Chapter 42
Cethin
The sound of a dragon’s roar had him grinding his molars as they moved.
The terrain was getting steeper as they went deeper into the Olwen Mountains.
He turned, reaching for Kailia’s hand to help her over a ledge as they climbed a steep embankment.
Ariadne and Draven were with him, while Tybalt, Jarek, Fallon, and Bram had accompanied Corveth.
The lord had reported seeing at least three of the stryx when they arrived this morning after his request for immediate assistance.
There had been no slow awakening like there had been with the nagasky.
As far as they’d known, the creatures of old had gone back to slumber. Apparently, they’d all been wrong.
Unlike the nagasky in the southwest and the nagasea of Shadowfen, the stryx were solitary creatures.
The other two creatures moved in groups, but the stryx always scattered, going out on their own.
It made them harder to track down, which is why they’d split up.
Cethin was hoping they’d found the first one, so he could take care of it.
The others were tracking two more to keep them busy until Cethin could come to them.
He wasn’t prepared for this though. Over the last week, he’d been spending his nights and morning hours in his study in the catacombs. Things were still tense between him and Kailia, and while they put on a good front when out and about together, things were very different when they were alone.
He understood her feelings of betrayal, and more than that, he understood she needed time to process everything.
When the missive came from Lord Astor this morning, he’d known there was no way she was staying behind.
He wished she would have, especially after what had happened when they’d gone to subdue the nagasky.
“Do you think we are close?” Kailia asked, wandering around the new area, her face to the sky and bow in hand.
“I hope so,” he answered. “Although a stryx tends to find you, not the other way around.”
She hummed, her only acknowledgement, and he jerked his chin at Ariadne to stay close to her. The female nodded, edging closer, as Cethin fell back to walk with Draven.
“Have you seen anything?” he asked, his voice low.
Draven shook his head, eyes continuously scanning their surroundings. “Nothing noted.”
He wasn’t focused on the sky like the rest of them.
Cethin had instructed him to watch for any signs of the Elder Clan.
The last thing he needed was for them to come for Kailia again, but considering they were the guardians of the creatures of old and this was the second time they’d woken in a matter of months, he had no doubts they were involved somehow.
“Keep watching,” Cethin said, clapping him on the shoulder before moving back to walk with Kailia.
She scarcely glanced at him, and a muscle in his jaw ticked at the obvious dismissal. Yes, he deserved it, but she was still keeping plenty of secrets of her own. To continue to hold this against him was rather hypocritical of her.
“You said the stryx can fly, but they are not like the nagasky?” she asked, her usual dress swishing around her ankles as she moved.
He’d offered her a cloak before they’d set out on this hunt, but she’d refused, claiming she could hunt better this way.
While he was in pants, boots, and a long-sleeved tunic and jacket, she was in her sleeveless dress with the high slits and bare feet.
It was ridiculous, but telling her that with the urgency of the situation was a battle he’d chosen not to fight today.
As soon as this was dealt with, they’d go home anyway.
“Yes,” he answered. “The nagasky are winged serpents. The stryx are…”
“Horned owls with fangs,” Ariadne offered grimly.
That was one way to describe them.
“Owls?” Kailia asked, turning to face him.
For the first time in over a week, she held his gaze, that old curiosity flickering in her eyes. It seemed for the moment, she was forgetting to be angry with him. He’d call that progress.
“Much larger than a standard owl,” he clarified. “They are bigger than most land animals.”
“The size of a dragon?” she asked.
“Not quite, but close. Their wingspan isn’t quite as large, and Ariadne is correct. Their beaks are bigger and longer with fangs, and they have curved horns,” Cethin explained.
“Didn’t you or Razik tell me there were four different creatures of old?” she asked, turning back to the sky once more.
“The felidae are said to exist, but we have never seen them. Only heard rumors,” he answered.
She looked back at him over her shoulder. “Like the Runic Lands.”
He smiled softly. “Yes. It is said the felidae guard the Runic Lands.”
Another screech sounded, this time closer.
“You don’t think my arrows would work on them?” she asked, one appearing from her ashes. “Or the blades I can create?”
“Considering they are immune to dragon fire, I’m going to assume not,” he answered.
“But we don’t know,” she countered. “Until you, I’d never met anyone or anything that could survive my arrows or blades.”
He saw the look Draven and Ariadne exchanged at that, but wisely, neither of them said anything.
The next screech reached them, sounding much closer, a moment before the stryx appeared from behind some rocks overhead.
It dove quickly, and he wrapped an arm around Kailia’s waist to Travel them out of the way while Draven and Ariadne did the same.
They ended up on opposite sides of the space, the stryx standing between them.
She was massive.
Her grey wings stretched out, the beast scratched the rocky earth with sharp talons. The sound reverberated through his bones, and Kailia clamped her hands over her ears, her bow clattering to the ground.
The stryx tilted her head too far to one side in that unnerving way standard owls could. Then she turned her head completely the other way, looking behind herself.
“By the gods,” Kailia breathed, retrieving her bow with her eyes fixed on the creature. “And there are three of them?”
“That’s what Lord Astor said,” Cethin replied tightly as he pulled up more and more of his magic.
He didn’t want to release it yet. The stryx were more agile than the nagasky.
While he could go into direct combat with the other creatures of old, it was far easier to subdue a stryx by casting a net of power rather than using ropes of darkness.
But keeping this much magic at the surface was nearly impossible.
More than that, he needed to reserve some for the other creatures.
Right as he was about to release that net of dark power, cries of surprise rang out. The stryx turned, honing in on where Ariadne and Draven were. Cethin didn’t know what was happening over there with the creature blocking his view, but he was out of time.
With a burst of energy, he cast his power outward, flinging it over the creature.
She screeched, the sound deafening this close, and Cethin stumbled forward as the stryx tried to take flight.
He yanked hard on his magic to keep the thing on the ground.
They never wanted to kill the creatures, only send them back to slumber.
Taking out such ancient creatures could upset a balance they didn’t know about, and there were enough curses on his kingdom the way it was.
He pulled up more and more power as he wrestled with the creature, letting his darkness lift him off the ground to hover closer.
Faintly, the sounds of weapons clashing reached him, but he couldn’t focus on anything else.
This was using too much of his power as it was.
If he had enough to subdue another, it would take the last of it, and that would still leave a third to contend with.
Tightening the net, he forced the stryx’s head to the ground, the giant creature on her belly as she tried to break through his magic.
Striding forward, he placed his hand on her beak, a different kind of magic rippling out.
Her frantic eyes glowed, flashing to silver for a brief moment before returning to their pale white color, until finally her eyes closed, settling into a deep sleep.
His chest heaving, he turned to check on Kailia, finding her standing with her bow, an arrow nocked and aimed. His magic lowering him back to the ground, he scanned her once before shifting back to look beyond the stryx to where Ariadne and Draven had been.
Only to find them still engaged in a battle with several Elder Clan members.
He’d known they would be close by, and the sight of them had him rushing back to Kailia and herding her back into the small overhang they’d been huddled in before the stryx.
“What are you doing?” she demanded in outrage, attempting to shove at him with her elbow as he jostled her.
“The Elder Clan is here. Ariadne and Draven are handling them. We just need to sit tight for a minute,” he answered, maneuvering so he blocked her from view.
“They’re here?” she asked, immediately trying to peer around him.
“Yes,” he ground out. “Stay out of sight.”
“If only I could disappear among something like smoke and ashes to do so,” she deadpanned.
The sudden snark took him by surprise. A delighted surprise, but surprise nonetheless. Mainly because she was actually speaking to him.
He shifted to peer across the expanse again, still hearing the sounds of fighting.
“Did you know across the sea you are called the cursed king?” she asked suddenly.
He glanced back at her, then he turned to face her fully when he saw what she held. “Why do you have that here of all places? And where did you get it?”
Because in her hand was his crown, the silver and rubies almost dull in the fading sunlight.
“From our rooms, of course,” she answered, coming closer and motioning for him to stoop down.
“Kailia, this really isn’t the time—”