“I know, but I thought we’d at least see some kind of action since then. I thought for sure the war was just outside our front door that night. But even with our patrols of the area, it seems clear that the demon was only a one-spy operation.”
“And Merglan was either just observing, which I have a hard time believing, or that wasn’t him you saw.”
Anders sighed, “I know what I saw, but what’s happened since then goes against what I thought would happen if it was him or one of the riders from the prison.”
Just then a tingle at the back of his neck sent a chill down his spine. He turned to Maija, “Did you feel that?”
Maija narrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, “What’s wrong?”
“I thought I...” he trailed off. He looked down at the wooden box he’d taken from Zahara’s saddle and thought, No. That couldn’t have been.
It came again, a distant voice in his mind calling his name. He shot his eyes up to Maija. Maija stared at him, worry crossing her face. “I heard it again,” he said. “I think he’s calling my name?” He lifted the box and held it between them. He listened again, and this time saw Maija react in surprise.
“I heard him say my name, too,” she said.
Then Anders thought he heard Zahara’s voice calling his name. That doesn’t sound like Ivan, he thought to himself.
“Wait, Raffa is calling us,” Maija said.
Anders lowered the box and said, “I just heard Zahara, too.” Quickly Anders reached and found her with his mind. She sounded slightly panicked, Anders, there’s something in the forest. Raffa and I felt it for a moment, but it’s masked its presence. I didn’t like the way it felt at first. I think it’s one of Merglan’s monsters.
Anders could see that Maija had just been told a similar story. Without saying a word, they both started running toward the east end of the city in the direction of Raffa and Zahara. Maija beat Anders to the outer edge of Brookside where the Revolution had a squad of soldiers posted as guards. He looked up and saw Zahara and Raffa coming in low over the treetops.
Bryant and Dawks, Anders thought, wondering if they’d begun their shift. He searched through the dimly lit faces of the soldiers within sight. Catching a faint blue glow around one of the soldier’s necks, Anders shuffled toward them.
“Anders, this way,” Maija called to him and motioned for him to follow her. She was leading him to Raffa and Zahara.
Anders glanced back to where he’d seen the blue glow and couldn’t find it among the shifting members of the Revolution’s Army squad. They’re not ready yet anyway, Anders thought and pulled himself away from the idea of taking them along on this scouting mission. He followed Maija to their dragons. “Did you talk to the squad leader?” Anders asked as he climbed into his saddle.
Nodding, Maija said, “He knows what we’re doing. He sent a runner to alert the others.”
Just then Anders heard shouts coming from near the docks and knew the alarm had been raised. “Right,” he said. Come on Zahara, take us to where you last saw this monster.
Zahara responded by leading Raffa back into the air and soaring out over the forest. They flew in the early evening light, still able to see some of the details in the forest below. She led them northeast out of town and into the heart of the Riverlands. Anders swept the area with his mind searching for anything that might give away whatever was hiding in the darkness below.
Anders, Maija caught his attention with their telepathic link.
Anders spun his attention to where she directed him. Through the trees Anders could see a black shape moving quickly in the shadows. Just like the demon, its black body was darker than the night surrounding it.
What is it? Maija asked.
Anders shook his head, We’re about to find out. He and Zahara swooped down, dropping through the trees and landing fifty yards in front of the dark shape. Squinting through the darkness, Anders could see the low profile of the black shape. It wasn’t the same as the humanoid-looking demon with the red eyes. If this creature had eyes, he either couldn’t see them or they were as black as the rest of its body.
“What are you?” Anders whispered as the shadow creature stood perfectly still. He probed at it with his mind, but couldn’t sense anything there, much the same as when he was fighting the being that controlled Ivan’s body. His probing provoked a response and the low-profile shadow grew. Just like watching Zahara move from all fours to standing tall on her back legs, Anders watched the bearlike shape rise into a two-legged animal with long arms. Where the demon was lanky and tall, this creature was thick and just as tall or taller than the twelve-foot winged monster from before.
Suddenly the dark, long-armed mass released a roar to match that of a dragon. It fell back down onto all fours and began running at them like a bear. Anders felt the heat swelling inside Zahara and a moment later she released a stream of fire, pointing it directly at the charging beast. Anders saw a shimmer of light ripple around it just before he lost it in the flames. Before he could prepare a defense, the creature barreled through the fire unscathed and slammed into Zahara’s chest.
Anders held onto the saddle as she reared back, trying not to fall back onto him from the impact. He couldn’t see the beast from behind Zahara’s thick neck but could hear its growls as it beat at her thick scales. Suddenly he and Zahara were airborne again and he looked back to see Raffa and Maija descending on the place where they’d just been.
Go back, Anders said to her. A fear for Maija filled him and he sat with his eyes fixed on the patch of forest where Maija and Raffa had entered. Flames from Raffa burst in spurts and the beast’s roar echoed through the night.
Diving back into the forest where the red-scaled dragon and Maija fought the creature, Anders jumped from Zahara’s back with his sword in hand.
Anders, you’re exposing yourself, Zahara said.
She’s right, it’s better to work as a team, he heard Tarron’s voice say.
Anders ignored them and ran toward the slashing dragon. Just before he and Zahara reached the fighting, Raffa settled. Anders quickly glanced to see Maija no longer in the saddle. When Raffa folded his wing, he revealed a grizzly scene. Maija stood over the large dark form of the creature who’d attacked them. She was wiping her blade clean on her sleeve when Anders approached.
“Looks like some kind of overgrown fairnheir,” she said when Anders came to stand near them.
“It had magic,” Anders said.
Or some form of it, Tarron spoke into both of their minds.
“I don’t see a crystal anywhere on it,” Maija said.
Anders shook his head, “Whatever it is, it’s ancient if Tarron can’t tell us what it is.”
You say that like it’s a bad thing, me being old, Tarron said.
“So you don’t know what this is?” Maija asked.
Like you said, it looks like an overgrown fairnheir that can summon an energy shield and mask its presence to sorcerers.
Anders knelt next to the dead creature to look it over more closely. He saw the ground where it lay was dimpled with fresh tracks. Using the light from his sword pummel, Anders could see they were all the same track. “Look at this,” he said, pointing the light blue glow over the freshly trampled ground.
“Are those wolves?” Maija asked.
“They’re too big,” Anders said.
Zahara sniffed at the ground and said, Fairnheir.
“What was this one doing so far behind?” Anders asked.
Before Maija or Tarron could offer a response, they heard screams coming from the direction of Brookside.
“Looks like we don’t have time to find out,” Maija said while moving with elf speed back onto Raffa’s back.
Anders took a moment to check Zahara’s chest for damage from the beast’s attack. After seeing nothing beyond superficial scratches, Anders followed Maija’s lead and climbed into the saddle. Together they took to the sky again. Looking out toward the distant glow of Brookside, Anders saw a light blue flash sparking through the trees just east of town. Urging Zahara to fly faster, he leaned against her neck and pulled in front of Raffa. He hoped the two soldiers could hold off the fairnheir until they got there.
Chapter 83
Protect the City
Landing within sight of the homes along Brookside’s east end, Anders searched through the flickering light. He’d felt the fairnheirs’ presence just moments before. Three lay dead with their red eyes open as if they were staring at the soldiers from Bryant’s squad that they had killed before their own deaths.
Zahara, are there any left alive? Anders asked, unable to sense anything other than the soldiers frantically searching for their compatriots and any more invaders in the trees.
