The Dark Portal (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 3) (39 page)

With a sick feeling in his stomach, he
rushed across the foyer, burst through the front door and strode across the porch, into the overcast afternoon.

Ahead, Garnock was a small black cloud sweeping down the drive.

Jake narrowed his eyes. His pulse pounding, he leaped off the porch steps and went chasing after him.

Alone
.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Keeper of the Unicorns

Garnock could almost taste his victory. Now for the final step in the spell, and then it would be complete. He flew toward the unicorn sanctuary at Plas-y-Fforest, ignoring the twinge of pain when he crossed the threshold, passing over the old, faded-out protective spells.

They might have worked on him a few centuries ago, but not anymore. He felt little more than a sting.

Nothing would stop him now.

As h
e flew up higher to gain a better vantage point from which to search for the unicorn herd, he skimmed the forest just above the treetops, no more than a passing shadow, like the fleeting memory of a bad dream.

But soon he’d be so much more, he thought eagerly. He’d be real again. And, ah,
then
he would finally get the chance to settle some old scores…

There!

Movement among the trees below proved to be the elusive herd.

Garnock swirled lower, unseen, un
sensed by the animals and the two young girls he found keeping watch over them.

The smaller child, a ginger-haired little wisp of a thing with freckles
, was humming to herself and playing with some odd sparkling dust.

A
few yards away, a lovely blonde stood on guard, a little older, though not yet of marriageable age.

Garnock narrowed his eyes.

The white staff she was holding marked her as the Keeper. Garnock smirked. The chit looked too delicate to harm a fly. No, he thought, these two were of no concern to him, but best to make sure there wasn’t anyone else on hand that he should worry about.

From high above, h
e made a quick pass around the edges of the herd to assess the situation and was glad he did, for he also spotted a black-haired woman standing watch, her yellowish-green eyes glowing slightly in the forest twilight, like a cat’s.

She had a fey quality and a tall, sle
nder build like the elven folk—but no, she was human, more or less, he thought, still unsure what she was.

Witch? Shapeshifter, perhaps
? He just hoped she wasn’t a clairvoyant, or she might be able to see him.

Not taking any chances now that he had finally made it to the last step of the spell, he
approached just close enough to use the same spell he had used on the Guardian and froze her where she stood.

The two girls
never even noticed. Satisfied—indeed, gloating a little—Garnock floated closer to the unicorns, studying the animals and choosing his target from out of the herd, like any good predator—lion or wolf.

One colt in particular seemed a little weak.

He homed in on the animal, studying its movements, until the sudden shriek of a tree goblin who had spotted Garnock broke his concentration. He looked over with a low snarl; several small tree goblins scattered up higher into the branches and fled from him.

Unfortunately, when he turned back to look at the colt, he saw that the tree goblin’s cry had drawn the attentio
n of the girls.

He held perfectly still, melting into the shadow of the thick tree trunk beside him.

The girls exchanged a glance and moved a little closer. The magnificent unicorn stallion trotted past, tossing his horned head restlessly, almost sensing something.

Garnock held his breath.

But after a moment, when nothing more happened, the girls shrugged off the tree goblin’s yelp and went back to what they were doing.

The little redhead went back to singing to herself, looking bored with her duties, while the blond
e patrolled along the edges of the herd, staff in hand.

The unicorns grazed a trifle fretfully
around the girls, their pastel-colored tails swinging rhythmically as they swatted away a few straggling summer flies.

Satisfied that the girls were not going to bother him, Garnock
returned his attention to the colt. Grazing, it kicked its hind leg idly at an insect.

This is it,
he thought, his excitement building. It was as good a chance as he could hope to get.

He gathered himself, recalling all those centuries in his tomb. In a few short moments, he would be truly free.

Now!

He launched out from behind the tree and attacked, zooming up to the colt and opening his mouth. Hovering just above the innocent mystical animal, he began drawing in a huge inhalation, pulling the crea
ture’s life-force into himself.

The colt could not see him
, but it knew something was wrong. It let out a frantic whinny and moved to the right and the left, trying to escape, but Garnock followed it each way, siphoning out its life-force until the weakened creature stumbled.

The colt’s anxious mood and clumsy movements startled the herd. As the other unicorns started speeding away, the red-haired girl stopped singing.

“Isabelle, where are you going?”

Having drunk his fill and already reeling with victory, Garnock released the colt from his dark magical hold. But now the young animal was too weakened to run.

Garnock pulled back and turned dazedly, only to find the Keeper running toward the colt, leaping over rocks and logs in her path. She had lost all semblance of a neat young miss and ran like a young barbarian warrior princess, an Amazon of old, wielding her white staff like a spear.

He saw fury in her bright blue eyes—and
Garnock was afraid.

There were few magic
ks on earth like that of an innocent Keeper. Most never even knew how mighty they were until it was too late.

This one
was magnificent…and as much as she terrified him, he was suddenly inspired. What a gift she’d make! An exquisite peace offering to placate a certain devil of his acquaintance who was still waiting to collect a soul from him.

Aye, the debt he owed would be written off as paid if he handed over this bright young beauty in his place.

“Isabelle, what is it? Where are you going?” the little ginger yelled.

“He’s here!” she shouted back rather savagely.

“Where? I don’t see anything!”

“Neither do I, but
I feel him,” she added coldly under her breath, scanning the grove.

Garnock was standing inches away from her, but he was still in spirit form.

She rushed right past him, breathing heavily from her sprint. She glided over to the colt, went down on one knee, and put her graceful arms around it.

He could hear her speaking softly to the creature, comforting it, asking what was wrong, but Garnock quit li
stening as he noticed the Spell of a Hundred Souls starting to take effect now that the final step was completed.

He could feel the most startling change coming over him.
It’s happening! It worked!

The world seemed to be spinning. He felt tingly all over. A wind rushed through the woods with a roaring sound and made the autumn leaves on
the ground scatter and whirl.

The Keeper was still protecting the colt, and the little redhead was running toward the pair, asking Isabelle what was wrong.

Garnock felt giddy and lightheaded as he looked down and saw his body flicker into being, starting to materialize. A real, physical body—flesh and blood!

It did not remain constant yet, but phased in and out of materiality like a distant star.

It felt wonderful.

The first sound out of his newly formed mouth was a shocked, triumphant laugh. He began running his newly made hands all over himself, checking to feel if everything was there. Face, ears, head, arms, legs, feet. All the parts right w
here they should be.

“I’m alive.” He lifted his arms and threw his head back, screaming at the sky in defiance,
“I’m alive!”

Whack!

His shout of victory was short-lived, for in the midst of his rejoicing, he failed to take into account that he was now also visible to the two young ladies.

The Keeper wasted no time in expressing what she though
t of him. Once again, the blonde lifted her staff and swung it at him with all her strength, welcoming him back into the world with a second blow that sent him reeling.

Garnock winced with tears of pain smarting in his eyes, but even though it hurt like the blazes, he couldn’t stop laughing. “Do you know how many centuries it’s been since I could feel physical pain?” he asked aloud—rhetorically—from where he lay laughing on the ground. “I almost welcome it! At least now I’m able to feel something.”

“Good!” The little redhead loomed over him, hands propped on her waist. “Then maybe you’ll like this, too.” She kicked him in the ribs as he started to sit up and sent him sprawling onto his back once again.

Their beating on him ceased to be amusing. He stayed down for a while to make them stop, waiting for his strength to return.

Instead, he lay there balled up on the ground to protect his new innards, reveling in the weight of having a body again after so long, feeling the solid texture of the earth beneath. Having a nose again with which to smell the rich forest moss and autumn leaves!

When they stopped kicking him, h
e just lay there, savoring these simple luxuries and waiting for his full powers to come in. He had known it might take a short while. Most magic wasn’t instantaneous, after all, and in those first few minutes of having his new body, he was as weak as a baby.

But not for long.

He whispered a summoning spell for his ring and it appeared on his finger. With every second, he could feel his strength growing. His heart raced.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the two girls gla
nce at each other in confusion at the way he lay inert.

“Hullo?” The redhead waved her hand before his face.
“Isabelle, did we kill him?”

Garnock played dead to avoid ge
tting cracked in the head again, waiting…

“Why isn’t he getting up?” she whispered.

“I don’t think he can,” the Keeper replied.

“But I didn’t hit him that hard!”

They both leaned closer curiously. And that was their mistake. He opened his eyes to slits. Two young heads were peering down at him with the sky and the trees behind them.

T
he girls looked at each other.

“Something terrible m
ust have happened at the school,” the redhead whispered. “Isabelle, Jake and your brother must’ve failed! Why else would Garnock be here? How did he make it past them? They could be dead for all we know!”

“You mustn’t say that…
”

As the Keeper argued with her companion in low tones, Garnock felt his
full strength rushing back into him, flooding his new body, tingling down every nerve ending.

He had never felt more alive.

The two
girls screamed when he shot his hand out and grasped the Keeper’s wrist.

“Ouch! Let
go of me! It burns!”

“Miss Helena, help!” the redhead shouted into the distance while his blond captive twisted and squirmed
and tried to pull her arm free.

Garnock sat up but simply refused to let go.

“Take your hands off me!”

“Oh, but I have a use for you, my dear.”

“You let her go!” The redhead charged as if she meant to tackle him, but with his free hand, Garnock tossed her into a pile of dead leaves with a casual bolt of magic from his fingertips.