The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (32 page)

With a heavy sigh, Shade turned toward the
forest and shifted his body to the Blight form. He wasn’t really
looking forward to searching the entire country of Glis until he
stumbled across a Blight hive, but it didn’t really look as though
he had much choice. “Scour the country to find the creatures.
Somehow make an alliance with them. Convince them to move to a
formerly cursed country, and if you could, do it in less than
thirty days. Gee thanks, Jala, I love you too,” Shade grumbled as
he began to walk toward the distant trees. “Hey Glis, not sure if
anyone told you, but its bloody spring. It’s supposed to be warm,”
he added in a louder voice as the wind rose around him.

“Strange little thing isn’t he?” The woman’s
voice stopped him cold in his tracks and Shade whirled to find
three women sitting at a table and watching him with expressions of
utter amusement.

“What the…,” Shade muttered, his eyes
scanning the table and the obvious camp behind it. Each of the
women wore brightly colored gowns and looked better suited to a
fine gambling hall in Sanctuary than the wilderness of Glis.

“I thought Shade Morcaillo was famous for his
paranoia. Didn’t Jala say he used to wear the glasses that detected
the invisible?” the woman in red mused as her counterparts in green
and blue watched him with playful smiles.

“He used to. One would think now that he is
an outlaw, he would be even more paranoid,” The sound of Nigel’s
voice spun Shade around once more and he found himself nose to nose
with the dragon he had been seeking. Nigel smiled faintly and bowed
his head to Shade in greeting. As always, Nigel was dressed
impeccably in a finely tailored suit. Sunlight reflected off the
dark glasses he wore, as well as the rings on his fingers. The
expression on his face was a mirror for his female companions and
filled with amusement. “Might want to start wearing those glasses
again, Shade,” Nigel suggested as he sauntered past Shade toward
the table and the waiting women.

“Jala said you would drop by,” the woman in
blue drawled. She swirled her wine in her glass a moment then took
a dainty sip as she waved a long delicate hand toward an empty seat
at their table.

“Have you had a chance to meet the Three
Sisters Shade?” Nigel asked conversationally as he motioned toward
the three women.

“Can’t say that I have,” Shade replied
neutrally. It was irritating to know they were seated a few feet
from where he had landed and had decided to simply let him wander
off before they actually let him know they were there. It was
enough of a relief, however, to know he could get information, that
he didn’t really want to complain about it.

“We don’t speak true names of course and most
simply refer to them as the Three Sisters, but for novelty sake I
will introduce them. Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire,” Nigel said with
a smirk as he waved to each of the women in turn.

“How fitting,” Shade muttered, his gaze
moving from each jewel-toned woman to the next. “I’ve actually
heard of the Three Sisters before, though honestly I thought it was
only two sisters now. From the stories, I thought one of you died
in Avanti.”

“Injured, not killed,” Ruby sniffed
indignantly and gave him a withering look.

“I thought you were guarding the border alone
and I…” Shade’s voice trailed off as he gazed around the table
piled with fine foods and the decanter of wine. “Really didn’t
expect all this,” he finished, his eyes moving to the massive
pavilion tent that was standing several feet away. If this was
Nigel’s idea of roughing it, the dragon truly was city-born. The
camp reminded him more of a festival gathering than a scout’s
outpost.

“I never travel without the Sisters. Life is
so boring without them,” Nigel replied easily, seeming more amused
than offended. “I suppose I could, of course, guard the border in
scales and sleep on the ground, but why would I want to?”

“Mmm. Because you are a dragon?” Shade
suggested with a shrug. Honestly, he didn’t know much about the
people of Nerathane, but if he had a natural form as powerful as a
dragon he doubted he would ever shift out of it.

“Which essentially means I am too large to
enjoy the finer things in life and too frightening to ever have a
rational conversation with anyone that doesn’t have scales. I’ll
pass.” Nigel waved a hand dismissively and glanced toward the
forest. “You are likely more interested in information on the
Blights, however. Emerald has one chained behind the tent if you
would like to speak with it. I think it’s still alive,” he paused
and glanced at the woman in green. “Is it still gagged?” he asked
calmly.

“It was keeping me up at night, so yes,”
Emerald replied with a shrug.

“Hmm. It might not be alive, then. It should
still have food back there, but if it’s still gagged it can’t very
well eat,” Nigel mused.

Shade stared at them each in turn as he tried
to determine if they were serious or not. From the expressions on
their faces it seemed as though they were. “You do realize Jala is
trying to make peace with the Blights, right?” he asked
cautiously.

“So she says,” Nigel agreed as he poured
himself a glass of wine and offered the bottle to Shade.

Shaking his head Shade frowned at them. “Why
in the bloody hell would you chain one up and starve it to death if
you know she wants to make peace with them, then?” he demanded in
the nicest tone he could manage. It was already a nearly impossible
mission to make peace and if their so-called protectors were
treating them this way there was very little chance Shade would
ever gain enough trust to find their leader.

“It attacked me,” Emerald replied, as if that
explained everything.

Sapphire giggled and nodded. “The stupid
little thing sprang on her with claws and couldn’t seem to
understand why its claws broke on her skin. Its expression was
simply wonderful, such bewilderment.” She rolled her eyes and
smiled widely. “As if such a pathetic little creature could
actually wound a dragon with claws alone,” she added much to the
amusement of the other two women.

“It is not one of the rational ones, Shade,”
Nigel assured him and leaned back in his seat, his glass of wine
held loosely in one hand. “It has scars all over it and growled
rather than speaking. I’m not entirely sure it is right in the
head.”

“Have you met Emily?” Shade asked with a hint
of irritation breaking through his voice. “She growls more than
speaks too, if you recall,” he added as he rose from his chair and
moved toward the area where they said the Blight was chained.

“Emily is different,” Nigel replied easily
and rose from his chair as well. “This thing was matted with filth
and gibbering.” “Emily would be too if Jala didn’t insist on bath
day,” Shade grumbled back.

“If you say so, but I think you will
understand once you see it,” Nigel drawled as they rounded the
corner of the tent and Shade froze in his tracks.

The Blight was smaller than any other he had
seen and its skin was far darker. The creatures typically resembled
the Elder Blood in appearance and beauty, but this thing was
hideous. Its skull seemed to be misshapen and its body was
distorted with limbs that were far too long for its height. Shade
watched it for a long moment, his eyes moving across its prone
form, counting the endless scars that covered its legs and
back.

Its chest still rose and fell, proving it was
alive, but from the looks of it, he wondered if he should bother
helping it at all. It might be kinder to let it die.

“You understand now?” Nigel asked quietly.
The dragon paused beside him and remained silent until Shade looked
away from the Blight.

“I thought the Blights always chose the top
of the food chain to mate with. This thing looks half goblin,”
Shade muttered. Pity and disgust warred in his chest as he tried to
decide the best way to handle the situation.

“They do, but the few humans they didn’t kill
and eat have evacuated to Arovan. Now they have a choice between
goblins and animals for their carnal pleasure.” Nigel paused and
gave Shade a meaningful look. “From what we have seen, the animals
die from such entertainments,” he added in a lower voice.

“What?” Shade demanded in complete
disgust.

“And Jala wants to make peace with them,”
Nigel said with a slow shake of his head. “This nasty little shit
wasn’t trying to kill Emerald. It wanted entertainment from her.
Simply the thought of its disgusting little paws on her makes me
want to level Glis entirely to make sure I eliminate each and every
one of these things, but Jala has me protecting them instead,”
Nigel growled.

“Jala says the darkest of them are gone. She
says she killed the evil ones. Maybe this one is just a byproduct
from before she cleansed them,” Shade offered as he watched Nigel.
The dragon had seemed composed and peaceful right up until his last
few words. Honest fury had shown then, and Shade wondered if Jala
had any idea how much Nigel resented his current assignment. He
doubted she did. Jala was not the sort to force someone to do
something they didn’t believe in.

“This thing isn’t evil, Shade. It’s primitive
and animal-like in nature. It has urges and it acts on them. It
doesn’t have a moral compass to guide its actions. That doesn’t
make its actions any less disturbing, however, and the Divine only
know how many of these things are wandering in Glis. Jala killed
the ones that were truly evil. She didn’t kill the animalistic
ones, however, and they are buggering the bears and each other as
we speak,” Nigel said in a disgusted voice. “The Sisters insisted
we keep this thing alive until you arrived. They say we are making
peace so we can’t simply kill it and it’s best for you to determine
what to do with it. Given the choice, I would destroy it. Blights
are one thing, but this is a complete abomination,” he added as he
turned to look Shade in the eyes.

“I’m supposed to decide if it lives or dies?”
Shade asked quietly and his hand seemed to drop reflexively to the
stone in his pocket that held the goblin he had captured so long
ago. He hadn’t released the creature yet for this very reason. No
one on Sanctuary believed the goblins could be anything other than
beasts. Yet the one he had saved back from his bombing of Eldagar
had shown intelligence and what he thought was an attempt to
communicate. Now he was faced with a similar problem and the man
asking him to decide its fate, obviously wanted the creature dead
very badly.

“I honestly didn’t think it would be a
difficult choice once you saw it,” Nigel said softly. A look of
irritation was beginning to show on his face. “It attempted to rape
one of my friends. Had Emerald not been a dragon it might have
managed it,” Nigel reminded him coldly.

“I’m sorry, Nigel. I’m not good at death
verdicts. It attacked your friend and you are right. If she weren’t
a dragon things would have gone much worse. The natural course is
to eliminate it, but I am not used to being the one to say that.
The hesitation comes from the role you have given me, not from
sympathy for the creature,” Shade explained quietly. He hated to
admit it, but it was the truth. The creature had attacked one of
the women. Had she not been a dragon, she would likely be dead. If
he released it and it killed someone, their blood would be on his
hands. He felt pity for the Blight. That was true. But the pity he
felt would be nothing compared to the guilt he would feel if it
killed or raped anyone after he released it.

“Understandable. Neph said you were
annoyingly moral. You gave the correct verdict, however,” Nigel
replied stiffly. He was moving before Shade could respond with a
fine silver sword in his gloved hand. Shade hadn’t noticed the
dragon summon the weapon, and Nigel hadn’t been wearing a
sword.

Shade started to object, but bit his tongue
and lowered his hand as Nigel brought the blade down swiftly across
the back of the sleeping creature’s neck. The blow was well struck
severing the head cleanly with a soft wet sound that turned Shade’s
stomach. “How many more of these creatures do you think there are
here?” he asked quietly as he looked away from the body.

“Too many,” Nigel answered quietly as he
rejoined Shade still wiping the blood from his sword blade. “The
land is devastated; barely any animals are left alive here. We
think the Blights may have turned on each other for food source,
but we aren’t sure. This one is the only one we have made contact
with.” Nigel paused as his sword disappeared once more from his
hand to return to where ever he had summoned it from. With a flick
of his hand he pointed back at the body and muttered a spell. Magic
hummed in the air and a flash of bright white light surrounded the
corpse for a breath leaving nothing but ashes behind when it faded.
“Jala wants peace with these things, Shade, but I honestly don’t
think it can be done. They have utterly destroyed Glis and they
will be moving for Arovan soon. I can hold the people of Arovan and
Glis off from crossing the borders, but I can’t keep the Blights
from crossing into Arovan. Every day you spend trying to achieve
this task, you are risking the lives of our allies. You do
understand that, don’t you?”

“I understand that fully,” Shade agreed and
his gaze moved to the trees once more. “Unless you can tell me
where to find them, though, I’m going to be wasting days just
trying to find the main hive.”

“Ruby has flown over Glis several times. She
says the worst damage to the land is in the Northwestern forests.
There are no animals living there at all. I would guess the largest
hive was in that area and they have most likely moved south from
there. I have no evidence to support my theory beyond a predators
mind, but if I were you I would look near the lakes south of that
area. It would give them a fresh water supply and the few remaining
animals would still rely on the lakes as a water source so they
would have game as well.” Nigel shrugged as he fell silent and his
expression clearly showed what a waste of time he thought the whole
thing was.