The Witch and the Dragon - Beta

Chapter Seventeen

"All right." Alannah ran her free hand through her sweat-tangled hair. "Let's go back a bit. I appreciate that the Fae are annoying, and they might even deserve being taken down a peg or two, but why, exactly, do you want to go to war?"

"I don't want to go to war," he said, quickly. "Of course I don't. But they left me no choice."

"Because...." Alannah circled her hand in the universal gesture that meant get to the point.

"Because-" The warlock hissed out a breath. "Because they took someone from me."

"They took someone?" Dameon's gaze flickered to Alannah. "Who did they take?"

Geoff yapped and Elliott took a careful step away. "What is that thing?" he asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Don't know," Alannah replied. "We thought he was yours. Seems to like you," she added as Geoff wagged his tail, staring beseechingly up at the mage.

"Never seen it before in my life," said the warlock and, bizarrely, Geoff's ears drooped. Alannah narrowed her eyes and that flutter of an idea came back.

"Who did they take?" asked Dameon again.

Elliott winced. "My husband."

"How?"

"I don't know." He clenched his fists and the ghostly fingers of his magic touched her spine. "That's why I'm burning down their trees and their goddamn mushrooms. They kidnapped my husband and they won't give him back."

"Why does this not surprise me?" said Dameon, exasperated.

"That would fit with their normal behaviour." But something still seemed odd. "How do you know the Fae took him?"

"Only sidhe tree spirits live in this forest," said Elliott. "They were the only ones who could have done it."

"Wait a minute." Alannah pressed the heels of her hands to her forehead. "You have no evidence? You didn't even see them?"

"Well...," he said, shifting, "not exactly. He went hunting and disappeared. All I found was this." He raised one slender wrist, on which sat a metal bracelet. "It's enchanted against magic," he explained. "It can't be affected by any spell. It belonged to him." His voice broke on the last word.

The bangle was a dark hole in her senses, pushing away every trace of magic. A nullifier. "No," said Alannah, gazing at it. "If he'd been taken into the Fae realm, the bracelet would have gone with him." It would've taken a significant surge of magic to pull the thing off, something like a disassociation spell, or a - She glanced again at Geoff. At his thin little legs.

"That was all you found?" Dameon was saying.

"Yes," Elliott replied though gritted teeth. "And they'll pay for it."

"What was his name?" The two men stared at her blankly. "Your husband," she elaborated. "What was your husband's name?"

"Luther," Elliott said.

Geoff yapped.

"So much for my new pet," Alannah muttered.

Dameon raised an eyebrow, side-eyeing her. "What are you talking about?"

She pointed her blade at the creature. "I think that's your husband."

Geoff barked. His rat tail waved ecstatically.

"That thing?" Dameon stared at the monster thoughtfully. "It would explain why he seems domesticated."

"That's impossible." Elliott tugged at a diamond earring dangling from his right lobe. "Unless...."

"It could've been a tree spirit," suggested Alannah, "protecting itself or playing tricks. Unlikely to be a Fae, though. They tend to take ownership of their tricks."

Elliott knelt on the grass. "Luther?" he asked, slowly. "Is... is that really you?"

Geoff stood up on his hind legs and rested his forepaws on the mage's knee. His whole lower half wagged.

"I'm guessing that's a yes," Alannah murmured.

With a smile, Elliott cautiously tousled the patchy fur on the top of the creature's head. "I hope so."

He gave a muttered incantation and the creeping touch of his magic flared. The clearing filled with the crisp scent of mountain air. Geoff's tiny form glowed. In front of their eyes, his body grew, elongated. The glow faded and, in place of the squat, ugly monster Alannah had called Geoff, was a tall, slender man with deep brown skin and closely cropped hair. There was a warrior's elegance in the arch of his eyebrows and the square breadth of his jaw, echoed in the sleek simplicity of his leather boots and his carved vambraces. Wariness tingled through her spine, making her very aware of the sword in her hand.

"Luther," cried Elliott and he fell forward into the man's arms. "Where have you been?"

Luther grinned and circled him with his arms. "I ran into an oak spirit," he replied. "She didn't like that I'd targeted one of her stags, so she turned me into that - that thing."

"Why didn't you come back?"

"I got turned around. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have found my way home at all." And he nodded at Alannah, an acknowledgement among equals.

She relaxed and sheathed her blade. "No problem. Although I'm a little disappointed I won't be able to take you home with me," she said, with a wry grin. Dameon snorted. "There is one thing," she went on. "The Fae are pretty annoyed that you've been burning down their trees - and by annoyed, I mean furious."

"I thought that was you." Luther frowned at Elliott. "You should know better than to anger the aos si, darling."

Elliott threw up his hands. "I thought you'd been kidnapped. I had to do something."

"Incite a war?"

Alannah sensed the beginning of an argument and cut in quickly. "The Fae asked us to deal with you."

Luther's hand went to his hip, but grasped only empty air. "You came here to kill us."

Dameon cocked an eyebrow. "Not you. Just the sorcerer."

"Obviously that's not something we want to do," she said, shooting Dameon a glare. "But they want you out of this forest. I think it's best you leave."

"Leave?" cried Elliott. "But this forest is our home, we can't just-"

Luther put a hand on his arm. "We can make a new home."

"I'm not afraid of them, Luther."

"I know that," he replied. "But I lost you once - I'm not going to risk that again."

Elliott melted. "All right. We'll go. Together."

Alannah slid her gaze away. Dameon was watching them curiously, as though he'd never seen humans in love. He looked curious, vulnerable, and the expression did odd things to the fist of muscle behind her rib cage. "So," she said, and the couple startled, "that's all sorted. You'll leave the forest today."

Elliott nodded. He tangled his fingers with Luther's and a pang of longing shot through her. She ignored it. The sooner she got back to her village, the better. "Yes," he said. "We'll teleport to the edge of the forest and head west. The sidhe won't have to worry about us burning any more trees."

"Good luck to you both."

Luther nodded at her. "Same to you," he replied. "And thank you for not eating me," he added, to Dameon.

The dragon shifted and nodded awkwardly. "Of course."

Luther wrapped his arm around the warlock and tugged him close. Elliott stroked the air one more time, and a second later they were gone.