Page 22 of To Love a Dark Lord

The scarecrow shook his head. After a long pause, he broke his silence. “Any survivors have run, I’m sure.”

“What do you think happened?” Mirkon hugged Lina to his side by draping an arm around her shoulders. The simple gesture made Gwen miss Mordred dearly. He’d know what to do in this situation. He’d have something to say to make it better.

“What always happens. Some elementals fought it out. And we paid the price.” Bert’s shoulders fell. He reached down and picked up a piece of wooden shrapnel from one of the nearby homes. She watched as tension built in him before, with a shout of rage, he hurled the piece of wood away from him. “This has to be stopped. They must be stopped. And it’s clear that bitch Thorn had something to do with this.”

Mirkon pointed to a corpse by one of the buildings. “I think that’s Erreth, a fire elemental there.”

“I’m betting someone didn’t want to join her army.” Gwen sighed. “What about your friends?” She was afraid to ask, but it was why they had come, after all.

Bert sat on the edge of the ruined fountain in the middle of town. It had once depicted a man in armor, but the upper half was now strewn about like a broken toy. “Likely dead. It wouldn’t be like them to stand down. But if we’re lucky, some ran for the woods and survived.”

It felt dirty, using this as an opportunity. But there was one. She had always loved studying history, and nothing rallied the villagers of Boston together better than the perceived massacre of civilians. Running her hands through her hair, she shut her eyes. “We can use this to get more support. More people might be willing to join us if they know what happened here. We’ll split up. Bert, Mirkon, Lina—travel wide and spread the word of this slaughter. I’ll find Mordred on my own. We’re going to lose too much time otherwise, and—and it’s clear we don’t have much, to begin with.”

“You sure you can handle finding him?” Bert sounded wary. “Galahad and Zoe may be your friends for now, but when they learn what you’re up to…they can be dangerous.”

“I know. I’d like to think I can trust them, but I know you’re right.” It was hard to picture Zoe turning on anyone. “I’ll fly there, so I can reach them faster.” If I can figure out how to fly without crashing and burning. Literally. “We’ll meet back at the keep. Mae will love having a whole army to feed.” The thought would have made Gwen laugh if it hadn’t been for the scene around her. Mae would have a fit. But she’d love the challenge.

“Or what’s left of who we can rustle up. But, yes, ma’am.” Bert stood. “I’ll gather as many as I can. See? I knew you were a natural leader.”

She shook her head. She didn’t feel like one.

Eod barked.

“Sorry, puppo—I can’t take you with me on this one.” She knelt and scratched his ears. “You have to go with Bert.”

“Straw man smells funny.”

“I know.” She smiled and kept petting him. “But I have to go alone. I’ll be back soon, I promise. And I’ll have Dad with me.” Or neither of us will come back. The thought of that broke her heart. Of Eod waiting for them. No, she had to make sure that didn’t happen.

“Okay.” He licked her face, half-heartedly wagging his tail.

She didn’t know what it said about her that she was going to fight to the death to make sure her dog wasn’t sad, but there it was. “It’ll only be for a few days, tops. I promise.” She kissed his head. She unfurled her wings, glancing at them. “Now, I have to figure out how to use these things.”

“I can’t wait to see this.” Bert brushed his gloves off on his overalls. “We’ll meet back at the keep in two days. If you don’t come back by then, we’re coming to find you.”

She didn’t need to tell him how dangerous that would be. Nodding, she patted Eod on the head one last time before she realized she had forgotten one really important thing. “Do you have any idea where Zoe and Galahad are?”

Bert laughed at that, despite the tragedy. “There is a lake just south of the mountain, next to the glade that seems to always be blossoming with flowers. Look for a small house to the side of the lake.”

“Lady of the Lake. Naturally.” She rolled her eyes. “Thanks. I—I’ll do what I can. Be safe.”

“You as well.”

Gwen stared at her wings for a moment again. Maybe a running start? She tried to remember how Tiny flew. He generally just…pushed off with his legs, flapped his wings, and off he went.

Running start it was.

Don’t overthink it, Gwen. Don’t overthink. Just let instinct take over. You have wings—they’ll know what to do. Taking a deep breath, she figured it was now or never. She took off running away from her friends, and spreading her wings, beat them as hard as she could.

She jumped as she flapped her wings.

It wasn’t a graceful takeoff.

Not by any stretch.

She could hear her friends laughing, but she didn’t blame them. She probably looked like a baby seagull. A drunken baby seagull. But she was flying! It was a lot easier to stay aloft once she had some distance between her and the ground. The heat from the fires beneath her created an updraft that sent her circling higher.

She could hear Eod barking joyfully, and she resisted the urge to flip off her friends who were all clapping for her. It was well-meaning teasing.

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