Return To Sky Raven (Book 2) Page 7

  By the light of campfires, Maya was running around organizing the next day’s march and setting watches. I was happy to see that she no longer bothered to keep her helmet on in camp, and to the group’s credit, most of the shock and awe had worn off and she was just “Commander Maya” now. She still got her share of admiring glances, though. Finally satisfied, she came back to our room; tonight there was no question about anything but sleep, long blissful sleep.

  I think I had just shut my eyes when I was rudely jostled. “Alex! Wake up!” Maya was pulling on my arm; I squinted at her standing alongside the bed in her nightgown and sat up.

  “What is it, are we under attack?”

  “No, but I have to talk to you, it’s important!”

  I groaned; it was nowhere near morning judging by the lack of daylight flowing through the fake window in my room. “Ok, what’s this about?”

  “Not here,” she said, glancing over at the sleeping pixie on the window sill. She put a finger over her lovely lips and then transferred the touch to my lips to quiet me. “Come on!”

  Letting her take me by the hand, I slid out of bed and followed her downstairs to the main door of the hall which I knew would lead into a tent. “Wait, we’re not dressed and you want me to wander around camp?”

  She winked at me and indicated her own sparse attire. “I’m willing to risk it if you are.”

  Rolling my eyes and reflecting on the irregularities of loving a half crazy elf, I followed her as I always would. Once outside, I saw the camp as usual, rows of tents and smoldering campfires, the level of the coals showing it must be well past midnight. Maya giggled breathlessly as we picked our way through the “streets and alleys” that were staked and laid out in the clearing. Finally nearing the outside edge, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen a single patrolling guard yet, and except for the occasional soft snoring sound emanating from a tent in passing, it was almost eerily quiet. I stopped short, still hanging on to her hand.

  “Where are the guards?”

  “Don’t worry, they’re on a break,” she whispered and started off again with me in tow. “Hurry up, Alex!”

  Once outside of the remnants of the campfires and into the forest’s edge, it became inky black, and I had to switch to my mage sight in order to avoid the tree roots and stray downed branches that blocked our passage farther into the trees. Oddly, I still kept tripping over things. In twenty minutes or so, we were deep into the jungle-like foliage.

  “So is this some dark elf thing that I don’t know about?” I said, trying to figure out what was going on.

  “Yes, that’s right…it’s a dark elf thing,” she laughed and spun in a circle. Catching my hand again after one revolution, her thin nightgown billowing out lazily, she continued to pull me farther toward whatever unknown destination she had in mind. Finally, we climbed through into a small clearing, my mage sight showing our two warhorses, tethered patiently toward the back edge. Already loaded on them were sacks containing our good armor and other camping supplies like tents and food packs. I also spotted the handle of my war hammer sticking out of one of the satchels and my tower shield was lashed to its usual spot on one side of the stallion.

  “What’s all this?” I asked, rubbing my arms a bit. It was rather chilly out and I was only in my underwear after all.

  Maya wrapped her arms around me and engaged me in a long sensual kiss that raised my temperature considerably. Breaking off, she put her arms around my neck and began to explain. “Alex, darling, I’ve decided that I’m tired of being a puppet on a string. We need to get away from all this, just the two of us. We can head into the amber forests of Ayerhs and live out our lives as free people without having to follow any silly prophecies or chase all over the world being followed by undead. This is our chance to just be us!”

  My mind was reeling. “Huh? But what about Rosa and Nia and all our friends? We just can’t abandon them! And don’t we still need permission from your father to court and marry?” The big stallion raised his head over the back of his sister and nickered, bobbing his head up and down.

  Maya scowled at the horse and ordered, “Quiet you!” She reached up and, using one long finger, drew a scintillating line down the side of my face and ended it in the middle of my chest provocatively. She then drew me closer to her and her breath mingled with mine. “Our friends will be just fine once they reach Sky Raven; it’s only a day away. Rosa can restart the school there, Nia can help her and everyone will be fine for a very long time.” Then she reached up and pulled my face down to hers and her lips brushed mine. “And as far as my father’s opinion, ha! I need no antiquated social convention to tell me when and with whom to mate!” She lowered her eyes shyly, and I nearly melted as she whispered, “And I’m willing to prove it to you tonight if that’s what you desire.”

  The back of my neck grew hot. I started gulping what smelled like sea air, and I’m pretty sure I was seeing spots by the time my concentration returned enough to object. “My parents…”

  “Your parents left you on the day you were born, you owe them nothing,” she spat scornfully and then mellowed and pulled me down for a long passionate kiss, her hands roaming under my thin shirt. “I am going tonight, Magic Boy, don’t make me leave without you.”

  Intoxicated as I was, I still couldn’t wrap my slow mind around what was happening. In desperation, I reached out to my best creation, “Winya, what’s wrong with Maya, she’s not herself?” Weird, no answer, Winya always answers. It’s not like she sleeps or has something better to do.

  By this time, Maya had pulled me down closer to her and was nuzzling my neck and breathing nonsense words into my ear. Unable to handle that much longer without losing control, I grabbed her and brought her mouth in line with mine, the tips of our tongues exploring at will.

  “That’s right, Alex, show me that you love me,” she whispered sensuously, relaxing in my embrace. Once again, I caught a whiff of sea air and a small part of my brain sent an urgent warning to the larger part of my brain that wasn’t listening because Maya was running her lips moistly across my neck.

  Suddenly a spike of searing pain lanced through my head, almost like when Rosa is really mad at me for something. A wave of nausea passed through me along with the smell of the ocean that returned for a second, then dissipated. I stared down into the face of a very concerned dark elf.

  “Alex, darling, you really need to stop fighting me on this, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Maya whispered. Fighting her? Fight her? I looked up at the horses, and the stallion was bobbing his head up and down vigorously.

  Summoning the scraps of willpower I still retained , I made my arms extend and push Maya away from me. Shaking my head to clear it, I demanded, “Who are you?” I looked down at Maya in front of me, and she smiled wickedly and waggled a finger in my face.

  “Naughty, naughty Alex! You weren’t supposed to doubt my performance.”

  I blinked and the world turned black. When I opened my eyes, I was on the cold ground, still in my underwear, my hands and feet tightly bound with very stout rope.

  Maya walked around me confidently, smiled broadly and then squatted down close and ran her fingers through my hair. “You really are a handsome boy, Alex. It truly would be a shame if I had to turn you over to the Lifebane, dead or alive. As you already guessed, I’m not really your elf girlfriend, but I still want to be your friend and possibly more. Let’s start with introductions; you may call me Portia.” She reached down and, grabbing me with one hand around the neck, dragged me through the short grasses to a fallen tree stump and leaned me against it so that I was upright. “That’s better; I do so dislike having my good friends drool aimlessly in the dirt!” She reached down with a lascivious smile and tore a substantial amount of silky cloth from the nightgown she was wearing, which revealed a lot of shapely leg. Noting my reaction with a nod and a knowing smile, she used the cloth to wipe the dirt and grass from my face. “Wow, that one really has her hooks into you doesn’t she? Ah…
young love!” she giggled and tossed the rag aside.

  “What are you? A succubus?” I managed to croak, glaring at her.

  “No, of course not! Demons are nasty! Let’s just say I’m a freelance artist.”

  “But you work for the Lifebane?”

  “Well, if you call being kidnapped from your home world to drive someone insane, as work.” She smiled and bowed, indicating herself as Maya with a flourish of hands. “But it’s do his bidding or I’ll never get back to my home again…unless I find another ride, that is.” She smiled, “But enough about me. I have an outstanding proposition for you.”

  “Wait! You are the one responsible for tormenting Maya for all those years with the undead dreams?”

  “Well, of course! That’s what dream weavers do…well among other things.” She laughed. “And I am very skilled at my work. It’s not easy to mentally animate 10,000 individual undead and force them into someone’s consciousness and still keep it believable. It’s an art form really.” I growled and I’m pretty sure she could see the anger in my eyes. “Oh, don’t be that way. I have to give Maya credit, she’s a tough girl. I’ve worked on her for twenty-five years now, and she’s still mostly sane; a tremendous accomplishment. Of course, I was restrained from killing her outright, and we both know she had some outside help, but still, most impressive! And I guess from looking at you that she’s not damaged enough to pass up a good thing when she sees it.” She smirked, knelt down, and grabbed my chin.

  “Now for the exciting proposition! You come with me willingly, and when you come into your full powers, you take both of us off this hellhole and back to a civilized world where we can live like royalty for a very long time. Deal?”

  I glared at her. “And I get what, exactly, for leaving my future wife, family, and friends behind?”

  “Well, for one, you get to live past the end of this negotiation. Second, as an added limited-time bonus, I will agree to leave your ex-future wife alone. Third, if you are a red-blooded male like I know you are, and here’s the best part, it’s never boring being paired to a dream weaver!”

  “I have no idea what you are talking about, lady,” I snarled, straining at my bonds but making no headway. The rope was stout, and even with my enhanced strength, with my hands tied behind my back, I couldn’t get enough leverage to loosen the knots.

  Portia shimmered and the fake Maya was replaced with Alera wearing an indecently short version of her normal healer’s robes. She spun around in the short grass and ogled me suggestively, assuming a number of silly poses. The look on my face must have told her something as she looked deflated and whined, “Aw, come on! I can see from your mind that you think she’s beautiful, even if she does have a steel shaft for a spine. The ice queens are always the most fun to thaw!”

  “No!”

  “Tsk tsk. Ok, how about… “She shimmered again and Alera melted away to be replaced with the silver dragon Dawn, who was wearing a very short version of the shimmering silver dress that she wore on the first day we met. Dawn bent down and ran a cool hand up and down my chest. “You know, everyone thinks reptiles are cold blooded, but this one, whoa! This one is a girl after my own heart!” Again, I rolled my eyes and looked away. “You know what they say, ‘Once you’ve had Drak, you’ll never go back!’” she cackled.

  “I said, no!”

  “Oh, you’re not as much fun as I would like, something a bit more naughty and sinful, then.”

  Suddenly, there was a nearly naked human-sized Nia fluttering hopefully in front of me!

  “Oh, hell no!” I gritted angrily and looked away. “The only woman I’m interested in is Maya. I want no other, and I will accept no other!”

  “Ah, now we get to the crux of the matter,” she purred, and Portia reverted back to the image of Maya in her nightgown with a determined look on her face.

  “I want the real one!”

  “Very noble, but hardly very smart. The fact is, I’m better than the real one. You see, young princeling, it’s been my experience that young men of power always desire their ladies when they are at the peak of freshness so to speak. But at some age, certain parts begin to sag perilously, and their bellies are not so flat and luxuriously silky anymore, and at that point, I shine brightest. I will still be preternaturally beautiful a thousand years from now, and I can become anyone your heart desires for as long as you wish.”

  “No, you may have Maya’s image, but you will never be her. Nothing will change my love for her.” Suddenly, in a voice that was my own but not of my own volition, I spoke calmly, “There is a chain of destiny forged between Maya and me that will never be broken, and our love will never falter even beyond death.” Where did that come from? Not that I didn’t agree with the sentiment, but they were not my words.

  She paused, taken aback by the words I spoke and the tone of my voice. I saw a brief glimmer of fear in her eyes as if in a game, the rules suddenly changed to favoring the player instead of the house. Shaking it off, Portia drew in a quick angry breath and hissed, “Fool! Meaningless words of bravado and daring but containing no thought or intelligence. Disappointing to say the least. I don’t know why, but I expected more of you than that. So you have spoken. Well, at least I will acquire a substantial fee for your handsome head, putting an end to all this prophecy stupidity for my Lord. And since you are so scornful of my affections, perhaps I will continue to visit your pretty young elf after your demise. The sight of your dead bloated face in her dreams every night will most certainly put her over the edge once and for all.”

  Portia smiled. Still appearing as Maya wearing the thin, almost translucent nightgown, she did a little pirouette as if to show off her full assets then stopped, facing me. She reached back and drew a sword from a shoulder harness that hadn’t been there a second before and I looked at it with curious detachment. To my eyes, it looked like the sword blank I had created for Maya just prior to her naming it Winya Coia; dull-colored and without the scrollwork, but still razor sharp and fully functional as a sword. She went through a couple minor blade routines which I recognized as Maya’s favorites, and then stopped with the point under my chin. I felt a trickle of something warm track down my chest. Well crap, I guess if I had to die, there were worse ways than being bled out by the image of the woman you love. I sent a last ditch mental plea to a silent Winya to tell the real Maya I loved her and that I was sorry.

  Portia drew the point of her blade back a few inches and I could see the muscles in her arms gather for a lethal strike. “Last chance, Magic Boy,” she said. “It’s do or die time!”

  “Well, I guess it’s die time then, bitch!” I heard a second melodious, but angry Maya voice sing out from somewhere behind me. At the same moment, a mild snap noise heralded an object that impacted Portia’s sword arm shoulder, driving her back a couple steps before it continued on through the clearing and disappeared. Suddenly, there were two Mayas in front of me, both in diaphanous nightgowns wielding swords. The “new” Maya interposed herself in front of me defensively, and in her hand, I could see Winya Coia in her full regalia, the engravings pulsing angrily in the night air.

  Without looking back at me she spoke, “Alex, speaking as your betrothed, I don’t think I approve of your sneaking off into the woods to meet ‘me’ like this, especially without a chaperone.”

  In wonder, I glanced past her at Portia, who was smirking evilly but rubbing her shoulder. Oddly enough, I saw no blood or evidence of any damage where the crossbow quarrel had blown through. The two faced off in classic dueling stances. Maya launched into full attack with a flurry of twists and strikes aimed at Portia’s torso and head. Most of the movements were so fast I could hardly see them. Incredibly, Portia managed to not only parry, block or step away from all the damage, but she did it in an almost offhand manner. She laughed at both of us.

  “You don’t live in someone’s head as much as I do without picking up a few pointers, youngling! You might as well be fighting yourself; except I have a small advantage.
I can see what you’re planning before you move a muscle.” Portia launched into an attack of her own, and again it was hard to see much from my low position; ok, except for a lot of shapely legs. It seemed that Maya was able to escape much of the onslaught, but not all; there was blood running down her arms from several shallow cuts, which, had she been in her armor, I’m sure would have been deflected.

  The action went back and forth for a few minutes, Maya not able to visibly score on her opponent, but taking minor damage herself. She now had a scalp wound, and blood was threatening to run into her eyes. They both backed off briefly to reset.

  “Maya, it’s been great fun having this little bit of exercise, but it’s getting us nowhere very fast; how about we make it more interesting? Let’s show you a vision of your true love’s future and we’ll see if you fight so hard to live.” She cackled, obviously enjoying this like a cat playing with a mouse. Suddenly, I felt my limbs stiffen, and to my horror, my skin mottled in shades of gray and purple, pustules formed on my body parts that I could see and started to ooze yellowish and green liquids. Behind my back, I could feel fingernails lengthen and turn to talons. I was grateful that I was still firmly tied up so that I couldn’t see the rest of the changes to my body. Even what little underwear I had on started to rot and fall off. I was becoming a zombie! I heard Maya gasp and utter a despairing wail, but I couldn’t see her anymore because my eyes were filming over. Just before my throat closed up forever, I managed to croak out a last warning.