A Warrior's Heart (Shields) (5 page)

Shaken, Jayna put a chair between her and Mina.
 
How did Mina know just what to say to prick the sturdy stone walls she had built around herself?
 
How did Mina know about her pain and fear?
 
About her revenge?

Jayna knew she hid those emotions well.
 
To the world she appeared a woman on her own, ready for whatever life threw at her.
 
No one had ever known the deep despair that sometimes overwhelmed her, or the longing she had for her family and her people.
 
No one.

Until now.

“I’m sorry,” Mina said suddenly.
 
“I’m not sure what came over me just now.
 
It was as though I could feel your pain.
 
Or someone’s pain.”
 
Her gaze studied Jayna as if she were trying to decipher if what she had felt was real or not.

“No apologies,” Jayna said.
 
“I think I’d like to rest for a while.”

“Of course.
 
I’ll return in a couple of hours to check on you.”

Jayna waited until the door closed behind Mina before she closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
 
Killing Gabriel might not be as easy as she first thought.
 
Not as long as Mina was around.

Chapter Five

Gabriel stopped his horse in front of the ancient monastery and stared at the crumbling stones.

“It was never much to look at,” Cole said quietly.

“Nay. Strange that a holy place would call to the creatures.”

Cole dismounted and dropped his horse’s reins.
 
“I thought that myself.
 
Once holy, always holy.”

“Right,” Gabriel answered as he too dismounted and went to stand beside Cole.
 
“Evil such as these creatures shouldn’t be able to touch a place such as a monastery.”

“Hmmm,” Cole said as he scratched his chin.
 
“A question in need of answering.
 
Shall we look inside?”

Gabriel grinned as Cole cocked an eyebrow before walking through the arched stone gateway of the monastery.
 
Gabriel’s eyes scanned the top of the monastery as he recalled when he, Hugh and Cole had knocked the stone gargoyle off the roof.

Just as before, remnants of the monks could be seen in the statues of gargoyles at the top of the monastery used to ward off evil.
 
Holy or not, the monks were also superstitious, not that Gabriel could blame them after everything he had seen while a Shield.

“I wonder,” Cole said, “if the Fae hadn’t given Hugh the clue that the gargoyle could be killed while it slept, would we have won that day?”

Gabriel turned to his friend and shrugged.
 
“I like to think everything happens for a reason.”

“I agree.
 
I just can’t help thinking Earth would’ve been destroyed ages ago if the Fae hadn’t been here to help.
 
Without us, the evil would win.”

Gabriel knew that Cole was bothered that the Chosen hadn’t figured out how to destroy the Great Evil yet.
 
“Shannon and the others are strong and intelligent.
 
They’ll figure it all out.”

Cole nodded absently and walked into the monastery.
 
Gabriel followed.
 
Instantly, the musty smell of disuse assaulted Gabriel.
 
The entry was large with ceilings that soared high above them.
 
Balconies looking down into the entry could be seen from every floor above them.

Bookshelves that had already been knocked over were now crushed, the books nothing more than dust after the two battles that raged within the holy walls.

“I don’t smell evil,” Cole said as he picked his way through the debris.

“Me, neither.”

Just as Gabriel was about to turn and leave, he spotted something oozing off a fallen bookcase.
 
“Cole,” he called out as he squatted down to get a better look at the nearly clear, thick substance.

“What did you find?” Cole asked as he knelt beside Gabriel.
 
“Well.
 
That’s interesting.
 
What do you suppose it is?”

“I don’t have any idea.”
 
Gabriel reached out and touched it, then rubbed it between his finger and thumb.
 
“Its almost sticky and easily pliable.”
 
He leaned down to sniff his fingers.
 
“There’s no smell to it.”

Cole stood and looked around the chamber.
 
“Whatever it is, it’s left its mark on the place.”

Gabriel rose and followed Cole’s gaze to see other spots throughout the chamber.
 
“It’s clear, so we might have overlooked it.
 
I wonder how many other spots this substance can be found throughout this place.”

“Let’s find out,” Cole said with a smile as he unhooked his double-headed war axe and started toward the doorway that would lead him to the chambers below.

Gabriel turned and made for the stairs leading to the floors above.
 
He had gone about twenty steps when he encountered another puddle of the clear liquid.
 
He decided to take the chance and venture on the roof to see if any of the substance was up there as well.

When he stepped out on to the roof he unsheathed his sword, preferring it over his bow for the time being.
 
His eyes scanned the surroundings.
 
The tree limbs were laden with snow and the forest was unusually quiet.

Out of the corner of his eye Gabriel saw movement.
 
He spun around with his sword raised only to encounter...nothing.
 
He could have sworn he had seen something.

He slowly lowered the sword and walked around the roof with slow, measured steps.
 
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
 
Someone, or something, watched him.

Suddenly, a loud whoosh sounded behind him.
 
Gabriel spun around and blinked.

“It cannot be,” he whispered.

The evil laughter echoed around the silence of the forest.
 
“Oh, but it is,” the gargoyle said as it hovered above him.
 
“You didn’t honestly think you’d be rid of me with just a little shove, did you?”

“Gabriel,” Cole shouted as he ran out onto the roof, then skidded to a halt.
 
“By the gods.”

“Be warned, Shields,” the gargoyle said as he flew higher.
 
“Your time is at an end.”

Gabriel leaned against the side of the roof and let out a breath.
 
“You did see it, aye?”

“Aye,” Cole said, his mouth twisted with anger.
 
“At least we know what we’re fighting.”

“And how to kill it,” Gabriel reminded him.

Cole laughed.
 
“If this is all the Great Evil thinks will stop us, he’s wrong.”

Gabriel straightened and sheathed his sword.
 
“What did you find below?”

“More of the substance.
 
You?”

“The same.
 
I followed it up here and that’s when I encountered the gargoyle.”

“Let’s return and tell Hugh.
 
He and the others should’ve returned to Stone Crest by now.”

Gabriel nodded and followed Cole back into the monastery and down the stairs.
 
Again he felt as though someone watched him, but no matter how hard he looked, he didn’t find anyone.

He ran outside and hurriedly mounted.
 
With one last look to the skies, Gabriel whistled to his horse and set out at a run to Stone Crest.

By the time he and Cole pulled their mounts to a halt inside the bailey, Hugh, Val and Roderick were making their way towards them.

“We know what we’re fighting,” Cole said as he jumped to the ground.

Hugh nodded.
 
“As do we.”

“I can’t believe it didn’t die the first time,” Cole continued as he walked around his horse to the other Shields.

Gabriel dismounted and patted his horse on the neck as the stable boys came to get the horses.
 

Val ran a hand down his face.
 
“I never thought to see it again.
 
We’ve never had to fight the same creature twice.”

“At least the gargoyle is easy to kill,” Cole stated.

“Gargoyle?” Hugh repeated.

Gabriel narrowed his gaze as he looked to his leader.
 
There was something in Hugh’s tone that didn’t bode well.
 
“Aye.
 
The gargoyle.”

“You must be mistaken,” Val said.
 
“It’s the Harpy that’s returned.”

“Nay,” Cole said.
 
“I saw the Gargoyle with my own eyes and heard it speak.
 
It said that our time was running out.”

Hugh raised his hand for quiet.
 
When they were all looking at him, he lowered his voice and said, “I know what I saw, and it was a Harpy.”

“Be that as it may, it was the Gargoyle that we saw,” Gabriel said.

Hugh nodded.
 
“All right.
 
Let’s compare.
 
What I saw was a creature with wings that clanked so loudly as they beat that you could hardly hear yourself think.”

“Nay,” Cole said.
 
“Ours had wide, thin wings.”

“The creature we saw had the face and upper body of a beautiful woman with long flaming red hair.”

Gabriel shook his head.
 
“Our creature had a hideously shaped face with a long snout and red, beady eyes.”

Hugh cursed as he paced before them.
 
“You describe the Gargoyle, yet I know we saw the Harpy.”

“By the gods,” Val muttered.
 
“We’re not fighting one creature, but two.”

The men looked to each other, then as one turned toward the castle.
 
They must talk privately, not in the middle of the bailey were anyone could overhear them.

Yet, they didn’t get farther than the great hall before Mina stopped Hugh.

“I must speak with you,” she called out to him.

“Can it wait?”

She hesitated a moment, then nodded.
 
“Aye.”

Hugh gave her a small smile before he hurried up the stairs to one of the tower chambers that they used when needing to discuss something privately.
 
It was well away from the rest of the castle, and situated so that they could hear someone coming up the stairs.

“What are we going to do?” Roderick asked once they were in the tower chamber.

Hugh sank onto one of the chairs, his head in his hands.
 
“Aimery will have to be notified immediately.
 
We’ve battled both creatures, and we know how to kill them.”

“I hate to say it,” Gabriel said, “but I highly doubt that both creatures have come back the same as before.”

Val sighed.
 
“Meaning they won’t be as easy to kill.”

“That’s my thought,” Gabriel said with a shrug.
 
“It makes sense if you think that every creature we’ve battled has gotten stronger and more deadly with each one we’ve killed.”

“Gabriel’s right,” Cole said.
 

Hugh raised his head and steepled his hands in front of his face.
 
“All right.
 
We need to come up with a plan of action.
 
Both creatures fly, which makes their attack on the castle most likely at night so we can’t see them.
 
The Harpy we can hear coming by the clacking of her wings.”

Roderick moved to the door.
 
“I’ll have the guards doubled and tell them to keep their eyes on the skies.”

“They’ll need to rotate shifts since we’ll need the battlements fully guarded at night as well,” Val said as he stood and followed Roderick from the tower.

Hugh sighed and leaned back against the stone wall.
 
“We’ve battled these creatures.
 
We know their weaknesses.”

“Aye,” Gabriel said, sensing his leader’s worry.
 
“The Gargoyle can only attack at night, so during the day we find it and kill it as before.”

Cole nodded.
 
“If they’re smart, which they’ve shown in the past, one will attack at night while the other attacks during the day.”

“Which would leave us being attacked constantly,” Hugh murmured.

Gabriel lowered himself on one of the chairs.
 
“It’s a good strategy for them.
 
It’ll leave us locked in the castle for fear of leaving.”

“And we can’t chance leaving with the Chosen,” Cole said.
 
“Our women are the key to the demise of the Great Evil.
 
He’ll be coming for them.”