Gryphons, Dragons, Unicorns, Centaurs, Werewolves, Greater and Lesser Demons and Wyverns crawled out of the hole around us, and kept crawling out of the hole to line up with us, Edward and I both smiled. Now, things would come even, if the enemy still wanted to fight.

"Did you think you'd be the only ones to travel the timeline?" I glared at the Copper Ra'Ak in charge. He'd appeared before me, ready for my challenge. "Where's that coward, Naldill?" I added, contempt in my voice.

I knew the Saa Thalarr were closing in at our backs, as were Ry's warlocks, the High Demons under Jayd's command, Lendill and his remaining elves, plus Glendes Grey and what remained of his wizards. In short, the allies we had. The Larentii, too, were making their presence known. The Wise Ones had asked them to wait until the last possible moment. They knew, as Edward and I did, that they did not need to violate their rules of noninterference.

"What are you?" The Copper Ra'Ak rogue asked disdainfully.

"Your death," I said. "Kifirin has a new supervisor and Renegar, Edward and I have joined the Nameless Ones," I added. "Kifirin no longer holds sway over any of you. He may have promised not to interfere, but the new Lord of the Dark Realm has made no such promise. He will come if the rest of us fall. Leave now, swear never to do this again and you will live. Fail to do so and your lives will be forfeit, one way or another."

"I find your threat amusing," the Copper Ra'Ak laughed. I held out a hand and forced him to the ground with power.

"Now, what was that you said?" I asked.

"I will never bow," he began before I separated his particles. It was easy. I let them float away on the wind.

"Now, who among the rest of you, wish to deny my authority?" I asked. The ones that rushed me lifted into the afternoon air, their sparks as insubstantial as smoke.

* * *

"We've removed the Ra'Ak's ability to traverse time, from this point forward," I said, sitting cross-legged on the grass in the middle of the field. A brief skirmish occurred after I'd separated a lot of particles, but somehow, Zendeval had led the answering charge, accompanied by the Saa Thalarr. The battle was over quickly.

"I thought we asked you to keep Reah safe?" Teeg ventured to complain to Edward, who sat beside me, mostly looking like himself except for the black Eagle's wings he wore. Who knew that he'd been destined to become the War Eagle for the Elemaiya? As a Nameless One, this is what he was. My Thifilatha was a Nameless One as well. When I was humanoid, I was High Demon. In Thifilatha, I was a god.

"She is safe. As am I, napping on Avendor as we speak," Edward smiled. "We came back in time to do this. It was our intention all along."

"But the reptanoids," Teeg brushed tears away.

"Bring them," I demanded. This was my fear, that those I loved might be lost. Teeg and Norian brought three crushed lion snakes to me.

"Oh, no," I wept, taking the bodies from them. Chazi, Perzi and Bekzi lay limp and lifeless in my Thifilatha's hands. "Please, no," my tears fell on three mangled and motionless lion snakes.

"Do not fear."

Those around me gasped as she appeared. The shining woman. She held out a hand and the power that came was staggering before white light surrounded us, leaving us momentarily blind.