"It just isn't fair," I huffed. "Reah and I can't go, for the same damn reason."
"Lissa, are you belittling your unborn children?"
"No. Hell no," I turned away, rubbing my forehead. "But the timing sucks. Even you have to admit that."
"I will not deny it," he sighed. "Although a part of me is glad that you won't be placed in danger."
"Gavin, everybody on that field will be in danger. Admit it. We both know the god wars are coming—what if this is the beginning?"
"Lissa, we do not know that. Let us hope that this is what it appears on the surface—an act of revenge only."
"Then I hope that's all it is."
* * *
"They had errands to run," Edward woke me with a kiss and answered my question of where the rest of my crowd was when I asked. "But we're going to check the expansion on the ice-cream plant, I'm taking you to Adrixx to eat and shop and then we'll come back here and nap or swim."
"That sounds amazing," I sighed. "Is there a place to buy kitchen supplies and pans?"
"Do you feel the need to buy some of that?" Edward rubbed his nose against mine.
"Maybe."
"I'll send a message to my office in Adrixx. They'll have an answer for us when we get there."
"That's wonderful."
* * *
"Ship it to this address," Edward gave the address of his office in Adrixx later, after I'd purchased a load of pans, knives and gadgets from a specialty store. The clerk, smiling at both of us, agreed quickly. Edward's employees would send it to the groves.
"Now," he had an arm around me as we climbed into the back of a hover-limo after leaving the shop, "we'll go to the jewelry store."
"But," I said.
"No, we need a ring, love. You're not going to turn me down on this."
"Oh."
"Yes, oh," he smiled down at me. The hover-limo drove us to an exclusive shop, making me glad I'd dressed nicely for the day.
"Master Pendley," a doorman opened the heavy door for us. Edward had a hand at my back as I walked inside. Everything was decorated richly, from the Serendaan hand-woven carpets on the floor to the dark, polished wood paneling behind the displays. I knew the gray-haired man behind the counter recognized me, but as any good, discreet salesman should, he never made a comment.
"Now that we've cut the stones, you have to choose which you like and then select the setting," the man said, smiling. A black velvet tray was brought out, with cut Tiralian crystal lying on it. The stones glittered brightly against the dark fabric. A cut round stone was presented, along with a square stone and an oval.
"What do you like?" I looked up at Edward.
"The round one is my favorite, and we can put it in the center, with small, square cut crystal surrounding it," Edward said. "Show her the setting we looked at last time." The clerk nodded and pulled a comp-vid from his pocket. He had the ring image displayed in no time.
"This ring is done in diamonds," the clerk said, showing me a beautiful ring. "The Tiralian crystal will be even more stunning.""Edward, I like this," I said.
"Is that what you want?" I watched his mouth as he smiled at me. He was such a beautiful man.
"Yes," I nodded, mesmerized by Edward Pendley. I looked into his eyes and there were stars there. I didn't know anything else for quite a while.
* * *
"We're shielded," Kiarra announced to the huge crowd. She looked out at the Saa Thalarr, who'd changed to their fighting forms. The Spawn Hunters were prepared if they didn't have another form. Four Dragons stood together—Red, Gold, Silver and Black. The Lace Feathered Eagle, Refizani Skycatcher, Silver Eagle, Golden Eagle, Wyroc and Driskilhin Night Hawk represented the giant birds. Kiarra stood between the Black Gryphon and the Snow Leopard, prepared to turn to the giant Unicorn. A Gold Wyvern and a giant, Black Wolf were nearby. An array of Panthers, Wildcats, Leopards, Black Lions, a Hellcat plus a Bengal and Black Tiger represented the big cats, and then there were more giant Wolves. Several members of the Saa Thalarr had once been werewolf; they'd kept that shape when asked to join.
Norian had come and he led Farzi, Nenzi and all six of their brothers as lion snake shapeshifters. Lendill came, backed by Kaldill, Faldill and one hundred elvish warriors. Five Larentii had come initially, but that was before Shanalar, the first female Larentii born in a very long time, arrived with six of her twelve daughters. Pheligar didn't say a word about her appearance; he merely communicated battle positions to the new arrivals.
The Copper Ra'Ak had come, led by Prince Maldak, six thousand strong. The Black Ra'Ak, five thousand of them under King Youon, also appeared. And then the High Demons came, led by Jaydevik Rath. Jayd had brought one hundred of his High Demon guards and soldiers. Glinda wanted to come, and she and Jayd had fought about it. Glinda stayed home. Gavin, in charge of Le-Ath Veronis' forces, had brought as many vampires as could stand in daylight—Tony, Roff, Aryn, Rigo and Cheedas. Of those, only Roff was a Winged Vampire. Rylend appeared with his father, Erland, and fifty warlocks at his back. Grey House had sent a handful of wizards.
"You know, this makes me think of the battle in The Lord of the Rings," Gavril slapped his oldest brother on the back.
"Yeah. Except the Rohirrim aren't on their way to save us at the last minute," Ry sighed. "And since we don't know what's waiting for us, we have to make do with what we have."
Be ready; we will drop the shields, Pheligar's mental voice filtered through to the gathered forces. Everyone tensed. The shields came down.
* * *
Cynthin Gerg was terrified. Had she expected her homeworld might become the battlefield for the apocalypse? Realization dawned that she'd had a hand in it. Shuddering, she huddled inside the tiny tent she and Naldill had put up. Some of the creatures outside she recognized—from tales and mythology. They weren't real. Couldn't be real. Except they were.
Naldill informed her that the giant, coppery, snake-like creatures that ate humanoids in a single gulp had destroyed these creatures long ago. Some of those creatures were currently allied with their destroyers and Cynthin had unwittingly joined with them. Had she ever thought herself safe? She would never sleep peacefully again, provided she lived through the day. Hydras and Minotaurs stomped past her tent, making the ground shake. Harpies flew overhead, screeching out filth as they flapped past. Giants with only a single eye centered on their foreheads wielded clubs, growling and fighting amongst themselves. Naldill had pulled Cynthin away from the Satyrs earlier, they'd leered at her and she'd begun to undress in front of them. Naldill's comments hadn't been kind, either, when he jerked her away.
"You think you're going to survive with that crowd out there?" Cynthin hugged herself tightly.
"I will be in charge of them," Naldill preened. "I'll have my power back and we'll do what we please after that." Cynthin poked her head out of the tent briefly before fearfully jerking it back inside.
"There are Chimeras out there," she hissed. "And Manticores, Trolls and Kobolds."
"Nice, isn't it, when the Ra'Ak can transcend the timeline? They gathered these from the Dark Realm in the past. Too bad that fool of a god who created it promised not to interfere. We offered them life again, and these were the ones who agreed. The rest promised to fight us with their last breath, but that won't be long in coming," Naldill laughed.
"If I were you, I'd sleep with one eye open from now on," Cynthin muttered.
"You, Ms. Gerg, may be the last surviving member of your planet after this," Naldill smiled nastily. "None of those out there know how to repair the core after Reldill tapped it. It didn't help him much at all; somehow, the elves can't use that power efficiently. Looks like only the warlocks can do that. We were supposed to be good, you know. My father is probably pitching a fit right now, if he knows what we've done."
Cynthin didn't say anything. Her parents lived, still. They'd likely die soon, at the hands of creatures they thought didn't exist.
"The shields are coming down!" Someone shouted outside.
"Showtime," Naldill laughed.
* * *
"Farzi! Take your brothers through there!" Gavril shouted. There was a path between roaring Ra'Ak, leading past the vanguard to the creatures standing behind them. Some of those might be vulnerable to lion snake poison, and the lion snakes might be difficult to see crawling through the grass. Farzi nodded and Norian, standing with him, joined the others.
Kiarra's Unicorn, leading the charge of the Saa Thalarr with Dragons and giant birds flying overhead, ran at the forefront with large cats, a Gryphon and Werewolves racing on either side. The Falchani Spawn Hunters, Turtle and Lok, were joined by Flyer, blades flying as they waded into the huge army of spawn set against them. The werewolf Spawn Hunters joined that battle, while Rylend's warlocks destroyed the ground beneath the charging feet of Minotaurs, Kobolds, Satyrs and Cyclops.
Wizards from Grey House joined their warlock brothers, throwing trees, boulders and anything else available at the advancing army. Ry, without much time to think, still wondered at the hundreds of thousands of creatures set against them. The Ra'Ak had emptied planets to bring these enemies. The Larentii, stationed around the perimeter of the battlefield, were keeping any from escaping, but that might mean nothing in the end. At the moment, they were keeping the population of Xordthe safe and little else.
Lendill and his elvish forces were setting traps for unsuspecting foes, removing deep pockets of earth and disguising them for creatures to tumble into. Once that happened, earth slammed down on their heads, cutting off the air supply. Kaldill knew that all of them required air to breath, and few besides the Ra'Ak had folding ability. Lendill looked for Reldill among the melee, but there was no sign of him.