Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) (18 page)

“I’m not sure that’s wise,” he said after a few seconds of thought.  The gleaming metal segments of his armor scrubbed together and screeched, as he dropped to one knee and held a hand over Irulan’s chest.  “The princess needs a strong influx of Ether to awaken her.  I’m not sure that your body is capable of providing what she needs.”

I swallowed a snarl and pushed his hand away.  “I’ll be the judge of what I’m capable of.  Just tell me what to do.”

While I may have swallowed my snarl, Thade didn’t bother trying to contain his growl of anger.  “Do as she says, Faerie, we’re running out of time.”  He pushed away from Marcus, stood and rolled his shoulders.  Thade was naked as a blue-jay.  If it was anyone else, I don't think the Manticore would have considered them a threat.  But Thade’s lack of clothing didn’t take away from the daunting figure that he was.  The tightened fist at his side, his wide-legged stance and squared shoulders, let anyone that saw him, know that he meant business.

The Manticore took one look, reluctantly nodded his head and pressed a hand over his heart.  “You have to reach inside, to where the heart of the FaeLands rest and will it to her.  But you must be careful not to overload her senses.”

What is it with the Fae and their mystical, Yoda, rain-man talk?  Why couldn’t they ever give cut and dry instructions?  “So you're basically telling me to gather my power and instead of forming an energy-ball or lightning bolt, somehow direct it through my mouth and hope I don't blow my mate’s head off.”

He looked at me with a deep frown and nodded.  “As I said, maybe it’s best that we wait for my king.”

“We don't have that kind of time,” I whispered as I lowered my lips to Irulan’s.  I focused on the cache of energy inside me and imagined slowly opening the virtual door that I used to keep them in check.  Whenever I tried to access my Fae powers I usually pulled too much, too fast.  Needless to say, this couldn’t be the case now.

I ignored the urge to rush into the process and little by little, the warmth that I’d come to associate with the Fae energy, began to fill me.  Unsure of what else to do, I initiated a kiss, pressing my lips to Irulan’s and carefully parting them with the tip of my tongue.  Her soft, full lips were warm to my touch, but that was the only familiar sensation.

They didn’t move against my own, nipping here and there-tasting, as she did whenever we kissed.  There was no passion behind the intimate touch, no conveyance of the love that we felt for each other.  I felt like I was kissing a freshly fallen corpse.

The cache of energy faded as I pulled away from her and choked back a sob.  “There’s got to be another way for me to do this.  I can't…she feels so…”  I couldn’t find the right combination of words to describe what I was feeling.

A loud piercing-howl cut through the air, demanding to be heard.  It was a call for help from one of Marcus’s wolves.  The sounds of the struggle had finally reached us.   Thade stiffened at my side, and Marcus finally began to stir.  His ears perked at the sound, and his leg began to jerk as his body fought its way back to consciousness.

“I’m not trying to rush you, Val,” Thade said, “But that didn’t sound good.  We need to move.”

He was right of course.  We should have already joined the others, but I couldn’t leave Irulan unprotected.

“Go ahead without me,” I told them.  “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I fully expected the Manticore to take off, but to my surprise, he stayed.  “We leave as one.  After all, you are central to our plans.”

I nodded and took a deep breath.  Irulan needed something from me that I had no idea how to give.  At this rate, half of my family was going to be dead before I got to throw the first punch.

“Fuck it,” I sighed, and lifted my arm to my mouth.  My fangs dropped as I pulled back my lips.  If I couldn’t give her the raw energy, maybe my blood would work.

“I don't think-,” The Manticore began, but I cut him off.

“Neither do I but I don't know what else to do,” I said, before I slid my teeth into the flesh of my wrist.  I sucked at my arm until my mouth was filled with the metallic tang of my own blood.

“But the princess is not a vampire,” He huffed, incensed at what I was about to do.

“No, but she is mated to one,” I said as I pressed my bleeding wrist to her lips.  “Our mating gave her fangs.  Who knows what my blood will do.”

I watched, hoping that she would start to swallow, but she stayed still.  My blood ran down the side of her mouth, adding to the gore that was already there.  I could hear the Manticore's stomach lurch, and he mumbled his disdain, but I was unwilling to give up; especially when I knew in my gut that this would work.  I lowered Ire to the ground and motioned for Thade with a nod.

“Tilt her head for me, Thade.”

He moved into position and raised Irulan’s chin, opening her mouth.  I held my bleeding wrist over her.  The blood dripped into her mouth and ran down her throat.  The Manticore made a sound of disgust and turned his back to us.

When the stream of blood began to slow, I used my fangs to reopen the wound, and moved my arm back into place.  I had to repeat the process five times before I was satisfied that she'd gotten enough.  Once I was done, I fell back onto my ass and pulled my knees to my chest.  Now we wait.  “Just give it a minute,” I said, hoping that my gamble was going to pay off.

Unfortunately for us, we were out of time.  An earth shattering roar filled the air, and Thade jumped to his feet.  “That in the dog hell was that?”

“That was the sounds of my king in battle,” the Manticore yelled.  His head twisted back and forth between the directions the noise came from, to Irulan’s still body.

“Go,” I ordered him. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”  The sounds of dry leaves rustling caused me to turn my attention away from the guard.  It was Marcus, struggling to his feet.  When I looked back to the Manticore, he was gone.

Thade lifted an arm and placed it on the back of his pony-sized uncle’s shoulders.  “I’m glad to see you on four feet, Uncle.”

Another roar sounded off, and Marcus turned his head
toward the sound.  Marcus shook his wet fur and whined.  Thade frowned and nodded his head.  “They’ve found her, but we haven’t joined the fun yet.  Whatever that thing did to knock you senseless, did a bigger number on Irulan.  She still hasn’t recovered.”

Marcus lowered his head and whined again before he lowered himself to the ground beside her.  He inched closer to Irulan, and dropped his head to rest next to hers.  Thade and I watched him sneeze and look off into the woods before he lowered his head again.

Even without the use of words, his message was coming across loud and clear.  “We need to go, Thade.”  I said the words, but it didn’t sound like my voice at all.  My vocal chords had shifted without my noticing; which meant that the rest of me had also.  The Harbinger had taken one shot to many at the people that I love, and it was time to do my part in taking her down.

“Take care of her for me, Marcus,” I said as I reached down and ran a hand through this fur.  He dipped his large, shaggy head before closing his eyes.

“Go ahead, Val,” Thade grunted as he fell to the forest floor.  “I’d rather not charge into a fight wearing nothing but my birthday suit.”

I slipped into a flash, running away from Thade’s cries of pain, and
toward the sounds of the melee.  As I glided through the mud, my anger and frustration grew, until I was surrounded by swirling, crackling, blue lights.  I was on the verge of a breakdown, but this time I didn’t care.

The Harbinger had almost killed Irulan.  It was time for her to pay.  I let my mind drift into Valerian’s. We had lost too many to overpower her.  Now I prayed that there were still enough people left, to put all of our planning into motion.   We had to get her attention and keep her from killing me while I fought my way back to my family’s compound.  That wasn’t too much to ask-was it?

“I’m coming, Brother,” I conveyed as I got closer, “just a few more yards.”

“About damn time,” Valerian, gasped inside my head.  “We’re getting pounded.  If it wasn’t for the Fae, we'd all be dead by now.”

“Score one for Fazion,” I said.  And here I thought he was completely useless.  As I got closer, I noticed an orange glow, shining through the trees.  I ran over a stone bridge and skidded to a stop on the other side of the small lake.  There, in the center of an open area, was the dragon that I saw through Vedo’s eyes.  I threw a hand across my forehead, shielding my eyes, and stared in amazement.  The area was lit up like a light bulb factory, but it was quiet as the grave.  The massive jaws inside Fazion’s minivan sized-head, were stretched wide enough to swallow five of me, whole, and a plume of fire was erupting from those jaws.

In the center of those intense flames was the Banshee.  Her hair whipped around her face in a whirlwind and her own jaws her were gapped open as she used her screams to keep the flames from consuming her.  The earth around her was blackened and scorched in a circular pattern, from the fire being redirected; the rain useless against the flames. Fazion had the bitch at bay.  Scratch what I said earlier about him being useless.  Right now the Tuatha King was fuckin’ awesome.

Someone called my name, and I ran a wide arc around Fazion’s huge body.  There on the far side of the inferno, I found my brothers huddled together, surrounded by a circle of Fae guards.  Each one of them had their arms extended and wore looks of intense concentration.  That explained the circular pattern and the lack of sound.  They were holding a shield around them.

“She came prepared guys,” Valerian called out, when he saw me in all my electrified glory.

“Where are all our Deadborns?”  I asked, with tears streaming down my face.  The fire was definitely effective, but it was killing my eyes.  I turned my back to the scene and concentrated on lowering my films.  They slid into place, taking my night vision with their coming.  If it weren’t for the light of Fazion’s flames, the world would be completely dark.  God, how did humans survive for so long with all their weaknesses?  I squinted through the darkness and noticed the lack of furry bodies.  “And where are the wolves?”

Valerian grabbed my shirt-tail and pulled me down to his level.  “She’s fast Val, and a lot stronger than we expected.  That damn woman tossed ar
ound our deadborns like they were Skittles.”  He looked back at Constantine and sighed.  “By the time Tamerlane and I got here with our teams, we had already lost the deadborns that were with Tino and two wolves.”

“While they fought valiantly, my king did not want their deaths on his conscious.  He ordered the two-natured and the blood-drinkers, away,” Stryfe grunted.

“I believe the king is weakening,” Another Manticore added.   “He won't be able to keep the flames for much longer.”

My brothers stood, and I turned
toward the showdown.  The cloud of flames surrounding the Banshee had died down considerably.  Her face was still contorted as she used her wail to keep the flames at bay, but she had managed to climb to her feet.  If Fazion’s flames give out before she does, he was directly in her line of fire.  As much as some twisted part of me would like to see him fall, the guy came through when it counted.  And I’m pretty sure Irulan will be pissed if I let something happen to her cousin.

“Alright guys, it’s time for me to do my part.”  I focused on the light show that surrounded me and concentrated on channeling some of the dancing energy.  My hands began to tingle, and I held them in front of me.  Two, swirling orbs floated above my palms.  “On three
, drop your shields.  I’ll make sure she doesn’t get near Fazion.”

The Manticore nodded.  Stryfe began the countdown.  When he got to three, I flung both orbs at the Banshee, aiming for the ground in front of her.  With her attention still on keeping herself from getting roasted alive, she never noticed that the shield was gone, or my orbs, sailing
toward her.  My energy-balls tore into the ground, inches from her feet and knocked her backward through the air.

Fazion grunted and snapped his jaws shut.  The instant the flames stopped; his thick legs stumbled
backward.  He was spent.  Stryfe wasted no time retrieving Fazion, who was quickly shrinking to his normal size and form.  The determined Manticore reached him just as the Banshee recovered.

“You may have delayed me with your flames, Tuatha, but now that your dragon is spent, you're helpless against me,” she said as she waltzed
toward us.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that we’re helpless,” I responded.  I moved to stand in front of everyone and held up my palms.  I had two more orbs at the ready.

“You’ve got to know by now that you can't hurt me with those,” she sneered as she stopped in her tracks.  That's when I notice her voice was louder than it should have been.  It was almost as if she were shouting at someone hundreds of yards away, instead of a few feet.

“Yeah, I know,” I answered.  She might be able to deflect them, but I threw them none the less.  Maybe she was shouting over the storm, maybe not.  I had a hunch and hoped that it would pay off.  One sailed straight for her and the other went wide, and disappeared in the trees.  She used her wail to knock the orb aimed at her off course and send it flying back.  I drew another one and hurled it.  The two orbs came together in a shower of sparks.

“I hope you know what you're doing, Val,” Tamerlane whispered at my side.  So did I.  I jumped inside my brothers heads and relayed the gamble I was taking.  If we could distract her again, we might be able to mount a decent offence.