Chapter 55: The Advantage of Darkness and Surprise

Patch POV

Because he was lower to the ground than the rest of his tall family, Patch spotted the gnome in the blue coat, staring down a crossbow at them and surrounded by grasses. Those tall, skinny trees made him look even tinier. But his warrior spirit was huge.

A gnome on a supposedly deserted island? Quite unusual. Considering that Ravyn had added a gnome merchant to the party, Patch doubted that the little man menacing them was there by accident. And he felt certain of the creature's identity. 

"Duffy Kruspodin, you rascal, put that crossbow down before you hurt someone, or we'll be sure to tell Ravyn," he said in a brash manner.

The gnome squinted. "And you are?"

"Someone who howls at the moon, lives for Ravyn's goldenberry cobbler, and has serious doubts about Daxius despite liking him," Patch retorted, squatting so he could look Duffy right in the eye.

With a snort of laughter, Duffy said, "Then you must be a Cresta."

Jiro also knelt close to the gnome to look him in the eye. "Patch is. And so am I. All three things apply to me, Mr. Kruspodin."

The gnome eyeballed him. "And you'd be his brother?"

Jiro's turquoise eyes sparkled. "That I would."

"Brother to that big mass of muscles, Dane?" Duffy continued.

"Yes, and we both know Patch and Dirge can take us AND our biggest brother Kyon down before we can even shift," Jiro replied.

Anneliese scooped him up, crossbow and all. "Duffy! It's been an eternity!"

Jiro and Garnet exchanged broad smiles. Morgana and Bram stared at Duffy with curiosity.

"Annie, as I live and breathe," Duffy exclaimed.

Patch grinned, thinking that his pink-haired witch had protested a little too loudly about him calling her "Annie" when they first met. A sure sign that he'd gotten under her skin, and she'd burrowed under his fur and skin as well. 

Jiro cleared his throat. "Garnet, Morgana, and Bram, this gnome is Luna Ravyn's oldest friend, a soldier of fortune."

"I gathered that," Bram said dryly. "I assume that crossbow is how he was able to escape whatever situation our missing family is entangled in. What about my father? AND my stepmother, Luna Ravyn? Forget all the chatter!"

Duffy stroked his beard. "I like this lad. Right to the point. Your father and Ravyn are tough, no question, but they're in a devil's trap, indeed." 

"What do you mean?" Garnet asked.

"Is it Absalom–or Hades, as you know him?" Morgana asked.

"Is Melisande Bracknell mixed up in this?" Jiro demanded.

"One at a time! I'll tell you everything," Duffy said.

Patch barely reined himself in. His body felt ready to climb one of those trees!

Duffy pointed to a dark, ominous square tower that jutted up toward the sky from the jungle that threatened to swallow the eerie stone building. "That's part of the devil's trap–but I suspect it's what, and is inside that godforsaken place that has made life a nightmare for Ravyn and your missing family. Let me tell you everything I know–because if your family hasn't mind-linked with you or otherwise gotten a message through, "

Patch didn't frighten easily, but the tower made his wolf, Tiva, whine like a pup. He stretched out in the greenery, underneath the strange tall trees with the sweet and wonderful scent of the big brown fruits. Everyone else took a seat to listen to Duffy. Melisande, calling herself a "Master," featured prominently in his tale.

When the gnome had finished, Patch felt like vomiting. "Have you been inside this tower?" he asked. Information would help him calm down.

At least Ravyn and Lilia were alive, and ready to fight. They'd sent a signal beacon! He hugged Anneliese while Jiro and Garnet comforted Bram.

"I got close, thanks to Ravyn's and Lilia's signal," Duffy said with pride. "The outside is crawling with shifters, only they're not shifters. Well, they are, but they're not like any I've seen in my lifetime."

Anneliese spat on the green ground cover. "Probably full of dark magic. This is the work of the Dark Goddess."

"And that tainted blood from Hades inside Melisande," Morgana added sorrowfully.

Jiro's eyes narrowed. "Duffy, we need to get into that tower without being detected. We don't have your advantage in terms of size, but there must be a way in."

Duffy perched on Anneliese's shoulder. "Oh, there's always an opening, even for you tall people who are all legs. And even though I could teach those jumped-up shifters a thing or two, we don't have time to waste." He looked thoughtfully at Jiro. "What's the plan? And all of you, call me Duffy."

* * * * *

Garnet POV

Shortly after hammering out a strategy with Duffy and the others, Garnet raced in wolf form with Jiro through the wet greenery in the fading evening light. Anneliese and Duffy rode on Patch, while Morgana rode on Garnet. 

No one would expect them to approach such a fearsome place at night, so they had the advantage of darkness and surprise.

Her nose picked up the scent of seawater, those strange brown fruits that Morgana said were called "cocoanuts," and something else.

The musk of wolves. 

That smell grew stronger and harder to ignore the closer they got to the base of the tower, a solid, perfectly square column reaching up to the first stars in the darkening sky. 

Her wolf eyes picked out what appeared to be some kind of door in the tower. She couldn't tell what it was made of, but it looked as tightly shut as a pirate's hidden treasure chest.

Mid-stride, several hundred yards away from the tower, she simply froze. The dark magic rushed over her with such force that it took all her strength to put one foot in front of the other.

"Jiro," she thought. "Patch. Bram."

She wasn't sure if she could communicate with Bram via the mind-link, because he was a Silverpaw and a new family member. However, he responded, his voice clear and strong like a bell, "WHAT WAS THAT?"

"Dark magic," she thought.

Her heart twisted, thinking of her own ordeal as Cyran's and Hades' prisoner inside a cursed temple in Crimsontail Shadows territory. Dark magic was so thick in and around that temple she wondered how she survived being in the middle of it. 

For an advanced witch like Ravyn, it would still test the limits of her endurance and strength. 

Anneliese dug her knees into Patch's sides and poured spell after spell into the area, pushing back the dark magic. Morgana added her power to it, and thanks to all the energies flying around, Garnet's fur stood up on end as if she were in the middle of a roomful of Orc devices or a lightning storm. 

Running ahead of Garnet, Jiro howled a warning. Patch had already halted, growling his "there's something worse up ahead" growl.

A dozen rogue wolves, eyes glowing unnaturally, mauled and clawed at least half a dozen of Lugdunum's finest royal soldiers as well as half a dozen mages that were fighting their way to the tower. The revolting scent of blood, suffering, and wounds was difficult to stomach. The cries of pain made Garnet's heart ache. But the royal soldiers were selfless and brave.

And it wasn't just Anneliese's and Morgana's magic that was fighting the dark sorcery. The royal mages were battling it. Jets of light and heat flew and hit the rogues, who didn't feel the blasts at all. The wolves just kept coming.

Garnet spotted Mage Pascalline fighting back to back with Lieutenant Cristo, her staff constantly twirling and his broadsword flashing in the gloom. 

"Jiro," she sent.

"I see it."

His icy tone masked the rage she felt through the bond. 

Jiro was furious.

He was full of rage at the potential harm to shifters everywhere. Beside himself because of the senseless attack on the humans. Melisande, and possibly Hades influencing her, had woven the dark sorcery that lured the royal soldiers to their doom. The rulers of Lugdunum were just trying to protect their own people. 

"Those soldiers need our help," Patch insisted.

"My father comes first," Bram growled, but through the mind-link.

"Your father would say to teach those rogues a lesson before we lifted a paw to save him," Jiro argued. "So would Dane. So would I."

"Risk my father's life to save HUMANS?" Bram huffed.

"YES. And to protect shifters," Garnet argued. 

Duffy, not privy to the conversation, muttered, "I'd say those knights need rescuing."

Morgana shook her head. "But this is what Hades wants–shifter against human and mage, shifter against shifter. He wants chaos. We have to save the people who need us."

Anneliese lifted her staff. "That's no reason to just ignore a bloodbath!"

One of the human soldiers fell when a rogue pounced on him, and the disgusting noises of the slaughter followed by silence made Garnet's blood boil.

Bram flinched, looking as if he were about to throw up too. "Goddess!"

Morgana muttered a prayer to the Goddess Brigid and the Moon Goddess.

Garnet nudged Jiro. "We can't let them just die."

Patch growled supportively, "Jiro, it's your mission, it's your call. You too, Garnet. What are we going to do?"