The Crow King's Wife (42 page)

“Mother No!” Shade screamed. There was no way
either Syrah or Caleb would survive dragonfire at that close of
range. Even if the child had the sense to move to one of the
adjoining buildings she would still be caught in the blaze. His
hand dropped to his pocket and settled around the cool stone hidden
within as he sprinted toward his mother.
Don’t think about it
just do it
. He ordered himself as he launched himself straight
toward the dragon’s gaping mouth. His free hand latched firmly
between two of the massive ivory teeth and pain seared through him
as his flesh was sliced cleanly by the razor edge of one. He could
already feel the heat bubbling in her throat as he pulled himself
up high enough to cast the stone into her open mouth and down her
throat.

With a cry of anguish that had nothing to do
with his injuries he released his hold and dispelled the magic on
the storage stone he had thrown. The dragon staggered and her neck
bulged horribly as his Spell Hawk lodged in her throat then tore
through flesh and bone alike. White hot fire gushed through the
rents in her flesh and Shade barely managed to scramble out of the
way as the dragon’s body collapsed to the ground in a tangle of
thrashing limbs. The ship twisted horribly in the wound with the
sound of tearing metal and bile rose in his throat as the
combination of her thrashing and the destruction of his ship
severed her head from her body. The dragon form faded from her as
death claimed her and Shade stared mutely down at his mother’s
head. He couldn’t bring himself to move at all, not toward her
fallen form or toward Caleb. He felt sick and numb and couldn’t
drag his gaze from her sightless eyes or the blood pooling around
the stump of her neck.

“By all of the Divine what have I done?”
Shade whispered as he contemplated his actions. He had repaid Caleb
for saving his life, and at the same time he had killed a pure
blooded Changeling, and a female at that. Not to mention his own
mother. His life wasn’t worth a bent copper now and he knew it.

“You saved my Daddy’s life.” A tiny voice
answered from somewhere behind him

Turning slowly Shade gazed down at the little
girl and nodded dumbly. “Yes I did.” Shade agreed quietly. “If she
didn’t kill him when she threw him through the wall.” He added
bitterly.

“He lives…barely.” Syrah informed him in a
voice that seemed far too practical for such a small child. She
brushed a strand of her dark blue hair back from her face and gazed
toward his ship with wide grey eyes. “Will that be able to fly now?
She says we shouldn’t stay here much longer. It’s dangerous here
and others will be coming.”

Shade followed her eyes to the blood streaked
ship. One of the wings was nearly torn off and the hull was badly
dented. Slowly he shook his head and swallowed heavily. “Not like
it is now, but I can fix it enough to manage quickly enough.”
All I have to do is bring myself to go near my mother’s
body
. He added silently.

Syrah nodded once at him and then gazed
upward at the empty air beside her and nodded once more. “Fix it
then, and I will do what I can for Daddy. Hurry though, it cost
Momma a lot of strength to finish those guards and it is already
hard for her to stay here. She needs to go, Ryven needs her.”
Syrah’s voice was barely over a whisper and filled with a sadness
that mirrored the ache in his own chest.

Shade nodded slowly once more and realized
the remaining guards were crumpled on the ground. He snorted in
contempt for himself and shook his head slowly. That should have
been the first thing he looked for once Grace had fallen. He should
have looked for further danger rather than mourning the death of an
enemy. “Tell your Mother thank you please. I’m not really sure how
spirits work or if she can hear me when I speak to her, but I’m
sure I owe her my life for killing the guards.” At some point in
his life he was sure he would have scoffed at a child claiming the
spirit of her mother was near her, or at the very least he would
have pitied the child for her fancies. Now however it didn’t seem
the slightest bit odd. He had seen too much in the past few months
to dismiss anything as a possibility.

Movement behind the child caught his
attention before he could turn to his ship and Shade stared in
shock as Caleb staggered to his feet with his sword still clutched
firmly in his hand. The Shifter swayed for a moment and his head
lolled to one side. The shadows around the sword thickened for a
breath and both Syrah and Shade continued to stare in silence as
the sword began to fold back on itself as if melting. Caleb’s form
shifted back down to his human shape the moment the Shadowsteel
touched his skin. Pain flickered briefly across his slack face and
the muscles in his arm convulsed as the Shadowsteel slithered up
his arm and began to meld into his skin. His head lolled forward on
his shoulders and then snapped back as his spine went rigid.

“What in the bloody hell…” Shade murmured as
he stared in sick fascination.

“A bargain kept.” Caleb answered quietly
though the voice was not his own. It was a deeper voice that rang
hollowly with every word. His head came forward once more and
piercing black eyes settled on Shade. He sighed heavily and looked
mildly disgusted. “You however I did not count on.” He continued as
he stepped carefully from the rubble brushing the dust from his
armor as he walked. He rolled his shoulders and a faint smile
creased his lips as he stared hungrily around the remains of
Prendington. The smile faded as his eyes found Shade once more and
he sighed again. “I owe you.” He spoke the words in what almost
seemed an accusation then took another slower breath and forced the
smile back onto his face. “The Dragon Fire would have destroyed his
body before I could claim it, and thus you are owed by me as much
as I may dislike it. So what will it be Morcaillo? What boon would
you ask of me? Riches? Magic? Knowledge?” Caleb’s black gaze
swiveled slowly to the remains of Shade’s ship and his forced smile
became a genuine one. “The secret of Shadowsteel perhaps? If your
ship were made of Shadowsteel repairing it would require no more
than a thought from you.”

“Ryvenken?” Shade asked hesitantly. He
thought he understood what was going on, but had to be certain.
Caleb had said the sword was sentient, but none of the stories he
had ever heard had mentioned weapons that were able to possess
their wielder so completely.

The black eyes settled on him once more and
annoyance flashed across Caleb’s handsome face. “That was the
arrangement. I wasn’t far from claiming this one anyway, and he
wanted
Kevala’drin
so badly. Name your boon Morcaillo. I
would be done with this place and onto more pleasant
diversions.

“It’s a life boon. You said the body would
have been destroyed so this is more than just riches or one secret
to repay what I have done.” Shade replied softly.

The annoyance returned to his face and he
waved impatiently with one hand. “Fine then, name it, I hardly care
how greedy you are. I cannot leave here in your debt.”

“I want my friend back. Time has no meaning
to you. Give us back Caleb for now and bide your time at living for
a better era. You don’t want to be part of this world right now
anyway. It is tearing itself apart.” Shade said calmly.

“Are you mad? I offer you treasure, magical
knowledge, bloody Shadowsteel and you ask me for this?” Ryvenken
demanded furiously.

“I don’t ask it. I demand it. You owe me a
life and I want his back. Return his body to him and bide your
time.” Shade informed him in the same calm tone.

“We will meet again Morcaillo, and I will
remember this. I never forget.” Ryvenken hissed through Caleb’s
lips as he staggered forward. The pitch black of his eyes faded
almost instantly and agony filled his face as his left hand grew
black. Moving quickly Shade caught Caleb as his knees began to
buckle and held him upright. The ring of metal on stone sounded as
a black dagger fell from Caleb’s hand and bounced across the
cobbles toward Syrah.

“Don’t touch that!” Shade warned quickly as
Syrah stared down at the dagger then took a hasty step back at his
words. Caleb shifted in his arms and tried to pull himself upright.
“Easy, I’ve got you. Let’s get you to the ship.” Shade murmured as
he turned on his heels but Caleb tugged weakly against him.

“Ryvenken.” Caleb gasped and reached one hand
toward the dagger in a vain attempt of reaching it.

“You don’t seriously want that thing back do
you?” Shade demanded incredulously.

“It’s a curse when you are bonded with it,
but it’s a much more dangerous curse when your enemy bonds with
it.” Caleb whispered in a hoarse voice and reluctantly Shade helped
him kneel to pick up the Shadowsteel blade. “Thank you Shade.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Shade murmured as he
half-carried Caleb toward his ruined ship. His gaze fell on Grace’s
body as they grew closer and he felt his throat go dry in response.
“No one will thank me by the time this day is over with.” He added
softly. There was still so much he had to do before the night was
over, but by the time he was done everyone would be safe, and
everyone would hate him.

* * *

Thick vines choked the outer walls and Zoelyn
hesitated as she watched another stone tumble from the crumbling
building. The entire Fortress was ensconced in the Stonevines Grim
had summoned and from what she could tell they were the only thing
holding the building upright. Her eyes moved to what remained of
the doorway and her unease increased. Zachary stood a few feet away
examining the fallen stones clogging the door and seemed to be
trying his best to ignore Havoc’s impatient glare.

“I have an overwhelming feeling this is one
of those moments that Victory would call us both idiots and suggest
another plan.” Zachary said cautiously. His dark blue eyes moved
from the blocked door to settle on Havoc and he slowly shook his
head. “I think the vines are the only things holding the walls up,
and this slide of rocks seems to be one of the pressure points. If
we clear here it might bring the rest of the ceiling down.”

“I’d like to know what else we are supposed
to do. We have already circled this building once and this is the
only opening where we can get through the bloody vines. We are
searching for prisoners from Delvay and Arovan. They will be in the
main keep. No one would keep slaves or captives that were that
valuable anywhere else. I suppose I could just set fire to the
vines and hope we find another weak point in the stones, but I
don’t think that would end well for anyone.” Havoc snapped as he
waved his hand for Zachary to move from the doorway.

“I’m not sure this is going to end well
either. This part of the fortress doesn’t look sound at all.”
Zoelyn began but fell silent as Havoc’s annoyed glare snapped to
her. Frowning she shuffled back a few steps from the two men to
stand beside Dray.

“He is going to melt the rocks at the door
which will weaken the structure further and five minutes inside
that wreck the entire place is going to fall on our heads.” Dray
predicted grimly with a shake of his head.

“I think that is what Zach is predicting
too.” Zoelyn agreed with a sigh.

“I’m almost certain that if I were holding
Oblivion right now I would call you a fool and walk away from this.
Sentiment fades before logic when I’m holding Oblivion and I’m
rather certain no logical person would walk inside this building.”
Zachary pointed out calmly before letting out a heavy breath and
stepping back from the door. “Please be careful.” He added as Havoc
stepped into position with a smile lighting his tanned face.

“Oh of course, careful, always, and by the
way, that logic crap is one of the main reasons I hate talking to
you while you are holding Oblivion.” Havoc muttered as he drew his
hands back and inhaled deeply. The air around him began to glow
faintly and with a grunt of effort the Firym threw his hands
forward sending a fireball the size of a hay wagon into the rock
strewn doorway. Shards of stone exploded from the crumbling doorway
and the entire Fortress gave a low shuddering groan as the rock
slide melted. With a wider smile Havoc winked at Zachary and waved
his hand to clear the foul smelling smoke from the air before him.
“See there is a way inside now and the ceiling didn’t collapse.” He
pointed happily toward the still molten stone and started forward
apparently oblivious to the creaking noises the structure was still
making.

“I do believe I said be careful. What part of
careful involved a fireball of that size?” Zachary sighed as he
stepped closer then seemed to think better of walking into the
still glowing stone that was slowly cooling on the floor.

“The part where it was only that size and not
bigger.” Havoc responded from somewhere inside. If the Firym had
any concerns about the building coming down on him it didn’t show
in his voice. He almost sounded as if he were enjoying himself.

“Is he legally insane amongst his people or
is this normal behavior for a Firym?” Dray asked dryly as he moved
closer to Zachary.

The Blight’s expression was so doubtful that
Zoelyn wasn’t even sure he would enter the building once the stone
cooled. She could see his muscles tense every time the building
made the faintest creak.

Zachary frowned for a breath and then looked
to Dray with an amused smile. “Havoc waited for me to move before
using fire. That makes him quite rational amongst the Firym, almost
too cautious by their standards.” He replied in obvious
amusement.

“Never going to Firym.” Dray concluded then
glanced back at her. “What do you think?”

“I think that the children inside that
fortress are most likely a lot more frightened than we are.” Zoelyn
replied without hesitation and stepped forward nervously. The
molten stone was no longer glowing, but she wasn’t fool enough to
think it had set in such a short time. She’d have to move across it
quickly or damage her boots. Considering she was wearing the armor
Seth had given her there was no way to replace anything she damaged
without begging the Demon, and that was not an option in her
mind.