eldritch files 07 - elemental blood (21 page)

Crwys closed his eyes.

"I understand what you're saying," Levi spoke up. "Really, I get it. They’re going to do the ritual, but it’s up to the other Nisse races to actually give Brahms and Yolyn that power. But what isn't playing out for me is Tas."

"What do you mean?" Solomon said.

Crwys opened his eyes and looked at his partner. They hadn't spoken a word to one another since Lethe gave Crwys the ring. He'd expected to at least hear Ashur's voice giving him comfort. But this old friend was silent.

"I mean…through all of my years with Crwys, here"—he pointed at Crwys—"all I've heard about is how powerful Dragons are. Yeah…I've seen it first hand with him. I've seen what he can do. And I've seen the devastation Lethe can do to people. But the Dragon I heard most about was Artemis. She's the God Mother's first. She is the forger of weapons. The guider of wisdom." He held out his hand. "And she was taken that easy by a group of little pointy-eared people?"

No one spoke as Crwys abruptly had a moment of clarity. Since leaving the Nisse thicket that had once been
Bell, Book and Candle
, he'd felt as if his life, his future, everything had been tied up in that ring and the woman whose finger it should adorn. But now that future brightened just a bit as his mind processed what Levi was hinting at. He sat forward and Dharma looked at him.

"Maybe Brahms has a power that can hold her?" Solomon said.

"Nah." Levi shook his head. "I'm not seeing any kind of power that could hold a Dragon that didn't want to be held. My mind's thinking more along the lines that Tas was captured—"

"—Because she wanted to be." Crwys stood in one abrupt, but fluid motion. "She is where she
wants
to be." His and Levi's eyes locked. "Because she's protecting the King."

Levi's mouth turned up in one corner. "Took you long enough to get there, bro."

Solomon crossed his arms over his shoulders. "Is this possible, Detective?"

"Yes…it is." Crwys turned and faced the Conjurer. "Artemis is the strongest of all of us. Her heart beats with a piece of the God Mother's. She is a mother in every sense, to all of us. She was the first. Even before I knew in my youth what she was. If she didn't want to be there, then she wouldn't be."

"You really think she's protecting the Nisse King?" Kyle said.

"Pretty damn sure." He pivoted and faced Solomon. "You said you left Fetches. Where?"

"All over the thicket. I wanted to make sure nothing happened to Tas while we weren't there. I should assume I was wrong in worrying about her safety?"

"Crwys." Ivan stepped forward. "Can't you talk to her? The way you talk to Ashur?"

"Normally…yes. If she wanted to open that bond. Then I would know she was a Dragon. I've tried to get a hold of her since her identity was revealed to me, and I can't. But if one of the Fetches is close enough, then I can use it as a relay."

"Remarkable," Solomon said. "I wasn't aware Fetches could do that."

"They can't be used by ordinary magic that way." Crwys smiled as he put the necklace with the ring around his neck and then tucked it under his shirt. "But I can. Just draw me a map to where the one is closest to the thicket."

One of the coven members brought them a map of the French Quarter. Solomon located the shop and sketched a perimeter of the thicket on top of it. With a black marker, he made dots around the area. "These Fetches are the strongest." He pointed to three. "Do you need my assistance?"

"I do. I need you to open your connection to one of them and allow me in. I've only done this a few times, so it could get tricky."

"I've never done it, so that makes it three times as tricky." Solomon smiled. "But I am excited to learn this."

"I'm glad someone is." Crwys watched as Solomon faced him and closed his eyes. The two men were close to the same height, so when Solomon reached out and put his hands on Crwys's shoulders, his arms made a bridge across. Crwys closed his eyes and looked inward at what he used to call the Dragon's Eye. The connection between the God Mother's monsters, as he called his race. That place where their spirits resided, safely tucked away from their Fury-created bodies.

His mind raced forward down long, unused paths. The corridors of the Eye were dusty and long abandoned. Once this hall was used for the five to communicate with their mother.

Now…it felt more like a relic than a realm of the soul.

He moved in his soul form…his original body made of flesh and bone. Tall, with dark, tanned skin and hair as black as a starless night. It was long again, and braided down his back. The clack of his golden sandals echoed even as the soles crunched against the centuries of dust. "Artemis?" Even his voice filled the empty spaces. "Please…look to the Fetches. Can you see them?"

"Yes," came a soft voice to his left.

Crwys turned to see his sister, Artemis, standing in her green and golden robes. Her image was faint, barely a shade to him. Yet, he recognized her long, thick braids and crown of laurel leaves. Her face was so close to that of her present form, he admitted that even she had perfected his Fury's spell. "It is you. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because our Mother bade me not to."

"Our Mother?" Crwys took an echoed step forward. "God Mother is a part of this?"

"Yes. She is a part of everything, Apollo. That's something you never did learn." The corner of her mouth lifted. "It took you longer to hear me than I believed it would."

"I didn't hear you. I only thought of using the Conjurer's Fetches."

"Ah…" Artemis nodded. "That would explain the distance. Then I have little time before they burn up. I am well and safe. The Risi haven't harmed me. In fact, they have left me to my own devices, which has granted me time to open a hole in their thicket."

"A hole? Is it something we can come through?"

"Yes. But I can't hold it forever, brother. You have to get here as quick as you can, before midnight in the Human World." And she gave him explicit instructions on how to get to… "Artemis…is this a path to you or to the King?"

"I am not the one you need to save."

That much made sense. And the best way to protect the King was to get him out of there. He memorized her map. "Samantha—if we don't hand the King over to Lethe—"

"Sam is safe for now. You need to set aside that worry until you come here."

"Where is she?"

"Closer than you know." Artemis gave him a pained smile. "I am sorry for everything, Apollo. I never meant to kill you—"

"The soldiers who killed you would perhaps say the same, sister." He returned her smile. "But it's in the past. You made the arrow that struck Lethe from the King's blood?"

"I made the arrow from Elemental Blood, the blood of three. Only that can finally erase Lethe from existence."

He frowned as he took in her words. "Erase…is this what Mother wants?"

"Lethe must die, Apollo. There is no other solution. Just get here as quickly as you can." Artemis vanished.

Her absence made him cold, but he knew that was simply the effects of the diminishing Fetches. In the thicket, they would be igniting and smoldering one by one as they burned away and the Dragon's Eye disappeared around him.

Crwys stumbled a bit as he came back to himself and Ivan put a hand on him to brace him, as did Solomon. "I know how to get into the thicket."

"So do I." Solomon's eyes glittered as he looked at Crwys. "I saw it, Detective. All of it. What was that place?"

Hearing this, Crwys stared at Solomon. "You saw what?"

"That place." He put his hands on Crwys's upper arms. "What was that place? It looked like a platform at the top of the world…but there were no stars, not even a real light. But I could see. It was as if I were standing at Mount Olympus…and Artemis…was that her?"

"You saw
everything
?" Crwys noticed an overwhelming feeling of dread. The Dragon's Eye had never been seen by a mortal. Ever. Because once seen, it could never be
un
seen. He didn't realize the Conjurer had been dragged along with him to the meeting. He would need to have those memories erased, as soon as possible. But he wasn't the one to do it. Only Lethe could do that with dreams.

And Lethe had to die.

"Solomon, geez," Ivan said as he pulled the old man's hands off of Crwys. "Get a hold of yourself." He looked at Crwys. "What do we need to do?"

Tearing his worried gaze from Solomon's enrapt expression, Crwys looked at Ivan and then everyone else. "Tas has a hole opened in the thicket. It's camouflaged, but I'll be able to see it. She's also given me map to the King. But this way in will only last until midnight."

"That’s more than a half day away," one of the coven members said.

"More than enough time. Levi, you, Kyle and I are going in—"

"No!" Solomon said in a forceful voice. "Take me…I have to go in. I've seen the map—"

"Teacher." Kyle put a hand on Solomon's shoulder and gently turned him away from Crwys to face him. "We can go. You need to stay here and make sure none of the Risi scouts or forces make their way in. Please?"

At first, it looked like the old man was going to protest, but he hesitated, then put his own hand on Kyle's shoulder and squeezed. "You're right. Of course you're right. Just be careful. And don't forget to arm yourself like I taught you."

"I won't." Kyle stepped away from Solomon and pointed to his watch. "Time's a wasting. Let's go."

"How can we help?" Ivan said.

Crwys pointed at him. "I need you to do something…a little different. I need you to find Samantha."

"I already tried."

"I know. In the conventional way. But I need you to use your eyes, this time." Crwys meant Ivan's Dragon's Blood enhanced vision, the sight that allowed him to see magnetic fields of possession, along with his ability to see Arcane things where others couldn't. "Look for Sam that way…and if you still can't find her, then look for a massive display of Arcane residue in a place it shouldn't be. If Lethe did something to her, I'm sure she used her power. That should show up."

"I'll do my best."

"Dharma, use your Water to feel out anything that just feels…." He fumbled for a word.

"Hinky?" Dharma winked at him. "Consider it done, Crwys."

He smiled at her.

"Jack, can you get with Bastien and see if he's adverse to forming a plan of attack on the Nisse's support pack around the thicket?"

"Already done." Jack winked. "They're waiting on you to get there."

The pack link. Jack had already been in contact with his leader and kept them apprised. Crwys smiled to himself. If Jack wasn't careful, he was going to get himself designated as Beta. "Good. Everyone else…just sit tight and wish us luck." He turned, with his keys in hand and Kyle and Levi right behind him. "We're gonna need it."

TWENTY ONE

True to his word, Bastien had half of the Aces in position as Crwys, Levi and Kyle pulled up on the edge of the Risi’s new land.

Kyle wove a cloaking spell before they entered the territory. It wouldn't stop the Risi sentries from knowing there were intruders, but it would make them hard to spot. But then, given their location in the heart of the French Quarter, Levi seemed pretty sure the sentries were getting used to drunks wandering in and out with no ill intent. Other than the occasional vomit.

Once they were inside and had avoided a few angry, hissing flowers, Crwys recalled the map Tas had given him. He overlaid it with what he saw and pointed to the left, moving in the direction of where the back of the shop had once been. The ground was softer and moving was slow. A few times he and Levi had to pull Kyle from the loamy fungus-covered dirt, losing a sneaker in the process.

The trio stopped at what looked like the base of a vine as big around as a grain silo. He reached out with his left hand and ignited his internal fire. The flame traveled up into his shoulder and then down his arm to his fingertip. A blue flame burst out, harsh at first and then settled into a fine needle-like point, much like a wielder's torch.

"What're you doing?" Kyle hissed.

"I'm cutting the door."

"I thought you said she made an opening."

Crwys pointed with his non-flame hand. "She did. Through the thicket, but this vine's part of the outer ground. It's growing and changing constantly, and neither her magic nor mine can stop that." With a finger to his lips, he turned his attention back to the vine.

"Wait," Levi said as he stepped forward. He bared his teeth as his fangs descended and bit into his wrist. Kyle hissed as the Revenant then smeared his bleeding wrist over the surface.

"What—?" Kyle began.

But it was Crwys that answered, "A Revenant's blood has healing properties. When I start cutting, it'll heal the wound and might possibly downplay our chances of the foliage giving us away."

"You mean…that's a Jötunn?"

"In a manner of speaking. It's a cousin, as most of the flora in Risi-held lands." Crwys focused on the map in his mind and cut away at the vine. It took a few minutes before he had a perfect circle cut, roughly a three-foot diameter. The edges of the circle smoked, but he could see the burned plant cauterizing and healing as it cooled. So far so good.