Shattered Souls (Guardians of the Maiden Book 3)

Lucenna blinked through her bleary vision at the tree branches above her. They seemed to swim past, stretching toward the dark sky as it wept soft white tears. Her back dragged over the cold, hard ground, forest debris stabbing through her clothes. A sharp pang went through her skull, clearing her consciousness. She snapped her head up to see a troll dragging her by the leg toward a large, dark hole within a rocky ridge.

Panic fired through her. She called on her magic, but it pulsed weakly and light sputtered in her numb hands. Sharp pain throbbed in her head again. Half of her face was stiff with dried blood. Last thing she remembered was Rawn falling, then something hitting her before everything went black.

Her mind scrambled for a plan. Attacking the troll now would only make it finish the kill when she had no magic to defend herself. It snarled, and Lucenna quickly shut her eyes, playing dead. The fright of waking up alone and trapped bubbled up in her chest but she tramped it down. Think! She forced herself to calm down and breathe.

The minimal evening light faded as the troll dragged her into the cave. Her stomach rolled with the horrid stench of feces and other rotten filth. She took shallow breaths, trying not to taste it. The troll’s heavy steps thudded, making the ground rattle. Something cold poked her. She peeked through her lashes and bit back a scream at the thousands of bones littering the ground.

Lucenna felt around at her waist and drew out a knife. If she could stick the beast in the eye, she could make a run for it. A mewling sound echoed in the cave. She snapped her head to the nest of dried leaves and mud where cub trolls perked up. She only knew they were cubs by their stunted teeth, and were half the size of a full-sized one.

The troll lifted her in the air to feed her to them, and Lucenna lashed out with her knife, slicing one of its eyes. The troll bellowed and dropped her outside of the nest. Lucenna scrambled backwards. Her fingers came over a long, sharp bone and she snatched it in her hands.

A flash of black flitted through the cave. The furred creature ran at the troll lumbering for her, and leaped onto its back. Lucenna caught the flash of long sharp claws before they plunged through the troll’s thick neck. Blood spurted from its gaping mouth. The claws ripped it clean away and the head popped off with a wet squelch. The headless beast teetered over the nest. Wild squeals of the cubs cut off abruptly as it crashed on top with a heavy thud.

Lucenna gasped and jerked back when the furred creature looked at her. It had a long skull for a face, sharp antler horns and thick, dirty black fur covering its head and coming over its hunched back. Not as tall as the troll, but still big. She had only heard stories of the Wendigo, and none of them were good.

When it took a step toward her she lifted the bone. “Come near me, and I will run you through.”

It made an awful sound that reverberated eerily within its skull. Was it laughing?

“On your feet, lass.” That brogue voice, smooth and deep like the flow of the seas current, carried in the quiet cave.Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

The creature reached up with a clawed hand and removed its skulled face…only to reveal another. Lucenna gawked dumbly, her mind taking a moment to make sense that she was looking at a man. One she had met before. His jaw was layered with a thicker beard than when they first met, but she recognized that cocky grin.

“Klyde?” Lucenna blinked, not sure if she was indeed conscious.

“I’m rather pleased you remember me.”

Well, he had certainly made an impression. Not that she would ever admit it.

Klyde took her wrist in his gloved hand, careful not to scratch her with the long, sharp claws fastened at the tip of his fingers, and hauled her up. “The fates have brought us to meet again after all.”

“Why are you here? How did you—”

A roar rang outside.

“Questions later.” He pulled her deeper into the cave.

“What are you doing?” She yanked to free herself, failing to slip from his tight grasp.

Klyde shoved her into a slim, shallow crevice in the cave and forced his way in with her. He pinned her arms to the cave walls, his hips pressing into hers. Their faces were inches apart and she could feel everything. A telltale heat rose to her cheeks.

“Get off—”

He covered her mouth. Infuriated, she tried to kick but there was no space. Klyde’s blue eyes bore into hers, warning her to keep quiet.

A Horde of trolls entered the cave. They noticed the dead one and fell on it with a ravaged aggression. Klyde shifted his head and blocked her view, but he couldn’t block her ears. Wet sounds and crunch of bones filled the cave, making her stomach roll. Her heart thudded wildly as she squeezed her eyes shut. At the moment, she didn’t care that his warm body was indecently pressed against hers—or that he smelled awful. He was a wall between her and those creatures.

And she wasn’t alone.

After a few minutes of listening to the trolls gorge themselves, Klyde made hand motions that seemed to give some instruction.

“I don’t know what that means,” she hissed under her breath.

Frowning, he slipped his skull mask on and slipped back out of the crevice with her. Lucenna reluctantly let him extend his furred cloak over her head. It smelled of musky beast. His arm slipped around her waist, pulling her tight against him as he had in the witch’s den, and he led them away. Where was he taking her? She focused on their boots quickly walking over the hard ground. It grew darker and colder, the sounds of the beasts growing distant.

“Klyde,” she growled after minute. “I can’t breathe under this thing. It stinks!”

Lucenna shoved off the fur only for her foot to meet open air. She yelped and he yanked her back. Her breath caught at finding they were on a very narrow ledge of rock that couldn’t have been more than a foot wide. Beyond it stretched a drop into the pitched black darkness. Lucenna threw herself backwards and her back slapped against the rock wall behind her. Her vision swam as she gasped for air.

“Oi, are you all right?”

“Too high.” She hyperventilated. Her legs buckled and Klyde pinned her to the wall with his body. Of all the fears to have, unfortunately, heights were hers.

“Don’t look at that. Look at me.” He took her shoulders and the clawed points lightly prodded her skin. The sensation made her shiver. “I’m right here. Look at me, Lucenna.”

She was.

A glowing crystal with a lux symbol hung from a cord tied to the antlers. He lifted the mask, leaving the crystal to dangle by his ear. It cast shadows across the planes of his features. Her mind stilled as she studied that fine jawline and long lashes. He had a very nice face. Hard and angled in all the right places. They stared at each other in the echoing silence for a long minute until she realized what he said.

She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t recall telling you my name. And you have yet to explain your presence here.”

“Your companions told me,” he said after a pause. “Dyna also instructed me to give you the word sage? I assume that means something to you.”

Lucenna continued glowering at him. They had recently used that herb in a defense spell, so it could only mean one thing. Dyna had sent him, but she was warning her to be on guard.

“We arrived before they nearly fell to the Horde,” Klyde said, drawing her out of her thoughts.

She gasped. “Rawn.”

“Aye, my lieutenant has gone in search of him. The others will be waiting for you in my town.”

She took in what he said again, and her eyes widened. “Your town? You live on Troll Bridge?”

“Aye.”

Then her first assumption of him was right. His uniform under the fur, his weapons, the sigil on his shoulder—he was a soldier, but not for any king.

His breath feathered down her neck, making Lucenna’s pulse jump. Her chest heaved, increasingly aware of every inch of his warm, sculpted build pressed firm against hers, his strength obvious and overpowering.

“You can let go now,” she snapped.

“Only if you promise not to panic again.”

“If I do?”

“I have other ways of calming you down.” Klyde’s husky voice elicited a rush of heat through her cold cheeks, and she inexplicably glanced at his lips inches away from hers. One end of his mouth hitched, a hint of a dimple appearing. “You’re making an interesting expression, lass. What are you thinking about?”

Lucenna scowled. “I’m thinking about pushing you into the pit.”

But he had her pinned to the cave wall. She wouldn’t be able to shove him off, at least not physically. A purple hue sparked in the dark with the crackle of her magic.

“You have exactly three seconds to remove your hands before I remove them off you.”

Klyde laughed quietly, and the rough, deep tone sent a cascade of shivers down her spine. “I must admit, that isn’t how I thought to be thanked for saving your life.”

“I will gladly show you how thankful I am,” she gritted out.

His lashes lowered and his head dipped, his next words brushing against her ear, “Provided we survive tonight, I look forward to it.” His breath costed over her neck, sending a flutter through her stomach, before he backed off. “Keep moving. We have aways to go.”

She resisted the instinct to grab the end of his furred cloak like a frightened child. Keeping her eyes locked on his shoulders, she pretended they weren’t a foot away from death. Their echoing footsteps and the soft crackle of rock falling over the edge made her breath come in heavy again. She needed a distraction.

It occurred to her then, he hadn’t been startled by her power.

“Why did they send you?” Lucenna asked. “Dyna and Zev, they would have come.”

“Aye, they certainly tried,” he said, his voice carrying in the vast space. “But no one knows these caves like I do. And no one else would know how to escape a troll den alive.”

“Why is that?”

“You weren’t the only one who was brought for dinner.” His antlers and hunched form cast long shadows over the immense walls. They bounced with each of his movements.

“And the disguise?” she asked next.

“The Wendigo is the only monster the trolls fear.”

So looking like one, and smelling like one, was a survival tactic. Lucenna had to admit that was smart. She followed his purposeful stride, reading the confidence in every step. “How many times have you gone through this cave?”

“As long as it took to learn every route. I made it a priority to memorize every inch of the Bridge.” Klyde led her through a narrow opening, and they entered a smaller cave. Nodding, he removed the crystal from his antlers and hung it on a stalagmite, filling the space with soft light. “We will stay here for the night.”

“What?” she exclaimed. “No. We need to keep going.”

“You lot have woken the trolls. Right now, they are in a frenzy, hunting for a last meal. Once they see there is nothing left to feed on, they will lose interest and hibernate.” He lifted a hand when she tried to protest. “We will make our way out in the morning.”

Klyde dropped his furred cloak and mask at his feet. Underneath, he’d worn a pack, explaining the back hunch. He removed it and pulled out a rolled up blanket, a waterskin, and a burlap sack. “Here, have a drink.”

Taking the offered waterskin, she downed the chilled water. “We don’t need to stay the night to avoid them,” she said. “I can get us out of here.”

Lucenna cast an invisibility spell, and Klyde’s brows shot up. But it lasted only a few seconds before she was left gasping from the effort. Her Essence needed time to recover.

“It seems your candle has burned out,” he said, making her flush. Klyde motioned at the blanket and burlap sack he set out for her. “Best we rest here and try to stay warm, aye?”

Without waiting for an answer, he laid back on the ground and rested on the lump of fur like a pillow. A clear indication he had no intention of moving on. Klyde was completely relaxed, hands linked behind his head as he watched her restlessly pace. Was the air thinner in here?

“I can’t wait until morning,” she said. “You stay if you want. I will find my own way out.” Lucenna pivoted on her heel and made for the way they came in.

Klyde instantly appeared in front of her. “Woah, there. You need to be patient and wait until morning.”

“Move.”

“I can’t do that. If you leave now, you won’t make it out alive. I gave my word to your companions that I would bring you back, preferably breathing, and that’s what I intend to do.” He held out a hand. “So please. Sit.”

The command sent an odd current through her chest. She tried to dodge him, but he stepped in her way.

“I have no qualms with throwing you over my shoulder, lass.”

“You wouldn’t—” The ground dropped out from under her, and she fell with an oomph on something firm, her silvery hair swishing in her face. The muscles of his shoulder moved fluidly beneath her stomach, and his boots crunched over gravel as he marched back. “Put me down!”

Lucenna beat on his back, and it was like punching a rock.

Klyde dropped her on the blanket, his large frame crouching in front of her. “Even if you somehow managed to find your way out of the cave without drawing the trolls, it’s sundown. The temperature drops dangerously low at night here. With what you’re wearing, you would freeze to death within the hour.”

She glanced down at herself. She wore black leggings and a fitted wool sweater. A chill had already settled in her bones and she was out of the elements. It must be worse outside.

“You have magic, but clearly it’s run out. Tell me, can you hold a flame?” Klyde asked. “For how long? How many hours can you defend yourself before you’re depleted again? You don’t know which direction the town lies or where else to find shelter. The trolls are not the only thing that kills out here, Lucenna. The cold is a cruel mistress and she is kind to no one.”

Lucenna didn’t answer because she had no argument.

He stood. “Now, can I trust you to stay, or do I need to lay next to you and keep you warm?”

Startled by the question, she face grew hot again. This man surely liked to try her patience.

“Don’t come anywhere near me,” she hissed. “I’ll stay, but if you try anything, I will smother you in your sleep.”

A wide grin spread across his face, two dimples appearing on his cheeks. Klyde removed his bracers and greaves to slip off his coat and he draped it over her shoulders, much to her surprise. He grabbed his smelly pelt and moved it so he was between her and the entrance. Now that he was down a layer, she could see how well fitted his shirt was, and the mass of his arms.

He nodded to the sack beside her. “There’s food in there if you’re hungry.”

The mention of food made her mouth water. After a pause, she reached for it and pulled out a bundle of cloth. Inside were slivers of white dried meat.

She bit into one, finding it chewy and gamey. It tasted strange. “What is this?”

“Basilisk.”

“Ugh.” She spat it out and pitched the sack back to him. “That’s disgusting.”

“Really? I find it suitable.”

“You clearly care little about what comes out of your mouth than what goes in it,” Lucenna snapped.

Klyde’s dark chuckle echoed softly in the cave. “Lass, I’m very selective about what goes into my mouth.”