Page 83 of Broken Veil
Carys heard a voice behind her. “What in all the worlds…”
She turned and saw Lachlan had come to a halt, staring down at the leather armor that suddenly covered his body. In his hand was a bronze sword, and it gleamed with low gold light.
Duncan was beside him, clad in similar armor, an axe in his hands, and Cadell wore his leather dragon-skin armor and stared into the trees, his golden eyes fixed on something in the distance as the red glow of fire burned at his throat.
Naida appeared to be curled up and sleeping, nestled in the roots of an oak tree that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Laura had her hands out, whispering to the air as the world around them grew green and verdant with violent speed.
“Youngling.” A deep voice sounded from the trees, and a cracking sound reached Carys’s ears. A heavy thunk. Then another thunk. “Little brother, you have come to visit.”
Carys blinked, rubbing her eyes with her right hand as Angus kept her left firmly in his grasp. “What’s happening?”
“Pocket world,” Angus whispered. “Father of the Green, I bring a hero to your forest.”
Thunk.
Creak.
Thunk.
The ground shook beneath her feet, and birds flew from the trees in a torrent of flapping wings.
Emerging from the trees was a creature as massive and as tall as Cadell, but unlike the sleek leather that covered her dragon in human form, this being was clad in leaves and vines.
His legs grew like thick pine trunks, and his body was covered in ivy.
His face was made of bark and flowers, and moss grew from his head, twisting with the vines that wound around his torso.
He was the Green Man, the Woodwose. A pagan folk figure.
Carys had little doubt this “Father of the Green” was far more than a druid. He was a deity and a very old one.
“Who comes to my woods?” The voice wasn’t angry, but it was low, rumbling, and curious. “I see a dragon, a knight, and a smith before me.”
“Jack of the Woods.” Angus took Carys’s hand and lifted it over her head. “Here stands a hero in need of your help.”
“A hero?” The creature turned his head from the three men and peered down at Carys with wide eyes as green as the leaves that sprouted from his shoulders. “This one does not look like a hero.”
Carys felt words catch in her throat. “I… I?—”
“Maybe not,” Angus said. “But she is the one the horse goddess has chosen.”
“Oh… Very well,” His voice scraped over Carys like gravel over stone as he cocked his head and peered at her. “A hero must pass a test.”
The Green Man drew a stone sword from his body, and the next step he took, the ground shook again. “Face me, hero. If you best me in a duel, I will help you on your quest.”
Carys’s eyes went wide when she saw the sword, which had to be at least as tall as she was. “Angus, I can’t fight?—”
“I will stand for her.” Lachlan stepped toward the Green Man. “I am her champion.”
The Green Man inclined his head and raised his sword. “Very well, Knight. We fight.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Lachlan, no!” Carys shouted, but it was too late.
The prince had lunged forward into a circle of light that illuminated the center of the clearing, going on immediate offense as his bronze sword clashed against stone.
“What are you doing?” Duncan shouted as he lunged forward.
