Possessed by a Dark Warrior (17 page)

Right now, he was debating teleporting his sword to his hand and beating some sense into Leif, Dacian and even Fynn.

“Funny… but I believe I gave an order,” he barked in the elf tongue and both Leif and Dacian froze with their weapons held mid-swing.

They slowly turned to face him and he stopped a short distance from them, set his jaw and folded his arms across his chest, pressing the tips of his naked fingers into his biceps to stop himself from calling his blade.

“I could arrange for another team, perhaps one more willing to follow the orders I issue?” He shifted his gaze from Dacian, who rocked back on his heels into a relaxed position and lowered his black broadsword to his side, to Leif.

The slender male calmly sent his blade away and ran a hand over his short hair. He could act nonchalant all he wanted, but Bleu could see straight through it to the nerves he was trying to hide. If he sent them back to the castle, it would be in disgrace and with black marks against their names.

Leif’s family would probably request punishment for him as recompense for him tarnishing their noble name with such insubordination.

Bleu wouldn’t be surprised if Dacian’s family went one further and asked for his execution.

While the two were matched in battle, they couldn’t be further apart in standing. Dacian came from a long line of warriors. Leif came from a long line of pompous self-entitled nobles.

Bleu knew which side of elf society he preferred.

He looked back at Fynn where he still stood near the door, stroking his blades.

If he had to choose, Bleu would stand with Fynn. His family were farmers.

They might have that in common, but it wouldn’t stop Bleu from setting him to rights when he confessed whatever misdeed it was that he was trying to hide. He wasn’t nervous because Bleu had caught Leif and Dacian sparring.

Something else had happened.

He looked back at Dacian and Leif, and scrutinised them both, noticing now that there were no towels or refreshment waiting at the side lines, and no ring on the ground to mark the boundary of their battle. All things soldiers normally did when sparring.

Both males were wearing their armour too.

Because they hadn’t been sparring.

They had been fighting.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. And he had thought it couldn’t get worse. He was beginning to remember why he preferred to work alone.

Leif blurted, “Dacian and Fynn went to the dragon realm.”

“Fucking wonderful,” Bleu snarled and decided not to pray to the gods, because they certainly weren’t listening and he wasn’t even sure their counsel would be enough to stop him from spilling blood today.

He snapped his fingers.

The air shifted around him and Fynn was suddenly between Dacian and Leif. All three of them pressed their right hands to their armoured chests, directed their eyes straight forwards, and stood tall with their feet together.

It seemed he still had some authority.

“I would love an explanation.” He looked around, spotted a stone bench near the side wall of the central building, and reached his hand out to it and focused on it. Using telekinesis on large heavy objects was taxing at the best of times, when an elf had a clear mind, so he wasn’t surprised when it accidentally smacked Dacian in his right arm, knocking the male forward and tearing a pained grunt from his lips.

In Dacian’s defence, he did regain his salute and perfect pose before the bench had even reached Bleu.

A warrior born and bred.

Bleu set the bench down in front of him, stepped over it and seated himself.

He eyed all three males. “I am waiting.”

“When you failed to return as agreed, we thought it pertinent to assess the situation in the dragon realm as a team, venturing to a few of the villages that border the Third Realm to reconnoitre them from a safe distance.” Dacian’s deep voice was smooth and even, and Bleu raised an eyebrow.

He was nervous, fearful that Bleu would send him back to the castle.

It was always a dead giveaway when he scrounged together the fanciest words he knew in an attempt to sound more authoritative.

In a normal situation, Dacian would have said something more like ‘You didn’t come back and we were bored, so we went ahead and scouted the villages while we waited for your scrawny arse to return. You have a problem with that?’

Bleu appreciated that he had failed to return as agreed, but he didn’t appreciate that his team had been so quick to disobey his orders.

The sparkle in Fynn’s violet eyes was beginning to make him look as if he might explode if he didn’t speak soon so Bleu turned his focus to the male.

Fynn rushed out, “One of the dragon clans were in an uproar when we tried to go there.”

Nothing unusual about that since dragons often fought amongst themselves. The glimmer that remained in Fynn’s eyes said that this particular uproar had been something other than the standard in-clan squabbling though, and that Fynn wanted him to ask before he would tell him whatever news had excited him.

“Go on.” Bleu waved his left hand in the air, too tired to join in as required by the younger elf.

Fynn’s expression lost some of its enthusiasm but enough remained that Bleu had to wonder where he got his energy. He couldn’t remember ever being that filled with energy as a young male.

Maybe he had been before the war with Vail had erupted and changed him.

Fynn had never had to watch close to a thousand fellow soldiers being slain by their own commander.

Bleu schooled his features as he slowly snuffed out of existence every feeling that welled up on thinking about that day, not allowing any of his men to see the pain it still caused him. He was their commander now. The commander of the entire elf army. He owed it to them and every other soldier to stand strong and lead them to the best of his abilities.

Even when they were a challenge and disobeyed him, testing his patience.

“Of all things… there was an angel present,” Fynn said with a wide smile. “An angel!”

That made Bleu’s blood run cold.

An angel in Hell?

Sable had been hiding out in the Third Realm ever since an Echelon angel had made his presence known to her, demanding she come with him to Heaven. She had been convinced that she would be safe in Hell, and she should have been. Angels never entered this realm. It pained them to do so, weakened them and left them vulnerable.

But one was causing havoc in the dragon realm.

He didn’t like it one bit and he wanted to investigate it, but he didn’t have time. He would get word to Sable somehow, and maybe he could look into what the angel was doing.

“Since you and Dacian enjoy visiting the dragon realm so much, you will head back there.” Bleu rose to his feet and all three males stiffened, their right hands pressing harder against their chests. At least they were beginning to behave in a more acceptable manner again. “I want you to scout the village we met the dragon in when she kindly left her mark on me. I have the feeling that it hadn’t been chance that she had been there. It might be her clan… and that means you need to be on guard. Do not stray from each other. Understood?”

Fynn’s left fingers twitched as if he wanted to stroke his blades and Bleu shot him a look that commanded him to speak.

“But the village… we thought the same thing. We went to scout it and that’s where the angel was.”

Interesting. He was even more curious about the angel now, and this was his golden opportunity to uncover what the creature was doing in Hell.

“All the better. You will question the clan members about both the female dragon and the angel. I have the feeling you’ll be able to get some information out of the clan this time.” He turned away from the trio and paced a short distance across the courtyard before turning back, using the automatic motion to clear his head. “They will believe she had something to do with bringing the angel to them and I’m sure if you press hard enough, they will talk. It isn’t every day you see a violet and white dragon after all. Someone there must know her and they’ll speak if you link the angel to her. If that fails, they will no doubt speak for the right price.”

Leif arched an eyebrow at that and Bleu ignored him. Nobles were tetchy about the wealth of the kingdom. A few jewels out of the realm’s coffers for those dragons who offered solid information was hardly going to bankrupt the kingdom, and if that information led to the capture of the dragon and the return of the sword, it would be worth the cost a thousand times over. That sword meant everything to Loren, and Vail, and in the wrong hands it was a death knell waiting to ring across all the lands of Hell.

“What are my orders?” Leif said, his tone holding a cold edge, one that Bleu was used to because he was sure he sounded the same when he was mulling over a mission, itching to get going.

“You will come with me.” Bleu stopped in front of him and looked straight into his purple eyes. “I have a lead we will check out.”

A very big lead.

A very big blue lead that would probably eat him if he went alone.

He held his hand out to Leif and looked in the direction of the dragon realm as he pictured the location Iolanthe had teleported him to just hours ago. He had considered going in alone, or with her at his side as his backup, but flying solo probably would have gotten him killed and he wouldn’t risk Iolanthe, sure that the dragon would be upset when he showed up and started questioning him after Loren had promised to leave him alone.

Plus, he had already been late returning to his men and he really hadn’t wanted to have to endure a marathon session of Leif giving him the gimlet glare whenever they were together. The male held grudges, especially where missions were concerned and when he felt he was being excluded. Leif’s temperament had snagged him a spot on interrogation duty with him, and not only to spare Bleu his wrath.

The male had influence among the others. They looked up to him. He was also the biggest threat to the female, the one most likely to demand they obey the kill order that Loren had issued.

If Loke gave Bleu any information about the female dragon, any shred of something positive that might give him cause to order a stay of execution for her, then he wanted Leif to hear it first hand, straight from the dragon’s mouth.

Leif placed his hand on Bleu’s, his fingers closing around Bleu’s wrist. Bleu gripped the male’s arm and willed his portal to open. The green-purple light chased over both of them, darkness swallowing them whole, and then they were standing on the side of a black mountain, a valley stretching before them. Wind whipped up the side of the mountain, battering him and Leif.

The male released his arm and a blade appeared in it.

Bleu caught his wrist. “We are not here to fight. You will not need a weapon.”

Leif didn’t look convinced but he sent the sword away and nodded.

Bleu pointed to a ledge and the dark mouth of a cave, waited for Leif to nod again to show he had seen it, and then teleported solo to it. He walked forwards into the large cave, gaze scanning the meagre contents. A fire blazed in the centre, illuminating the black rough walls and a small stack of books and boxes beside the left wall. On the opposite side of the fire, a blanket covered the ground. Dragons had such basic tendencies.

He curled his lip at the thought of sleeping on the hard ground.

A feral roar blasted through the cave, piercing his ears and making them ring. He flinched back and quickly scanned the area ahead of him again. Not quick enough.

The bare-chested blue-haired male barrelled into him, taking him down onto the hard ground he had just been dissing, and so much for not being here to fight or needing a weapon.

Bleu grunted as his back hit the rock, the impact with it and the weight of the male landing on top of him pushing the air from his lungs.

He sensed Leif landing on the ledge before the dragon male whipped his head up and growled, bright blue eyes swirling like fire as he pinned them on his companion. Bleu used his momentary distraction against him, pressing his feet and shoulders into the ground and using all of his strength to lurch upwards in an attempt to dislodge the male.

An attempt that failed dismally.

And angered the dragon.

Strong hands closed around Bleu’s throat and the male growled down at him, lips peeling back off teeth that were all as sharp as Bleu’s own fangs.

The dragon bore down on him and Bleu wheezed as he fought for air.

“Unhand him, you wretched beast,” Leif snarled and gods, could he sound any more lofty and noble?

Bleu refused to die with those ridiculous words ringing in his fuzzy mind.

He bucked up again and the dragon responded by pressing harder against his throat, squeezing it so tightly that Bleu lost the ability to breathe at all.

The male leaned closer and growled right in his face, a hank of his bright blue hair falling down across his brow. “Keep away from Taryn.”

Taryn?

His heart gave a painful hard beat that had nothing to do with the fact he was about to suffocate.

Was that her name?

Gods, he could go to his death with that ringing in his mind.

Gladly.

“Loke!” A sharp female voice shattered the tense silence. “Get your bloody hands off him right this second.”

A slender hand clutched the male’s bare left shoulder and hauled him back. The dragon glared at it.

“It is him,” Loke husked and then pinned Bleu with a black look that promised more pain than he was already experiencing, which was saying something since his vision was going dark now.

Him?

Bleu would have frowned at that but his body felt strangely unresponsive.

The dragon had told him to stay away from Taryn and now he was insinuating that he knew him somehow, but Bleu had never met him before.

The female appeared in his dim vision and began pulling at Loke’s wrists, her blonde ponytail bouncing against her burgundy t-shirt with each attempt that only jerked Bleu’s head off the black ground before making it smack painfully hard against it again, derailing his train of thought.

“Both of you, let him go or I will cut you down.” Leif loomed over him, eyes bright violet and pointed ears flared back against the sides of his head as he aimed the tip of his sword at the dragon and then the female.