Catriona continued to snare, split and frustrate the enemy with walls of ice, rock and fire, and the creative use of cacti. Pebbles rained from above, becoming huge boulders on the way down.
Ossian Miach Kaidool often killed two or three with one sword thrust and a swarm of flies summoned by his magic served to protect him, as well as add to the tally of the dead. His team was doing equally well. Most stayed close to him, but Windell was working valiantly to try to keep up with Mandalee. The fact was he couldn’t – no-one could – but that wasn’t going to stop him trying. He seemed to have taken quite a shine to her, and while she was trying to hide it, Mandalee was definitely enjoying the attention.
Of course, there was little to stop Dreya’s ghouls except for other undead creatures. However, Dreya the Dark did not choose just anybody to be her elite guard. When they were alive, before they attacked the sorceress, they had been the most formidable White clerics among the Faery of Ainderbury. Likewise, the knights had been four of the finest in Gaggleswick, decorated by their order many times. That gave them more than an edge even against others of their kind. They were unstoppable.
Each of them used their own unique methods, but one way or another, the result was the same: death to the enemy. Demons by the dozen began to think better of the whole thing, choosing to Descend back to the planes of hell, rather than face oblivion by staying. Overall, the battle began to turn in the allies’ favour, but that was when everything changed.
*****
The gigantic doors to Kullos’ vast fortress opened amid a cacophony of sound. The doors squealed and groaned, and great horns heralded a fresh wave of enemies. These were the elite troops. The ones that were most loyal to Kullos, including humans and Faery that had been protected from that night’s troubles. Michael’s pestilential flies had never penetrated the fortress walls, they had their own independent water supply that was never tainted, and the building was sturdy enough to withstand any storm short of a tornado. Cat had not been prepared to whip up anything that strong for fear of killing the very people she was trying to protect.
Doubtless, Kullos thought this tactical reserve would force Daelen to enter the fray, and every drop of energy he used on lesser forces tipped the odds in Kullos’ favour in the final confrontation.
Thanks to Justaria’s intelligence, it wasn’t going to work because they had a tactical reserve of their own: the Council of Mages, plus knights, warriors and clerics from all over the continent of Elvaria. Imperial Kelna had sent troops from the farthest reaches of Southern Alloria. They were massed and ready, arranged in their efficient, disciplined lines.
Dreya had indicated that she had one more trick up her sleeve but had so far declined to fill in any details.
Cat shifted to falcon form and flew to Dreya’s side. Shifting back, she started using her magic more directly to kill the demons, elementals and hellspawn all around them.
“I think it might be time for this secret plan of yours, Dreya,” she suggested.
“I think you’re right.”
The sorceress’ change of expression was subtle, but Cat knew it well. She called it Dreya’s scheming face.
“You’re still not going to tell me what it is, are you?”
The sorceress smiled. “It’s a gift for you.”
“No offence, Dreya, but now is really not the time for flowers.”
“Oh, this is way better than flowers,” Dreya returned. The sorceress transferred command of her guards to her girlfriend, with one final instruction. “Every single one of you dies before she comes to harm, understood?”
They all saluted, and she teleported to the tunnel, which she used to get out beyond the perimeter of the barrier. She could have drained the power of the shield and torn it down at any time, but she left it alone because it worked in their favour. It was easier for her girlfriend’s magic to contain their enemies and keep her friends and allies from being overwhelmed by numbers. If it were not there, it would be too easy for the enemy to outflank and surround them.
Once outside the barrier, Dreya opened a blue Prismatic Sphere portal, forming a magical tunnel all the way to the Council building in Walminster, where the magically backed army was ready and waiting. Mages with illusion magic expertise entered the portal first, to help disguise the army’s assembly all around the perimeter of Kullos’ barrier. In moments, the enemy forces were going to find themselves surrounded on all sides…including from above.
Dreya didn’t hang around the Council building too long, once she had checked with the White faction leader, Maia, that there was nothing else they needed from her. Maia had been incensed to learn that Kullos was drafting innocent Tempestrians against their will, and the disappearance of Justaria, her Red robe Triumvirate counterpart, had been the last straw. As a White robe, she had not always seen eye to eye with Dreya the Dark, but when she had shared the intelligence gathered by Catriona ‘in the field’, on this issue, they were of one mind: Kullos had declared war on Tempestria and the only correct response was to fight. Leaving the allied army in Maia’s determined and capable hands, Dreya teleported home to the Black Tower. There, waiting for her, was the Black robe leader, Laethyn, along with two purple catlike aliens – the Chetsuans, Jessica and Sara – each with a special surprise for Kullos’ forces.
“Ready?” Dreya asked. They each indicated their agreement. “Then let’s go!”
*****
Despite all the allied efforts and Catriona’s crowd control magic, the arrival of the elite troops had given a definite boost to the enemy. The allies were fighting closer together, now, protecting each other as they fought. Catriona had shifted to the form of a large bear, pounding the enemy all around with great swipes of her forepaws. Daelen was about to intervene himself, but a blue Prismatic Sphere portal opening in the sky above the dome shield gave him reason to pause. Out of that portal came something the shadow warrior had never expected to see on this world: four enormous dragons, each of which had a rider – two Black robe mages and, to his further astonishment, a pair of Chetsuans. The expressions on Sara and Jessica’s faces were, in Daelen’s estimation, about one part terror and two parts exhilaration.
“Now then, dearie, don’t you even think about dropping us,” Jessica threatened her dragon, “or you get a laser bolt right between the eyes!”
“And after what you lot have done to our people,” Sara told hers, “count yourselves lucky we’re not going to do it regardless!”
The dragons bellowed in response and dived to bathe Kullos’ elite troops in fire and fry them with electrical bolts. The two Chetsuans fired their laser weapons, Laethyn attacked with powerful Dark magic, and Dreya shot out deadly dark beam cannon blasts, powered by higher planar energy and blood magic.
The dark sorceress even decided the situation warranted a, “Woohoo!”
Cat, shifting back to her natural shape, scowled and called up, “Stop it! You’re not impressing anyone!”
“Liar!” Mandalee shot back at her.
Cat glanced over and nodded, admitting, “Yeah, you’re right. Who am I kidding?” Gazing up at her girlfriend again, she grinned and admitted, “Seriously, you are amazing!”
Blowing her a kiss, Dreya called down, “This is why I had to slip away, last night. Sorry about that! Had to bring our friends over to play!”
*****
That night, after unlocking Time magic, Cat had been in such a state of exhilaration that she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep straight away. She needed to unwind, and she could think of no more enjoyable way to do that than to make love with Dreya. They’d never been apart this long since they started seeing each other and she’d missed her so much.
Dreya felt just the same and had been delighted when Cat invited her into her tent that night.
“My life’s felt so empty without you,” Dreya murmured softly. “I had to conquer a whole other world just for something to do.”
“Aww,” Cat sympathised, between kisses, as they began to remove each other’s clothes. “Poor thing. It must have been horrid for you.”
“It wasn’t easy, but I got through it,” Dreya replied.
“How do you think I felt?” Cat shot back. “Time moves differently on Earth, so even with your time on Phitonia, I’ve actually been away from you longer than you’ve been away from me.” She frowned. “I think.”
“Yeah, that’s weird, the time thing,” Dreya agreed. “Tried to analyse it with magic, but I couldn’t make heads nor tails of the results.”
“Well, never mind that,” Cat told her. “There’s only one kind of magic I’m interested in right now.”
Dreya pulled away for a moment, teasing her with a mock puzzled look. “And what kind is that?”
“The kind that feels like electric all over my body,” she replied, running her hands over Dreya’s bare skin.
“Correction: The kind that feels like electric all over both our bodies!” insisted Dreya kissing her, full and long, allowing their two magics to mingle along with their bodies.
“That’s it, just like that!” Dreya gasped as Cat began gently caressing the tiny, delicate winglets that grew out of Dreya’s shoulder blades. How could anyone think such beautiful things should be the object of scorn? Come to that, why should Dreya the Dark, who was scared of literally no-one, still feel like she had to hide them away? It wasn’t right, but she didn’t want to spoil the moment by voicing such feelings.
As if responding to some sense of Catriona’s thoughts, Dreya whispered, “The way you touch me…you’re the only person who’s ever made me feel good about my body, that it’s OK to be the way I am.”
Cat looked deep into Dreya’s eyes so she could see her reply held nothing but purest truth. “Dreya, you are beautiful and perfect the way you are. Don’t ever doubt that.”
“That’s what I mean,” insisted the sorceress. “When I’m with you, I never do.”
Catriona gave herself to Dreya then, melting at her touch, wondering how anyone could ever think her cold and unfeeling.
“Hey, I’ve just had a thought,” Dreya spoke up, pausing for a moment. “With our new Guardianship connection, you don’t suppose it means Mandalee can feel everything we feel, do you?”
“Do you want me to go and ask?” Cat asked, mischievously.
“Don’t you dare!”
“Then I suggest we give her a night to remember.”
Dreya grinned. “Now that is a much better idea.”
*****
Later that night, when Catriona had fallen asleep in her arms, Dreya gently extricated herself, pulled the covers back over her girlfriend and threw on her robes. Stepping out into the cold night air, she opened a Prismatic Sphere portal directly to Daelen’s base on Phitonia. There she met up with Sara and Jessica who greeted her, warmly.
“Thanks so much for this, Dreya,” Sara smiled.
“What for? I didn’t do anything,” the sorceress objected.
“Yeah, you did, love,” Jessica insisted. “It never would have occurred to us that it was safe to come here, if not for you.”
What Dreya had realised, from her time in three of Daelen’s facilities on different worlds, was that the shadow warrior had changed the perception filter that surrounded them. Rather than simply hide what was within, each one was now a barrier, cutting them off from the rest of that world. That’s what made it safe for the Chetsuan girls to be there. Sara described it as a ‘containment field’. A phrase new to Dreya but it fitted perfectly. This was why Daelen planned to make his last stand against Kullos on his base on StormClaw Island on Tempestria – to help contain the power of Heaven’s Surrender. Effectively, a second line of defence after his Wish barrier. If it could contain all that, then surely, as long as Sara and Jessica remained within its boundaries, there was no way they could infect any other Chetsuans. It wasn’t much – a few acres of land, compared to a whole world – and they still couldn’t interact with any of their people, but surely, Dreya suggested, it was better than nothing.
At first, both girls were thrilled with the idea, but as time had passed, it had become somewhat more bittersweet. There was a whole world out there – their world. A home that could never again be theirs. A world they could only glimpse, never touch. Sara likened it to being stuck in a goldfish bowl. Even so, they still agreed it was definitely better than nothing.
“Well, I’m sorry,” Dreya broached, “but I’m afraid your visit here is at an end.”
“It’s time, then?” Sara inquired, wistfully.
The sorceress nodded. “Are you still OK with the plan, both of you?” she checked. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“We know that, love, but we’ve made our choice, haven’t we, sis?”
“Definitely,” Sara affirmed. “I won’t pretend I’m not nervous about it, but the idea of controlling a dragon, having power over the life of one of the creatures that’s slaughtered our people, does have a certain appeal.”