Shadow Fire (37 page)

"He won't get away this time," Caleb says with a sly grin. "He's much weaker right now than he appears. Attacking tonight was a stroke of genius. He assumed you'd wait until morning."

While Caleb is speaking, all four men hurl attacks at Delistaire. This time the sorcerer begins to show signs that his strength is waning. The shield around him shimmers for a moment and almost disappears before he manages to force it back up. The sneering smile is gone, replaced by a vicious scowl.

"Only a few more attacks and it'll be your turn," Caleb says, watching Delistaire launch an attack at Taranis.

The pirate barely has to move to dodge the slow attack, though he does an amazing job pretending as he dives to the side and rolls back to his feet.

"What a ham," Caleb whispers smirking.

Zane turns in our direction and gives a slight nod. When I start to rise from the ground, Caleb's hand on my arm stops me.

"Patience. I'll let you know when to attack. Stay hidden for now."

"Fire tempest," Zane roars.

"Stalactite," Loki yells.

"Tornado," Taranis cries.

"Hail storm," Hosea shouts.

Delistaire is cut off from view as the attacks hit him one after the other with no time for the sorcerer to recover in between. The night is filled with the ferocious lights and sounds of the elemental attacks. When the dust settles after Hosea's water attack, the sorcerer is on his hands and knees panting.

"His shield is down," Caleb cries, pulling me to my feet, "let's go!"

We run toward the exhausted sorcerer, stopping about ten feet away. Delistaire glares up at us; his dark red eyes alight with fear and hatred. There's a spike of dark energy followed by a panicked expression on the kneeling sorcerer's face.

"Trying to go somewhere, Delistaire?" Caleb asks, chuckling low in his throat. "It'll be hard to get through my barrier, you pathetic old man."

As Caleb is speaking, I gather my light energy, everything I have in me, and direct it toward my right arm chambered at my side. When it feels as if my arm might explode from the amount of magical energy, I thrust my arm out toward the now cowering sorcerer.

"Prism spear," I cry out as a bright, shimmering spear of white energy races toward Delistaire.

The air around us crackles with the energy of the attack. When it strikes the trembling sorcerer through the chest, there's a blinding flash of brilliant white light. Shielding my eyes, I wait for the shimmering light to fade. The entire area is bathed in the bright white light, smothering everything as though it were dense fog. When it dissipates, I search the ground where Delistaire had been, only to find nothing.

For a brief, awful moment, I think he has teleported away, until I remember Caleb's barrier. The ground is charred and blackened where Delistaire had been kneeling. Nothing remains of the evil sorcerer but a pile of gray ashes scattering across the ground, stirred by the soft breeze.

Zane races to my side, and I fall against his firm chest. Blackness creeps into the edges of my vision. I begin to lose consciousness, having spent too much energy on my light attack. My lips curl into a relieved smile when Zane lifts my exhausted body into his arms. He strides away from the remains of his father, leaving the ashes to blow away in the wind.

"What about the Goddess Statue?" I ask in a whisper. The simple act of speaking is almost too much for my exhausted body.

"Don't worry about it," Zane murmurs before kissing my forehead. "Loki and Caleb will go into the tower to retrieve it. Caleb placed it in a cabinet in Delistaire's lair when they arrived earlier. You just need to rest. I don't want you anywhere near that repulsive place."

Breathing a sigh of relief, I relax back into Zane's arms. I'm filled with unadulterated joy as I listen to the celebrating of our companions before I slip into unconsciousness.

Epilogue

Three Months Later

It's early morning, and I'm alone on the deck of the ship. Raising my face to the dawning sun, I enjoy the sensation of the cool, salty breeze ruffling my unbound hair. My journey is complete; the Goddess Statue once again rests within the Goddess Shrine in Verdane. Two elaborate sealing spells, one light and one dark, ensure it will never be stolen again.

I don't know what effect the statue's return will have on the continent. The changes will be so gradual they'll remain unnoticed. However, the statue does provide hope and comfort to the people of Verdane, and the entire continent of Meliar. My reunion with my family was wonderful and tear-filled. My parents' dumbfounded faces are forever seared in my memory. Verdane celebrated my success with an entire week of festivals. At the end of the dizzying week, Zane and I were married in front of the renovated Goddess Shrine.

My fingers play with the wedding band on my finger, a gold band with four colored gemstones in a channel setting. Each gemstone has a different meaning: red ruby for love, blue sapphire for protection, pink tourmaline for wisdom and green emerald for harmony with nature.

When I told my family of my decision to travel the world, they were saddened. I promised to return home once in a while to visit, and they appeared to calm a bit. In an interesting turn of events, Taranis and my sister Celeste hit it off, becoming inseparable. She decided to join Taranis in his travels so my parents lost two daughters in the same week. Before we left, I vowed to watch over Celeste, though it was unnecessary. Taranis never lets her out of his sight.

We spent several weeks sorting through the mansion and tower once belonging to Delistaire. Zane wasn't kidding when he said the man was hoarding gold. Zane's quite wealthy even though he gave away three quarters of the gold to charity. The mansion in Algora and the tower on Karina, along with many of the magical items within were given to Caleb and Hosea. Caleb is planning to convert the mansion into the Meliar School of Magic and is working with his companions to achieve his goal. Loki, having taken an immediate liking to the young magical prodigy, decided to stay to assist Caleb for a while. When I cried and told him I'd miss him, he laughed before reminding me he'd be checking up on us on a regular basis.

As he was walking away, he gave me a sly grin and said he expects pups from Zane and me in the near future. Well, I think he may have to wait awhile for a child!

Hosea disappeared and we finally located him locked up on the top floor of Delistaire's tower. He's so wrapped up in reading through the evil sorcerer's many journals; he hasn't left the ebony tower in weeks. Perhaps Hosea will find some good from the ghastly experiments documented in those awful records.

Shadow pads over and nuzzles my hand, bringing me out of my reverie. Freya approaches my other side, and I bury my fingers in her soft white neck feathers. When my eyes return to the vista before me, I notice we're nearing Palma. With a sigh, I leave my silent vigil, heading through the main door to the cabins. I ease open the door to the captain's quarters. It's now separated into two small bedrooms and a main living area. Zane's sitting on the black leather sofa set up by the window to take in the stunning panoramic view. I have a sneaking suspicion the only thing he was watching was me. With a smirk, I cross the room and drop down on the sofa beside him.

"We'll be in Palma within the hour," I say, snuggling into his waiting arms.

He kisses my lips, exploring my eager mouth with exquisite tenderness. My fingers entwine in his hair, holding him to me as I deepen the kiss and fight him for control. After a few minutes, I pull away breathless.

"I need to wake Taranis so he can prepare for arrival."

Zane releases me from his embrace with a low, unhappy groan. Rising from the sofa, I walk over to bang on Taranis's door.

"Hey, Pirate. Get your lazy butt out of bed," I yell through the closed door.

"Geez, Ashlyn!" Celeste complains when she opens the door. "I need my beauty sleep," she says, tossing her blonde curls with a slender hand. Rolling my eyes, I push my way into the room and shake Taranis's sleeping form.

"Get up you indolent sea dog!"

He cracks an eye open and glares at me.

"We'll be arriving in Palma shortly," I say much softer when he turns both blue eyes to me.

Once he sits up, I stride from the room. Celeste slams the door behind me. Racing back to the sitting room, I leap onto Zane's lap, snuggling up against his warmth. He puts his arms around me and we watch the town of Palma grow larger on the horizon.

"This is the life," Zane says with a sigh. "You and me, the open sea, new lands, new people. I really couldn't ask for more."

"It helps being filthy rich," I tease, kissing his nose.

"Yeah," he says chuckling. "The only thing my father ever did right was hoarding that ill-gotten gold rather than spending it."

"Is there really a continent beyond the island of Karina?" I ask, the excitement apparent in my voice. "Loki seems to think there is but he didn't have any details. I pulled some books from the library in Verdane telling of bizarre creatures from faraway lands. Do you think there's any validity at all to the rumors?"

"Didn't Loki once say most rumors and legends are founded in truth if you look back far enough? Besides, there's really only one way to find out. After a quick stop in Palma for supplies, we sail for lands unknown," he says, leaning in for another kiss, his hands wandering up my thighs. "Enough talking," he whispers against my lips, "I'm feeling a bit lascivious right about now; I think we should retire to our room for a bit, don't you?"

He wiggles his eyebrows in a mockery of Taranis, which makes my heart race in response. Leaping from the sofa, we bolt to the door of our room. We're about to enter when Taranis and Celeste emerge from theirs.

"Pretend we don't exist for a while," Zane orders, slamming the door in their surprised faces.

We fall on the bed, a tangle of limbs. Zane lowers his body to mine, the predatory gleam in his eyes my only warning before he captures my hands, raising them over my head and lacing our fingers together. He leans down, his garnet eyes holding my gaze. When his lips meet mine, I give myself over to his kiss, closing my eyes and moaning in pleasure. The ship sways and rocks as we lose ourselves in each other, utter contentment filling my heart and soul.

"I love you, Zane," I whisper against his lips.

"I love you too, Ashlyn," he murmurs. "Always and forever."

The End

About the Author

Kimber Leigh Wheaton
is a YA author with a soft spot for sweet romance and is a member of Romance Writers of America. She is married to her soul mate, has a teenage son, and shares her home with three dogs and four cats. No, she doesn’t live on a farm, she just loves animals. Her house is filled with dragons, though she does lament that they are the porcelain, non-flying variety. Kimber Leigh is addicted to romance, videogames, superheroes, villains, and chocolate—not necessarily in that order. (If she has to choose, she’ll take a chocolate covered superhero!) Her debut novel, Shadow Fire, is the first book in The Light Chronicles series. Watch for book two, Stolen Moon, a standalone sequel, coming soon.

Also from Astraea Press

Chapter One

Samarra

"Where's he going with that stun gun?" Samarra mumbled when an armed guard barrelled out of his sentry post.

With an exaggerated battle shout, he leaped into a bed of flowers and aimed his weapon at a feral kitten chasing butterflies. He zapped his target without remorse as two guards cheered him on in the background. Samarra choked up at the sight. When the kitten fell still, he grabbed it by its tail and lobbed it over the estate walls. The guard spat on his hands in disgust and wiped them on his fatigues before he lit a cigarette and went back to his post.

"Tools." Samarra leaned against a tree and watched them from a distance as she waited for her brother to arrive.

Soon the all-terrain aircraft that transported him home would appear at the front gates of the Sairfang Estate. It would be like a scene from a movie she played over and over again in her head, every time Cassian came home from boarding school. A group of tough-looking guards would surround the vehicle and check that its passengers held proper clearance for access to the main grounds. Electrified wrought iron gates would be disarmed and swing wide open. Under the gaze of sensors lining the path, the vehicle would glide along the circular cobblestone driveway and idle at the front steps of the lavish mansion.

"Good afternoon, Samarra," came a mechanical female voice.

Flinching at the noise, Samarra turned around to see a cybot guard towering over her small frame. Closer to machine than organic, the guard, a female design, was also in uniform but more heavily equipped than the others. Her arms were reinforced with titanium and enhanced with Sairfang Cybotics artillery. Her legs had been redesigned for maximum speed and strength, and her bionic ears were fine-tuned to capture sound waves undetected by normal gaian hearing. Samarra smiled nervously. The cybot's artificial eyes flashed blue in response, and she headed for the sentry post. Wasting no time, Samarra ran back to the mansion.