Chapter 53: A Royal Ambush

Anneliese POV

On a windswept beach, Anneliese Chalice Cresta walked on blood-red sand. The entire island seemed made of red dirt and clay and rock. "This would be a perfect spot for a Crimsontail," she said, waving her crystal around and casting spells to reveal any hidden foes. None so far.

Beside her, Garnet agreed, shading her eyes as the setting sun turned everything a deeper shade of red. "No wonder Hades selected it as one of his hideouts. It also explains how he managed to stay hidden for centuries, right within howling distance of any human ships that came along."

"I feel sorry for the countless pirates he probably made vanish," Patch remarked with a defiant glimmer in his eye. "I don't smell any, though."

Jiro scanned the area. "With six of us, it shouldn't take more than two hours to search the entire island. We can split into two teams of three apiece, and cover more ground that way. I'll lead one team and either Patch or Garnet can lead the other."

"Make it Patch," Garnet decided. "And if we run into any humans–"

"Morgana can be on one team, and I on the other," Anneliese volunteered. "

Bram shrugged. "It's a good plan. I, for one, don't want to come within sniffing or howling distance of humans."

Jiro put his hands on his hips. "Alright. Our signal if we find something is to bark twice–there may be wild dogs on this island, so that wouldn't be out of the ordinary. We'll meet back on this beach, with thst outcrop shaped like a skull just offshore."

"Which is why the explorers named this Scarlet Skull Island," Anneliese noted wryly.

Patch smirked. "A little obvious, but that may be the point, if you want to keep people away. Let's go."

Patch, Anneliese, and Garnet, with Cornelius following, took one path. Jiro, Morgana, and Bram, Lindrat gliding beside them, headed in the opposite direction, following the strip of beach until they reached a rocky path leading upward. The soles of her boots gripped the rock as she climbed up onto a cliff that overlooked the shining sea. 

Patch sniffed. "No shifters here. A hint of magic, though."

Cornelius snorted in agreement.

"Magic as in spells, or is the entire place magic?" Garnet asked.

"Good question." Anneliese held her crystal out in front of her to scan for magic, the way Ravyn once taught her and Lilia to do.

Ravyn. She had to be alive and safe. And Jude! Apart from her, Patch, Dane, and Jiro, he was one shifter she'd hate to cross. He had to be alive too, protecting his new mate. Now that Ravyn and Jude had bonded, Anneliese could happily celebrate their love and kick up her heels at their celebration feast when this whole risky game was over.

Her crystal flashed, and her arms tingled, as if she were standing outside while a lightning storm approached. "The land is full of magic," she announced. "Soaking in it."

They continued along the path, avoiding the steep jagged rocky hill behind them with scrubby plants sticking out of it. 

Patch stopped, and let out a loud bark. Anneliese's eyes widened. "Did you find–"

"Quiet! HUMANS!"

Garnet tensed. "We're just out for a stroll, right?"

Garnet had once been the shadow intelligence agent for the Crimsontail Pack, and it showed.

"Where's our boat or ship?" Patch asked.

"We don't need one–we're witches," Anneliese replied. "How close are these humans?"

And at that moment, two royal soldiers from Lugdunum and a mage in robes, all wearing the crest of Lugdunum on their breastplates, rounded the bend.

The two male royal soldiers were a powerful sight in conical helmets and brilliant steel armor, while the female mage had chosen a long, comfortable-looking red robe a shade darker than the island. 

"Oh! Hello." Anneliese put on a friendly smile, and saluted the soldiers and mage. 

"Hail, soldiers, well met," Patch added, saluting. "I'm Duke Patch Cresta of New Moon–a small duchy. This is my wife, Duchess Anneliese Chalice Cresta, who's here on Wildefell Witch Circle business, and my sister-in-law, Garnet Sinsworth Cresta. And this is our pet unicorn, Cornelius. We're so grateful that we have protection while we scout for dark magic."

Jiro's voice reached them from behind the soldiers and mage. "And so are we."

* * * * *

Jiro POV

Leave it to his brother Patch to run into the king's soldiers and a royal mage! Jiro's intelligence reports said that King Odo and Queen Giselberthe had no less than ten royal mages. The young woman in the red robe might be a junior mage, based on how young she looked. 

Jiro, Morgana, and Bram politely squeezed past the soldiers and the mage to join the rest of the party. Patch introduced them. "My older brother Jiro Cresta, Morgana from the Wildefell Witch Circle, and Bram, the son of a wealthy merchant in our duchy, as well as Lindrat, Lady of the Skies."

One of the soldiers bowed. "Lance-Captain D'Azur and Lieutenant Cristo of the Royal Guard of Lugdunum at your service, with one of our royal mages, Miss Pascalline."

The soldiers gripped the hilts of their swords, the helmets shading their eyes. The royal mage squinted. "We're here because we detected an explosion of dark magic somewhere in the Heartless Isles."

Jiro exchanged glances with the group, then turned to the guards. "What a coincidence. Duchess Anneliese and Morgana are here scouting for dark magic, and we're escorting them, in the interest of cooperation between New Moon and Lugdunum."

Lance-Captain D'Azur, in his mid-thirties, with a neatly trimmed brown beard and mustache, sounded skeptical. "New Moon? It seems to me I've heard of that, but where is it?"

"Oh, somewhere to the north of here," Jiro replied.

It was true, after all. The best cover stories were the ones closest to the truth.

Part of him felt like leaving the humans behind as fast as possible–this whole encounter wasted precious time! Time that Ravyn and Jude might not have …

Patch played along easily. "That's right. It's a very isolated little kingdom, but so charming. You really ought to visit sometime."

Royal Mage Pascalline, who had light olive skin and a long, thin nose, looked as if she doubted them–maybe her magical senses had been alerted. "Are you close to Brighmere?"

Garnet responded smoothly. "We've visited Brighmere before. They're our allies. As my husband said, we're also scanning for dark magic. We've found none."

Squinting, Royal Mage Pascalline fluttered her hands like a bird's wings. "Yes, you're right. But we felt dark magic on one of these islands. We're exploring all of them."

Lieutenant Cristo, who looked like he could be the lance-captain's twin, offered in a brusque way, "We have a boat. Moored in the cove."

"He thinks if I teleport us, he'll end up inside solid rock," Royal Mage Pascalline grumbled, obviously offended.

"Or in oblivion," Lieutenant Cristo replied.

Mage Pascalline gasped in outrage, but Lance-Captain D'Azur silenced their squabbling with just a forbidding look. Not bad. "We'll take the boat unless there's an emergency," he said. "I trust the mage to get us out of danger."

"Boats were around before magic," Lieutenant Cristo said, blushing when he looked at the young mage. "No matter how good the mage is."

Jiro grinned slightly, recognizing awkwardly aggressive flirting when he saw it. 

"I could magic the boat, and it could speed across the water so fast you'd lose your helmet," Mage Pascalline retorted.

Patch raised his hand. "That sounds–"

"NO," Jiro and everyone chorused. 

Anneliese folded her arms. "Do you have water magic abilities, Mage Pascalline?"

The young mage met her gaze boldly. "I do, Your Grace."

Anneliese raised her eyebrows, impressed. "I stand corrected."

Garnet rubbed her chin. "I wonder how that would work?"

As Mage Pascalline opened her mouth to answer, she spasmed and doubled over. Lieutenant Cristo steadied her, holding her, his face scrunched up in worry. "What is it? Dark magic?"

"Yes," Mage Pascalline wheezed. "Abandonnado … Abandonnado Island."

Jiro glanced at Garnet, Anneliese, and Morgana, who all nodded subtly. 

"To the boat," Lance-Captain D'Azur said. "Your Graces, will you sail with us?"

Patch coughed. "Thank you, but no."

His stomach twisting in knots, Jiro waited for the humans to leave. Patch tugged at his arm. "Come on. You heard them. We've got to get to Abandonnado Island."

Anneliese elbowed him and gave him her best withering look. Jiro held up a hand, and watched a small, sleek warship sail away from the island. 

Patch scowled. "I hope the pair of you are happy. People we love could be blown to bits or worse by that dark magic!"

Bram agreed, smacking his fist into his palm. "I thought my father was your good friend!"

"He's FAMILY," Jiro said in a hard voice. "But he wouldn't want us to risk exposure to humans–especially royal soldiers. That royal warship looks like it can carry more than just three scouts."

Morgana raised a trembling hand. "The mage looked like she suspected something, or sensed your wolves. I hope she doesn't say anything."

Patch attempted humor. "If she does, the lieutenant will probably just flirt harder with her. In any case, they're not teleporting, so we have time. Let's go!"

Garnet trembled. "They could see us shift."

Morgana looked at Anneliese. "Have you ever tried making people forget they saw a shifter change? Or casting some other kind of illusion?"

Anneliese had a sparkle in her eyes. "Yes to the second, and no to the first. If there are more than three soldiers and mages, forgetfulness would be challenging. But we could try casting fog or some other sort of cloak."

Jiro smiled, intrigued. "All the brainpower in our family and we never thought of that. Thank you, Morgana. So, are we all agreed? Shall we go?"

Patch howled softly. Anneliese nodded, and so did Bram. Garnet paused, then nodded. Morgana smiled.

The shimmering spiral of the teleportation spell never failed to energize and dazzle him. One minute, he was standing on red soil in his leather boots, and the next, he stood in an eerily silent grove of trees he'd never seen before. Tall and skinny, with strange-looking brown fruits or big seeds beneath a fringe of green branches. 

But the burning sulfur odor of dark magic, and not the trees, grabbed his attention. He could feel the wicked sorcery hanging in the air like a heavy cloud surrounding them. 

Morgana, Anneliese, and Garnet all shuddered so hard their teeth chattered. "This is the place," Morgana said in a trembling voice.

Jiro sniffed and caught the familiar scents of Dane, Lilia, Jude, and Ravyn, also one that might be Daxius. "They're here! We should–"

He broke off as a quarrel from a crossbow whizzed through the air, straight for them!