Chapter 31

At the bottom of the cobblestone path that led to the stables, the Riders of the Darke Kingdom waited for orders in the early morning hours on that chilly day Mory arrived.

A bronzed skin man with dark curly hair and the greenest emerald eyes buckled his saddle. It was two years now since he'd seen Haldir, and the old man was never far from Teddy's thoughts.

But as he pet his horse's brown hair, he grinned at the thought of him. "Where are you, you son of a bitch?"

From out of the foggy darkness, the Sentry called from his post. "Attention! Her Highness approaches." The Riders parted to make way for Gretchen as she and her white-haired companion walked along the path. And as they came inside the stable, each man bowed their head to her.

She was a golden brown-haired beauty with her father's eyes, and when she stopped before him, Teddy kissed her cheek. "Good morning, baby doll."

With her hands clasped behind her back, she inspected her troops as the Lord Commander followed behind her. "Riders of the Darke, it is no secret that our lands are becoming less secure by the minute. The Great Evil is testing his boundaries as we prepare for war." While she pointed to the ground, she shook her head. "This cannot be allowed. We are the last stronghold before the wide-opened wild North. It must be protected at all costs."

Agamori stepped forward with his arrogant eyebrow cocked to them and his arms crossed over his chest. "On Daniel's directive, today we ride South. A large group of pilgrims is making its way north through the forest. His Majesty has informed me they are in danger and that an attack is imminent. We are to escort them through the Darke to the boundary of the North Woods."

While he mounted his horse, a tug came to Teddy's pants leg, and when he was seated, he lifted his chin to the Darke Princess. Her finger poked into this knee. "Hey Daddy, I got a job for you. Straight from Daniel himself."

The ridge of his hand snapped to his forehead as he saluted her. "At your service, Your Highness."

"Daniel said that a very important person is traveling with the pilgrims." Her lips twisted, and her eyebrows rose as she shrugged her shoulders to her ears. Her father-in-law spoke in circles often, and when he made his command, he didn't explain anything at all. "He said you would understand when you met her and that you were to bring her back here immediately."

A smokey growl left his throat and his eyes rolled to the men as they filed out of the stables. And as he wrapped the leather reins around his fist, Teddy's chin moved back and forth. "Why can't that man ever come out and say what he means? It would be nice if he gave me a description or something to go on. I'm not a damn mind reader, you know?"

Both her palms lifted in front of her as she shook her head. "You're preaching to the choir here. The man is a mystery. But she must be pretty important to his plan to send the whole squadron after her like this when we're more or less defenseless."

He covered his chest with his hand and bowed his head. "Your wish is my command, honey-bunny."

The horse's hooves click-clacked as he left the stable, and Teddy's finger wagged over his shoulder." I'll be back with his latest exhibit for the carnival of fucked-up superheroes before you know it."

***

The taste of her lover's blood was still thick on her tongue, and when she licked her lips, Mory cried out from the space between awake and sleep. "I love you, Haldir." A warmth covered Mory's frozen skin, and when her eyes opened, she shut them tight again to block out the sunlight on her face.

The cold forest floor was hardly the warm bed she shared with Haldir, and as she looked around her at the werewolves huddled together, she felt just a little lonelier. Her balled fists lifted over her head as she yawned, and as she stretched, she found someone coming back from the tree line with a bucket.

The light in this world fell differently on the living, and it was the first time that Mory didn't see some measure of dying light on someone.

She peeked over at Sharon with a child tucked into each arm and pulled the band loose from her hair. Her fingernails dug into her scalp as she shook her head. With a hand pressed into each thigh, she lifted herself from the ground and twisted side to side to work away the long night.

When she came to the babbling brook on the other side of the hill, Mory cupped the water in her hands and splashed her face and neck. On the second handful, she sipped at the cleanest water she'd ever tasted.

It was like her childhood home to her, and as she combed her hair with her fingers, she imagined a little cabin that just the two of them could live in forever. "How am I ever going to find you?"

A prickly tingle spread across her back like the sniper's scope on her and made her gasp. From her crouched stance, she bolted like a world-class sprinter when she heard the pitter-patter of feet trample the forest ground behind her.

But just over the hill to the encampment, the wolves had already caught the scent of their filthy stench, and when Mory appeared, they charged headlong into the squadron that chased after her.

Sharon's children huddled in a hollowed-out tree, and when Mory found them, she covered the entrance with her body. "It's okay, I got you."

Before she even heard the 'thwomp' of the arrow, it buried itself into her calf above her boot. The burn of it spread through her leg like a raging wildfire, and as she felt the blood pour from it, she sucked a breath through her teeth. "Son of a bitch."

She blew air through her mouth about a hundred different ways as she wrapped her fingers around the base of the arrow. And when she ripped it free and threw it to the ground beside her, the pain receded almost instantly. With one eye open, she peeked down behind her shoulder to the hole in her pants. "What the hell?"

With not even a moment to recover, another arrow sunk itself into the Immortal's mate's gut. So close to her husband now she could taste him, it was a particularly cruel thing to happen. She whimpered as she fingered the arrow in her belly, and when she ripped it free, she braced for the end to come quickly. But there was nothing, not even a twinge as the blood crawled back from where it came, and her wound wove shut. "What the fuck is happening to me?"

It was a different kind of war all around them, and the dying light spread out over the heads of the goblins as a hum started in the forest floor. And as Mory squinted her eyes down the path from where it came from, the vibration got stronger until she caught the white-haired Rider who barreled toward them. And like the sun coming up on the darkest night, an army of horseback soldiers followed behind him.