46. Clash of Stone and Steel
Clash of Stone and Steel
Talyn
It was about half an hour before the caravan stopped in the middle of a field. Tents had been erected in the space and even a larger pavilion in the center. A few men had been left behind to watch the camp and tend the fires, and they let out a cheer as the caravan rejoined them.
Tree cover had allowed Talyn and Samhail to catch up to the group, and they tied their horses far enough away from the encampment that the animals wouldn’t be seen or heard.
They grabbed their weapons and crept closer, all the way to the edge of the tree line where they hunkered down behind a large stand of rocks.
“Rather bold of them to camp out in the open like this,” Talyn said.
“Even bolder of them to fly that flag,” Samhail answered.
Talyn found the banner flying from a post above the main tent and gasped. She wanted to believe she wasn’t seeing things correctly, but the sword with an eye in its pommel that was wrapped in thorny vines on a burgundy background was a sigil she knew well.
“Rowe?” Talyn said in disbelief. “What’s a unit of Rown soldiers doing this far into Thasia?”
“That’s what I intend to find out,” Samhail said as he looked up over the rocks. “Looks like about seventy of them, no?”
Talyn nodded. “About that many. Why?”
Samhail was silent for a long time, and Talyn was about to prompt him again when he began to take his armor off.
“What are you doing?” she asked as he removed his double scabbard and handed it to her.
“I’m going out to fight them,” he said.
“And you don’t need your swords?”
“No.”
“You’re going to shift?”
“Yes.”
Talyn paused. “If what that woman back in the village said is true, some of those men are villagers that were turned into symbionts. Are you going to kill them?”
Samhail stopped and sighed deeply. “I’ll do my best to injure rather than kill, but my strength in my gargoyle form is difficult to control. I may not be able to hold myself back. I’ll try to leave one or two conscious for questioning.”
Talyn nodded. She wanted to bring as many of these men back to their families as possible, but she didn’t want Samhail to put himself at risk by going easy on them either. She wasn’t sure what his gargoyle form entailed, but fighting seventy men on his own still seemed mad.
“Take my swords and go release the villagers out of the cages,” he said as he pulled his shirt over his head and laid it on the ground. “Only fight the men you have to. Do not, under any circumstances, try to come help me.”
Talyn’s indignant response died in her throat as he began to undo his pants. Her original comment was replaced by a hissed, “What in the name of the Trinity are you doing?”
Samhail’s mouth quirked up in half a smile. “Getting ready for battle.”
“It looks like you’re getting naked,” she said, trying to hush her voice.
“I have to,” he said. “I don’t have another pair of pants with me.”
Talyn just stared at him as he toed off his boots. A second later he pushed his pants down his legs and tossed them on top of his shirt.
Protector save her. Her eyes dipped immediately to his groin and the thick length of him that was just as damned impressive when it was slack.
Stop looking at his cock…Stop looking at his cock…
Talyn tore her eyes away from his manhood and tried to forget what it felt like between her lips the other day.
No such luck. All she could think about was how silky smooth the skin had been as she’d licked up his length. The bead of liquid on his tip had been pleasantly salty, and…
Her eyes locked with Samhail’s, and he was smirking at her. She was biting her lip, and she released it.
“Be careful. Don’t die,” she said. She tried to make her voice strong, but the words slipped out in a whisper.
He raised a brow. “Are you actually concerned for me? A couple days ago you were ready to slit my throat.”
She shrugged. “You’ve grown on me.”
He smiled and shifted position so he was in front of her where she crouched on the ground.
Talyn inhaled sharply as he took her hand and wrapped it around his cock. She felt him start to harden.
“A stroke for luck?” he rasped.
“You’re insane,” she said, not taking her gaze from his.
He only smiled and thrust once into her hand. He groaned and made to pulled back from her, but she tightened her fingers around his shaft, and he groaned even louder.
“Protector keep you safe,” she said and gave his cock another hard stroke before releasing him.
Samhail had closed his eyes, but he opened them and leaned forward.
He hooked his hand around Talyn’s neck to draw her to him, and his mouth covered hers.
She instinctively leaned into him, parting her lips, and he kissed her thoroughly, his tongue delving in deep to taste her.
She was breathless when he finally pulled back.
Then he stood and strode naked toward the encampment.
Talyn could only stare after him as his already large body began to grow.
His wings unfurled from his back, but they weren’t soft and leathery the way she’d seen them before.
Rather, they seemed to be made of stone.
Indeed, a dark, slate-gray coating was creeping over all of Samhail’s skin, and a long, powerful tail now swept back and forth at the base of his spine.
His legs elongated and changed shape to those of a lion or wolf, or some other beast with clawed toes.
Sharp, lethal-looking claws tipped his fingers as well.
She hadn’t seen what happened to his long hair, but it was suddenly gone, replaced by huge, curved horns that curled around the sides of his stone-gray head.
Nemesis fucking damn her. He was incredible.
A cry went up from the encampment as soldiers spotted Samhail stalking toward them, and within seconds the camp was a flurry of activity as men ran for their weapons.
Talyn didn’t move yet. She watched as Samhail and the soldiers drew closer to each other. She saw the symbiont shells grow over several of the men and hoped to the gods Samhail was as invincible as he seemed to think he was.
He was.
The soldiers hit Samhail as a wave, swords and spears flashing in the sunlight that peeked through the clouds as they attacked, but the blades just glanced off him.
He swept one long stone-like arm out in front of him, and a row of soldiers went flying backward.
All of them cried out in pain, and only a few stirred after they hit the ground.
Without thinking, Talyn breathed a sigh of relief.
She shook herself and unsheathed Samhail’s swords, then ran toward the encampment. There was no longer any question Samhail could take care of himself.
No one noticed Talyn as she headed toward the wagons. All eyes were trained on the massive gargoyle now slashing and battering his way toward the camp, and Talyn reached the prisoners without issue.
Four soldiers had been left to guard the wagons, but none appeared to be symbionts.
Still, Talyn wouldn’t take any chances as she strode toward them, one of Samhail’s razor-sharp blades in each hand.
The swords were long – almost too long for her to wield – but they were surprisingly lightweight for their size.
The guard who noticed her signaled his compatriots, and they all turned to face her. They looked more curious than anything.
It hit Talyn all of a sudden how strange it was to face these men as herself.
Under other circumstances she would’ve shifted into a guard and snuck into the camp, but the thought hadn’t even occurred to her this time.
After a decade of always being someone else out in the open, it had only taken her a few days to get used to being in her own body.
It had nothing to do with the way Samhail looked at her, she assured herself.
Nothing to do with the way he always reacted so strongly whenever she took on another visage, or how his face eased when she shifted back.
Not at all. It was just…Well, in this case, she didn’t need to shift.
She was rescuing people, not assassinating them.
There was no reason to hide her identity.
Talyn ignored the four guards for the moment and addressed the men in the wagons behind the soldiers.
“Gentlemen,” she said, “I’m here to rescue you.”
The guards chuckled, but the men in the cages only looked between each other with horror or concern on their faces.
Talyn rather enjoyed such looks of incredulity. It made it all the sweeter when people realized just what she could do.
“Are any of these guards men from your town?” Talyn asked the prisoners, indicating the four soldiers with one of her swords.
The men only looked at her in confusion, the soldiers included.
“Is it alright if I kill these four guards?” she pressed the prisoners.
They began to murmur among themselves, but all four of the guards laughed outright this time.
“Planning to stick your sword in me, honey?” one of the guards sneered at her. “Better not miss, or I get to stick my sword in you.” He grabbed his groin as he said it, and his companions all laughed.
“What are you doing? Run!” one of the prisoners shouted to Talyn.
All laughter died as Talyn ported in front of the soldier who’d spoken and plunged one blade into his chest, then the other into the chest of the man right next to him.
The swords slid in like their bodies were made of pudding, quickly pushing through their torsos and coming out the other side.
Talyn was surprised to find the blades buried to their hilts, and the men looked equally surprised.
Talyn jerked both swords down, and the blades tore through flesh and bone to leave twin foot-long gashes in the men’s bodies. They both tried to scream before the noises were lost in the gurgle of blood that rose up their throats and spilled over their lips.
“I don’t miss,” Talyn couldn’t help saying to the man who’d spoken, but his eyes were already glassy and vacant.