The demon that she assumed was theDubh a’Ghiuthaisscreeched as it swirled around the tower, consuming the pinnacle of the fortress, yet not quite touching it, not quite taking over and entering the arched windows. It had to be the power of the music keeping the evil at bay.
“Stop it, Lyla! Just stop! It’s high time we talked.”
Her heart stuttered, making her gasp for air. She spun around, staggering toward the voice coming out of the Scale of Rurik, that one voice she’d once wished she could find so she could punch its owner in the face. And there he was. Or at least there was his image shimmering in the scale, staring at her with murderous cockiness.
His smile, that smirk she’d always thought was kind of arrogant yet still somehow sexy, seemed almost demonic now, and for good reason. Derrick had revealed himself to be evil personified. How the blue blazes had he ended up here in the Thirteenth Realm as the soul-sucking, bloodletting druid everyone called Kcirred?
“Hello, lover,” he said, “Miss me?”
Chapter
Sixteen
“Listen.”Magnus turned to Talon, unsure if what he actually heard was real. Communicating by thought was tantamount to maintaining the secrecy of their position. The cliffs along the eastern border of Thornpitch, within three dragon lengths of the boiling, poisonous barrier wall, provided them very little cover as they prepared to lay siege to the evil that had plagued the Thirteenth Realm for entirely too long.“Do ye hear that?”
“How could I not?”Talon turned his head to the north, in the direction of Kindred Fortress.“How long has it been since ye’ve heard the pipes ring out across the Realm?”
“She’s gone to the tower. I told her not to go to the tower.”Fear building, Magnus clenched the haft of his sword so tightly that the leather bindings bit into his flesh. He didn’t care. His precious, hard-headed Lyla was in danger, and he’d left her vulnerable while chasing after a fool’s errand.
They had found no weakness in the wall on this side. Hellys and Ipsillion had been misled and already taken their informant to the depths of the abyss.“We should return to the fortress. Look at that darkness there at the tower. Dubh a’Ghiuthais hasbreached the keep’s guard. That has to be her surrounding the tower with that storm.”What frightened him most was that the pipes no longer sang across the land. He heard nothing but the cawing of the carrion birds, squawking for their battlefield feast. Unfortunately, when Lyla had broken the curse that silenced music across the Realm, the birds’ chilling calls had been returned to them.
“Listen! The song from the tombs.”Talon tilted his great head, barely bobbing his muzzle in time with the ethereal sound that had restored so many to their life’s path, curing them of the vile sickness that had tried to cut them down.“She plays on, brother. Dinna dishonor her by abandoning this opportunity she has given us. The barrier wall thins. Look at it.”
Hellys and Ipsillian stepped forward, their heads bowed.
“Allow me to break through, mighty chief.”His fury making him glow a bloodier shade of crimson,Ipsillian threw out his broad, scarred chest.“The wall thins, and I can withstand what little poison remains. Allow me to bring Kcirred to ye.”
Energy sparked from the tips of Hellys’s great horned head as she cast a glance back at the fortress.“With yer permission, I shall see to the Divine One. I saw the fearsome Dubh a’Ghiuthais before she saw me. I can destroy the sorceress, mighty chief. Her protection spell will not shield her from my flame nor my blades.”
“Bring Kcirred to Talon,”Magnus told Ipsillian, then gave a nod to his brother, before turning back to Hellys.“Take me to my beloved.”While he would enjoy being the one to condemn Kcirred to nonexistence, the aching need to keep his precious Lyla safe—as he had sworn to her that he would—outweighed all else.
“I will merely toy with the druid.”Talon gave Magnus a wink and a leathery dragon smile.“The kill belongs to yerself—in honor of yer mother.”
“Ye honor me, brother, and ye have always honored my mother. Make the kill for both of us, for all human and dragonkind.”Magnus appreciated his brother’s selflessness, but all that mattered was that Kcirred ceased to be. Thumping his fist to his breastplate, he tipped the barest nod, then leapt onto Hellys’s back.“May the mighty Draig look upon us with favor today and grant us victory.”
One of the fastest and most powerful dragons of the Realm, Helly launched into the air as Ipsillian swooped toward the barrier wall that had dwindled to a thin ring of smoke, writhing along the ground.“Nothing can withstand the pipes of Scotland,”she said to Magnus, her voice filled with hope and pride.“The Divine One is wise.”
“Aye.”Magnus crouched low on the dragon’s back. As soon as Hellys drew close enough, he’d leap to the tower and swing inside one of the windows. If not for theDubh a’Ghiuthaiswrithing about the tower, he’d use his magic to spell himself to Lyla’s side. But with the vile sorceress boiling around the sacred room that housed the Scale of Rurik, he daren’t release any additional mystical energy into the surroundings. The vile beast of the charred forests not only breathed fire, but sucked every ounce of power from whatever source she could find. He’d be damned straight to hell before he fed her and increased her strength.
Hellys rose higher, taking cover in the roiling storm clouds above the charred beast, then dove, spearing through them and vomiting her hottest blue-white flames to cleanse the world of this evil that had dared show its face. As she banked to the left, Magnus saw his chance to jump. He leapt, landed hard on the roof tiles, but held fast just as he’d planned.
Thankfully, the strains of violin music filled the air. As long as he heard Lyla’s song, he breathed easier. But then the music stopped.
“I seenothing’s changed with you.” Lyla slowly lowered the violin from her shoulder, wishing Derrick were standing in front of her in person so she could club him. “You’re still a coward.”
“Coward?” He laughed. “I have my choice of the realms, traipsing across them, conquering them at will, much to the annoyance of the Highland Veil, I might add, and you think I’m a coward?” He clucked his tongue like a teacher disappointed in their pupil. “I thought you were smarter than that, lover. I guess you’re just a pretty face, after all.”
She jutted her chin higher, tempted to spit on his image, but didn’t want to dishonor Rurik’s scale. “I can tell you’re dying to gloat over stealing from me, but you’ll be pleased to know that Weavers restored my foundation back home so I can still take care of the people who really deserve some help.”
He snorted, his pale gray eyes flashing with an evil she’d never noticed in him before. She’d always found him attractive—dark hair, light-colored, almost wolflike eyes, and sculpted, aristocratic features that would’ve made the men’s fragrance industry drool to sign him up to represent them. But the longer she looked at him, the more she realized he was the most demonic, unattractive human being who ever lived.
“You really think it was your money I was after?” he asked.
“That was what you took.”
His smirk deepened, somehow becoming even more annoyingly smug. “Nah, lover. Your money wasn’t the only thing I took. Did traveling through the portal mess with your mind or something? Here. Let me help you remember.” He snapped his fingers, then held a blurry image suspended above his outstretched palm. “I don’t know if this is coming throughclearly or not. This dragon’s scale is about as backward as it gets when it comes to visions.” After another finger snap, he rolled his shoulders and preened like a peacock. “That’s better. Now you can see it. Even old Rurik should be able to focus on this. Recognize this place?”
An iciness washed across her, settling with a sickening thud in the pit of her stomach. She hugged the violin as if it would shield her from the pain. “Of course, I recognize it.”
