The healing, tonics, and candles provided by Ronika proved to be a blessing. Eleni visibly regained a substantial amount of strength, even if she started flagging by the fifth day following those ministrations. Still, it gave us the time required to get closer to our target date.
On the eve of the full moon, we decided to set off for the Wolfmoon Mountains. After many discussions, we agreed it might be better to get there a little early so that we could make sure we had a bit of extra wiggle room to deal with any issue that may arise. At the same time, I hoped we weren’t jinxing ourselves by doing that.
It upset me when Eleni insisted on riding Pasha to the temple. Granted, she was still alert and strong enough to be able to make the journey on her own. But I would feel a lot less nervous holding her tightly in the safety of my own arms.
“Stop pouting, you silly male,” she said affectionately while getting on the back of her Galadia. “You know it is wisest togo this route. If anything happens, you won’t be able to defend yourself while also carrying me.”
“If anything was to happen requiring battle, I would just get you out of there,” I grumbled.
“But what if you couldn’t outrun them?” she gently challenged. “It’s not like I can grow wings and flap my way to safety. We would both be sitting ducks.”
As much as I agreed with her logic, I still hated that prospect. However, I learned my lesson from the previous debacle. Never again would I dismiss my woman’s concerns or intuition. I wanted—or rather needed—to believe that all would be well. In fact, I had made the journey to the temple while Eleni rested to make sure it was indeed where the information Kali provided stated it was located. Finding the temple intact, its entrance unencumbered greatly reassured me.
“I know. Just call me greedy,” I mumbled before shifting into my Gharlakan form.
She chuckled, and we took flight.
The whole journey there, the tension and worry I felt steadily grew. I hated the negative thoughts that kept swirling in my mind. The wicked voice at the back of my head that told me my entire life that I wasn’t worthy of happiness whispered relentlessly that this, too, would soon be taken from me. The more I attempted to cast it out, the louder it got. The two things that kept me from spiraling down the abyss of despair were the voice of Pharos telling us that a path to our happily ever after still existed, and the determined look on my woman’s face.
It shamed me that she, who stood to lose the most, showed more strength than I did when I should be the one lifting her up and reminding her to keep the faith. And yet, the sense of unease relentlessly hounded me. It felt almost like a living entity as we flew over the Wolfmoon forest.
And then I saw it half a second before I felt it.
The air rippled under the effect of a ward being triggered. Most people and even creatures wouldn’t be able to see it. But my Gharlakan’s unique vision caught it clearly. And then my skin tingled as the wave of magic washed over us. Eleni stiffened, her back straightening as she jerked her head around to try and detect what had caused that reaction. She was powerful enough to have perceived some form of magic, even though she didn’t know what it was or its source.
“It wasn’t an offensive spell. I believe we triggered a detection ward,”I telepathically communicated to my mate.
It had to be some sort of motion detector. However, it hadn’t been there the previous times I made the journey here.
Really?
It struck me then that it had only gone off once Eleni had flown over its threshold. For all I knew, whoever set it up had placed it specifically to detect her. So had it been there all along? Or had it been placed over the last couple of days? If Elliot or the cultists of the Harbingers of Aeshua were behind it, then they likely knew that my mate would seek to perform the ritual in Hecate’s temple on the night of the full moon.
But all such musings flew right out of my mind, and I inwardly spewed a string of curses when countless dark dots appeared in the distance. They were coming at high speed towards us over a wide radius. My enhanced vision quickly revealed them to be Djarins.
The giant demonic bugs—which could also serve as mounts—shouldn’t be anywhere near this place. They could be found haunting various circles of Hell and were often bred as war mounts. Their immunity to mind-control and high resistance to poison made them very appealing in battle. They had the skull face of a dinosaur, with bone spikes along the jaw, and thorny horns on their heads. Their two front and back legs ended in sharp points that could stab through the most resistancesurfaces, even pierce certain metals. More sharp bone ridges lined the two-segment articulation that acted as their elbows. Their long, leathery wings were covered in the same short chitin needles that gave the impression of short fur.
The wretched creatures could move at dizzying speed and always attacked as a swarm, which easily overwhelmed their targets.
“Fall back!”I telepathically ordered.“Go to the Howl Inn. I will hold him off to give you a headstart.”
I braced for her to argue, to insist that she assist me or demand that I come with her. But to my relief, years of experience on the battlefield had taught her to quickly assess the odds of success in a lethal confrontation. Alone, I might stand a chance. Her tremendous powers would have come in handy, but their flight speed was too great. Eleni would sustain too much grievous damage that she wouldn’t be able to regenerate from quickly enough.
To my relief, my mate didn’t challenge me and immediately turned her beast around, only to curse out loud. I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart sank. Behind us, even more of the foul creatures were closing in.
Where the fuck did they come from?
Was the summoner nearby, opening portals from whence they emerged? Elliot had done exactly that in the crematorium when he unleashed the Lammathens on us. Was he teleporting between those areas to open the portals?
Whoever was doing it, and however they went about it was currently the least of our concerns. I needed to get my woman to safety.
“Stay close!”I telepathically spoke to her.
If we split up, they would make mincemeat out of us in a heartbeat. Our only hope was to multiply the area of effect spells that would strike multiple targets simultaneously, keepingthem at bay while we mowed through the swarm. I considered shifting into a different form, to some creature that could spit virulent acids over great distances, or a multi-headed one that could see and tear apart many targets at once. But none of them could move as fast as the Gharlakan. It was also a formidable combatant.
A wave of magic radiated from my woman. To my shock, her features had shifted like in the Sanctuary. A double pair of short horns protruded from her head, and scales and demonic ridges now adorned her forehead and cheeks. Her sclera had vanished, replaced by dark ink. Her face, beautifully terrifying, contorted in an air of pure rage as she blasted a spell on the incoming threat.
It took a few seconds for the magic wave to reach the leaders of the pack. They instantly burst into flames, their screeches filling the air as they flapped their wings in erratic movements under the pain. But their agony was short lived as they turned to ashes only moments later. A savage roar escaped me to salute my woman’s incredible power.
