WingsOfDesire-AriannaSkye (42 page)

Hopefully they weren’t as stupid as the British during the Revolutionary war. The last thing she wanted to see was faeries falling one by one in rows and rows.

Are you sure about this, mo cridhe? There is still time for me to spirit you off.

She gave Cerne the most determined glare she could.
Not on your life. I’m in it to win it.

Keep that confidence, mo cridhe.
He pointed upward. At least twenty dragon riders lined the

sky and circled the armies.
We may need it.

Bloody Gods. Damned underworld, Rhiannon mumbled in her mind. How fair is that? She glanced up to where Windstorm and Aine perched high up on their horses. As they crested the small hills, the sight greeting them chilled Rhiannon to the core. Puke-green hair straggled from underneath the helmet of a huge hulk of a beast. Llwyd, she assumed. She would recognize the hygienically challenged ogre anywhere. Luckily for her, she was far enough away that she couldn’t smell him—yet.

Another of your acquaintances?
Curse him for being so observant.
Do I need to take care of
him as well?

Rhiannon grumbled.
The only parts of me he hurt were my nose and eyes.

Cerne nodded.
Hold out your hand.
He put a small vial of a purplish liquid in her palm and closed her fingers around it.
Drink it. It’ll block the ogre stench.
He grabbed another vial from his pocket, popped the cork and guzzled the liquid down.

Rhiannon popped the cork and held the vial to her lips.
Bottoms up.
She plugged her nose, tilted her head back, and sucked down the contents.

What makes you think it would taste bad? It wasn’t your Earth wine, was it?

Very funny.
She turned her gaze to Maeve and Belenus’s flank. They too were imbibing the purple potion. Well, one obstacle out of the way. They wouldn’t have to worry about keeling over from the ogre stench. Llwyd was quite enough. She couldn’t imagine hundreds of ogres equally as malodorous.

The sounds of shrieks and shouts broke the silence in the air. Rhiannon angled her head up to see the Dark Faeries, ogres, and another breed of disgusting beast forging their way. A troll, perhaps?

The dragons high above them shot fire from their noses. Rhiannon breathed a small sigh of relief. The flames weren’t nearly as strong as the ones Tynan shot at her.

Raise your shield over your head, Rhiannon. Like this.

Rhiannon turned her head and caught Cerne crouching down on his horse, holding the shield at an angle in front of his face. A stream of fire blazed down and ricocheted off the silver metal.

Wow! Talk about flame resistant.
She grabbed her shield and held it poised over her head.
I
can definitely handle this.

It gets worse than this, mo cridhe. They save their strength for the blue flames.

Another burst of fire flew toward them. She pushed her shield up and imagined it bouncing back toward the dragon.

“What in the deities?” a rider shouted. Rhiannon peeked over her shield to see the man flailing his arms as he patted a corner of the dragon’s burning wing.

“Oops.” That would definitely leave a mark.

Cerne, with mouth agape, looked at the burning dragon.
So much for inconspicuousness.
He turned back toward Rhiannon who crouched down on her horse.

“What were you thinking?” he gritted out through his teeth. He pulled out his spyglass and scanned the crowd, spotting Aine and Windstorm. Windstorm swung his sword, catching an ogre in the back. The ogre went flying through the air and slammed into a group of trolls who were attacking the left flank. Aine, on the other hand, had lost her horse. She swung her staff like a sword, attacking ogres and trolls left and right. As soon as one went down, another came after her.

Rhiannon turned to face him, shock evident in her beautiful face. “I didn’t mean to do it.” Cerne nodded, eyeing the battlefield. Everyone seemed too engrossed with flailing their swords and wielding their wands or staffs to notice one extremely strong deflection spell. Flashes of light erupted around him while winds whipped at his face.

He gave her an apologetic smile. “I know, my sweet. You don’t know your own strength.” If she had that much magic now, what would she be like when, if, she got her wings? If only he could convince her to remain in Fey when the battle was won. His ponderings were abruptly interrupted.

“Who dares attack one of my dragons?”

Cerne glanced up to spot Tynan gripping the reins, twisting them in his hand. The dragon roared and spewed smoke from its nostrils.

“Bloody underworld,” Cerne muttered under his breath.

Tynan threw his head back and a deep chuckle rumbled from his mouth. “Don’t make me lay fire to your entire flank.”

Rhiannon’s eyes flared. Her knuckles whitened from her tight grip of the reins.
I’m so
getting sick of this fool.

Don’t do anything foolish.
He’s trying to draw you out.

Tynan doesn’t scare me. I un-dragoned him once already.

She prepared to raise her visor. Cerne reached over and grabbed her hand.
Don’t you dare.

I’m not quite ready to lose you yet.

Rhiannon shrugged and lowered her hand.
If he starts killing my people, I can’t guarantee
I’ll be agreeable.

Cerne nodded. He’d do the same if he were in her position.
Very well.

“No one wants to take responsibility?” Tynan yanked the reins again as the dragon shot a stream of smoke toward a young soldier. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Rhiannon as she sucked in a breath. Luck was on the soldier’s side, though, as he raised his shield, deflecting the dragon’s fire.

“Consider that a warning.” Tynan pulled at his reins and shot into the sky, toward the back of the Dark Faerie lines. They were safe—for now.

Windstorm and Aine seemed to be holding up well. Cerne swept his view to the left flank.

Maeve waved her staff high, sending balls of energy at a troop of attacking trolls while Belenus swung his sword, dodging an ogre with a rather large spiked club. Cerne breathed a sigh of relief, watching Belenus duck. The club smashed into the face of an attacking troll instead.

The dragon riders had regrouped. Steam rolled from their noses while the fires in the pits of their stomachs stirred.

“Shields!” Cerne bellowed over the shouts of the soldiers.

Amidst the flurry of shields being raised, Rhiannon stood there in stoic silence, her shield remaining at her side.

“Are you mad?” Cerne growled through his teeth.

“No.” She turned to face him, her chin firm and high. “I’d be mad to hide and let these people die for me. I’m no coward.”

“I never said you were. Raise your shield,
mo cridhe
.” Cerne gave her the most pleading gaze he could muster. “Please?”

Rhiannon lifted her visor, her gaze stony. “I realize you worry about me, but I know what I must do. I have to defeat Korrigan, and I can’t do it by hiding.” She lifted the helmet from her head and threw it to the ground. “I need your support, and I want you to understand. Look around you, for the deities’ sakes. Look at all the chaos and darkness Korrigan has brought to your kingdom—to my kingdom.” She pointed at the flailing swords and the flying bodies as clubs and staffs slammed into each other. “Do you want this life for our children? I know I don’t.”

Cerne’s heart leapt from his chest.
Children?
She wanted his children? He couldn’t even say he loved her and she still wanted to create life with him? How could he have been so foolish not to completely trust her?

“
Mo cridhe
.”

Rhiannon bit her lip. “Yes?”

“You understand what that translates to, right?” He placed his hand over his heart. “You are in here—always.” He hoped those words would be enough to see her through.

“Thank you, Cerne.”

As if part of the giant weight had been lifted off his chest, he sighed. “If you do this, I have no choice but follow you, as well.”

He yanked the helmet off and shook out his hair, happy to be relieved of the stifling confines

“I live to protect you, my princess.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Rhiannon nibbled her lip and Cerne’s heart skipped a beat. He knew that habit well. She was worried. Was she concerned for his safety?

“As sure as the fact that a man shouldn’t hide either. I, too, am no coward. I’ll fight for you.

I offer my protection.”

He’d offer her more, but his horse reared its legs, sending him flying backwards to the ground below. The earth rumbled beneath him. He glanced up to catch sight of Rhiannon steadying herself on her horse.

“What the deities was that?” one of the soldiers asked, as the tremors subsided.

Cerne pushed himself up from the ground, dusted off his silver mail and scanned the battlefield. Taking in the sight, his eyes widened in shock. “Holy Goddesses!” Row upon row of Dark Faeries, trolls, and ogres lay shrieking and screaming while rocks and rubble buried them. He caught a glimpse of Aine twisting and pulling her staff from the ground.

Cerne closed his spyglass and turned back to Rhiannon. “Is everything all right?” Rhiannon nodded. “That was Aine, wasn’t it? She mentioned she’d been practicing earth movement.”

“An impressive skill to possess, as well.” Cerne hoped they’d made the right decision to allow Aine to join their ranks. “Korrigan is probably kicking herself for letting her sister go.”

“More like she’s kicking the closest servant.” Rhiannon raised her gaze to the sky. “Tynan’s

found us.”

Cerne grumbled. This man was becoming a thorn in his foot.
So how do we defeat this
unicorn-lover?
He decided it was best to switch back to mind-talk. Not only was it safer, it was confidential. Only the strongest of faeries—and even then, they had to be very close—could intercept a mind-talk conversation.

Unicorn-lover? Don’t quit your day job.
A wide, dimpled grin spread across her face.
When
he shot fire, Aine deflected, then I sent my own fire bolt.
She scratched her head, her curls twisting around her finger.
He’s going to expect the counter-strike.

Cerne nodded.
How about this? You deflect him. When he strikes again, I’ll deflect. Then
you strike. My magic isn’t strong enough to take on a dragon rider, otherwise I would.

Don’t worry,
leannan
. You’ll be stronger soon enough. To be honest, I think you’re stronger
than you realize.
Her emerald eyes searched his. She opened her mouth to speak but Tynan flew from the sky and blotted out the sun.

“Look who decided to join this worthless cause.” Tynan sneered down at them. “And you brought your play-toy along as well. Wonderful.”

Tynan yanked the dragon’s reins, the beast spewing forth a stream of smoke and fire from its nose and mouth. Cerne watched as Rhiannon closed her eyes and held up her hands. A bright ball of energy shot forth, colliding with Tynan’s fire and sending it into tiny shards of harmless sparks. Cerne let out the breath he’d been holding.

That was—as your human friends say—awesome.
He hoped he would prove just as effective with his deflection skills.

“Thank you.” She sucked in a deep breath.
Get ready!

A loud grumble thundered from the overly masculine faerie and he pulled hard on the reins.

The dragon bellowed deep from its gut, mouth stretched open wide. A large ball of fire spewed out, heading right toward Rhiannon. Concentrating on the energy within his body, Cerne visualized shooting it out from his fingertips.

Excellent job,
mo cridhe.
She had no time for any further reply. Rhiannon closed her eyes and raised her hands above her head. A large orb of intense white light formed between her palms. She spoke a prayer to the ancient Gods and flung the ball of burning energy at Tynan.

Cerne stared open-mouthed as the bright globe of light arced in the air and surrounded the dragon and its rider. The force of the impact sent him reeling.
Holy Mother Goddess!

Tynan’s shrieks and screams rent the air. He’d never seen such an amount of power from an un-winged faerie ever in his life, and she did it all without the amulet.

Rhiannon looked up at the blazing orb, with a mouth just as wide. She truly didn’t realize how much power she possessed. What would happen when she wore the amulet?

Cerne sighed in relief. “That was incredible.”

The orb fizzled, leaving a heavy cloud of smoke and fog, absorbing Tynan’s shouts and curses. When the smoke cleared, Tynan and the dragon were nowhere in sight.

Rhiannon blinked. “Where’d they go?”

Amazement flooded Cerne’s body. The dragon riders clamored and scurried above them.

With their commander gone, chaos filled the air.

“She’s a witch!” shouted one of the riders. “No wingless faerie has that much power!”

“We must serve our queen!” screamed another.

Cerne shook his head, watching the riders argue amongst themselves. If only all the Dark Faerie armies were this torn. His gaze swept over the battlefield, taking in the sight. Sparks flew as sword met sword. Flashes of light and energy burst from White and Dark Faerie staffs. Death and destruction surrounded them. Screams and shouts echoed across the plains. Bodies flew in the air as faerie blood tainted the earth. From the corner of his eye, Cerne caught a glimpse of a troop of ogres and trolls marching their way.

Rhiannon’s hand rested on the hilt of the sword at her side, her eyes wide in anticipation.

“We must fight—
now.
”

“Are you sure?” He grabbed her shoulders and met her gaze with one just as intense. “The troll and ogre armies do not fight fair.”

Rhiannon nodded. “It’s not something I look forward to, but it’s the only way to save our people.” There was no mistaking the determination in her voice.

He attempted a reassuring smile and unsheathed his sword. “Then fight we shall.”