Veil of Stars Read online

  “Then we’re not playing by the rules?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “The dragons won’t, so neither will we. There’s too much at stake to play fair, and we’re using whatever we can to prevent him from winning. When you’re facing an enemy who can destroy everything you hold dear, you fight, you fight hard, you fight dirty, and you hope to hell you’re stronger than your enemy.”

  I nodded. Both sides of my heritage understood, on a gut level, that when life or death depended on your choices, all rules went out the window. With so many lives relying on us, we didn’t have any leeway. A ripple of energy raced through me, into my hand where I was holding Serafina—my pistol grip crossbow. I let the feeling swell up and steeled myself, pushing away all thoughts of abiding by parley.

  When I opened my eyes, I looked through the eyes of a huntress, of a warrior.

  Herne was watching me. “I can feel the shift,” he said, his voice low.

  I met his gaze. “I had to coax that side of me out. She’s resilient and cunning and won’t hesitate to do whatever is necessary.” My mother’s blood was Leannan Sidhe, and that side rose when I needed to charm someone, to find out information that they wouldn’t otherwise tell me. But my father’s blood—the Autumn’s Bane people—that side of me went hunting for victory.

  “Are we ready?” Herne asked.

  We went round the table. Everyone was there—Talia, Yutani, Viktor, Raven, Kipa, Angel, Herne, and me, and in turn, we all chimed in.

  “Then let me say this. I have hope for today, but it’s not going to be easy. You’re going to want to run when you see them rise. There will be other dragons there. I can only ask you to hold your ground until you see it’s hopeless. If you’re fighting and in danger, get out of the way if you can’t hold your ground—”

  My work phone jangled, cutting him off. I frowned, glancing at it. Oh lovely. Saílle, the Dark Fae queen. “I’d better take this,” I said, answering. “Your Majesty, what can I do for you?”

  The Fae queens didn’t like me because I was tralaeth—half blood. I was half-Light and half-Dark Fae and neither side wanted to claim that I even existed, but we were long past their ability to do that.

  “Ember, tell Herne the Fae militia are marching to join you, even now.” Saílle paused, then added, “May we all have victory today.”

  Startled, I blurted out, “I thought you and Névé were headed back to Annwn.”

  “We will, if the tide turns. But until then, this is our home and we will fight for it.” And with that, she hung up.

  Still surprised, but feeling some relief, I turned to Herne. “The Fae militia will be here—Saílle and Névé are staying for the battle.”

  Herne straightened his shoulders, his eyes wide. “Well, I never in a million years expected to hear that. I can’t say I’m not relieved. We asked the government to hold back because we have no idea what their weapons can do against the dragons and now isn’t the time to find out. But the Fae militia can at least try to help mitigate some of the collateral damage.”

  “Just when you think you know what they’re up to, those two surprise you, don’t they?” Talia said. That broke the tension and we all relaxed for a moment. “Well, we should get moving. It’s three-thirty. We’ll arrive there in time for the fight.”

  And so, we gathered our weapons and packs, and headed out the door. We were taking two cars and a van that Herne had outfitted with thousands of dollars of various electronics to help us keep track of the situation.

  I rode shotgun in Herne’s Expedition, staring out at the darkness of the city streets. The sky was overcast and the clouds reflected the light of the snow, everything meshing together to form a fusion of gray and silver. The wind stirred a mist of falling snowflakes.

  The streetlamps flickered by and we could see the swirling flakes caught in their light. The roads were clear—people were taking the curfew seriously—and every so often we would see a cop car on the side of the road, watching and waiting. They knew our cars—we had given the deputy mayor descriptions so they wouldn’t try to stop us.

  Herne’s Expedition contained, besides me and Herne, Raven and Kipa. Yutani was driving his SUV, with Angel along. And Viktor and Talia were in the van. We headed down to the docks, where the challenge was set to happen.

  We arrived at the docks shortly before four and scrambled out, parking as close to the water as we could. As we shouldered our packs and weapons and headed over toward the water’s edge, the tension built. Here and there, clusters of people waited, but they were all incredibly tall with long flowing hair, and by their looks alone we could tell they were dragons, waiting in their human form.

  I shivered. How many of them were on Typhon’s side? How many were Echidna’s warriors? It was impossible to tell.

  As we passed by a group of four dragons who turned to watch us, a loud sound echoed from around the street corner, and the Fae militia appeared, marching in perfect formation. They were all carrying bows, and all decked out in leather armor. Their commander shouted a halt, and they came to a stop by the edge of the pier, waiting.

  I moved closer to Herne as we approached the docks.

  “There will be bloodshed,” I said, glancing around us.

  He nodded. “Oh, no doubt of that. I hope that—there, look.” He nodded toward one of the piers. There, appearing one by one as they shimmered into visibility, were Cernunnos and Morgana, and Brighid. Beside them were other gods—Mielikki, and by her side a burly forest man whom I assumed was Tapio. More gods appeared, and while I had never seen them before, it was impossible not to recognize Artemis from Artemis’s Huntresses, and Ullr and Skadi from Odin’s Chase, both similar to the Wild Hunt. Others arrived, all bearing bows and arrows. And then, I felt the energy of the allentar arrows all around us. We were all here to stop Typhon and his children.

  “How powerful are Typhon and Echidna? I know they’re immortal and massive, but…” I turned to Herne, wondering that so many gods were involved.

  “They’re the children of Titans, Ember,” Herne said. “Remember, the Titans birthed the gods. They don’t call them the father and mother of all dragons for no reason.” He paused, then pointed toward the sky. “They’re here.”

  I turned, along with everyone else, and my entire perception about what we were facing slipped away, burned to a crisp, like paper to a match.

  There, in the sky, a hole appeared—a portal. And then another, opposite it. There was a drop in pressure and a collective gasp rippled through the crowds as a huge dragon appeared out of one, with blue wings, and a blue body. Echidna.

  A hydra, she was—a dragon with multiple heads. I hadn’t expected that, and it took me by surprise. Her head was massive, with brilliant blue eyes, and ears to either side. A thick horn rose from her nose, curling with a wicked edge. Emerging from the sides of her head were dozens of smaller heads on the end of snake-like tentacles. Each head mirrored the main one, and they writhed in a sinuous dance.

  Echidna brought with her a flurry of snowflakes and a whirl of mist that trailed behind her. Her wings were silent and massive, somehow holding her alight. They spread out like a bat’s wings, their bony fingers branching off her shoulders to stretch the wings wide. The ribs from her main throat were long and elegant, leading down the underside of her neck, all the way along the belly to create plates of armor, then down to the tip of the tail.

  Her scales shimmered, rippling over her body. Plates like a stegosaurus rose from the back of her neck, down to her wings. She was gigantic, bigger than a 747, longer than several whale lengths, more massive than the longest dinosaur we could have imagined being. She majestically glided out of the vortex and it spiraled closed behind her.

  As Echidna swept around the docks, flying smoothly, another movement caught my eye. The other portal was broadening, and as it did, Echidna’s twin entered.

  Typhon.

  The color of shadow and twilight, Typhon was a hundred-headed hydra, and he looked exactly like Echidna,
save for his color and the fact that he was somewhat bigger.

  They circled the docks, behemoths from a bygone age. Flashes twinkled, breaking the night from various places along the dock, and I realized there were reporters down here—or at least, curiosity-seekers, and all I could think about was the potential carnage if they didn’t get out of the way.

  But the sheer energy brought my attention back to the dragons as they slowly circled round one another. The tension was so thick that it felt like we were underwater, or in a sauna so saturated with moisture that the vapor had replaced the air.

  I turned to Herne. “I never dreamed…”

  “I told you, they were born of Titans. Compared to them, their children seem like kittens.” His gaze was fastened on the pair, and he reached for an arrow. “You might want to load Serafina.”

  I brought out a bolt and fitted it in my crossbow. “I take it we aim for their children to prevent them from interfering. The Luminous Warriors, that is?” Then I froze. “We have company,” I added softly.

  Herne followed my gaze. Pandora was standing over on the docks, near a group of tall men I assumed were Luminous Warriors.

  “Crap. I wonder if—” He stopped as Raven let out a low cry. She had spotted Pandora. She looked ready to panic. I worked my way over to her as she withdrew behind Kipa.

  “I wondered if you saw her,” I said.

  Raven gazed at the goddess, looking ready to kill. “See her? I want to shove her into the water and hold her under until she drowns. I want to blast her with a fireball. I want to use this wand and bring her world tumbling down. Except she can’t die.” Raven narrowed her eyes.

  I glanced over at Kipa. He was watching Raven carefully. He caught my gaze and I wanted to tell him to keep an eye on her, but he inclined his head and I realized he was already doing that. Regardless of therapy, PTSD could cause some pretty questionable behavior.

  “What now?” I turned to Herne.

  “Prepare yourself,” he said. “It won’t be long.”

  I crossed over to Angel, who was near Raven. She looked out-of-her-wits terrified. Raven joined us as Kipa shifted, bringing out a bow. Within moments, his Elitvartijat appeared—his elite guards. Ten men emerged from the shadows. They were constantly with him, appearing whenever he called. Sometimes they took the form of wolves, but now they appeared in human form, bows ready. Kipa led them a few yards away, where they could have clear shots.

  As we waited, Typhon and Echidna continued to circle one another. And then, in the softly falling snow, Echidna lifted her massive head and let out a roar that shook the nearby docks. And with that, she aimed for Typhon.

  As the dragons met in midair, I felt an odd pulse, and then another, and the next thing I knew, the world was spinning and I was spinning with it.

  Chapter Four

  Everything kept spinning, and I couldn’t tell which way was up. The world had vanished and a silver mist whipped around me. My ears ached. Echidna’s roar had been deafening and I could hear nothing as I tumbled over and over in the formless mist.

  The next moment, I grew terribly sleepy, and found myself fading. Was I dying? Had the two dragons rained down terror and just like that, we were all dead? Unable to think straight, I finally decided to give in to the pull. I closed my eyes, and everything went black.

  “Ember, Ember? Are you all right?” The words were faint at first, as if spoken from a long distance away, but then they grew stronger and clearer. “Ember, wake up.”

  Someone was shaking me, and I wanted to tell them to stop and leave me alone, but then I remembered I was supposed to be doing something. Something important or urgent or…

  “Ember, wake up!” The fog began to lift as a voice I recognized as Raven’s echoed through the air.

  I tried to open my eyes and finally managed to pry them apart. I felt like a lump. I was lying somewhere cold, staring at the night sky. The stars looked very different. They were brighter and there were so many that I knew I wasn’t in Seattle anymore. I couldn’t be. And then it all came back—Echidna and Typhon. The massive quake as they met in battle.

  Raven was kneeling beside me. Angel was sprawled next to me, unmoving. I realized I was on a patch of frozen grass. As Raven helped me sit up, I tried to clear my head.

  “I’m all right,” I said. I was bruised, but nothing hurt overly so, and as the dizziness faded, I managed to roll to my hands and knees. With Raven’s help, I stood up. “How’s Angel? Is she alive?” A cold stab of fear raced through me, but Raven soothed my fear.

  “Yes, but she’s unconscious.”

  I looked around. “Where are we?”

  Raven shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m not certain what happened. I woke up a little while ago and it took me a few minutes to be able to function. Then I woke you up.”

  I checked my pack, which was still slung over my back, and everything I had packed was still there. I also found Serafina a few yards away. The quiver of allentar arrows was still slung across my back. Luckily, I hadn’t stabbed myself with them. My dagger, which had been sheathed in my thigh sheath, was still there.

  “I still have my weapons. Sheesh, it’s cold,” I said, glancing around. “Where the hell are we?”

  “Let’s wake up Angel. Then maybe we can figure that out.” Raven moved over to Angel and I joined her. Together, we brought Angel around. She wasn’t hurt, but she, too, was thoroughly confused for a moment.

  Finally, we were all coherent and on our feet. There was a fallen log nearby, and what looked like a thicket a few hundred yards ahead, so we moved over to sit along the log.

  “What do you think happened?” Angel asked, shivering. “All I remember is them meeting in midair, and then everything shifted.”

  “Yeah, I think we fell into some portal or vortex that formed when they clashed.” I frowned. “You know, like when antimatter and matter meet in the Star Trek world? Rather than exploding, it created a rift or something and…we fell through.”

  “Do you think the others did too?” Angel asked.

  I looked around. We seemed to be alone.

  As far as I could see, the meadow we were in stretched out under the frosty sky. The thicket to our right loomed large in the dark and my instincts all screamed, Do not go into the forest at night. I couldn’t see the horizon well—it was too dark—so if there was anything like the silhouette of a city or an ocean, I couldn’t see it. The dark here was darker than the dark at home.

  “All I know is that I’m freezing. If we don’t get warm, we could get frostbite,” Angel said.

  Raven motioned for us to scoot closer. “I can cast a fire spell if we can find something that will burn. The log feels soaked through, but if you can find some kindling and a few pieces of wood, I can make us a fire.” She paused, then added, “I could create a light spell, but if there’s anything out there, it will see us.”

  “If you spark a fire it will reveal our presence, as well.” I stopped. “Duh, why didn’t I think? Check your phones. Maybe we ended up in another part of the city, though I can’t honestly think of any place that looks like this.”

  I pulled out my phone and turned it on. There were no bars and the clock had stopped. There was no service at all. Raven’s and Angel’s phones were the same way.

  “No wi-fi anywhere, and no cellular data service either,” Angel said, shoving hers in her back pocket. “I say we chance a fire. I’m so cold.” She pulled her jacket tighter. “It feels like it’s well below freezing.”

  I sighed. “Okay, let’s look for some dried wood. Check the end of the tree, Angel, while I check the other end. There may be easy to reach dry wood inside of it.”

  I headed toward the narrow end of the trunk. It was splintered and the tree top seemed long gone. But the end was filled with dry kindling. I began to cautiously break off what pieces I could. I finally dug out my dagger, using it to gouge chunks of the tree out from the end. After a while, I had a tidy pile of dry shavings.

  Angel and I b
uilt a mound—a tepee of the shavings—and then we broke as many limbs off the fallen tree as we could. Some were fairly big, others small, but they were all dry enough to burn. After about fifteen minutes, we stood back as Raven approached the kindling pile. She examined it, shifted a few twigs and then held out her hands.

  “Spark,” she whispered, and spark her hands did. The flickering embers ran off her fingers to land in the kindling and flames roared up, consuming the fuel and greedily searching for more. I began to arrange the larger pieces of wood over them, so that they would catch hold. In another five minutes, we had ourselves a merry fire. As we huddled around it, I gave one more glance at the thicket, then settled down and leaned toward the flames, enjoying the warmth that took the edge off the night.

  “I’m exhausted,” Angel said.

  “It’s impossible to tell what time it is, but why don’t you both get some rest? I’ll wake Raven in about two hours, and she can wake you in two more. Or whatever feels like two hours. That way, we’ll have someone constantly on guard.” I settled back against the log.

  Raven dug through her pack and handed me a small silver square. “Mylar blankets. I thought they might come in handy if we got too cold while we were waiting.” She spread one out on the ground, then opened another. She and Angel lay down between them, and using their packs for pillows, they both drifted off. I draped the third one around my shoulders and kept watch in the silent night. All through the long dark, I kept thinking about Herne and the dragons and whether we’d have a home left to return to.

  Morning came quicker than I expected. With it came the early rays of the sun. One moment it was dark as night and the next, the sky took on a pale lemon chiffon color, then strawberry as the sun rose to greet the sky. I glanced around. The sun’s rays streamed over distant mountains, and as it rose into the sky, dew evaporated off the grass.

  I woke Raven, yawning. “I need sleep, so even though it’s morning, I need to crash for at least a couple of hours,” I said. “How are you doing?”