The Crow King's Wife (61 page)

His breath caught in his throat as bright
scales appeared suddenly directly in front of him and it was all he
could do to evade the dragon that had appeared literally out of
nowhere to attack. “Bastard.” Shade hissed as the telltale screech
of metal screamed from the back of his ship as the dragon’s claws
skimmed along his hull. “Invisibility is cheating.” He grumbled and
felt his pulse quicken as he considered the implications of what
had just happened.

It had to have been the Barllen on the front
of his ship that had canceled the Dragon’s spell. He didn’t think
the creature would have dropped its magic with such a brilliant
ambush tactic. He only had Barllen on the sides and front of his
ship though, which meant if one of the creatures was smart enough
to attack from behind or below he wouldn’t even see the hit
coming.

“Oh please don’t let them be that smart.”
Shade mumbled as he turned his ship sideways to slide between two
Spell Hawks that had been trying to maneuver to block his path.
How long have I held them back
? Shade wondered silently then
pushed the thought aside as he dropped low to avoid the lashing
tail of a large blue scaled dragon. It felt like an eternity, but
he doubted it had been more than a few minutes since he had first
engaged.

“Eight down so far not counting the two
dragons.” Grim observed somberly and Shade grinned in response.

“Only about three hundred more to go if you
count the Morcath forces. We got this.” Shade replied with a laugh
and poured more speed into his ship to shake the Spell Hawk that
seemed to believe it had a chance of catching him.

“Without a doubt.” Grim agreed dryly then
fell silent as he returned to his role as gunner.

Shade smiled to himself before turning his
full attention back to his own task. His mind went carefully blank
as he allowed his instincts to guide the ship through the maze of
enemies. He didn’t hesitate in any of his choices and simply
trusted in the fact that his ship was superior and no one had his
speed.

If it weren’t for the Barllen protecting his
ship he would have never dared push her to her full potential.
Every pilot learned of the dangers of mages when they were being
trained, which explained the caution the other pilots were showing
in pursuit of him. They were expecting him to use a force spell on
them, and Shade was silently hoping one of the High Lords in the
city below would do just that.

So far there had been no sign of help from
below however and he suspected they were still too far out of range
for Jala’s spells. If he was right than she had that much longer to
prepare.

Bright metal flashed to the side of him and
Shade flicked his wrist to avoid the enemy ship and felt panic grip
him as the massive form of a dragon appeared just in front of his
ship as it turned. The creature must have been trailing him
invisibly and had almost been upon him when he turned the Barllen
in its direction. Swallowing heavily Shade sent his ship into a
dive and felt his heart stop as
The Shade
lurched hard to
one side.

Cursing rang in his ears and he dimly
realized it was Grim yelling but all he could focus on was the
sound of tearing metal.
That is my right wing
. Shade
observed mentally with far more calmness than he knew he should be
feeling. The ship lurched again and the sound of gunfire rang
through his ship as Grim unloaded everything he had on the
dragon.

Shade fought against the creature trying to
throw enough power into his ship to break away from its attack, but
even as he was trying to save them from the dragon he was scanning
the ground below them for where they would crash. He could hear the
wind roaring through the back of the ship and he knew his right
wing was gone. They were going down. The only decision he had left
to make was wear they would hit, and none of his options looked
good.

The strangled cry of tearing metal echoed
through Shade as he finally managed to break free of the dragon at
the expense of his hull. He didn’t have to glance back to see the
raking claw marks that tore through the roof of his ship. He was so
linked with
The Shade
he could feel them as if they were
marks gouged into his own flesh. Gazing downward Shade scanned the
rapidly approaching coast line then pulled hard on the controls
forcing his ship to the side without any warning. To his amazement
the ship responded perfectly despite the heavy damage and Shade had
a moment’s satisfaction as he imagined his ship as hungry for
revenge as he was and then the force of the impact forced the
thought away as they collided with the blue dragon that had ended
their fight.

“If I’m going, you are going.” Shade hissed
as he poured most of his remaining power into his ship and rammed
the dragon once more. There was a satisfying snap as the bracket on
the left side of his ship gave with the impact followed by the
agonized roar of the dragon as the Barllen Shade had just rammed
into its side began to do its bitter work. He had often wondered
how much of a Dragon’s flight was dependent on magic, and judging
by how the creature was faltering now, it was a good portion.

“Good luck, Jala.” Shade whispered as he
turned his full attention to the stretch of rock strewn shoreline
that was growing larger by the second. He did his best to guide the
Spell Hawk toward the narrow stretch of sand, but he had sacrificed
most of the control of his ship in his final attack against the
dragon. He felt Grim’s hand seize his wrist and smiled sadly as he
met the Priest’s eyes briefly before dumping the remainder of his
power into his last attempt to save his friends.

The ship screamed in protest and twisted in
the air a breath before it slammed into the sand. Blood filled
Shade’s mouth as his teeth slammed together with the impact. The
ship skidded sideways throwing sand into a blinding wave that
nearly obscured the black rocks looming ahead of them. In the last
moments of flight Shade had realized there was no avoiding the
rocks and so he had poured every ounce of his power into turning
the ship. It would be his side that suffered the brunt of impact
and if Fortune was still smiling Charm was on the same side of the
ship as Grim and they would both have a chance at living.

* * *

Shards of dull grey metal littered the rock
strewn shore barely beyond the reach of the grasping waves.
Kneeling Exodus plucked one of the smaller pieces from the sand and
turned it over in her delicate fingers as she somberly considered
the remains of the Spell hawk that lay crumpled against the rocks.
She had poured her strength into the ship the moment Shade had
broken away from the dragon, and he had spent the breath of
mobility she had given the battered ship to bring down the dragon
that had ended his fight. She had tried to grant Shade another
chance at life in the only way she knew how given the
circumstances, and he had taken her gift and thrown it back in her
face.

With a heavy sigh Exodus tucked the metal
shard into one of the pouches lining her belt and carefully picked
her way across the rocks to the ship. With a heavy heart she slid
through one of the gaping sides of the ship fully expecting to find
mangled corpses inside. It seemed too much to hope that anyone had
survived the devastating crash.

Her eyes lit on Charm first and hope bloomed
in her as she noticed the faint rise of his chest, before movement
in the front of the ship drew her attention to Grim who was lying
half sprawled in the floor struggling to rise. Blood soaked his
left side and Exodus felt a moment’s panic as she realized that it
couldn’t be his blood. Grim had no visible wounds large enough to
account for that much.

Her eyes moved instantly to the crushed left
side of the ship, but she couldn’t see Shade from where she stood.
Moving silently through the debris Exodus advanced and had to
stifle a cry as she spotted a pale hand dangling from the pilot’s
seat with a steady stream of blood flowing down it to pool on the
floor. Her panic rose as she drew close enough to see Shade fully
and her eyes lingered on the jagged length of metal that protruding
from his stomach pinning him to his seat. The left side of his face
was blood soaked from a deep gash across his brow and from what she
could tell his arm was entirely crushed.

Her heart sank in her chest as she took
another step closer then froze as she noticed the blood bubbling on
his lips. Moving swiftly she crossed to Shade’s side taking care to
avoid Grim’s feeble attempts to rise. The Shifter was barely
conscious and she doubted Grim even knew she was on the ship, but
he wasn’t her concern at the present. Shade was, and if the blood
was bubbling on his mouth it meant he was still breathing.
Desperately she pressed her fingers against the side of his throat
and felt her spirits soar as she caught the faint erratic beat of
his pulse.

“
Nix bring me a body quickly. I don’t care
what it looks like or who it is as long as it’s human
.” Exodus
commanded sending the mental thought to her servant like a
thunderclap that couldn’t be ignored.

Her mind raced as Exodus quickly sketched out
her plan and she smiled at the sheer genius of it. Nimbly she
dipped her fingers into her pouch and drew out a slender white
vial. She frowned as she considered the dust inside then glanced
down at Grim and sighed. The powder was expensive, but there was no
help for it. What she was doing had to be done in utmost secrecy
with no witnesses beyond herself and Nix. Quickly she unscrewed the
cap from the vial and dumped a small portion into her hand and
impatiently waited for Grim to attempt to struggle blindly to his
feet once more before she threw the powder in his face. His body
sagged as the Dreamdust worked its magic and she moved hastily back
to Charm to dust him lightly as well. Judging by the knot on the
side of the rogue’s head she doubted he would have woken
regardless, but figured it was better safe than sorry.

“May I ask why you are wasting Dreamdust on
unconscious men and why exactly you needed this?” Nix asked as he
dropped a limp body to the ground before her.

“Help me get Shade out of his seat.” Exodus
commanded without bothering to answer either of his questions. She
didn’t have time to explain if she was going to save Shade’s life.
“Sorry Rose. She murmured as she tossed a handful of dust into
Shade’s face and used her power to steal a portion of Rose’s talent
with healing. There were times when it truly paid to be the Aspect
of thieves she mused with an impish grin. Other Aspects were
limited with their powers, but her gift for borrowing made her
talents endless.

“I think he will die if we try to remove
that. Maybe we should get help.” Nix’s voice was filled with
caution as he pointed at the jagged metal and tried to pull Exodus
back.

“No one but us can know about this.” Exodus
hissed as she used the stolen gift of healing on Shade and pried
the metal from his gut. An incoherent groan rose from the man as
she half drug Shade from his seat. “Help me damn it!” she snapped
at Nix and he quickly sprang to obey.

Awkwardly they maneuvered Shade back to the
rear of the ship and lowered him gently to the floor beside the
corpse. Exodus glanced between the two bodies and realized glumly
that the dead man was actually in better condition than Shade with
the exception that Shade was still somehow managing to breathe.

“I’d likely be more help if I knew what we
were doing.” Nix observed dryly then frowned as he noticed Exodus
hurriedly unbuttoning Shades bloody shirt. “Have you developed some
fetishes that I don’t want to know about?” he asked cautiously.

Exodus paused in her work long enough to give
him a withering glare then motioned toward the dead man he had
brought at her request. “Strip him.” She commanded before returning
to her own task of removing Shade’s clothes.

“This man died in the prison riots. He was a
prisoner for the Aspects only know how long. I do not think there
is enough gold in the entire city of Sanctuary to get me to strip
him.” Nix informed her haughtily.

“I will assign you to protect Fidelity for
the next three moons if you do not do as I ask right this moment.
You have your choice, take five minutes to strip a filthy dead man
or listen to Fidelity croon love songs for a season.” Exodus
returned distractedly as she pulled Shade’s shirt off and tossed it
to the side. She smiled at Nix’s angry curse and glanced over to
see him scowling like a demon but following her orders
nonetheless.

Within minutes she had Shade freed of his
clothing and frowned as she examined the extensive damage to his
body. His regeneration was trying to heal him, but if his limbs
weren’t straightened soon he would be crippled in most of his left
side.

Grabbing Shade’s torn bloody clothes she
threw them at Nix and pointed at the naked dead man at his feet.
“Now dress him in Shade’s clothes.” Exodus commanded as she dropped
to her knee beside Shade and gently touched the side of his
head.

“Why?” Nix demanded and Exodus could hear the
stubbornness in his voice. With a sigh she met Nix’s eyes and
realized she was going to have to explain what she was doing or Nix
would argue through the entire process.

“Because in order for Shade Morcaillo to
live. He must die.” Exodus informed him calmly and smiled at the
confusion that lit Nix’s handsome face. “He has too many enemies
and too many crimes to his name. This crash provides the perfect
opportunity. I will hide him where no one will ever find him, right
under their noses. No one knew he had company on this ship, and
even if Grim would leave a helpless stranger to fend for
themselves, Charm wouldn’t.”

“Are you certain this is what Finn meant?”
Nix asked with obvious hesitation. The expression on his face was
doubtful as he stared down at Shade’s broken body then glanced back
to her.