Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Martin
The thundering crashes dissipated and an eerie silence settled within Keir’s personal quarters.
The room beyond the immediate fire was frigid.
Tabitha still hovered as the air around her stirred and lifted her.
A fine sheen of sweat covered her brow and Tabitha’s eyes were pinched, her lips thin.
There was a chance she was pushing herself too far.
Keir worriedly hovered around the eggs. He’d pulled their nest toward his body, arms wrapped around them and cradling them close.
When I’d asked him why, Keir had mumbled something about adding his own body heat to help keep them warm.
My friend was determined to keep the eggs as safe as possible.
Considering they might lead to our collective doom, his actions might have seemed strange to another.
Not to me. That was Keir. The wyvern eggs were innocent victims. Keir was hardwired to aid them, even if that led to his death.
It was the drive that pulled many to join the Magical Usage Council, that innate need to protect those weaker than oneself.
Having sprouted within its grounds, I’d never been given a choice.
I could never truly leave. This was my home.
It was where my roots found their nourishment.
Thankfully, it was also where my humanoid form found its own reason for living.
It wasn’t just the soil the compound was built within that called to me, but the individuals within the council itself.
They’d easily become family—a family Huxley had mercilessly torn apart.
“How’s the wisp?” Henry asked. He’d remained on my shoulder, huddled close to my neck as he too attempted to keep warm.
“Gray’s okay,” I answered. I’d never been so grateful for the magical connection we shared.
“I think he’s been successful.” At least I thought that’s what the zip of satisfaction I’d felt earlier indicated.
“Now he just seems determined.” I wished I could be with him, not that there was anything more I could do.
Accepting the fact that being Gray’s anchor was the only way I could protect him was proving far more difficult than I was comfortable with.
“How do ya think things are goin’ up there?” Henry asked. Even though he was right beside my ear, his voice was quiet, nearly reverent.
My head tilted up, gaze going toward the ceiling. My action made no sense, considering I couldn’t see through rock and dirt. “I don’t know,” I reluctantly admitted.
“I don’t like the quiet.” Henry sounded angry over the fact. “When the room was shakin’, I thought I wanted it to stop. Now I’m not so sure. I think the quiet might be worse.”
“Lazarus will do all he can to keep Verona from the eggs,” Keir said, sounding very confident.
“I don’t doubt that,” I answered. “I’m just worried his best won’t be good enough. It’s two on one up there.” I pointed toward the ceiling then cocked my head to the side. “Although I think maybe Gray managed to lead one of them away. I’m not certain, but—”
“Axios is gone,” Tabitha said, her voice distant and barely recognizable.
The strain filtering through was even more disturbing.
“Grayson was successful. However, much damage had already been done. Lazarus is faltering.” Tabitha gritted her teeth.
“It is as if Verona is possessed. She’s been deeply injured, and yet she fights as if she feels none of it. ”
Lazarus had said it himself. Verona’s single-minded determination, her mental imbalance, could aid or hinder her defeat. I imagined Verona fought as if she had nothing to lose and those could be the most dangerous foes.
“That don’t sound good,” Henry said, his small feet shifting across my shoulder.
“No, it doesn’t.” I turned to Keir. “We should consider moving the eggs.”
Keir’s skin appeared ashen as he stared down at the eggs in his arms. I could practically see the wheels in his head working. Despite his faith in Lazarus, I knew my friend well enough to know that he’d likely already formed a backup plan.
Keir had yet to disappoint me, and it looked like today would be no different. Standing, Keir wrapped the eggs inside as many layers of blankets as he could manage. “Your rooms. It’s the best way out of—”
Tabitha gasped and fell to the floor. Jima popped out of his hiding place, scurrying over to her and transforming back to his humanoid form.
“Tabitha!” Jima’s hands grasped her shoulders, hauling her up and leaning her against a nearby chair.
Tabitha’s skin was pasty white. Her chest rose and fell at an alarming rate as she pulled in quick, ragged breaths.
Joining Jima, I went down on one knee, cradling Tabitha’s cheek within my hand. “Talk to me, Tabby. What happened?”
Tabitha’s shaky fingers wrapped around my wrist. Her blanched lips parted twice before she managed a wispy, “Too late. Laz…Lazarus has f-fallen. I…I’ve done all I c-can.” Tabitha’s eyes slipped closed as consciousness left her.
“Tabitha? Come on, wake up.” Jima shook her, but it was no use.
Placing my fingers to her neck, relief filled me when I felt a thready pulse. “She’s still alive,” I said while turning to Keir. “If Lazarus has fallen, then—”
“Can you carry Tabitha?” Keir asked.
I nodded. “I can. It’ll be easier if I partially transform.
” Branches sprouted from my fingers, twining around Tabitha’s unconscious body and lifting her into the air.
Jima transformed back into his ferret form and hopped onto Tabitha’s abdomen, scurrying up her chest and nestling in the crook of her neck.
Henry’s hold on my hair tightened and I felt a harsh tug. “Let’s get while we still can,” Henry said. I didn’t need told twice.
“My rooms?” I asked Keir as I stood and headed for the door.
“It has good access to the outside. I can shift and fly the eggs out,” he answered as we hurried down the hall. A Gaia-awful screech sounded from somewhere above and not nearly as far away as I would have liked.
“I think we’ve been breached,” Henry yelled as Keir and I ran.
I agreed. “She’ll have to transform back into her humanoid form to get through the halls.” Another horrid sound echoed through the hall, rattling the walls and sending rocky dust raining down from above.
Henry scoffed. “Not if she digs her way down first.”
“But she could harm the eggs,” Keir protested as we continued running. “She could bring the whole compound down on us and the eggs.”
“Don’t think she cares much,” Henry answered as another crash sounded.
I found it impossible to disagree. “Verona’s not thinking clearly.” Chances were, she wasn’t thinking at all. She was working on pure, unadulterated instinct, and that was a damn dangerous thing.
We turned a final corner and the door to my rooms came into view. Reaching out a fresh branch, I threw the door open and immediately ran to my courtyard. I eased Tabitha onto the ground. Henry remained seated on my shoulder. Keir stared up into the sky. It looked clear, but we couldn’t be certain.
“I’ll need some sort of camouflage or distraction,” Keir said while eyeing the darkened sky above.
Henry huffed. “Good luck with that. Where the fuck are those other wyvern? The ones with Thalia. Shouldn’t they be here by now?”
Keir answered, “They were going to do their best but were still far out. I don’t think there’s been enough time.
That said, I’ll fly that direction. Maybe I can get to them in time.
I just need a little head start to keep far enough ahead of Verona.
Once she sees I have the eggs, she’ll follow me.
At least, I hope.” Keir’s gaze traveled to Tabitha’s limp body.
“We’ll be okay,” I said. I wasn’t fooling anyone.
There was no guarantee any of us would make it out of this alive.
Gray’s magic pulsed within me. He had to feel my distress.
I could tell he was closing in and my eyes slipped closed.
Maybe Gray would get here in time. Could he catch Verona’s attention the way he had Axios?
Maybe, maybe not. There were no guarantees, only fragile hopes and whispered prayers.
“Martin, I—”
I cut Keir off. “We all knew the risks. Each and every one of us in this room.” Jima squeaked, nose in the air while standing on his rear feet, his agreement made clear.
“Martin’s right,” Henry agreed. “So let’s stop wastin’ time and get those eggs outta here.”
I couldn’t agree more. “My tree form should offer you some cover.” Going to the center of my courtyard, I focused on my dryad form and transformed. My roots sank deep into the ground, anchoring me as my branches stretched toward the sky. I’d barely peeked above the ground when I saw her—Verona.
She was massive. Verona’s wings spread across the soil.
The small reception area that was above ground was completely obliterated.
Verona viciously clawed at the ground, ripping huge chunks free as she dug deeper.
I was so focused on Verona that it took me a moment to notice Lazarus’s limp, unmoving form crumpled on the ground a few feet away.
His scarlet scales were pockmarked in sizzling browns and blacks, huge chunks having been disintegrated or ripped out.
The pounding stopped as Verona’s attention suddenly fixated on me.
Her eyes narrowed and acid dripped from her mouth, falling to the ground and instantly killing anything below.
Her wings spread and her muscles tensed.
Panic filled me. In that instant, I knew we were out of time.
There was no way Keir could get past her.
Verona had a single-minded purpose, and there was no reasoning with that kind of blind obsession.
Quick as lightning, my mind spiraled. I saw Tabitha lying on the ground, unconscious and thoroughly spent.
Jima tightly tucked himself against one side of her neck while Henry took up position on the opposite side.
Keir was at my base, leaning against my trunk, wyvern eggs cradled to his chest as he awaited my signal to transform and fly away.
It was a signal I would never give.
I knew what I had to do. Answers to hated questions suddenly became so very clear.
Why had Huxley saved me? Why had he taken my acorn and planted it in the middle of the compound?
What use would a dryad have to him? To the council itself?
I couldn’t leave, not for long periods of time.
I couldn’t go on missions or investigations.
I was relegated to little more than support staff.
I’d rarely felt bitter. Instead, I’d found purpose and satisfaction in my role.
But had that really been why Huxley planted my seed?
If there was one thing we’d learned regarding Tenzen Huxley, it was that he played the long game.
Time meant next to nothing to him. Huxley had plans within plans.
Was it truly a coincidence that the core buzzweed was located directly below my birth soil?
No. It wasn’t.
I was a magical being but had very little innate magic to compete with the pixie magic held within the buzzweeds. What could I do that no one else within the council could do? I feared I knew. I also feared I might be wrong.
Gray’s magic pulsed, his fears answering my own. In reply, I sent back my own form of sad apology. I had no idea what this would do to me, to us. All I knew was that I had to do something. I had to protect my family. I could only hope that Gray would understand why.
Verona’s tensed muscles sprang as she let loose a thunderous war cry, launching herself my direction.
There was no more time to contemplate consequences or fixate on what could have been.
There was only the desperate need to protect.
With that thought in mind, I sent my taproot deep into the ground, deeper than it had ever gone before, straight for the core buzzweed.
The moment contact was made, I knew I was right. The sacrificed pixie’s magic was meant for me. It always had been. My final thoughts were of my adoptive family and mostly Gray. The desperate need to keep them safe and to expel the interloper attempting harm.
Agonizing pain shot up and through my root, expanding to the rest of my body.
My branches grew, expanding and covering the ground.
They raced toward Verona, tossing her back as if she were little more than a paper version of a wyvern.
Raw power raced through me as my branches covered the whole of the compound.
On the horizon, barely within view, I saw a dancing ball of cool blue flames.
My last thought was how beautiful Gray was, how mesmerizing his wisp form truly appeared.
I desperately wished I could follow that dancing ball of light.
I’d happily wander wherever Gray desired.
Sorrow filled me as I was inevitably led to my death.