Leoht (BloodRunes: Book 3) (22 page)

Layna nodded, that must be the bracers at
work. She was surprised that it hadn’t been kept more under wraps
what was going on. Maybe the King figured at this point that
everyone was so afraid that they wouldn’t know what else to do. He
didn’t count on brave people like Katrina opposing him.

“That’s when the officers started sweeping
through the city, and the towns we hear as well, to force the men
to join. They’ve been slapping on these arm bracers and that’s when
the man would suddenly get all obedient. We’ve decided that it’s
some sort of enchantment. We’ve managed to rescue a few of the men
who were with us before it all went down, but we can’t get it off
them.”

“We can help you with that,” Layna told her
and Katrina looked surprised.

“What have you two been up to?”

“It’s a long story,” Gryffon answered for
them, cleaning up the last of the shaving cream off of his face and
donning the dead animal which Layna now recognized as a wig, and
drawing the cloak around him. “How do I look.”

Layna and Katrina both giggled.

“That bad, huh?”

“Come on, let’s go.” Layna pulled the shawl
around herself as well, covering her face the best she could on the
off-chance she’d be recognized, and followed Katrina out the
door.

They casually made their way through the
streets and Layna was surprised when Katrina led them straight
towards Jezebel’s manor.

“Where exactly are you taking us?” she asked
her hesitantly.

“Home.”

They walked straight up to the front door and
walked right in. Layna paused inside the door and looked around. It
was the same as when they’d left. She hurried to catch up to
Katrina who was leading the way into Jezebel’s sitting room.
That
, was most certainly not the same as when they’d left.
The furniture had all been moved to the sides and sleeping pads
were laid out along the floor.

Jezebel would have a fit if she saw it.

Katrina led them to where the chairs had been
crammed together in the corner of the room and sat cross-legged in
one, gesturing for the two of them to take the other two seats. She
was putting her feet on Jezebel’s armchair.

Layna sat and raised her eyebrows. “What?”
was all she managed to get out.

“Jezebel’s been gone for months and we
haven’t heard from her in almost as long. We figure she’s not
coming back anytime soon so we’ve commandeered it as our
headquarters. What do you think?”

“I think she’s going to be awfully angry when
she gets back.”

“
If
she comes back,” Gryffon amended
pointedly, reminding Layna with a look that he had stabbed her.
Layna’s mind raced, but if she had survived, wouldn’t she come
after them again? Then again, it had been Gryffon’s life-sucker
that had allowed her to find them, so she wouldn’t know where they
were. And who would ever think they’d return to the place it all
started?

“So what else has happened since we’ve been
gone?”

“Well, the King had garnered a fair amount of
support after launching a campaign to rally the people behind him
before the fighting started, but once it did and the blood-magic
rumors started making the rounds, he lost quite a bit again. He
also made some pretty harsh rules in a few communities where they
were forced to convert to the ways of the Sleeping God. He created
a special band of priests that went to enforce it, and they burned
down all of the temples to the Three, and killed anyone who
wouldn’t convert.”

Layna raised her eyebrows, she hadn’t
realized it had gotten quite this bad. Her conviction was further
solidified that she was doing the correct thing in helping
Treymayne oust the King, as well as the Three get rid of Nuko.
Suddenly needing a break from the harsh realities of the situation
at hand she grasped at a more mundane subject.

“When did you and Aaron get married?”

The smile that spread over Katrina’s face was
contagious. “A month after you left he proposed. It was the
sweetest thing. Got down on one knee and everything,” she put a
hand to her belly again, “and things went quickly from there.” Her
face fell a bit. “Unfortunately, soon after that is when things
started getting dangerous around here and now I only see him every
few days. He was trying to get me to stay out there with him, but I
can’t leave my work here. I’m in charge of organizing the escapees.
Plus, now we figure it’s better for the baby for me to be under a
roof…” She trailed off, the earlier happiness dissolving as she too
let her thoughts wander to more unpleasant places. “So what are you
two doing here?”

They filled her in on the basics of what they
had been doing and Layna found herself amazed by the reminder of
just how much they had done in the past months. For a girl who had
never been anywhere, she had traveled around most of Gelendan,
large parts of Treymayne, and was planning on transporting into the
unknown wilderness past the Ferryn Plains. She hardly recognized
herself.

They ended their narration with an indication
that they needed to get to the Golden Girls in order to do
something, and Katrina seemed to understand that there was more
going on than they could say, but trusted them enough not to
ask.

“I can smuggle you there tomorrow. Might as
well sit tight and get some rest tonight though. Your old room is
free if you don’t mind a little clutter, we’ve been using it to
store some of the supplies.” She turned to Gryffon, “I’m afraid
your old room was made into a sewing room the moment you were
kicked out and we’ve been using it for that purpose since. You’re
welcome to bunk wherever you can find an empty bed.” She paused,
giving Layna a sly smile, “Or, you’re welcome to keep Layna
company, I don’t know what your arrangements have been lately.”

Layna flushed and refused to look at Gryffon,
but fixed Katrina with a stern look. The girl shrugged and mouthed,
‘what?’ When Layna dared to peek over, Gryffon’s countenance was
indiscernible.

“Why don’t you take my old room,” she
suggested to him, “I’ll invade Katrina’s room for the night so we
can catch up.”

Katrina squealed in delight and took Layna’s
arm, leading her off towards her room.

*

Gryffon watched them go with disappointment
at Layna’s quick suggestion that he spend the night in the room
without her. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t shared rooms in inns in
their travels, or slept next to each other in bedrolls in the
woods.

“Gryffon,” a male voice greeted him and he
smiled as he turned.

“Adam,” he returned, sticking out his hand
for a handshake, “how are you?”

“Glad to have skipped out on the draft, the
horror stories just keep piling up.” He raised his eyebrows towards
the two women who were just disappearing out of sight down the
hall. “What about you? You’ve been with Layna this whole time you,
dog you?”

“I’ve been a complete gentleman with her,
don’t worry. I know how protective you all are of one another.
Nothing happened.”

“Nothing?” Adam repeated, and Gryffon could
have sworn there was disappointment in his tone. “That girl’s been
head-over-heels in love with you since you came here…what’s the
matter with you?” Obviously he didn’t know much about women, Layna
was making it very clear she didn’t want anything to do with him
beyond his friendship. But Adam wasn’t finished, he gave him an
appraising look and added, “You do like girls don’t you?”

Gryffon glared at him and Adam burst out
laughing. “Seriously, what gives?”

Gryffon shrugged. “You’ve got me.”

CHAPTER 15

Katya panted as she ran through the woods.
Something had been stalking her for hours now, and the faster she
ran the worse the eerie feeling that it was closing in on her got.
She hadn’t been able to catch a glimpse of it, but the way that the
magic kept swirling in whirlwinds behind her convinced her that it
was tapping into the power and causing the disturbances.

Katya made sure her stones were in easily
accessible spots and kept her eyes peeled behind her. She was so
intent on watching for something following her that she hardly
noticed the sudden thinning of trees. When her feet hit a hard
substance beneath them rather than the plush forest floor they had
been used to it distracted her and she paused and looked down.

It was all the opening that her stalker
needed. Katya’s head snapped up just in time to see the gigantic
snake coming towards her, its jaws open wide to reveal two dripping
fangs, each as long as her forearm.

She hurled her body out of its way and drew
on the stones to erect a shield. She grabbed her knives, but had no
opportunity to use them. It moved so fast! She would have to wait
for it to strike again and lash out at it while it was in
range.

And hope that she could move fast enough to
avoid its bite.

She locked eyes with the beast, hoping to
read its intentions in them, when she suddenly lost all sense of
control. Her body froze and the serpent’s movements slowed to a
more leisurely pace. She couldn’t drag her gaze away from its
hypnotic eyes. Out of the corner of her sight, she saw that the
tail end of the thing was wrapping around her lower half.

Its coiled body constricted around her
uncomfortably, but she was stuck in its gaze. Her shield did
nothing to prevent its slow crushing of her body, it was designed
to prevent attacks and it didn’t perceive this motion as one.

Katya’s body was frozen still, but her mind
was racing. She had to come up with something, and fast, before the
slithering beast wound around her middle and started really causing
damage.

Marak’s tiny form suddenly flung itself from
her arm and landed squarely on the beast’s head. The thing shook
its head in shock, breaking Katya’s gaze. She immediately pushed at
the coils around her, benefitting from the serpent’s distraction
that had loosened their grip. She launched herself out of their
clutch and slashed at its neck just in time to see Marak bite out
the creature’s eyes before he was flung up in the air.

Katya watched as if in slow motion as his
tiny body writhed in air, but with nothing to push against he had
no control over his motion, which was now reaching the top of its
arc and heading back down, straight towards the larger snake’s
mouth.

Katya had no idea how the thing knew that he
was there, but it opened its massive jaws and with a resounding
clap, gulped down her best friend in one bite.

It took Katya a split second to register the
insult before attacking the creature with all of her might. Now
that she was free of its hypnotic spell, she flung fireballs and
lightening at it while slicing through its thick scales with her
knife. Its major defense gone, the snake died quickly and Katya
sawed through its body, blinking back tears, digging through guts
to find Marak.

Sitting back on her haunches in defeat, Katya
screamed her frustration to the sky, her voice echoing back at her.
Then movement caught her eye and she sprang to her feet, knives in
hand as a portion of the snake wiggled.

Marak’s miniscule head popped out of a chunk
of steaming flesh and he slithered out of it, plopping to the
ground. He lifted his head and looked down at himself, such a
perfect portrayal of disgust at the innards dripping off him that
Katya burst out laughing. He looked at her indignantly and she
spared another spell from her stone to gather water to wash him.
She poured it over him and he basked in it. She guessed there were
some benefits to being made out of metal after all.

Once he was sparkling clean once more she
picked him up and hugged him to her, even planting a kiss on his
head before holding him out to his spot on her arm. He wriggled
onto it gratefully and immediately hardened into his resting
state.

Katya finally had a chance to look around her
and she marveled at the second sudden change. From desert to
forest, now from forest to - well, she wasn’t exactly sure.

She stamped her foot on the ground and
examined the strange landscape. It looked as though liquid rock had
been poured across it and hardened There was no vegetation and as
her gaze headed outwards she saw in the distance a gigantic lone
mountain sitting in the middle of the vast empty space, sparks and
fire shooting from its top, visible even at this distance.

Katya whistled in appreciation and said out
loud, “Fire Mountain.”

It took her several days to cross the barren
landscape, and if she had thought that the desert was bad, it was
nothing compared to this. It was completely devoid of any signs of
life, insect, plant, or otherwise, and the strain to move water was
noticeable telling her that it was pulling it from back in the
forest. Without magic she would find none here.

She was glad that she had also had the
foresight to pack her bags full of the few edible plants she had
been able to find as teleporting those to her as well would waste
valuable power. When she finally came to the foot of the mountain
she looked upwards in awe. The absolute lack of anything
surrounding it made it seem incredibly daunting and every so often
a stream of red-hot bubbling liquid would ooze down its steep
incline.

She randomly picked a direction and started
walking around the outside, looking for signs of a way in, or
something that might resemble a star as Layna had hinted at. Not
exactly the most helpful of directions, but then again the
description of Fire Mountain had turned out to be surprisingly
accurate.

She hadn’t been walking for very long when
she suddenly came upon the edge of a canyon. She peered down into
it and saw that it was about fifty feet deep, and it was filled
with more of the bright liquid. She bit her lip. The canyon went on
and on away from the mountain and seemed to get wider as it went,
and then suddenly it broke out to the right as well. It would be
quite a hike to go around.