Battles
MORGANA
S trolling into this makeshift mini-Faerie, I stay close to Slade.
I know he needed to break with his folks for good, but that doesn’t mean the finality of it won’t hit him.
That war between relief and grief is something people don’t talk about enough; it comes when you cut ties or even kill the abuser who kept you under their thumb for so long.
You feel guilty for the happiness, guilty for allowing their controlling bullshit to happen, and guilty for acting in your best interest all at once.
When the person dies—or if you’re me, you murder them—it’s even worse because you have to go through the stages of grief as well.
It’s a painful merry-go-round of conflicting feelings and the gentle man holding my hand isn’t ready for it, I suspect.
Liam and Kaspar guide us down the edge of the field full of gorgeous plants and occasional animals skittering about, until I see the farthest edge of the nomadic camp they’ve built.
Kaspar wanted to enter near the massive tents he was certain were for the Reaping and Autumn Courts because they were less likely to sense Liam’s presence.
I’m not sure it makes sense to me, but then, very little about the Fae does.
It’s hard enough to keep up with the grumpy dragon and my new mate.
“This shit is amazing, Li,” Lucas says as he looks around excitedly. “I know you said it’s dangerous, but man… I really want to see your homeland.”
Liam gives him a delighted look, reaching out to ruffle his hair, which looks ridiculous given how tall and broad our polar bear is.
The fact that Liam is several inches shorter but so obviously dominant over the golden retriever-like hockey player, makes me grin to myself.
They’re adorable together and as I watch Lucas flush happily, I notice Slade is watching, too.
Iggy is going to be super fucking jealous if the Prince paves the path he’s been pretending doesn’t exist for years.
“ Mathan óg, I promise we will eventually travel to my home as a family. We’ll visit all the courts if you so wish.”
Lucas blinks, looking shy as he asks, “I thought your father was a jerk. Won’t he be angry about all of this?”
Kaspar snorts. “Oh, he’ll be furious, but if you think Li gives a flying hippo fart what his father thinks, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“Very true, old friend. I’m more concerned with counting blades of grass in this field than I am with making that motherfucker happy. His opinion hasn’t been needed since the time of the gladiators in this realm.”
“It is so hard to forget just how ancient you two are,” Iggy says as he shakes his head. “Neither of you look a day over late twenties. Slade and Lucas are young to me, but for you? It’s mind-blowing.”
I arch a brow at the professor in amusement. “As you are to me as well? I’m centuries older than you, Ignatius Briarton. Are you trying to make me feel like I’m robbing the cradle?”
Iggy blinks at me owlishly, speechless for once, and Slade chuckles. “I think you got him, Morgana.”
Shrugging as we round the corner, I squeeze his hand. “I’m old enough not to actually give a single fuck about it, but I don’t need the reminder. It’s tacky.”
“I didn’t mean?—”
“Shut. Up. All of you.”
I frown at Kaspar’s snarl, not understanding what crawled up his ass and died. “I will not. We’re having a conversation, you cranky gecko. Who do you think you are?”
“Look ahead. Li, you know who that is, don’t you?”
My head whips away from the dragon, scowling as I check out whatever threat he seems on edge about.
There’s a group of males ahead walking in a very specific formation—two, three, three—and they definitely radiate power.
Des pops out, hissing as she darts around for a moment, and I suddenly know that these are demons. “Demons?”
“Not just demons,” Kaspar says as we continue walking towards them. “The second most powerful caliphate in Hell.”
Liam sighs. “What the fuck are Prince Jasper and his crew doing at this event on Faerie land?”
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”
Our luck today is absolute shit and you can’t convince me otherwise.
Turns out, the caliphate—as Kaspar called them—aren’t a bad lot.
They’re hot and clearly head-over-heels for the small guy they all seem to be circling.
I like him; he reminds me of me at that age, which is pretty damn young, even for a human.
It’s obvious the kid isn’t a human, but hasn't fully emerged yet, so it’s odd that he’s so tight with demons as rich and old as the Prince’s group.
I suppose people could say the same about Lucas and Slade, as Iggy pointed out, so I don’t comment on it.
The Princes are finishing up some sort of diplomatic mumbo jumbo with their cards—which I don’t get the significance of because I’m not royal-born.
I’m not surprised Kaspar and Jasper are watching one another like they expect some sort of betrayal.
Magnus was always wary around others of his kind, but not concerned about most other species.
I’m not sure why, except it seemed like he was certain they’d challenge his authority.
This feels similar to that, but different; Liam isn’t concerned in the slightest, though, so I will not let our resident dickface color my opinion.
That is, until two fucking explosions cause both groups to drop into fighting position.
Not good. Not good at all.
Kaspar whirls around to look behind us at the source of the noise, and I blink as the black and white demon grabs my spunky friend, taking off with him slung over his shoulder while the kid struggles.
Those guys definitely have it bad for the dude because not a single one of them protests the move; in fact, once he’s gone, they all snap into action like a well-oiled machine.
“Slash, follow the bodyguard to the royal tents. Anton and Xerxes, the field. Zav, stay close to Oriel,” the Prince growls as he gets bigger, sporting a dangerous looking tail to go with the spikes on his back.
It makes me wonder what kind of dragon the Prince is.
“Morgana, keep Slade close. Ignatius, do your thing,” Liam says as his hands wave in the air.
He’s tracing runes and creating magic while he speaks, and I’m impressed.
It’s hard to cast without spells or words, and he’s doing it while directing the rest of us.
“Lucas, you may need to shift. Keep your eyes peeled.”
“I thought these little territories were truce grounds,” I say to Liam. The Fae Prince nods, his expression grim. “Then what moron would launch an attack here and now?”
He’s about to reply when a mighty roar echoes across the hills and we all spin to face the direction Kaspar and the big demon went. I blink when I see an enormous mountain orc stomping across the field towards the marketplace looking like a bee just stung it in the ass. “Holy fuck,” I mutter.
“How in the ten realms did one of those get here?” Liam shouts, but I think he’s being rhetorical. Obviously, none of us know and I’ve sure as shit never seen one in this realm, only in books.
Ignatius holds his hands up, chanting in Latin as the glow on his palms spreads to surround our family in a magical bubble.
Once he stops, he pants a bit, looking at me in amazement.
“Mountain orcs have never been on the human plane, Morgana. We learn about them in various stages of our education, as you probably did, but in the many millennia of treaties and cooperation between the supernaturals of the realms, there has never been one on the same plane as humans. Orcs do not come to this world.”
“I mean, for obvious goddamn reasons,” Slade mutters as he looks at the thing stomping toward us in awe. “Those things could fight with a fucking T-Rex, Iggy.”
Liam shakes his head. “Pure blooded orcs are relegated to Faerie, the deity realms, and the stars because they are too violent and too large to co-exist in the rest of them. Someone brought this one through a powerful portal or gateway with one goal: destruction and death. Orcs can be peaceful and loving within their homes, but when they get confused and angry, they operate mostly in primal mode. Bringing one here involuntarily will have triggered their frenzy.”
“Frenzy? What’s—” Again, the pissed off giant cuts off an inquiry when it rips up trees, throwing them toward the now panicking crowd with another earth-shaking roar. Lucas winces and mutters to himself, “Oh. That’s frenzy. Cool, cool, cool.”
The bazaar goes from an odd little Ren Faire-esque market to a writhing mass of supes shifting, changing, and gathering magic to defend themselves as they scatter through the main aisle.
My gaze flicks to the demons we’d just met and I grin a little as I realize that most of them are also hybrids.
Their Prince is now half-shifted to a dark, ominous looking dragon, while the others are super-sized versions of a crow, a peacock, and a cobra.
Magic swirls around the colorful bird and smaller reptile, while the crow and the dragon take off into the sky.
Now it’s a party.
“I’m going up, Iggy!” I wink at the mage, letting my wings break free as I push off the ground and into the air. He nods, understanding that I need him to watch Slade, and I follow the demons as they head for the rampaging orc with intense focus.
Jasper shifts fully, his body turning into an enormous black dragon that looks ready to bite the head off of our foe as soon as he gets the chance.
The crow gets even bigger as it peels off, heading for the tent instead, and I frown until I see the giant companion to my mate roaring into our airspace.
Kaspar is trading places with the emo demon, joining their prince and me as we barrel towards the threat.
“What’s the weakest point in its hide?” I shout at the two very different-looking dragons on either side of me.
The black one jerks its head, baring its neck in a specific way that I think means I should aim for that point on the orc.
Of course, dragon necks are long and muscled while orcs are huge and thick, which is going to make figuring that out a trick.
Kaspar just snorts smoke, and I watch as electricity sparks along his scales.
The asshole has no interest in helping me even though I’m up here risking my ass with the two of them, and I can’t even feign surprise.
Last time we could work together to take out the fire drake, but he’s back to doubting me in no time.
The orc lets out another roar, reaching the end of the Fae market and thrashing about to knock the tents off the royal areas.
I can see the smoke and fires in the wake of the explosions, but they’re not normal fire—they’re multi-colored and flickering over the people and objects the orc’s tantrum revealed.
I don’t hear screams, which I’d expect, but it definitely appears that the beings down there are being harmed.
“What is this supposed to accomplish? Fear? Chaos?” I mutter as I swoop in closer to the flailing monster, as it barges through the set-up, smashing and bashing indiscriminately.
It’s obviously confused and angry, but I think Liam is right.
This thing doesn’t have the higher level thinking to be aiming for anything in particular; it’s a distraction from whatever the booms were supposed to do.
The huge demon that has a shark fin on his back is battling his way through the scared bystanders and royal court Fae on fire with the crow.
My breath catches when I see Lucas in bear form, charging in to help them, but I get the impression the small agreement we made between the princes will keep him safe as he works with them.
Slade and Iggy are still inside of their bubble, as are the two magical demons commanded by the dragon I’m following.
This is going to get worse before it gets better, because the people on the ground can’t do anything until we get this fucking giant wrecking ball under control.
Time to put your most dangerous weapons to work, Morgana.