A wall of shadows rose from the earth to sway between them and the giant.
“Cole, don’t,” Lexi said.
“Your future queen is more reasonable than you,” the giant said. “Perhaps she would be better without the dark fae at her side.”
“Don’t threaten him,” Lexi said. “We’re here to help, and we won’t carry grudges. You have to understand why we’re fighting the Lord, and I understand why you can’t. We’ll leave now.”
“Go in peace. The next time we see each other, it will be at war,” the giant replied.
Cole held Lexi against his side as he opened a portal. He didn’t dare lower the shadows between him and the giant as they entered the portal and headed to Drumbledon, the dwarves’ realm.
It wasn’t until they stepped free of the portal and into the burnt-out remains of Drumbledon that he retracted the shadows back into him. He shut the portal.
CHAPTERFIFTY-FOUR
“It’s about fucking time,”a grumpy dwarf with something similar to an English accent, a thick, grayish-brown beard that hung to his chest, bulbous nose, and bald head greeted them as soon as they exited the portal.
The man lowered his battle-ax from his shoulder before planting the metal bottom into the earth. The honed edge of his battle-ax glinted in the fires still burning behind him. His hazel eyes glittered with irritation as his grumpy face contorted into a scowl.
At nearly five feet tall, he was taller than most dwarves. He was also a little more rotund than many of the others Cole had met as his coarse green shirt pulled up to reveal the bottom of his belly.
“We’ve been waiting days for you,” the man grunted as he rubbed his beard.
Then he lifted his ax and pointed it around him. Broken and burnt bodies of dwarves, cows, sheep, and other creatures littered the ground.
The fronts of the small homes the dwarves built into the surrounding mountains still smoldered. Some of the homes went pretty deep into the mountains and probably remained standing, but they couldn’t enter them.
“As you can see, the Lord arrived before you,” the dwarf stated.
Lexi stared at the carnage in horror. “How many did he kill?”
“Not as many as he would have liked,” the dwarf retorted. “It’s not so easy to burn our homes, and since we suspected he would come, many of us had retreated to where we now wait for your late asses to arrive.”
“Watch it,” Cole warned.
“Or what? You need us.”
“You need us too. And I won’t tolerate anyone talking to us like that; do you understand?”
The dwarf grunted, and his lips pursed, but he refrained from instigating the argument. “Some chose to remain behind and, as you can see, did not escape the Lord’s wrath.”
“I’m sorry,” Lexi whispered.
The dwarf assessed her. “After it was over, I was sent back to wait for you to arrive.”
“And what are you waiting for?” Cole inquired.
The dwarf thumped the bottom of his ax on the ground. “I’m waiting to help build an army, or I hope I am. Now, if you’ll please follow me.”
“Where are we going?” Cole inquired.
He doubted the dwarves would help the Lord, especially not after he destroyed their realm, but he wasn’t taking any chances with Lexi’s life.
“To the realm where we reside now,” the dwarf said.
“I’m sure you’ll understand that after you open the portal, I’m going to check out what’s on the other side before taking her into it. If this is a trap, I’ll tear you apart piece by piece.”
Lexi winced at his words, but the dwarf shrugged as he spoke. “Have it your way, you overly suspicious bastard.”
