บท 72: Chapter 72: Return to Abandonnado Island

Garnet POV

Garnet gasped, quaking in her boots.

It wasn't because she was standing on Abandonnado Island on the moonlit battlefield littered with wolves and human soldiers where she'd fought the rogues.

It wasn't because she could smell the blood and despair so strongly she wanted to throw up.

It wasn't even because the cursed tower loomed above them like a menacing lance.

It wasn't because she thought of Ravyn and Jude being trapped in that awful place after their life together had just begun.

No, her shudders came from her twin Cyran's urgent voice in her mind.

"I've found out that Melisande Bracknell, who's with Patch and the others on that human island, is Hades!"

Gasping, Garnet nearly fell. Her mate held her in place, and his love surrounded her. "What is it?" His musical voice was filled with anxiety.

"Cyran … he says that Melisande and Hades are one and the same."

Jiro inhaled sharply. "This is confirmed?"

"You doubt his word after everything?"

Jiro paused to think about it. "No. I'm just surprised that he sensed it."

Her breath came out in hard puffs. "I'm not. Cyran felt as if he was still connected to Hades … though he wondered if he was imagining it."

"I trust your brother's psychic senses every time where Hades is concerned." Jiro nuzzled her gently. "If Hades is Melisande … we'll capture her."

Garnet listened to Cyran's voice, and Jiro's eyes widened as he heard it through the bond.

Cyran continued. "Hades and the Dark Goddess are locked in a battle to the death. She'll kill Melisande's body if Hades doesn't submit to her."

Although Garnet didn't shed any tears, she grasped the implication immediately. "We've got to get to her right away." she said.

Lindrat seemed to sense the energy buzzing between Jiro and Garnet, and she perched protectively on Garnet's shoulder. Cornelius spat on the ground, revolted by the bloodshed on the battlefield. He galloped for the tower, with the mages, the soldiers, and King Odo following. Lance-Captain D'Azur and Commander Vallauris each had their twin swords out, flashing in the moonlight.

Jiro agreed with Garnet's statement. "If Dane and the others don't know already, we need to–"

A familiar howl pierced the stillness of the night.

Jiro cocked his head, his red eyes shining in the dark. "That's Jude! He's in trouble. He and Dane and Bram!"

"Yes, I can hear them just as clearly as you can," Garnet told him, moving fast and picking her way across the battlefield with fluid grace.

As she ran, she thought, "Cyran, we'll talk later. We have a problem with the rogues."

"Watch your tail." His love and concern flooded her through the link.

A flicker of movement to her left. The smell of wolves approaching. "Rogues," she growled. "I can smell their mangy, magical-boosted hides."

Her ears stood up, responding to a wave of magical energy from the mages as they fought the rogues. The king's battle cry rang out. With a warm wave of respect, she hoped that King Odo stayed safe. She already liked him, and she couldn't wait for him and Queen Giselberthe to welcome Ravyn and Jude, since Ravyn had met the queen before.

Several rogues loped out onto the battlefield, right towards the king. Garnet shifted, and so did Jiro. They charged at the rogues, their long legs eating up the distance between them and the rogues, whose eyes glowed with an unnatural light.

One of the rogues slammed into Jiro and they wrestled.

Pain stabbed through Garnet. Jiro had been hit! Snarling, she lunged at the attacker, but another rogue blocked her path.

She howled with love and pain, seeking her mate.

* * * * *

Jiro POV

The blasted rogue bit him on the ear!

The pain mushroomed, exploding outward. His legs shook, and he slid, barely managing to stay upright.

Heat spread through him. A consuming fire like he'd never felt before. His eyes glazed over, his brain becoming foggy. Desperately, he scrambled to hold onto his thoughts. Panting, he tried Roslynn Rossa's meditation techniques, repeating some of the ancient mantras in his mind to focus and concentrate.

The trouble was, he heard a POP.

His muscles grew and expanded. Shudders went through his lean and elegant body, and he could feel himself getting BIGGER. Like Dane and Kyon. His vision cleared, and he could spot the moss on the tower across the battlefield.

A wild thought struck his brain.

Could whatever Hades did to the rogues be contagious? Had the wolf's bite turned him into some sort of super-wolf?

Oh no! He would NOT become a mindless slave to Hades and the Dark Goddess. He reached out in his mind and begged the Moon Goddess to spare him and his family that terrible fate.

Calm washed over him and the goddess whispered in his mind, reassuring him. The Moon Goddess' voice was hypnotic. "You won't become a creature of darkness. RESIST! Fight. You are a warrior. The rogues may have marked you, but they can't touch you."

"Riddles?"

His voice was a pained snarl. He should be used to riddles by now because of listening to Tulaska and Roslynn, as well as the witches and wizards, all these years. Why was he so irritable? Oh, right … he'd just been bitten by a magic-crazed super-rogue.

"Calm your temper, my child," the Moon Goddess said softly. "The darkness feeds on your anger. Stand strong and take a moment to center yourself, just as you've been doing. Relax and do not, under any circumstances, be afraid."

Calm. Relax. Don't be afraid. Center himself. With the world tearing itself to bits around him, no less!

He had to trust the goddess. She'd never steered him wrong.

After several slow, deep breaths, he felt the dark, poisonous fire in his blood fade away, replaced by a surge of light and love. His body trembled with awe and reverence. Somehow, the goddess had protected him from becoming one of the rogues driven by anger and hate.

"JIRO," Garnet cried out.

Her nose poked him, and she felt his body with her paw, sniffing him all the while. Disbelief reigned as she examined him.

"You're as big as Kyon or Dane now," she said in astonishment.

"I know. I guess that growth spurt Mom always talked about finally came."

She huffed. "You still have your sense of humor, after worrying me to death!"

"I had you to protect me while I got my footing, sweetheart."

The king's testy voice reached them. "If the pair of you are done nuzzling, these rogues are deucedly persistent!"

Jiro snorted through his nose. "And here I thought Dane was a taskmaster."

"Funny, Odo sounds just like you!"

"Hmmm. I suppose he does. We can explore my new abilities and physique later, but now is not the time!"

Muscles pumping with energy, Jiro and Garnet turned and attacked a pair of rogues that leapt on them. Jiro's nose couldn't smell how many enemies remained. He'd heard several falling as the mages' spells and the king's swords did heavy damage, but he could still smell many more rogues.

Even with his new bulked-up body, he knew this was going to be a long battle and would require strategy. "Garnet, I think the mages could use a shifter witch about now," he suggested through the mind-link, grunting as a rogue's claws grazed his side.

"And leave them to pile on top of you?"

"One word: Levitation."

He felt Garnet shift, and moments later, the rogue in front of him rose in the air with a terrified squeak. Jiro grinned in satisfaction.

He faced two rogues directly ahead of him, so close he could smell that they hadn't taken a bath in two days. He prepared to leap on them, to smother them beneath his heavier body…

And suddenly, they collapsed in front of him, lying stunned. The perfume of a sleep spell lingered in the air. Jiro backed away, then shifted back to human form to get a view from a different perspective.

Bodies stacked up on the battlefield, with stunned and sleeping rogues lying on top of those who were sleeping permanently. But Jiro's attention was on the magnificent robed witch who stood before them, surrounded by blood and death.

Ravyn and Jude smiled in quiet joy at the sight of Jiro and Garnet. Jude cleared his throat. "Care to explain how your wolf has filled out since I last saw you and your human form still looks the same? And why are there HUMANS fighting beside you? Just wait until Dane, Lilia, and the others see you!"

Jiro and Garnet made their way across the battlefield as fast as they could, hugging Ravyn and Jude with all their strength. Explanations could wait for now.

Their family was safe.