Bonded Spirits: Book Three Read online

  Gwen wrapped an arm over the griffon and hugged her tightly. She ground her teeth and her face flushed. I’d seen that look before, and I knew that if she was anywhere near the person who shot Alysain, that person would be dead. Her expression mirrored how I was feeling. I knew that she’d grown just as close to the griffon over the past week as I had.

  I shifted my focus on Alysain’s core, and I could see the erratic strands of tainted spirit attaching themselves to the pure spirit and slowly converting everything they touched. It frustrated me that I couldn’t prevent the tainted spirit from reaching all the way to her core. I wanted nothing more than to grab onto the strands and pull them out before they could do any more damage.

  We stopped the spread in her wing fast enough to save her life, though. Teng had told me that normally if one tries to take in an entire core of tainted spirit, they will die. Well, I suppose with me as the exception.

  I heard footsteps in the hall, and a knock rose at the door.

  “Come in,” I called out as I placed a pillow under Alysain’s head.

  Master Teng entered and walked over to the bed. He leaned down and placed a hand on the griffon’s chest. He closed his eyes and after a few seconds, opened them slowly. “She’s going to be okay, but it is going to take a lot to cleanse her core.” He paused and grabbed my hand, placing it over her large breast.

  Gwen looked up and gave me a sly smile. “I know of one thing you can try.”

  Master Teng rubbed his chin, and after a second shook his head. “You young ones, always obsessed about the bodily pursuits.” He paused and raised his eyebrows. “Although, she has a point. If she is talking about what I believe she is talking about, it could help cleanse the tainted spirit from her core. For now, though, her wing must heal, and she must rest.”

  Everyone exited as soon as Alysain was resting comfortably. I was the last to leave the room and watched her chest rise and fall to ensure she was breathing normally before finally leaving.

  I gave the centaur a nod as I stepped into the hall. “Thank you, Teng. We gathered some important intelligence. I wish I would’ve been a bit more cautious.”

  “You can’t disparage yourself about that. You couldn’t have expected this.” He paused and cocked his head. “Although, I am curious about what you saw at the Capitol. Do we need to be concerned?”

  I nodded and let out a long breath. “There was a ship from Darkholm. Aether is working with the Day Walkers.”

  Teng glanced at the bolt that had struck Alysain and sighed. “Day Walkers? I’ve always known them as dhampir. If any of the dhampir from days of old have survived, then Aether and Striker are the least of our worries.”

  “I’ll prepare everyone here for an imminent attack. We’ll be ready.” Drawing from my limited vampire knowledge, I contemplated the best way to fight them back. “Since they are half vampire, I would assume they are susceptible to fire, and... beheading, correct?”

  Teng nodded and walked carefully down the stairs to the main room. “Yes, that’s correct. Fire is the most effective, but regardless, they will not be easy to kill. Unfortunately, for every one of us they capture, that only adds to their numbers.”

  Wofferd looked up at the towering centaur as we reached the main floor and cleared his throat. He tightened the strap on his robe and shook his head. “How the fuck did you get up there?!”

  The centaur let out a small chuckle as he turned to face me. “Dhampir are some of the greatest tacticians that Aurilon has ever seen. Do not let them fool you. When they attack, it may look like chaos, but it’s organized chaos. They calculate every move they make.”

  “Good to know. I’ll ensure that we have all of our bases covered.”

  The centaur ducked through the front door, squeezing through a space that surprised everyone and stretched as he exited. “Be sure to stay on your guard.”

  I nodded. “It should take them more than a day to arrive if they are on foot. Although if they decide to take their ships down to Necross, they could be here much sooner. ”

  “Their best chance of a quick attack is to use their ships. How many did you say were at the Capitol?” Teng asked.

  “Only one, for now, but there could be more on the way, or already in Necross,” I said.

  A voice none of us expected rose before anyone else could respond. “The King had moved several ships down to Necross during the tournament. After the King died, the crew that was stationed there sacked the city. The day I found your brother, they were still in port, but they have decimated Necross. There are only a few buildings that remain, and all signs that the original inhabitants of Necross are gone.” Alysain stretched her wings. Her wound had completely healed, and most of the black had disappeared. “I am sure they are awaiting further orders.”

  “Alysain, you really should rest,” I said, while inspecting the wound on her wing.

  “I appreciate your concern, but I’d never be able to forgive myself if I let Aether destroy this world any further.” She flapped her wings, sending a gust of wind toward me. “Besides, whatever you put on my wing has removed any pain.”

  “I will trust your judgement, but promise me if you feel any pain or discomfort that you will let me know.” I closed my eyes for a second to inspect her core, and I let out a sigh of relief as I noticed most of the tainted spirit had disappeared. What remained did not seem like a significant concern.

  Gwen joined us in the main room and nudged me in the side. She spoke under her breath while keeping her eyes on the griffon. “I like her.”

  I turned my head toward the satyr and gave her a small smirk. “Don’t be getting any ideas. I’ve got my hands full with the six of you as it is.”

  She flipped out her bottom lip in a pout. “Oh, come on, just one more?” She paused and looked at Jun, who was inspecting Alysain’s wing carefully. “Or two?”

  I couldn’t deny the attraction I had for the griffon, and I knew she had a similar attraction to me. I felt the same way with Jun, even though I’d just met her. I knew it did little to pretend like I was going to do anything different. Deep down I knew it wasn’t really if I’d bond with them, but when.

  Alysain left immediately to scout Necross. After she rose out of sight, I gathered supplies and made sure everyone at the manor knew what the plan was in case the barrier did not hold. After about an hour, Alysain returned. Her cheeks were a bright pink from soaring through the air. “You were right, Logan.”

  “They’re taking their ships down the coast, aren’t they?” I said and looked up from the map of the area that we had been working on.

  “Exactly. A new ship just arrived in Necross. They’re all below deck, but I heard from one of the fleeing humans that there are both fighters from the Capitol and Day Walkers.”

  “Why are the humans fleeing? Other than me, isn’t Aether’s war against monsters?”

  “Aether is ready to sacrifice the lives of anyone in the way outside of the Capitol. The amount of refugees lined up outside the Capitol walls is incredible. There are not enough influence potions in this world to make everyone do what he wants.”

  Something still didn’t seem right. If Aether wanted to build an army and eliminate monster races across Aurilon, it wouldn’t make sense for him to leave hundreds of human refugees without a place to go. “Why isn’t he letting them in? Yet, he is fine meeting with dhampir. Aren’t they monsters?”

  “Dhampir are neither. They fall somewhere in between. They are not fully alive… or dead, nor fully human, or monsters. They can’t reproduce, but can turn monsters and humans to dhampir. My only guess is that Striker has finally convinced Aether that he can’t trust anyone outside the Capitol. All the guardians saw this coming for years, we just didn’t think it would happen so soon. Striker has taken every opportunity to instill doubt and fear of monsters in Aether since he was a young child after a monster killed the queen by accident.”

  “By accident? What happened?”

  “Queen Corlinius was a terrib
le woman, but like many, loved her family dearly. She was rude to every single living creature, human and monster alike. She had one goal above all else, and that was to ensure the safety of her son at all times. One day Aether was out in the courtyard playing with an arachnid.”

  “A spider?” My thoughts shifted to the spider that I faced in the trials. “I’m pretty sure you’re not talking about the normal house variety.”

  “No, one of the most beautiful arachnid women ever born.” Alysain paused and nodded. “I heard you had a run in with one of her sisters in Kilney.”

  I nodded. “Yes, she wrapped me in her web and I exploded.”

  Alysain cocked her head and stared at me for a second, as if trying to figure out if I was being serious. “Anyway, Aether had a bit of an infatuation with her for several years. They were rolling around in the courtyard, playfully, and the queen thought he was being attacked. In her haste to save her son, the queen grabbed a torch and jammed it into the arachnid’s abdomen. It was the last thing that the arachnid expected and as she spun to confront the pain, she caught the queen’s arm with one of her fangs. It was only a superficial wound, but it was enough. The queen had a very poor reaction to the arachnid’s venom and died almost immediately.”

  I nodded slowly. “Hence the hatred, even though it was an accident.”

  “Yes, the King didn’t even give her a chance to explain. He went on a crusade against all arachnids, capturing her entire family and forcing Yesnie to watch as he executed them.”

  Gwen shifted her eyes to the ground. “I heard about that. They nearly eradicated arachnids from Aurilon in a matter of months. I hadn’t seen one in my entire life until the tournament trials.”

  Alysain nodded and raised her eyes back up to meet mine. “The arachnids were only the beginning. He made everyone in the Capitol believe he was not holding any ill will against other monsters. He definitely was adept at putting on a good show in public.” She stopped and shook her head in disgust. “I saw behind the scenes, though. He was an evil man, and it was only getting worse.”

  I paced in front of the door for a few seconds. “Unfortunately, his legacy continues, and Aether is hell-bent on finishing what his father started. Although, I’m still curious what he had to give up for help from the dhampir.” I shifted my attention back to the map. With all the improvements the goblins and lizard-folk had completed over the past weeks, I felt confident in our ability to defend ourselves as well, if not better, than most other cities.

  Dahlia had created poisoned barbed vines that were sharper than razor wire, which we strung around the tops and bottoms of each of the walls. In fact, it was so sharp that several goblins lost digits as they installed it. The problem, though, was that if they attacked us hard enough, for long enough, our defenses would eventually give in. That is, of course, if they could make it through the fog.

  I gathered my bonded together and pulled out our map. “We need to dig in and ensure we have everyone ready for an attack, at each vulnerable point.”

  As I was pointing out areas around the map that could be vulnerable, I heard Amos’s voice. “Logan, my boy. What is going on?”

  I turned around and faced him. Mona was by his side, and as they saw my face, they both froze.

  Amos eyed me curiously for several seconds. “Is something wrong?”

  I took several deep breaths to calm myself. I didn’t know how I was going to react when I talked to Amos after finding out his family was responsible for my parents’ deaths. Apparently, it was with anger. The tainted spirit that coursed through me flared, and I got an overwhelming urge to kill Amos where he stood. “Amos, your nephew has enlisted the help of Day Walkers.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “What?! Are you sure?” Amos exchanged a surprised glance with Mona and shook his head. “That’s got to be from Striker’s influence. If he’s truly reached out to Darkholm, then he does not know what he’s just done.”

  I couldn’t bring myself to tell Amos what I had learned about who I truly was. At the moment I felt the fewer people who knew the truth, the better. I still needed his help in dealing with the Capitol. He was more familiar with Aether than anyone else at the manor.

  A frenzied man outside the gate pulled all of our attention. It only took a second to recognize who it was. Brazz had returned and was yelling something I couldn’t understand. Shah and Cress both exited the manor and rushed over with me to see what was happening. My thoughts immediately fell on my brother, and I knew something wasn’t right.

  I called out to the goblins manning the gate as I ran. “Ensure nobody followed him, then let him inside.”

  The gate creaked open after a few seconds and Brazz limped in with several wounds marking his body with DeVito following close behind.

  The goblins closed the gate and I rushed over, catching him as his legs finally gave out. The muscular lizard-man was having a hard time catching his breath, and a trail of blood spilled out from the corners of his mouth. His eyes fixed on mine. “Day Walkers, they were waiting outside the barrier.”

  The dog had a long cut from somewhere behind his floppy ear. I rushed over and inspected my injured friend. It looked like he was scratched up pretty bad, but nothing that wouldn’t heal.

  Brazz motioned toward DeVito and continued talking. “I was showing your brother the Heart of the Vale when we lost sight of your dog. Matt ended up wandering outside of the barrier to retrieve him. I was only a couple seconds late to save him.”

  Dahlia brought a healing potion up to his lips, and he downed it before sinking back down onto the ground. His breathing weakened as he tried to get his words out. “I fought them off as long as I could. There were too many. I thought I was successful, but your brother just stood there. He wouldn’t retreat, even though I was yelling at him.”

  I furrowed my brow and held a compress to one of Brazz’s wounds. “What do you mean ‘he wouldn’t retreat’? What happened to him?”

  Brazz shook his head weakly. “I couldn’t see. There were too many of them. I heard them say something about a ship and Necross. I also heard them mention Striker.”

  My heart sank. Why the fuck didn’t I take him myself? I couldn’t leave him to Striker’s mercy. I turned to the lizard-sisters. “Cress, I want you two to stay here and watch over your brother. Shah, will you ensure DeVito’s wounds are bandaged?” They both immediately jumped into action. I paused and turned to the others. “I want you all to come with me.”

  Amos stepped forward and pointed at me with his new mechanical arm. “Where do you need me? I can offer my services wherever I can.” He glanced over at Mona and nodded. “At least let Mona provide her services.”

  I immediately wanted to decline, and almost did, but gave her a chance. “All right, Mona, you’re coming along.”

  The girls gave me a surprised look. They were still not one hundred percent sold on Mona, but I knew we could use her fighting skills should we run into trouble.

  Mona perked up and her wings fluttered excitedly as we gathered our equipment. She stopped me as I swung my bag up onto the cart. “Thank you for believing in me. I promise I won’t let you down.” She looked behind her to see if anyone could hear before refocusing on me. “I need to get out of here so Amos can see he is more capable than he realizes. He is worse than a child sometimes.”

  I nodded. “Just be sure to listen to my bonded at all times. All of them.”

  “Of course. I’m here for whatever you need.” Mona hurried back to the others and helped them to load the remaining gear.

  Chloe and Dahlia came out of the tavern with two huge, full bags. Chloe showed me the inside of the bag. “Healing pastries. Not only will they heal small wounds, but restore spirit as well. A new concoction that Dahlia and I came up with.”

  Gwen reached in and grabbed a pastry out of the bag. She took a bite and nodded. “They go great with wine as well.”

  Chloe turned back to the tavern and expertly instructed Gwen’s sisters and several othe
r visitors about where to go and what to do. I stopped her as she finished giving another round of orders. “Chloe, I think you should stay here.”

  Chloe’s eyes shot up to me and a hurt look rose to her face. “I said I’d not let you go without me again. I need to be there to help you.”

  “I know what you said, but you and I both know you hate to fight, and that’s okay. I promise.” I took a deep breath and straightened. I didn’t enjoy having to tell her this any more than she didn’t enjoy hearing it. “Your skills are better used here. Chances are they’ll attack before we get back. I need you to help organize and lead the others here. If they’re going to listen to anyone, it will be you. They respect and love you here.”

  Tears rose to her eyes and she nodded. “You’re right, but I hate that you’re right.” She slammed her hand forward and cupped my balls. “But you better come back to me in one piece, understand?” She removed her hand slowly and straightened her shirt. The others stared at her with half-embarrassed and half-amused stares. “You’re going to owe me.”

  “I’ll make it up to you. When we get back, you will get me for an entire day, all to yourself, to do anything you want.”

  Chloe perked up and rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Anything? Oh, you have yourself a deal.” She licked her lips and ran a hand down my chest.

  I turned to Dahlia. “Have your plants replenished their nectar around the lake?”

  “Yes, of course. The amount of cultivation going on around here has made them flourish. They’re replenishing nectar nearly as fast as it’s being used,” Dahlia replied as she pointed toward a couple of bright purple flowers a short distance away. The petals were vibrant and glowing slightly from the amount of spirit that ran through their roots.

  “Perfect. Chloe, please have Gwen’s sisters help you create as much healing salve as possible from the new plants. Hopefully, we won’t need it, but at least we’ll be ready.”