The Girl With Red Hair (The Last War Saga Book 1) (38 page)

She shook her head and pulled away. “
No
. I acted in greed and now the whole of Alfuria will suffer. I must correct my mistake, but…
No
. Please, end this before…”

She fell to her knees and bared her neck in the same manner Maira had. Bile filled his throat. He grabbed his head. Was she still in his mind?
This isn’t real,
he thought.

“I thought Ta’Nyah could save this world,” she said, staring into the sky. “But we should never have created her. If you do not destroy us…”

Her words were lost as the air at Tannyl’s side tore open with a forceful blast of wind and a sound like thunder.

Chapter Forty-Two

THE FIRST THING Alexander saw was Tannyl, and the first thing he did was drive the elf into the ground.

“Where is she?” he bellowed, pressing a knee into Tannyl’s chest. “Where’s Addy?”

Somehow Tannyl got a leg in between their bodies and reversed positions. Alexander found himself looking up at Tannyl, pain exploding from every corner of his body. A jeweled dagger pressed into the soft flesh of Alexander’s neck.

“I didn’t harm her,” he said. “I did it to protect her. And all of you.”

Alexander fought against the lean elf, but found no strength in his limbs, so he spit in his face instead and snarled. He had never felt so primal.

“Whoa, easy, guys,” Sachihiro said.

Hands grabbed at Tannyl and dragged him off Alexander’s chest. Alexander scrambled to his feet and lunged for Tannyl again, punching him in the jaw before Sachihiro wrapped him up in a hug and pushed him away.

Tannyl wiped blood from his lip and scowled at them. “You shouldn’t have come here,” he said.

“How dare you?” Alexander asked. Sachihiro held onto his arm, preventing any further attack.

“This was my battle,” he said, then dropping his head, added, “and my penance.”

“Where is she?” Alexander shouted again.

Tannyl looked up, the anger gone from his face. Only a passive mask remained. “The girl isn’t here… What happened to her?”

Alexander felt his face flush.
How dare he pretend to care about her?

“Uh, I hate to interrupt,” Jaydan said.

Alexander stopped trying to break Sachihiro’s hold and looked at the Healer. He was standing nearby, staring at a Dryad. The wooded elf was pacing and tearing at her vine-like hair, mumbling incoherently.

“That’s Hilaros,” Tannyl said.

“The All-Mother?” Sachihiro asked, letting Alexander’s arm go and stepping toward the Dryad. “Does she know what happened to Woodhaerst? Or to Addy?”

Hilaros turned on them suddenly and hissed, spraying the night air with saliva. Her eyes were wide, but unseeing, and her whole body was twitching. She took a single step toward the group and they all instinctively took one back.

“You should not have come here!” Hilaros shouted. She held her hands out at her sides, fingers curled. “I wanted to surrender. I truly did. But,
no!
I
will correct my mistakes, not you. I will destroy Ta’Nyah and I will destroy her protectors! Let the world end as it always has and as it always will!” She jabbed a finger at them, her teeth bared. Drool ran from the corner of her mouth and dropped to the grass.

“Tannyl…” Jaydan whispered out of the side of his mouth. “What did you do?”

“She’s mad,” he replied, stepping to Alexander’s side. A brief glance passed between them, but Alexander couldn’t decipher its meaning. He still wanted to strangle the elven man. He still didn’t know where Adelaide was.

“Ma’am,” Sachihiro said, holding out his hand toward the snarling Dryad. “Uh, All-Mother? Perhaps we could talk a bit?”

“Dammit, Sach,” Jaydan said. “She’s not some wild animal that you can tame. Remember what happened with that rabid fox?”

The man looked back over his shoulder. “What? We want answers, don’t we? And I didn’t
know
it was rabid at the time.”

“She’s mad,” Tannyl repeated. “She’s been rambling about Guardians and the destruction of the world. And she asked me to kill her.”

“What?” Alexander asked, casting aside his murderous urges.

Hilaros dropped her hand and clutched her head. She returned to pacing and muttering. It sounded like she was weeping as well.

Tannyl sighed. “She said something called ‘Decay’ is behind the attacks. And that it was caused by the Guardians.”

“Are you a Guardian?” Sachihiro asked, taking another step forward. No one else followed.

Hilaros stopped and looked at him. Tears shone across the flesh and bark of her face. “We should not have come,” she said softly. “We should never have created her. But I will set it right. I must.”

Something whispered in the back of Alexander’s mind. It was like a memory of a memory of a dream, distant and clouded. “Wait, does she mean Addy?”

“Why would she mean Addy?” Jaydan asked.

“Lilacoris said the All-Mother would
take care
of Addy,” Alexander said, his chest tightening.

“Her mind isn’t well,” Tannyl said. “I don’t think she can provide any answers for any of us.”

Alexander wasn’t buying it. He pulled Sachihiro back and walked up to Hilaros. The Dryad took half a step away, her eyes jumping all over the place. She shook her head and groaned, holding up a placating hand.

“Is
her
Adelaide?” Alexander demanded.

Hilaros doubled over, grabbing her head and tucking it between her knees. “You must destroy the Guardians,” she shouted to the ground. “I cannot ignore my purpose much longer.”

Alexander took another step forward. He was just a short strike from the Dryadic woman. “Where is she? What is happening to Adelaide?” he asked. He had never felt so close to chaos. If she didn’t give him the answer he needed… His hand quivered at the thought.

Hilaros screamed and exploded at Alexander. She struck him with an open palm in the chest, tossing him back into Sachihiro. They both crumpled to the ground. Alexander couldn’t breathe.

Hilaros screamed again, the suddenness forcing the group back. Jaydan helped Alexander to his feet and the four of them huddled together, eyes fixed on the shifting creature before them.

“No!” Hilaros shouted. Alexander clutched at his ears; the sheer volume of her voice brought pain like a thousand blows. “You will all be destroyed, and it shall all be as it always was and always is. A world rises and a world falls. We are not to interfere. Forgive me what I have done and what I must now do, but order must be restored. I was a fool to think destiny could be changed. Ta’Nyah will die and all will burn!”

She contorted her body, twisting her limbs into impossible angles. Bones cracked and joints shifted. Her skin shimmered and moved like it was a million skittering beetles. Her legs lengthened and grew thick with corded muscle. She screamed again, the tone shifting into a deep roar, shaking leaves from the surrounding forest and scattering birds. Her mouth filled with thick fangs and her eyes transformed into serpentine slits.

“Is she—” Sachihiro began, but no further words were needed.

Hilaros, All-Mother of the Fae Wyld, was becoming a dragon.

She was not made of shadow or dark mist, but of iridescent scales and dense muscle. Her mouth was crowded with teeth the size of a man and her hands were twisted claws that could fell a tree. She reared back onto her hind legs and opened her mouth to the sky. It lit up with streaks of blue lightning.

Alexander fell to his knees, as did the others. Every fiber in his body shook beneath the ear-splitting cry.

Hilaros, a dragon of immense proportions, looked down at them.
I must look like an ant
, Alexander thought. His hand found his glaive, but he harbored no hope that it could protect him. Magic crackled to life in Jaydan’s hand. Sachihiro cracked his knuckles and spit derisively. Tannyl stood defiant and brandished the jeweled dagger.

Hilaros descended, a blast of magical energy exploding from her open jaw. Had the sun fallen in the clearing, it would not have created such blinding light and heat. Alexander was certain his eyes were still open, but all he could see was black. Everything felt numb. Was this death? Then an even more haunting realization slipped into his mind.

What of Adelaide?

Golden light bled into the edges of his vision and he once again felt in control of his body. The pain was still there. That was a good sign.

The air swam in magic. It arced all around them, encasing their position in blue-white streaks of death. Hilaros roared and the magic assault ebbed, but the golden light remained between the parties.

Alexander squinted against the glare. When he saw her, he gasped.

Adelaide looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes blazing with golden flames. She smiled and turned to face Hilaros. The dragon roared and raked the air with her thick claws.

“Ta’Nyah!” she bellowed, her voice echoing for miles. “I will cleanse this world of your defiance. You are a mistake.”

Alexander tried to reach for Adelaide, but she seemed miles away and his hand wouldn’t respond to his commands.

Golden light twisted about the small girl, flowing into sprawling ethereal wings. She floated a foot from the ground, bare feet hanging free. In her hand she held a short sword. It, too, was surrounded by golden light, lengthening the weapon beyond her own height. She carried it in one hand as if it had no weight.

Hilaros beat the air with her wings, but before she could leave the ground, Adelaide was upon her. She covered the space between them in a blinding flash of brilliant light. She was far smaller than the great creature, but spun in dizzying circles, sword flashing with attacks faster than Alexander could see.

“Was that…?”

“Yeah, Sach,” Jaydan said. “I think that was Addy.”

An explosion of magic lit up the sky and Adelaide spun out of the air, impacting the ground in a spray of dirt. Alexander ran to her and knew the others were at his back. Adelaide crouched in the trench her body had carved into the ground and readied her blade. Without turning, she held a hand up to Alexander, stopping him in mid stride.

Hilaros lunged for her, swinging a claw. Suddenly, Adelaide appeared in a different position, her sword pointing at the other side of her body. Alexander hadn’t even seen her move, but Hilaros recoiled, blood trailing from a deep gash. The dragon backed up, piercing green eyes taking in the complete scene.

Blue energy split the air, driving for Alexander. He didn’t have time to flinch, but Adelaide intercepted the attack before it could land, diverting the magic away from them like a stone parting the waters of a stream. Adelaide’s free hand was extended, acting as a shield, but Alexander could see the force of the attack driving the girl into the ground. Her bare feet pressed into the soil and as she turned her head, he saw her face twisted in a grimace.

“Addy!” he called.

Adelaide grunted and pushed against the wave of energy, rising to her full height. Her wings flared behind her, buffeting Alexander with warmth. Hilaros’s attack ended abruptly with a sharp cry, but it wasn’t Adelaide that had struck her. The dragon twisted, snapped its jaw, and swiped at a small figure near its leg. Sachihiro.

Adelaide crashed into Hilaros like a meteor. Sparks of magic shot in all directions. The dragon’s mighty jaws closed, but met only air as Adelaide spun aside, beat her wings once, and struck at the dragon’s chest. Her attack seared a smooth cut in the thick scales. A claw clipped her back and knocked her off balance for a moment. She cut at it as she dropped. Twisting, she fell into a crouch on the ground.

“Atta girl, Addy,” Sachihiro said at her side.

She regarded him through golden eyes and saw into him. For all his bluster and bravado, the man had an honest soul. Tempered and true. She saw all of him in that moment. Past, present, future. There was no such thing as time. It was something mortals constructed to make sense of their existence. The realization only endeared them to her even more.

Hilaros lifted a clawed foot and brought it down, aiming to crush Sachihiro. He saw it and dove aside, only narrowly avoiding it. He landed hard, but rolled into a crouch. He was grinning ear to ear.

“That all you got, you oversized lizard?”

Hilaros roared and swung a claw at him. He wasn’t going to be able to move in time, Adelaide knew, so she flexed her wings and launched herself into the air again. She slammed into the claw with her shoulder, deflecting its path. Sachihiro still had to duck to keep his head.

Adelaide flew back, putting some distance between her and Hilaros. She regarded the dragon with a mix of emotions. She saw Hilaros as well, and knew her for the beautiful creation she was. A creature that had always existed. But she had to protect Sachihiro and the others. They were what mattered most.

A flash of light at the ground stole her attention. Hilaros turned as well. Jaydan stood near her other leg. The small man was hurling elemental magic with everything he had. Flashes of lightning and gouts of flame snapped from his hands and assaulted the behemoth. Sachihiro was cheering as he dodged her tail and snapped quick punches and kicks to any part he could reach. Neither man could penetrate the thick dragon hide, but she knew they’d die trying.