Patch POV
The last time Patch Cresta saw the Ember Faeries' castle, music and dance filled the air. As his pack's representative to their Autumn Fire Festival along with Anneliese representing the Wildefell witches, he'd thrown himself into the dance. That had been before Queen Ylavi's husband died, if he wasn't mistaken.
Now, the place looked as if no one ever sang, unless they sang sad songs. Even the birds made haunting, mournful sounds.
And he could SMELL the darkness surrounding the place like rotting food and grave dust. Yuck!
"It's poisoned," he growled, pointing to the immediate area around the castle, just beyond the copper beech woods. "Poisoned by demonic energy."
In wolf form, Cyran and Naomi sniffed the land, and threw back their heads, growling low. They didn't dare howl and tip off the entire castle that an army approached. But they could smell the poisoning of the very earth.
And Patch could feel it too. The prickles on the back of his neck. His palms itching. The general sense of unease, of wanting to jump out of his very skin. He felt all of it.
Jiro closed his eyes, and beside him, Azandra used her healer senses, while Tulaska stood with her medicine rattle, reading the landscape.
"It's poisoned, yes. You're right, Patch," Jiro confirmed. "However, I sense something weakening that foulness."
Lilia rushed up with Daxius, Marieke, Garnet, Anneliese, and Thessi. "We've been working on it," Lilia replied. "With our crystal magic. Just like when we disrupted the fighting during that long-ago battle in Sinsworth House."
Cyran lifted his nose, ears perked forward, and he let out a soft howl in recognition of that fateful clash. He clearly recalled the magic Dane and Lilia had worked together with the Harmony Stone during that pack war.
"But the dark is too entrenched to fight off easily," Azandra growled.
"It only thinks it is," Tulaska corrected in her half straightforward, half mysterious manner. "Letting in a little light is the first step to beating it."
"And then we unleash the diversion," Dane growled.
Behind them, Patch heard the growls of squads of wolves from every pack. Only the best warriors and the most elite. The Alphas of those packs led the charge, even the ones that voted no to this madness. Because once the Shifter Federation made a decision on behalf of all shifters that involved dealing with a threat to all shifter kind, then every Alpha embraced it.
Besides the growls, he heard footsteps. Semi-loud human footsteps in boots. And then hard, heavy orc footsteps. And quiet High Elf footsteps. And rapid, efficient, small dwarf footsteps.
Rotating around to face the copper beech woods, Patch saw a sight that made even him speechless. Moon Goddess ...
They all spread out in the woods, waiting for their chance to launch a surprise attack. Nauru Orc soldiers led by Prince Makhel and Mage Kulenza. High Elf soldiers led by Prince Orrian Krisren. The Scapolite Dwarves led by Ambassador Hudora Windmail. Then, King Otho and Queen Giselberthe for Lugdunum, with the army commander Loreena Vallauris as well as Devlin and Kelara Blackthorn.
Dane grinned at their allies. "Thank you for coming."
Prince Makhel hefted his heavy bronze sword. "This affects all of us. We must come together."
Gray-haired Ambassador Windmail lifted her magnificent steel axe. "And it will be a battle royale like none we have ever seen, even with the events of the last three years. Thank the Mountain Mother that Hades Ombra is not part of this."
"He did sacrifice himself for the cause," Kelara Blackthorn pointed out, her wolf eyes flashing.
Hudora could find nothing to counter that fact. "And so, too, will I, if my friends need me to. My friends Ravyn and Jude, who have such an appreciation for dwarf opera."
"And that's where our diversion comes from," Patch said with mischief. "Bring on the theatrics."
* * * * *
Dane POV
Clashing of swords. Striking of hammers. Loud rolls of thunder. Explosions and soaring arias that seemed to come from the dwarven mountain halls and deepest mine shafts.
The noise all around him made his wolf hearing ache, and he felt certain his ears would feel the effects long after this battle. Still, the prize was worth the sacrifice.
Then, the theatrical effects. Bursts of light. Illusions of dwarven heroes and heroines. A raging battlefield. Moon Goddess, please let the fae not see through the artful show.
They didn't. Fae warriors poured out of the castle, armed to the teeth with spells and weapons, ready to do battle with phantoms.
The combined shifter and allied armies stormed the castle, slipping past the fae forces without any resistance. Caught up in the fight against foes of illusion, the faeries vied for victory.
Dane led the Evenhide forces straight for the door of the castle. Was it his imagination, or did it look like it was made of shadows now? As if the strong, noble door had turned dark and cruel along with the faerie monarch?
The door opened to admit more faerie soldiers joining the melee, and Dane shouted, "Go, go, go! We stop for nothing!"
His ears picked up the distress and desperation within, and he could taste the bitterness and despair in the air. The sooner their forces liberated the Ember Faeries, the better.
Before it was too late.
Jiro rushed past him in wolf form, with Garnet close behind, and the five Vermello sisters led by Valentina, and Cyran and Naomi. Kyon growled softly, still in human form, but Dane suspected he'd transform any moment. Lilia's scent surrounded him. She wouldn't be left behind. This was most definitely personal.
"We stop for nothing," he shouted, not even pausing as several faeries blocked their path. Unfortunately, these faeries were not yet in the grip of the illusions. One of them raised a spear and cried out, "This is war! How dare you wolves invade our home?"
"How dare YOU hold an Alpha and Luna prisoner?" Dane exclaimed. "That is an act of war."
"They insulted our queen," the faerie soldier snapped. "They attacked her!"
"Because your queen is possessed," Lilia called out, defiant.
Cyran and Naomi shifted back to their human forms, and Cyran stepped forward, willing to put himself in jeopardy to deliver the truth. "The Dark Goddess rules your kingdom now," Cyran shouted. "Through Hades Ombra, she manipulated your queen and Alpha Jude to create the perfect storm of rejection that would allow the Dark Goddess to completely inhabit a once-beloved and respected ruler."
The faerie guard jabbed at him with the silver tip of the spear. "LIES."
Prince Makhel boomed, "They speak the truth! We in Nauru believe them and stand by them."
"So do we elves," shouted Prince Orrian.
"And we Brighmere Wood Elves do too," called out Thessi.
Queen Giselberthe added, "Lugdunum stands with the shifters. We know firsthand what the fiend can do!"
"More lies," the fae guard shouted, thrusting the spear at Cyran.
Ducking the fae guard's attack, Cyran swiped at him with his extended claws. With a cry of pain, the fae guard stumbled back. "Why did you do that?"
"To stop you from doing something that will ignite this powder keg," Cyran answered.
Kyon boomed, "All these leaders have put themselves and the fate of their kingdoms on the line to help us. To help you. Your kingdom is not your own! The Dark Goddess owns it now."
Shaking her medicine rattle to attract the guards' attention, Tulaska had her say. "You are a proud people, just like every other kingdom here. You don't want evil to rule here. Already your castle has become dark and twisted, your lands poisoned."
Dane caught sight of Jiro and Garnet disappearing down the corridor, no doubt in search of Ravyn and Jude.
OUCH!
Burning pain bloomed in his shoulder. One of the guards had thrown a silver dagger at him, and it hit home. He gasped, and Queen Giselberthe pulled the dagger from his shoulder. Glaring at the fae guards, she shouted, "We are not amused! We are trying to help you."
Lilia got in the spear-carrying guard's face. "Take us to my mother and her mate NOW before we're all doomed!"