Page 6 of Moonlit Guardians

Dales of Arborel

I pace through the tent as Dragan and Baron fill me in on what I missed while searching for Eilish. The tracker seems to be some sort of seer, for he was able to deduce the exact moment my companions would step out of the portal and into Arborel.

It’s been many years since I’ve visited the home of Queen Ivana. The Amazon warrior is skilled at keeping her tribe safe in their forest, that much is sure. She sits nearby with her consort Lydia.

“And the Incubus King?” the queen asks. “How can you be certain he’s dead?”

“We can’t be certain,” Pyre replies. “But we each watched Eilish sever his head from his body.”

“You can’t get much more dead than that,” Baron grumbles.

“You would be surprised,” Pyre says as he turns to face his friend. Then he moves his attention to the Amazon queen once again. He opens his robes and points to a long scar that runs from his left shoulder to his right hip bone. It’s difficult to see behind the black tattoo ink that covers the expanse of his chest. “I got this while fighting the Incubus King many years earlier,” he says and motions to the scar. “I killed him that day as well, yet he still lived. While the rest of us regain our strength, I ask that Cambion be permitted to take his party and a few of your Amazons to the caves to make certain the Incubus King… remains dead.”

Queen Ivana nods. “Go,” she orders her people and me. “And kill every nasty beast that lives there. It would be best to rid the Delendren Glade of the goblins as well. Take Lydia and her company.”

Lydia bows her head and reaches for the longbow beside her. I follow the queen’s consort to the heart of the camp, where seven Amazons await their leader. Their language is one that sounds harsh to my ears, but I still hear the fae roots beneath the sharp consonants and the drawn-out vowels.

Eilish lifts her head when she sees me, climbing to her feet before she approaches me.

“Cambion,” she says.

“Are you okay?” I ask as she wraps her arms around my waist. I pull her in even closer and inhale, needing to smell her, to feel her. God, I don’t know how I managed to go so long denying myself this.

She presses her forehead against my chest and sighs. I feel Dragan and Baron’s eyes on me, but they aren’t filled with as much hatred as I recall. Perhaps their time with Theren has changed their opinions of me somehow? Or perhaps they realize Eilish needs me as much as she needs them?

“I should have told you I was leaving,” she whispers.

“What’s done is done,” I say as I tilt her chin up and brush away the tear that slides down her cheek.

“Please be careful,” she whispers.

I lean down and kiss her again. “I promise.”

She steps back, and I drop my arms from around her, watching as she turns to leave. Already I feel the heavy burden in my heart. She killed her father and now I’m the one who must see to it that he’s truly dead.

“Your hair is now completely white,” Dragan says to her as he looks over her head at me. Then he glances at Baron.

Baron narrows his eyes at Eilish and then at me. “Then that means,” he starts but doesn’t finish.

I don’t respond and I don’t wait for a response. Instead, I turn to face Lydia who meets me at the portal and instantly I’m struck by the cold breeze that wafts toward me. We venturethrough and into the cave but a few meters away. The stench is strong at the entrance, and we follow a long, twisting tunnel into the main chamber. There’s no beastly body lying at the center of the chasm as they described, but one that resembles a fae male with the horns of a demon.

Yes, this is the face Maeline Fulthain fell in love with. The beautiful seducer, the manifestation of every woman’s dreams. Even standing over his head, I’m envious of his stunning beauty. It makes perfect sense as to why Eilish is so charmingly lovely. For as crazy as her father became, he was easily the most exquisite of men.

“Take the head and the body. You can’t burn an incubus or a succubus,” I say.

“Then how do we make sure he’s dead?” Lydia asks.

“We must keep him from healing. It will take quite a bit of my magic, but I can do it. Focus on the goblins. We’ll meet at the portal.” I cast a spell to levitate the head and body before I walk toward the tunnel once more.

I stop just shy of the opening, as something strange catches my eye. Touching the wall gingerly, I adjust my vision. The name ‘Maeline’ has been carved into the wall thousands—if not millions—of times. The letters aren’t carved in the same script as the runes that mark the days the Incubus King has lived here. No. Someone put them on this wall to taunt him, torturing him with the name of his beloved until it drove him mad.

This isn’t Variant or Morrigan’s doing, nor is it my brother’s. I suspect the Cockatrice is responsible for it, which means Abedon is responsible.

The body and the head float out of the cave behind me as I walk to the lake and peel off my tunic. My hands make fast work with the buckles of my belt and my trousers fall to the snow. The wind slices against my skin like a hundred tiny knives. I walk into the water until it reaches my hips. Then I turn around andbeckon the body of Eilish’s father closer. I take hold of his head, then, with a deep breath, I dive into the freezing water.

My muscles ache and my chest tightens as I reach the bottom of the crater. I cast a light that hovers above my head, shining a ghostly glow on clusters of grasses longer than I am tall. I draw images within the water and a dome of crystal begins to form around me and the body of the Incubus King. Water seeps from the quartz cast, leaving behind a bubble of air that surrounds me.

“There may have been a time when you weren’t the monster you’re perceived to be,” I say to the body. “I can’t imagine an angel loving such a creature. But you turned us away when we came to you for help in the Great War,” I tell the corpse that hovers beside me. Of course it doesn’t respond.

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