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Shutting her eyes, she thought it over. It would make her life a lot easier—namely because she’d be dead. Mordred’s commitment to seeing the demon gone was a death sentence for her, simple as that. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I will not stop asking.”
“I know.”
“Come, firefly. There is much more to show you.”
She should be happy to be outside and out of her cell or her room. She should be loving going for a stroll with Mordred while Eod ran about and sniffed every new thing and barked greetings at several of his guards.
But it was hard to enjoy anything when she knew that the sound of birds and the whisper of the wind would soon become the screams of the dying and injured, and the sounds of clanking armor would be replaced with the clash of weapons and cleaving flesh.
There was a twist in her stomach that made her want to be sick. She wasn’t cut out for this shit—but it didn’t matter. She was smack in the middle of it anyway.This sucks.It wasn’t an eloquent way to express her feelings. But it was all she had at the moment.
This really sucks.
* * *
Lancelot sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. He knew what he was getting into, trying to raise an army of elementals. It was the only option for defeating Mordred. It wasn’t like he could just summon an army out of thin air in any other way. He wasn’t nearly strong enough.
But damn it if the process wasn’t going to drive himinsane.
The bickering.
Dear God, the bickering.
Enin and Zoe stood beside him, both of them having just as little patience for the mayhem that was going on in front of them. Four elementals of water were all shouting at each other about whether or not they should join his force to take down Mordred.
So far, it was an even split, two against two. The real issue was that two of the water elementals were twins, and they did everything together. And they were currently divided in opinions.
“Enough!” Lancelot couldn’t take it anymore. “Enough. Please. Spare my aching head.”
The four elementals glared at him.
“I seek the continued freedom of all of us. I was placed in that Crystal the same as you. Stand with me or leave, I do not care. To stay idle is to stand withhim.”
“Why do you think we will succeed now, when we failed before?” A man with the lower body of an octopus sneered.
“He has grown weak over the past three hundred years.” Lancelot shook his head. “And you have allies now that you did not have before.”
“You?” the air elemental scoffed.
“Yes. And one other. The demon Grinn.”
All four elementals grimaced in unison. One of them, a woman, swore in some ancient foreign tongue that Lancelot did not recognize, though he didn’t need to understand the words to get the drift.
“I know, I know. I hate it as well.” Lancelot sighed. “But we have no choice. Our first step should be to defeat Mordred. Then, we can contend with the demon. But he was a prisoner like you, all those years—the first to go into the Crystal. Perhaps he has changed his ways.”
Silence.
All of them burst into laughter.
One of them who had been resistant to the idea tapped her chin. “Perhaps you speak wisely. To stand together now, before Mordred can ready his defenses, might ensure our success. And if we moved together, one elemental of fire would be weak.”
Another elemental shook her head. “No. I shall never side with that demon. Not after what he did. I will stand by your side when his time to die has come. Until then, I shall not join you.”
Lancelot nodded. That was fair. Three out of four was not bad work. Slowly, but surely, his army was growing. But he knew time was of the essence. “We must move quickly. The longer we wait, the more he will be ready for us. Meet us at the keep in one week. Five days at dawn.”
The elementals disappeared or flew off into the sky, leaving Zoe and Enin behind.
