The Crow King's Wife (58 page)

“Where to?” Grim demanded as he broke through
the last of the escaping prisoners to the less chaotic side streets
that led to the Market district.

Thinking quickly Shade scanned the chaos
behind them then pointed toward the Academy. It would require them
to cross a good portion of the inner city, but as far as Shade
could tell it was their best option. “There. The school isn’t in
session due to the war and the courtyards behind the main building
will be big enough for my Spell hawk.” Shade said quickly and Grim
was moving again before he had even finished speaking.

Charm’s weight was leaden in his arms and
Shade had to fight to keep the pace Grim was setting. The Priest
moved as though he had no burdens despite the fact that he held
Ingrid braced with one arm while Ryvenken was bare and ready in his
other hand. Shade could see him scanning every street as he moved,
but he didn’t hesitate as he made a bee line toward the towering
stone walls of the Academy.

“Shade.” Lex called from behind and Shade
turned back expecting to see Lex faltering, but instead he found
the man pointing toward the palace with a shocked look on his face.
Frowning Shade followed the Fionaveir’s gaze and nearly tripped
over his own feet as he caught sight of the High Lords assembled on
the palace stairs. Panic rose in his chest as he recognized Jala
and Neph amongst them. They were the last two people he wanted to
bump into and they were less than a block away.

“What?” Grim demanded and Shade glanced back
to see the Priest staring at him with more concern than he would
have thought possible. Wordlessly Shade pointed and watched as Grim
spotted the High Lords but his gaze didn’t stop there. If anything
Grim only glanced at the High Lords before his attention moved past
them and his face paled. “Move, Get to the school now.” It wasn’t
fear that fueled Grim’s voice as he spoke, but it was close and
Shade felt the hairs on his arms rise in response.

Glancing back he stared past the High Lords
and noticed the dark forms in the sky that had caught Grim’s
attention. “Dragons?” he gasped in confusion.

“Dragons and Spell Hawks and a hell of a lot
more of them than I want to face today.” Grim agreed as he moved
swiftly back to Shade’s side and shoved him roughly toward the
school. “Let’s go. This is not our business. That fight belongs to
the High Lords.” He added sternly.

“Shouldn’t it also belong to her?” Lex
observed coldly and Shade frowned as he stared at the two
retreating figures emerging from the back of the palace that Lex
was pointing toward. It only took Shade a breath to recognize who
he was seeing and his pulse quickened in response. Symphony was in
the lead followed by several guards, but it was the last figure
that caught his attention and held it, Faramir.

“Guard him with your life and do not harm
him. Follow Grim and I will meet you at the Academy.” Shade ordered
hoarsely as he pushed Charm into Lex’s unwilling arms. “Do not
leave him behind!” Shade added furiously as he wheeled toward the
fleeing Empress. He could feel his pulse pounding loudly in his
ears and his pace quickened as the rage he had felt at the sight of
Charm’s broken body returned with a vengeance.

“Shade! No! We need to leave the city now,
Shade!” Grim called loudly after him, but Shade ignored his
friend’s logic. There was too much anger in his mind for logic to
find space in his thoughts. “Bloody hell. Here hold her, don’t drop
either of them. Just stand there and wait for us!” Grim snarled
behind him and Shade could hear the grunt of effort from Lex as he
was saddled with Ingrid as well.

Not bothering to slow or to glance back Shade
continued toward his quarry with a determination he had never felt
before. He couldn’t pull his eyes from Faramir despite the tread of
heavy boots closing behind him. At any moment he knew Grim would
catch him and pull him back and try to force him to flee, but that
was an argument that Grim couldn’t win. Shade would not for love
nor friendship turn away from this. Faramir would be punished no
matter what the cost.

“Has to be right now eh?” Grim asked calmly
as he fell into step beside him. “Right at this exact bloody
moment, with dragons closing from the north and Spell Hawks coming
in hard from the west.” He added with wry amusement rather than the
anger Shade had expected.

Glancing to the west Shade raised an eyebrow
at the tiny dots of black against the blue sky then turned his
attention back to Faramir without slowing his steps. “Hadn’t
noticed the other Spell Hawks to the west actually.” He admitted.
He was so close behind them now he could smell Symphony’s perfume
wafting back on the breeze.

Bitter memories rose in his mind of Faramir’s
guidance over Symphony and Shade felt the rage inside him bubbling
over, demanding release. He should have stopped her then, before he
fled Sanctuary. He should have called Faramir out before she had a
chance to destroy Charm and corrupt Symphony. He had fled instead,
and now two of his friends had suffered because of it.

“Mm and it shall be devastating.” Grim
crooned softly. “I can practically taste your anger it is so thick
about you.” He mused with what sounded like satisfaction in his
voice.

Ignoring him Shade quickened his steps and
was nearly upon the two women and their guards before any of them
noticed him approaching. A young Fionaveir Shade didn’t recognize
stepped in front of Symphony with his hand going to the hilt of his
sword, but Shade didn’t even acknowledge the action. His eyes were
for Faramir alone. As easy as another might breathe Shade honed his
reflexes and increased his speed pushing his agility far past
normal means.

“Bitch!” The single word tore from Shade with
the force of years of repressed emotion fueling it. Symphony
staggered back to cringe behind her guards wide eyed and obviously
too stunned for speech, but Shade didn’t even spare her a second
glance. Lunging forward he brought his arm around for a bone
shattering punch to Faramir’s jaw and summoned a spell that would
detonate the moment his blow hit her. The Fionaveir woman reeled
back and a squeal of alarm broke from her lips then turned to
laughter as she caught Shade’s fist before it could connect and
squeezed savagely.

Shade’s knees buckled as the bones of his
fingers shattered under Faramir’s grip and gasped in silent agony
when his own spell rebounded on him sending waves of jarring pain
through his entire body. Stunned he strained to remain conscious as
he tried to focus on what was happening. He could still hear
Faramir’s laughter but the rest of the area around them was as
silent as death. It took Shade a long moment to realize that Grim
wasn’t coming to his rescue. Grim couldn’t come to his rescue Shade
realized as the world around him came into full focus. The Priest
was frozen in mid step as was every other figure around him aside
from Faramir herself. Even the leaves of the trees above them were
unmoving without so much as a breeze stirring them.

The pressure on his hand increased and
Shade’s eyes snapped back to Faramir as her form slowly dissolved
into one that he knew all too well and Shade’s throat went as dry
as sand as he stared upward into the blue eyes of his father. His
anger faded as swiftly as it had come and for a breath he was a
child again looking upward into eyes filled with disgust. He bit
his tongue just as he was about to babble apologies and forced
himself to remain silent.

“Now that I have your attention.” Myth said
calmly as he tightened his grip once more sending waves of agony
through Shade’s arm as the bones of his hand crumbled to shards. It
took every ounce of will he had to keep from screaming but he
couldn’t contain the ragged groan that tore from his lips as Myth
whispered a spell sending pulses of lightning through his mangled
fingers. His entire arm went numb and Shade collapsed at Myth’s
feet gasping from the waves of magic wracking his body.

Sighing heavily Myth stepped back and
regarded his son with distaste. “Really? That was it? Had I known
you were going to provide such little entertainment I wouldn’t have
bothered stopping time for this.” He said with disappointment clear
in his voice. Giving Shade a bored glance he rolled his eyes before
stepping nimbly around him to head straight toward Grim’s stasis
held form.

“Stay away from him!” Shade tried to yell the
words, but the electricity coursing through his muscles made
speaking nearly impossible and the words were barely coherent
through his clenched teeth.

“Him?” Myth enquired innocently as he stepped
closer to Grim and stared up at the Priest’s face. “Pretty, I can
see why you chose him.” Myth observed calmly then paced a small
circle around Grim as if inspecting a horse at a fair. “Too pretty
actually, he is far beyond what a Shifter should be.” Myth added
thoughtfully and glanced back at Shade with a raised eyebrow.

“Do not touch him.” Shade growled as he
struggled to his feet. The shock of seeing Myth was wearing off and
his anger was returning brighter than ever. Teeth still clenched he
forced his broken fingers wide to keep his regeneration from
healing his hand into a disfigured claw and nearly fainted from the
renewed agony. All but the little finger of his hand straightened
and he didn’t spare a thought for the twisted little finger. The
bones of the joint had been crushed and he didn’t have time to
spare for it now. He would have to break it again later to
straighten it. There was no help for it at the present.

“You never were much for pain. I can still
remember you squalling like a dying cat when you scraped a knee as
a child. That was around the point when I realized you would likely
grow up to be the disappointment you are today.” Myth said with
disgust as he purposefully leaned toward Grim and prodded him in
the chest. “Have you even bothered to ask this one who he truly
serves, Christian?” Myth asked calmly as he examined Grim more
closely. “He is obviously more than a Shifter, and you should feel
the way he is fighting against my magic as I speak. It’s impressive
really. I’d say given time he would break free of my spell which is
more credit than I would ever give you.”

With a deep breath Shade gathered all of his
power and focused himself directly on his father. “Step away from
him.” He warned and to his amazement his voice was steady and held
a note of command that he had never realized he possessed.

Cocking his head Myth turned to regard him
with a hint of interest. “Protective aren’t you. How quaint. You do
realize if you try to keep him I will have to kill him. You don’t
have much longer to live, but you could learn too much from this
one even in the short time you have remaining. I can’t have that.
You might actually become a threat…but I doubt it.” Myth’s voice
was thoughtful as glanced once more at Grim then turned his full
attention back to Shade. “Impressive amount of power you’ve
gathered. Before you are foolish enough to use it though let me
present the very obvious point you seem to be missing. I’ve already
won, Christian. Even if you kill me now I have succeeded in my
plans.” Myth continued then motioned toward the sky to the north of
the city. “Your friends will not be prepared by the time their
enemies arrive. Lady Merrodin is wasting her resources and
strengths trying to get the commons to safety.” Myth informed him
and laughed at his own words. Rolling his eyes once more he shook
his head and smiled brightly at Shade. “The Empress is considered
an incompetent fool. Over half of the nations are crippled. Most of
the High Lords will die here today, and the rest of the destruction
is eminent. I have kept most of my forces in reserves for that very
reason. What Rivasa fails to destroy today I will eliminate
tomorrow. You lose, I win, your precious world will crumble, the
Barrier will fall, and I will be free of this damn prison at
last.”

“You have such a habit of underestimating
others.” Shade snarled and allowed some of his gathered power to
flow from his body. A nimbus of light gathered around him, and he
hoped it would be enough of a distraction to keep Myth’s attention
focused on him. He didn’t want his father to notice the slow
trickle of shadows that was gathering around Grim’s fingers. Shade
wasn’t sure exactly what the display of power meant, but he knew
Myth hadn’t realized that Grim wasn’t held in stasis anymore.

“That actually works better when you form it
into a spell before you release it.” Myth informed him dryly. His
form slowly shifted back to the image of Faramir as he walked
casually toward Shade and he smiled honey sweet stopping just
inches from his son. “This is how it is Shade. You have three
options. You can waste your energy fighting me and I can have the
amusement of killing you. You can use the power you have gathered
to flee this city before it’s destroyed and I can have the
entertainment of hunting you down later. Or last but not least, you
can go join your friends in their pathetic last stand and I can
enjoy watching you all die horribly in your vain attempts to be
heroes. Whatever option you choose, you lose.”

“I like option four.” Shade returned with a
smile as Grim’s sword sank deeply into Myth’s back. Lunging forward
Shade slammed his fist into Myth’s face and felt the satisfying
crunch of bones beneath his hand as Myth’s spell dissolved and time
snapped back into motion. Symphony’s scream shattered the air
behind him as Shade delivered another savage blow to Myth’s jaw and
was rewarded with a spray of bright blood. Faramir’s slighter form
was not suited to brawling and both blows he had landed had done
grievous damage.

“You should have stayed in your own form. It
would have held up better.” Shade hissed as he drew back for
another blow. Myth ducked away under the blow tearing himself free
of Grim’s sword as the air around them crackled with magic and
bright white light exploded from where Myth was standing.
Staggering back blindly Shade did his best to avoid the several
drawn swords held by the advancing Fionaveir guards. The smell of
ozone filled the air as he slowly blinked his eyes back into focus
and with renewed fury he realized Myth was gone. The entire fight
had taken only a breath, and Shade knew his father had been injured
badly, yet somehow Myth had managed to focus enough to cast a spell
to escape.