I sobbed in Jeral's arms; he was brushing away tears, too.
"Lissa, I hate to interrupt," Thurlow appeared inside my study. Well, there wasn't any other way he could have just shown up as he did—the study door was closed and locked. He'd folded in. Conner didn't even blink.
"What is it, Thurlow?" My voice wasn't steady.
"The Ra'Ak have brought an army of spawn and are attacking your shield on Vionn. They intend to kill the Green Fae and the others inside the curtain."
There's nothing like fear and desperation to toss you right out of a grief session. Jeral was up and ready, too, the moment he heard the word
spawn
. Either he or Conner sent out the message; I had an army of my own at my back when I set out for Vionn. Toff was there. Maybe they'd planned this—knew I'd come to protect that baby, if nothing else. Thurlow was coming with us, I noticed, and Kifirin folded in, bringing Aryn and Rigo. I sure hoped it was night there, otherwise Rigo might fry and I sure didn't want that to happen. "Let's go," I said, and folded all of us away.
Spawn had just broken through the shield when I arrived with my hastily formed military might. Eight Ra'Ak were there, driving spawn through the hole in my shield. They'd been the ones to destroy the barrier, and had used considerable power to do it. A ninth Ra'Ak, still in humanoid form, stood nearby, watching. Saa Thalarr and Spawn Hunters went to work, challenging Ra'Ak and taking out what looked to be twenty thousand spawn pouring through a hole in my shield. All of them were heading toward the Green Fae's first valley as quickly as they could get there.
Dragon had come, as had Crane. Dragon went to his avatar immediately, preparing to wage war. Crane's giant Wyroc screamed a battle cry and engaged the first Ra'Ak he found. Drake and Drew, my twins, were also in Dragon form and fighting Ra'Ak. Radomir arrived and hit the ground as a giant Black Tiger, taking on one of two remaining Ra'Ak. My focus was on the one still in humanoid shape. I decided to have a parlay with him. First, he wouldn't expect it, and second, I figured all my mates, Kifirin included, were going to be mighty pissed if I told them before I did it.
"Perhaps I should have just gone to kill the Pelipu, rather than letting one of your cousins have him for dinner," I said amiably, misting right in front of the humanoid Ra'Ak.
He hid his surprise well; I'll give him that. "But you failed to do so," he said. "I hear he was quite tasty—just the right amount of fat, as you might imagine. You are a bit thin but still quite tender, I'd wager." He grinned. I was about to be dinner, too, if this creep had anything to say about it.
"I'll fight the whole way down," I warned him. Yeah, I was watching to make sure he didn't turn scaly and coppery. Ra'Ak can eat somebody for lunch pretty quick.
"We haven't had a Saa Thalarr as a meal in a very long time," he went on. He was watching my every move, just as I was watching his.
"And you still won't get one," I said. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
"But I intend to have you as a meal," he went on, trying to mesmerize me with his eyes and voice, somehow. Too bad he didn't know that wouldn't work. I heard sounds of fighting and shouting behind me, but I ignored it for the moment.
"And you still won't get a Saa Thalarr, even if you manage to make a meal out of me," I said. "I'm not one of them."
"Then what are you?" He was stepping up the mesmerizing—it vibrated about him, much like the feeling you get while standing next to giant speakers. Still, whatever he was doing wasn't working, although he expected it to. I smelled the confusion around him because of it.
"Justice," I answered his question. "Have you heard of me?"
"No. Should I?"
"Let me guess—you were one of those flunkies hiding in the void, weren't you?" I asked.
"Not a flunky—they answered to me," he replied. He wasn't that remarkable, in looks, anyway. Brown hair, brown eyes, medium looks, medium height, medium build. That whole boom-box compulsion thing, though, that was something. It sounded as though he were used to being obeyed.
"You gonna have a tantrum if you don't get your way?" I queried.
"I will take this world apart, if things go badly for my servants." He jerked his head toward the battle going on behind me.
"Well, that's too bad," I said. I wasn't about to waste any more time talking him; not if he planned to use his Ra'Ak power to blast the planet. I disappeared in front of him, which didn't cause much of a stir, actually. He should have paid more attention to his history and pondered why a whole bunch of Ra'Ak had died on Kifirin not long ago. His head exploded, just as anybody else's might, when I misted inside it and blew myself outward.
Dragon and Crane had taken down their targets, Radomir had gotten his and Drake and Drew, in Dragon form, were chasing after the last Ra'Ak, after dispatching two others. This one was snapping and snarling at them as they chased him across a wide field. I'd never seen my twins' Dragons before; they were impressive—Drew's was silver, Drake's black.
Want me to take care of that?
I sent.
And spoil all our fun?
Drake sent back.
Don't have too much fun; I don't want to watch Karzac put you in a healing sleep because you were dumb enough to get scale poison or something
, I grumped.
Message received
, Drew replied and went on the offensive. The Ra'Ak was beheaded by massive jaws in less than a blink and everybody ducked for the inevitable dusting of Ra'Ak chunks. Now, it was down to the spawn; what remained of them, anyway. They were still running toward the valley where the Green Fae lived as fast as they could get there. Spawn hunters were chasing after them; wolves, vampires—all were taking out spawn as quickly as they could catch them. Even one escaped spawn could destroy life on Vionn with a simple bite, and Toff was out there. Well, there was a solution to this and I was about to exercise my options.
Sorry
, I sent to the Green Fae,
but the Ra'Ak know you're here, now, and they likely know you have my child. That means you can't stay
. I misted toward them swiftly, had all three thousand of them, including their half-Fae children and the Vionn who'd chosen to live alongside them, gathered and transported to Le-Ath Veronis in only a few seconds.
* * *
"I know these aren't your mountains and valleys," I said to Tiearan as he, the Green Fae and humanoid and half-humanoid alike blinked in shock at their new surroundings. "But it's the best I can do on short notice."
I'd set them down in an area just east of the last comesuli settlements and farms. The land there consisted of gently rolling hills, a river and a few streams and ponds. Plenty of ground, if you wanted to farm or raise animals. The Green Fae didn't consume meat, but their humanoid neighbors did. They liked their milk, cheese and eggs, too, so they had cows, chickens and goats. I'd brought their animals with them; I just couldn't uproot trees or plants. They'd have to start over with those, but the comesuli could provide seeds, cuttings and the like.
"We were prepared; one of ours saw this," Tiearan admitted, refusing to look at me. "We have seeds and such with us." Well, weren't we efficient? I looked up and saw Green Fae, their half-Fae children and the humanoids, all with pouches, bags and bundles. Crates, barrels and other things littered the ground.
"Doesn't sound like you're all that upset over it," I muttered.
"We have moved many times. Our seer predicts that the only reason we will leave this world is if we wish to. That is a blessing to us."
"Uh-huh." I was busy searching through the gathered people, trying to get a glimpse of Redbird and little Toff.
"She does not like being summoned, but she is bringing him," Tiearan murmured. "The child will still not come to you."
"Well, thanks for rubbing it in," I grumped.
"I did not mean it to harm or upset," Tiearan sighed. I wanted to ask him what he did mean, but held off. Redbird showed up, coming to stand next to her father. She didn't meet my eyes, but Toff was in her arms. At least he looked healthy and well fed.
"We are again in your debt," Tiearan didn't sound happy. "And I find myself in need of asking you another favor."
"And what would that be?" I asked. "If it's to kidnap and mindmeld more comesuli children, I'll have your asses off this planet so fast your head will spin."
"We have already passed new laws to add to the old ones, so this will not happen again." Well, it was too bad they hadn't thought about that before they turned to kidnapping in the first place.
"I understand your thoughts on this, and it is unfortunate," Tiearan observed.
"You know, I think I'll send some of the older Larentii to you, and you can all sit down and talk logic while leaving the emotional side out of everything," I grumped. "What do you want, Tiearan?"
"Indis-Banuu," he reverently whispered the word.
"That stuff?" Surnath had given permission for me to take as much as I wanted. The crystal covered farmland everywhere and they were happy to get rid of it. "I'll be right back," I said, and folded to Surnath. I was back in less than ten minutes with a thousand pounds of crystal, which I dumped right in front of Tiearan. "That enough?" I asked. "I can get more if you want. Also, just as a warning, it stays daylight here twenty-four out of the twenty-eight hours every day. I'll have someone come to put up homes and anything else you need. If you're done taunting me with my own child," I said, "I'll go now." I folded away, afraid that I'd become more angry and upset if I stayed.
* * *
"Your daughter has made a grievous mistake." The Green Fae seer came to stand next to Tiearan.
"You have already informed me, seer," Tiearan replied gruffly.
"It bears restating, as you cannot seem to control her," the seer replied.
Chapter 11
"What happened?" I asked, immediately concerned. Jeral was getting attention from Shane and Franklin, and that meant he was wounded. I'd folded back to the palace kitchen to get something to drink. Everybody else seemed to be there, too.
"Do not fear, child, it was a scratch and these two are taking good care of it," Jeral said, lifting my fingers with an uninjured hand and kissing them. I'd reached out to touch his shoulder—I wasn't ready to lose my other uncle. Jeral was reassuring me—he could see the worry in my eyes.
"Frank, you doin' all right?" I asked, shaking off my fear and doing my best to focus on Jeral's healing. Franklin and Shane were patching up a gash on Jeral's arm.
"I'm good. I hear that Oklahoma accent in your voice, little girl," Franklin replied. He looked so much like Merrill, with his black hair ruffled a bit and his piercing blue eyes focused on Jeral's wound. It made my heart hurt to look at him.
"The accent can't be helped sometimes," I muttered.
"I have never been to Earth," Jeral smiled. "It is a nice accent."
"I'll take you, sometime, and we'll get a chicken-fried steak," I said.
"I'll come," Winkler was ready to go right then. "Can we go back to that place you took me, all those years ago?"
"If you want to," I shrugged.
"I want to." Winkler came over to give me a hug. Yeah, I like my wolf.
"Thanks," I said. "Roff and I went by Don's grave. We saw what you, Weldon and Bill did."
"Lissa, I don't want to ever feel like that again," he hugged me tighter.
"Huh. I don't want to see your wolf inside a box, no matter how fancy it is," I grumped right back.
"I hear we need to put up some housing for Green Fae," Adam, Merrill and Pheligar folded in.
"Yeah." My voice was loaded with sarcasm.
"I'll come with you," Winkler offered. Therefore, it was only fair that my entire entourage went, including Rigo. I had to go
Looking
to determine that Thurlow had accomplished this somehow—Rigo could now walk in daylight if he wanted. I made a mental note to have a little talk with Thurlow—just not now. He came along, too.
"I do not wish to be left behind." Roff had come in and he was a little miffed, I think, that he couldn't go fight spawn with the rest of them. I wondered how his fighting lessons were coming along—Gavin and Tony were teaching him those skills. Rigo had come back from Vionn without a scratch—he was some kind of fighter, I guess.
"I won't leave you behind, honey." I smiled at my winged vampire. He smiled at me over Joey's head; Joey was tending to a slight scale poison on Radomir's arm.
* * *
"How many homes do you need, and what sort of amenities?" Adam asked Tiearan. He had a makeshift table with a rolled out sheet of paper, complete with plans for a village on it.
We ended up with the humanoids on the eastern edge, the half-humanoid in the middle and the Fae on the western side. All had room to grow. Pheligar laid the pipelines for the water supply and each house was hooked up with solar power—all of it run with more crystal—what the Green Fae called Indis-Banuu. Well, they had plenty, now.
"You're welcome to trade with the comesuli, if you want," I informed Tiearan. He was quite surprised that we were willing to put up their village for them. They thought they'd have to start from scratch. Instead, they watched in amazement as buildings went up in very little time, courtesy of the power wielded by the Larentii and Saa Thalarr. Pheligar and Adam put up barns and fences for the animals, too.