He couldn’t do this. Not for him and not for Arianna.
Alrik made one of the hardest decisions of his life then and turned around. Back at the camp, he sat next to the fire. Air filled his head making him feel light and dizzy.
The human Abbigail was proving to be trouble. How could he ever look at her again and not see her naked in his eyes? He must harden his mind to her and hurry her spell casting lessons. The sooner she became strong enough to defeat his mother, the quicker he could be rid of her and live some semblance of his old life. He craved that relationship with his brother that they’d once had. Now that his mother’s cursed potions weren’t in his body and overriding his thoughts, he felt for the first time in a long time some of his own emotions. Not everything had come back with the curse still overriding him, but now he could feel something. These feelings seemed foreign to him, like someone else’s emotions, but they were his. And what he wanted more than anything was to be back at his brother’s side. He’d do anything to have that, even if that meant using and sacrificing Abbigail in the process.
A far off cry caught his ears. Alrik turned his head to the sky and his body tensed. Far off in the distance, coming from the south at a quick pace flew a flock of birds. Not just any birds but kolans, a large black bird known for eating anything found dead along the way. That wasn’t what sent Alrik to his feet and running down the path to Abbigail.
A dark foggy cloud surrounded the black-winged creatures and in that fog flew evil. The birds moved at incredible speed and as they neared a roar became louder and louder. The sounds reminded him of battle, where men yelled and screamed only the sounds of the birds was much higher.
“Abbigail!” Alrik roared.
She came up from the water and hearing the bird’s cries, turned to see the dark mass charging at them from high in the sky. She turned quickly and started for him. Smart witch. He thanked the seer once again that his savior was a smart witch.
She met him at the beach just as he reached it. Without hesitating, he grabbed her clothes in one arm then latched onto her hand with the other. He dragged her to the rocky slope that led down to their hidden cove.
The roar became deafening. He didn’t know what magic was at play, but he had an idea and it wasn’t good. The bright sky darkened to a murky grey. He had a moment’s hesitation that he hadn’t put out the fire at the camp, but as he looked up at the sky with the dark birds nearly upon them he knew he was out of time.
Swirling black masses formed around the birds. The trees shook and whipped with fierce winds. The bird’s beady eyes narrowed on them, their yellow, beaked mouths open. More cries screeched through the air.
Alrik pulled Abbigail to the bottom of the slope just as the birds ducked low and flew over them. Adrenaline rushed through his blood making him faster and stronger.
Turning quickly, he snatched Abbigail into his arms and pushed her into the rocks to shield her. Sharp bites pecked at his body. Blood beaded on his neck and back where their bites tore through his clothes and skin. A crack of thunder sounded overhead. A bright bolt of lightning flashed in the forest.
“What’s going on?” Abbigail asked. She sounded scared and unsure but he had no time to explain right now.
“In the cave,” he shouted over the deafening roar. She nodded and then they both ducked down into the cold water and swam under the slope. They reemerged in the hollowed out cave and ducked into the dark cave. He didn’t stop moving until he had her safe behind him at the very end of the tunnel.
“What are those birds? Where did they come from?”
Alrik ignored her. He focused his attention on the sounds coming from above them. The birds shrilled endlessly as thunder boomed again. A loud crack of lightning tore through the sky and then rain rushed down in a fierce torrential downpour. The water seeped through the earth and sprinkled over them.
“Alrik?”
The sounds of the bird’s angry wings flapping and their cries slowly faded as they soared past.
“They’re moving away.” Still, the thunder boomed and roared up above. Trickles of rainwater spilled down the cavern walls in rivulets moving faster. His eyes narrowed on it and then the entrance of the cave. He started for it to investigate when a hand on his arm stopped him.
He turned to her and there she stood, arms wrapped around her naked waist, wet hair plastered to her wet face, and shivering in the cold. She nodded to the clothes in his hand and he jerked his arm out to her. With a bright blush, she took her sodden clothes and started pulling on the wet material. His body warmed at the sight her nakedness. Bare breasts, jiggling as she bent over to pull on her wet pants could be in his hand if only he stuck out his arm. The wet material of her clothes only clung to her body in ways that the haute demons would deem inappropriate and lascivious. Though, he’d have to admit he rather liked the sight on Abbigail.
“Stay here,” he ordered, his voice husky
“What’s going on?”
He ignored the question. He wasn’t convinced yet what had happened. Creeping to the end of the cavern, he watched the ankle-deep water lap at the cave entrance. He stood there with rainwater spilling down over him and watched the water as it grew steadily deeper and deeper around his legs. It reached his knees in a matter of seconds.
“We must get out of here.”
Abbigail ran up to him and gasped at the sight. “What kind storm is this?”
“Not normal.” His mind worked to search for an answer and only one kept coming to mind. “The queen has very strong magic,” he said softly.
“She’s doing this?”
He nodded slowly. “She sent the birds to find us and when they did they called back to her and she let loose a storm.”
Abbigail shivered and rubbed her hands up and down her arms to warm herself. “Does that mean she’s close?”
“No, it just means she’s looking for me.”
A whip of lightning sounded above striking the ground. The earth shook and rumbled from the attack. The rain came down faster, pelting the ground like wet darts above their heads.
“We must leave this place now.” Alrik grabbed Abbigail’s small hand in his brute, dark one then they dove into the water and swam out of the cove. Water pelted the lake’s surface up above like a rain of bullets. Abbigail tried to swim to the surface but he halted her and pulled her close. She wrapped an arm around his back and looked up at the surface just as wary of the darkness above as he was.
He caught her gaze. Even in the dark water, he saw her brilliant gaze. She looked scared. She was completely dependent on him. She didn’t have the skill yet to bypass his mother’s magic. Nodding towards the surface, she jerked her chin in acknowledgement then they kicked their feet and swam for it. They broke through and sucked in ragged breaths.
Sharp drops of rain pelleted them. The rain fell so hard and fast the forest looked like a murky environment in the distance. Wind whipped at them hard. Alrik acted quickly and jerked Abbigail into his arms, wrapping both of them around her waist as the harsh gales pushed them sharply to the side. His side hit the rocky coast near the cove and he had only a moment to register the pain in his side before they were once against jerked the other way.
The wind whipped them down under the water. It sucked them in like a giant creature’s mouth taking a bite out of them. He kicked them back to the surface and worked his legs hard in the heavy water for what he hoped was the beach’s surface. He couldn’t see a thing, only the dark grey of falling rain. What he thought looked like the green of the forest looked too far away. It should be closer. Had the wind drifted them out to sea?