Dragon Sword (The Dragon Lord’s Bride #2)

Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Will carried me through the woods until I could no longer see the tall tower of Vahti. I kicked my legs and wiggled in his arms. “You can let me down now.”

“Are you no longer comfortable?” Will wondered.

“I’m still comfortable, but I’d like to see if I remember how to walk,” I teased.

He stopped and reluctantly set me down on my feet. My legs were still there and still functional, but I had no idea where to face them. We were now deep in the woods with only a small parting in the trees that showed us where the vali lay. Everything else was a sobering silence except for the occasional chirp of a bird.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. “This place is kind of creepy even during the day, isn’t it?”

“Very few elves venture out into the woods and no mortals dare come in here,” he mused as he swept his eyes over our surroundings. “As for the quiet, that’s because we’re-”

A terrible screech came from above us. We both jerked our heads back and I glimpsed a huge shadow fly overhead. Another screech joined the first one until the cacophony of howls made me cover my ears. Will, too, was affected by the horrible noise as he grimaced. The sounds were so high-pitched that my eardrums began to vibrate, sending piercing pain through my head. I dropped to my knees and scrunched my eyes shut.

Will’s wings burst out of his back and he knelt beside me, wrapping me in his wings. The leather muffled some of the noise and I managed to look up at him. He had his head uncovered and was glaring up at the shadows that flitted above the treetops. Will gritted his teeth and held out one hand which produced a giant fireball. He flung the flaming orb up through a gap in the trees and into the mess of shadows. The screech changed to shrieks of surprise and the shadows scattered.

Will studied me with worried eyes. “Are you alright?”

I gave my ears a little rub before I eased my hands off them. “Y-yeah, but that wasn’t very friendly.”

“Not at all,” he agreed as he helped me stand. He kept one eye on the skies and another on me. “We should get to open ground and see what is the matter.”

I blinked at him. “Open ground? Where those things can get at us?”

He smiled. “Those ‘things’ are the eagles and while they’re generally grumpy about intruders they’re not usually so protective of their territory. Something must be wrong.”

Will guided me through the woods and I couldn’t help but notice the shadows that lingered at the edges of my sight. We soon reached a small grove and the open skies allowed us to see the birds in their full glory.

There were a half dozen eagles and all of them had bodies that were larger than a truck. Their wingspans were some twenty feet for each wing and the force of their flaps could be felt the two-hundred-foot distance between where we stood and where they flew. They circled us a dozen times before one of them finally landed on the opposite side of the clearing from where we stood.

Will smiled and inclined his head to the newcomer. “Good afternoon, flight leader. What brings you out beyond the boundaries of the vali?”

The eagle flapped its wings a few times before it tucked them against its body. It opened its beak and human speech poured out. “I should say the same of you, human. Why do you attack us with your fire magic?”

Will shook his head. “It wasn’t an attack but a warning. Your screeches were abusing our ears.”

The eagle snapped its beak at us. “That was the point! You are trespassing in our territory without the permission of our king!”

Confusion settled into my brain and I looked to Will for guidance. His eyes danced with amusement as he noticed my inquisitive expression and pressed a finger to his lips before he returned his attention to the bird. “Our sincerest apologies for crossing your territory without your permission. May we go?”

The bird flapped its wings and snapped at us. “No! You will come with us for more questioning!”

“Where are we going?” I spoke up.

“We are the ones who will ask the questions!” the bird scolded me as it looked up and nodded.

Two of the other birds swooped down one behind the other. Will was all smiles as he stepped away from me. The lead bird curled its claws around his shoulders and bore him into the air. I yelped when the second bird did the same, and my heart pounded in my chest as my feet left the ground. The wind flew past my face and my feet kicked at nothing as we were flown over the treetops and five hundred feet up.

The height made me dizzy and I grabbed tight to the bird’s scrawny legs. It glared at me and squawked but didn’t slow its pace as it followed its leader along the winding vali. The land on the other side of the canyon was crowded out by the sheer cliff wall and only a few scraggly bushes managed to stick to the surface.

Soon, however, there came a change as large holes appeared in the cliff face. The caves were wide but not very deep so their darkened interiors dove only shallowly into the stone. Huge branches and long, thick blades of grass were piled high and stuck out of the mouths. More giant eagles occupied the nests and they all looked curiously at us as we were flown past.

Now I knew what a worm felt like after it’d been plucked from the ground.

Our eagles passed the nest and flew to the only deep cavern in the whole system. The mouth of the large cave was some two hundred feet wide and a hundred feet tall. It opened to a large grotto filled with broken bits of stalagmites and stalactites long since removed. The nest of that cave stood in the back atop a pile of huge rocks. I couldn’t help but notice the resemblance to the elf king’s throne, especially with the occupant of the nest.

The owner of the nest was a huge eagle nearly twice the size of those who now carried us. He sat tall and proud atop his gargantuan nest, his feathers pure white and perfectly preened. His sharp gray eyes studied us as we were flown in and dropped onto the hard ground before his throne.

Will bowed his head and I followed suit. “Greetings, Lord of the Eagles. My apologies for my unannounced return.”

The eagle stretched his wings and I gaped at the wide span that covered some hundred feet altogether. “Your unannounced return is less a concern for me than the timing. Why have you returned at this moment, my vassal?”

My eyes widened and I gaped at Will. He studiously tried to ignore my open-mouthed shock. “Perhaps it was fate, my lord, that we have arrived here in time to assist you. The elves have spoken of a shadow in the woods. You have felt it, as well?”

The great eagle slowly nodded its head. “We have more than felt it. Several in my flock have been afflicted by a terrible illness which has left them little more than mad animals.”

I felt as though someone squeezed my heart and I looked back to the lord. “Do they have black spots on their bodies?”

His sharp gray eyes studied me. “They do.”

“May we see them?” Will requested.

The eagle cocked its head to one side. “Why do you desire to see them?”

“We want to see if they are as the others we have seen,” Will explained.

His feathership stared at us a moment before he nodded. “You may see them.” He stretched out his wing and used the tip to point at a small corridor hardly large enough to fit one of the normal-sized birds. “We have trapped them down there for their own sake and ours.”

“Did they attack you?” I guessed.

“Attacked and infected others with their terrible curse.”

The color drained from my face as I recalled the terrible situation with the man and the wolf. Will slipped his hand into mine and squeezed it before he bowed to the eagle. “Thank you, My Lord. We will see them and return here to discuss with you what may be done.”