CHAPTER 20

A weapon would take time to create, but Lis had caught a thread of possibility and the excitement of a new idea firmly wiggled itself into the forefront of her mind. The others had continued talking, after Illaise's bargain, but she blocked them out. What if it was as simple as spreading a toxin through the air as opposed to introducing it to the blood? At the least, it would act upon more than one creature at a time. There were so many variables to test. Could the poison even be dispersed through smoke? Or would the acid destroy it the same as exposure to oxygen did? Maybe a simpler solution would be better. Lis knew for certain that the moonblossom smoke worked now. She could concentrate that and give any warriors a chance to act with their blades. Could she make enough smoke for a hundred creatures? How would she get it to spread far enough?

She blinked when Cillumn nudged her. Everyone was looking at her.

“How long will it take you to prepare?” Illaise asked, from her tone it was apparent this wasn't the first time.

“Twelve hours,” Lis guessed. Exhaustion pulled at her, she hadn't slept for a long while, and the reprieve from her unconscious flight to the Aerie and subsequent tending was quickly fading. But she couldn't sleep, she dare not wait any longer, not with what was happening to the other Shifters. She wasn't sure how Adda was surviving so long, but how long would her luck hold? No, Lis had to hurry, if she could just get back to the workshop and....a flash of memory stalled her thinking. The workshop, the dead medic, and her missing poisons. She opened her mouth to speak, to warn the others that something more than the attack was happening at the Aerie...just as four dragons dropped from the sky into the open space they gathered in.

It hit her without warning, the fear. Her heart leapt for her throat. Dragons, four dragons, and they were close enough to get to her. First, she froze, her lungs screamed for air, but she couldn't convince them to draw a breath. Sweat broke out along her back.

Strong arms circled her, trapping her, holding her firmly, but she didn't recognize arms. In her fear, it was a dragon that seized her. She twisted and fought, but her strength was no match for his. Without warning, she found herself turned, her head pressed firmly into the hard planes of a very solid, very male chest.

“You are safe,” Cillumn's voice whispered above her. She hadn't noticed, when he had found her, that he wore nothing above the waist...nothing below it either. At some point, he must have shifted. Even now, she could sense that wings protruded from his back. Except, it didn't frighten her the way it once had, and it was far better than the full beasts that had landed in front of her. She took a deep shaky breath. Focus on something else. It was getting darker and there wasn't much for her eyes to latch to, so she trailed her fingers upward, rubbing the hard planes of muscle that formed Cillumn's pectorals. Even his ribs and stomach were all firm lumps. He inhaled a sharp breath and caught her fingers with his.

“They are Lords now, are you under control?” his voice was strained.

Her heart still thundered in her ears, she did her best to force it to slow. There were no more dragons, she was breathing, she was safe.

After another deep breath she nodded and allowed him to turn her back around.

“Get him to the medic,” the Archon was saying. He stood among the group that had landed, along with Firestriker and Strale, both whom she recognized. The fourth man she did not, nor did he look well. A long gash and several punctures marred his upper shoulder. The wound bled heavily, but it did not look as though it would be fatal, especially with a Dragon Lord's accelerated healing. Besides, there was another problem...

“Ah,” Lis started, “... that might be an issue.”

“What is it, Lis?” Cillumn asked.

“The medic is dead, I discovered him while leaving the workshop.”

It was a strange feeling, to have every eye turn to her and await in silence, as if they expected her to say something more, or retract what she had said maybe.

She blew out a breath. Steady Lis. Her fear was still high, though thanks to Cillumn she had managed to get it under control. Dark shadows stretched along the open street, shifting and moving as the wind picked up, blowing dark clouds across the sky. The moon was rising, but it hadn't reached a high enough peak to chase away the sinister feeling gloom.

“It seems our troubles did not end at the Onyx Aerie, but have followed us here,” the Archon said at last. His posture sagged a little from the proud stance he had held, a man almost physically burdened by the weight of his leadership.

“Whatever your troubles are, you should end that man's misery right now,” Illaise demanded.

“Mother,” Firestriker warned. He had been brooding in the background, staring off in the direction they had chased the other dragons Lis guessed. Was he concerned that they would return even now? But at Illaise's words, his attention focused.

“This wound will fester and not heal. After a week, he will start to get delusions and lash out at anyone near. After two, he will be as one of the creatures, clawing out his own eyes and scratching his flesh to the bone.”

Lis shuddered. Illaise spoke as one with personal knowledge, one that had seen such things with her own eyes.

“It is kinder to kill him now,” she finished.

The Lord in questioned stiffened, understandably. He seemed paler in the rising moonlight, his lips pulled into a tight line.

“No one is killing anyone,” the Archon announced, meeting Illaise's eyes and holding them until she shrugged at last.

“It is your risk to take.”

“Take him to the medic wing, someone will have to tend to him and stop the bleeding,” the Archon ordered. “And check on the medic, I want to know what in the six realms has happened.”

Lis watched the Lords and the Shifters who were present act on the Archon's command. An alarmed feeling was growing within her.

“When you say 'be as one of the creatures'....,” she began, not looking at Illaise, but studying the injured Lord.

“They become possessed, just as that Shifter in the forest was. There is no cure, and once they turn feral, their bite is infectious, as well. I lost four good men for that information Archon, use it wisely.”

Lis' stomach dropped, worse than any fear of the dragons as a realization set in.

“They are reproducing.” She took an agitated step, and then halted. She didn't have anywhere to go, nothing she could do was going to solve this. “That is why they are taking Shifters...and Dragon Lords it seems. They aren't just possessing them, they are using the more corporeal bodies to grow their population.”

Hope sputtered, nearly going out in her chest. So many things were obstructing her chances, she needed to get to Adda.

“Best set some guards at his door,” the Archon spoke, it was unclear to whom, but it was Firestriker that nodded. “If this is true, then we are in deeper trouble than we thought. The Quatori do not need sleep, not as we do. And these things are nearly impossible to kill. We can close the gates and walls to repel the possessed Shifters, but if they are claiming Dragons now, as well, we will have no defense except to fight. And that, we have learned, might just be deadly if we do not avoid a simple bite. They will wear us out in a matter of weeks attacking the Aerie.”

“Not all of those dragons were possessed,” Cillumn pointed out. “Why would any sane Lord work alongside the Quatori? I've never known the beasts to show restraint in their feeding. How is it that Grim has not killed those that flew with him?”

Lis had forgotten that Gayriel stood among them, until then her smaller stature was unremarkable next to the large...and naked...males that surrounded her. She cleared her throat.

“I think it has something to do with the Master. Kurath and Grim both spoke of him that night in the forest. A leader of the Quatori to some degree.”

“Wait, the Quatori have leaders? They are mindless savage beasts, we have seen the evidence over and over,” Strale interrupted. He was, for the first time in Lis' presence, not strutting or posing, instead he was staring pensively at the sky.

“Well, we are seeing evidence otherwise now,” Gayriel argued.

“So what has changed?” he frowned.

“I am worried that the ending we thought Grim faced was his plan all along, that he wanted to be possessed by the Master. He spoke of having what the Master sought, and a deal, or exchange.”

Worried was an understatement. Lis had not interacted much with the Lords of the Onyx Aerie, before her pack left—save the medic who was useful to her—but there had often been talk of the mental instability of the Archon. It appeared that such instability ran rampant through all the Onyx Lords.

“Assuming Grim is now possessed by this 'Master', then why attack now? What does he want? Or is it simply to infect our warriors? To...reproduce?” the Archon muttered.

“He wants the glyph,” Lis thought out loud, but the moment she said it, she was certain she was right. “They are seeking the glyph we brought back, the one the Shifters attacked my pack for.”

The Archon made a strange face that Lis couldn't interpret. His lips pulled into a frown. “Not just the glyph, the glyphs then, for Scet gave me the one he had been protecting, as well.”

Two glyphs.

Lis struggled to free herself from Cillumn's grasp...sneaky man...she was growing so accustomed to his touch that she hardly noticed that he was still holding her.

“Archon, I believe I can use the glyphs, if you will allow...”

He shook his head, stilling her words. Disappointment raced through her. She had a vague idea that she might use the glyph to lure off some of the danger when she rescued Adda. She had retrieved it, after all, at the risk of her life. Just like a Lord to grasp something like that and take possession.

“I am sorry, Lisrith, but if these creatures seek the symbols with such fervor, then they must hold some power. I would prefer, at this junction, that they gain nothing more. The glyphs are best protected here, in the Aerie.”

Lis glanced around at the Lords and Shifters. No support there. Illaise stood, unreadable and slightly apart from the group. Gayriel was immersed staring at her mate, some sort of silent communication between them. She hunched a little, unlike her regular posture.

“Come, mate of mine, you require your tincture, I believe,” Dynarys was frowning, but his voice was soft and gentle. Reverent even.

“Cillumn?” Lis practically begged. Someone had to see the importance of what she was asking.

“I am sorry, Lis, but the Archon is right. We cannot allow the glyphs to fall to the Quatori. They are best protected here. And I will not see you put yourself in such danger as to hold one again.”

She growled inwardly, trying hard not to feel like this entire foray into the Amber Aerie was a waste of her time. Once again, she was reduced to not knowing how to get the importance of her task across to the others. Once again, she would be reduced to simply taking what she needed from those supposed to trust her.

She contemplated the Archon. He didn't look any more like the forgiving type than her Alpha had been.

A mournful, desperate cry rose from the forest. In the deepening silence of night, it was alarming, and close. Several more joined the first. Like wolves, but much, much scarier. A pack, and they hunted.

“Best prepare yourselves, my friends, while we have reprieve. I fear dark days are coming to the Amber Aerie.”