Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
CROFT
Once again, Croft led at the front of her army. The only Azra guards out in front were a handful of scouts in every direction to warn them of any surprise attacks. But right now, the last thing on Croft’s mind was war. For the first time in years, she was having a conversation with her daughter.
The two women rode side by side. Croft found it hard to take her eyes off the beautiful, strong woman Abigail had become. She couldn’t have been a prouder mother.
“So you never told us about who your sisters were, or that you had the ability to control magic to protect us.” Abigail had restated her mother’s words, trying to wrap her head around the revelation. “You left us because you had to prepare for this war?”
“I had to prepare for this very moment, when the forces of the Outland would engage New Hope in a conflict that would be remembered for centuries to come.” Croft shook her head, trying to fight past all of her raging emotions.
It was something new for her not to be able to keep her feelings in check.
“I couldn’t tell you or bring you with me, but if I wanted you to grow up in a world free of bondage, this is what I had to do.
“Understanding the kind of women my sisters were, I knew this day would come. Leah and I share a magical link as all wizards do once they reach a certain level of power. I knew what she would eventually do. She craves control.”
“I’m still angry at you.” Abigail looked ahead instead of making eye contact with her mother. “I understand now why you left, but that doesn’t erase all the years you were gone.”
“I know.” Croft finally took her eyes off her daughter and looked ahead.
The day’s light was dying. A faint glow was the last thing to remind them of the sun as it dipped beyond the horizon.
“And I don’t expect you to forgive what I did.
If you can just understand why I did it, that will have to be enough.
But I love you, Abigail. I love you and your sister. I never stopped.”
A figure approached out of the night. An Azra soldier on horseback. Croft immediately recognized her as one of the scouts.
Theo, who had given Croft and Abigail time to speak, now spurred his unicorn beside them to hear the report.
“Two miles, due north.” The bright-eyed Azra shifter looked to Theo and Croft. “There’s a city of tents pitched for the night. Men still working on laying the tracks. It looks too quiet. There’s the mage engine and one vessel behind it that it pulls along the track.”
“That’s where she has to be,” Abigail breathed. “Elizabeth’s in there. I know it.”
“It’s also a trap.” Croft drummed her fingers on the pommel of her saddle.
“Theo, have the shifters dismount and change. I’ll lead them into the enemy first. When they spring whatever it is they have in store for us, I want you to bring the New Order soldiers, along with Sloan and Aareth. into the fight to give us support.”
“Understood.” Theo dismounted from his black unicorn and rushed to obey.
Croft caught Abigail out of the corner of her eye.
Her daughter was adjusting her swords that stuck up behind each shoulder.
Telling her to stay put wasn’t an option; Croft had already tried to offer the New Order rebels a spot on the bench for this fight.
They were all exhausted from their trip from New Hope.
But with the exception of a few injured soldiers, they refused to accept.
Instead of traveling safely to Azra, they joined forces with Croft and headed right back into the fight.
“I know you’d just disobey an order if I told you to stay behind.” Croft looked over at her daughter. “But please wait with Jack and the others in reserve. You’ll get to fight. Let me at least see what we’re dealing with first.”
Abigail slowly nodded.
“Thank you,” Croft said as she looked to the warriors who moved in haste behind her.
Theo had already given the orders, and everyone was rushing to obey. There was an electricity in the air that only an impending fight could bring. Sloan, Aareth, Jack, Saber, Sasha, and the handful of New Order rebels congregated to the side with Theo.
A dozen Azra guards lead the herd of unicorns away.
Unicorns were more than reliable steeds in a fight, especially those bred and trained in Azra.
These were war animals ready to skewer anyone their riders directed them toward.
But these animals would be needed for a different day.
Today, the Azra shifters would take the battlefield.
“Be careful,” Croft said to Abigail as she moved to the side to join her friends. “I just found you again. I’m not going to lose you.”
“You, too.” Abigail looked over her shoulder as her unicorn trotted toward Jack and the others. “I still need time to be angry with you. Be safe.”
Croft’s heart was full. Her reunion with Abigail had gone better than anything she could have imagined.
Her daughter’s heart was much larger than her own, and her capacity to forgive dwarfed her own.
Croft couldn’t imagine what she would do if she were in her position, but it wouldn’t have been acts of kindness, that was for sure.
Her mind needed to turn from joy at being reunited with her oldest daughter, to the fight that was at her doorstep. Her youngest daughter needed her now more than ever.
Roars echoed through the air as the Azra guards made their change into the animals that lived just beneath their surfaces.
Mouths transitioned to muzzles, and hands and feet turned into paws and hooves.
Within seconds, Croft was looking at an army of animals ranging from rhinoceroses, to bears, to cheetahs and tigers.
Not in the history of the Outland had there been an official engagement of this magnitude. Her guards were well trained, and Croft didn’t expect any of them to run, but there was still the hesitancy of the unknown.
“We all know what’s at stake.” Croft trotted up and down the line of shifters.
Her black cloak billowed out behind her.
Her voice rose even louder than the roars of the shifters.
“There’s an army coming for our homes, and I say let them come.
I say let them try, because Azra is not a city of slaves or simple men and women.
Warriors live in Azra. Free human and supernatural alike, and when tyranny comes to our door, we bury it on the battlefield! ”
The sound that came from so many shifters at once was nothing like Croft had ever heard before. Their animal shouts mixed together to form a single sound that inspired courage and heralded dread at the same time.
“I believe in us. I believe in our cause. I believe in freedom.” Croft nudged her unicorn into a slight run as she maneuvered up and down the line of shifters.
She met as many of their animal eyes as she could.
“New Hope has built their railway to Term and the rest of the cities in the Outland, but they do not understand that warriors live in Azra. For your families! For your future!”
Croft turned her back now on her guards as the shifters stomped paws and hooves on the ground. They were ready. Croft urged her unicorn to a run. They had two miles until they reached the mage engine and the encampment. Adrenaline urged Croft forward, her hand already reaching for her wand.
“I’m coming, Elizabeth,” Croft said out loud although there was nothing but the rushing wind to catch her words. “I’m coming.”