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Silence reigned for about a quarter of a minute, then the Invictus wraiths began to shriek.
Damn that’s loud. Stone covered his ears.
Through the trees, he saw that the boiling gold and smoky-black mist continued to move closer to shore. It was just thin enough that he could make out the shapes of the wraith-pairs moving with it.
Rosamunde once more reported in. Margetta is still in the air centered above the lake and her mastyr vampire pairs appear to be her protection. But her army has almost reached the shoreline. They’ve dipped down to just above the water and are levitating slowly. The Ancient Fae seems to have complete control over her wraith-pairs.
Stone had to agree. Mastyrs, you can break silence now and let the troops know what’s going on. But no advancing until ordered.
He heard Malik and Zane, the mastyrs nearest him, repeat Stone’s orders to stay tight and to wait for the command to engage the enemy.
When he felt the intensity of the enemy’s battlin
g vibration rise in strength, he pathed, Arm up, and almost instantly heard the order repeated.
When a red wind appeared near the black and gold mist, all around the edge of the lake, he shouted and pathed at the same time, “Fire at will!”
Stone swept forward to the lake’s edge, his focus narrowed on the Invictus pairs right in front of him. They didn’t move beyond the thin swirling mist that now contained red, gold and black. It almost looked spidery the closer it came.
Suddenly, he saw streaks of red coming at him. He used his own wall of blue battle energy, typical of mastyr level power, to keep the enemy’s killing vibrations from reaching him. Red and blue sparks struck the air where his shield held.
When he started hearing cries of distress and occasionally a scream up and down the Combined Forces ranks, he kept his shield tight and glanced at the shoreline. Dozens of men had fallen. He heard Seth next to him calling for his men to fall behind his shield.
He watched as any attempt by Seth’s men to pierce Margetta’s battle shield failed to penetrate the mist, leaving them open to attack.
He didn’t hesitate to call out the order for retreat, pathing it at the same time to those mastyrs hundreds of yards down the shoreline. His order spread quickly through the ranks and the troops nearest him disappeared into the forest. He’d trained the Combined Forces well, but the number of wounded and dead at the edge of the water hit him hard.
He moved back as well until the trees gave him cover.
Rosamunde come back to me now. Margetta’s created some kind of mass shield and you and I have to break it or the war will be lost right here on this lake.
A second later, she appeared beside him. I’ve been watching and I agree. I thought the gold-black mist would create a weapon. Instead, she’s using it to shield her troops, protecting them while they fire on your men.
He turned toward her, startled to find she was Aralynn, with her brown eyes and stronger features, and not Rosamunde.
She settled her hand on his shoulder. I should have reminded you that I’m in my wolf-form. The thing is, when I’m Rosamunde I have a significantly better connection to the elf-lord power, which means I’ll need to change back. But Margetta can track me as Rosamunde, so once I return to her form, we’ll have to move fast.
He nodded. Got it.
Movement toward the lake caught his eye. Those Invictus still shielded in black and gold were moving in fast.
I’ll let the mastyrs know what’s happening.
As he pathed to the ruling mastyrs, he felt the earth rumble as it never had before. When he’d let his team know what was going on, he pulled Rosamunde into his arms. The elf-lord power surged through her and into him. There was no way Margetta wouldn’t know they were up to something.
He levitated swiftly, taking her into the air above the trees. Keep channeling, but we’ll need a surge and I mean a big one. Can you manage it?
As long as you’re with me, I can.
As the black and gold mist reached the shoreline, he said, Do it now.
Rosamunde was as good as her word. Power bolted through her, then into him and he sent it away from his body and straight toward Margetta’s shielding mist. It was a stream of energy similar to Rosamunde’s violet wind so that he could watch its progress and his troops could as well. The color was a blend of green and violet, impossible to ignore.
The point of initial impact sent their stream into the black and gold shield, causing an eruption to blast high into the air. A roll of explosions followed, breaking apart the black and gold mist and exposing the Invictus pairs. The troops didn’t need to be told to go after them and a few seconds later, a deadly battle ensued with his men engaging the wraith-pairs in close combat on and near the shore.
Stone held Rosamunde elevated in the air, his gaze moving constantly between Margetta, a hundred yards away surrounded by her mastyr vampire wraith-pairs, and the battle below. He watched as Quinlan and Seth took care of business on the west nearest him and Jude and Malik on the east.
He couldn’t see much beyond their troops, the lake being as large as it was. But he saw the clash of red and blue battle energies everywhere.
