Chapter 2: A Harrowing Escape

Thessalia POV

Why hadn’t she thought of levitation? It didn’t take as much power as teleportation. But there was nowhere to levitate to, other than to the top of the boulder, and climbing worked just as well, especially with the way her hands gripped the moss. The moss felt like a good friend helping her get to higher ground.

Not as good a friend as Dirge Cresta! Or her faithful companion and handmaiden Calyx.

And right now her thoughts were all for Kodi Cresta, who attached himself to Dirge’s back like a clinging vine. Uncle and nephew made an appealing picture as they stood, naked before their goddess and the elf gods, atop the green-covered boulder. She’d slipped her shield underneath her bow, so it was safe.

She rarely traveled with this many weapons, but she was outside the forest–no telling what she’d encounter! And she had her faith to protect her, too.

She offered prayers to forest/earth gods like Gaia, Meliae, and Viridis as well as Nyynaeth Arwenniel, the god of magic and sorcery, and Garlond Greentooth, the patron god of hunters and scouts. 

She prayed under her breath, “May Gaia, Meliae, and Viridis bless me with the strength and courage to protect the forest and its inhabitants. May Nyynaeth Arwenniel grant me the knowledge and wisdom to use my skills for the benefit of my people. And may Garlond Greentooth grant me the agility and skill to excel in hunting so that I may provide for my family and my people and my allies. May I have the wisdom of the thunder god vine!”

Calyx’s full lips moved and her oval-shaped face showed intense concentration as she joined Thessalia in prayer. Dirge, in his sunshine-bright, earnest voice, prayed to his Moon Goddess. He had a scent like her bear poplar tree after a morning rain. Little Kodi mimicked his uncle’s prayer, which was endearing and sweet.

She felt a tingling in her hands and arms, spreading throughout her body. A cooling sensation like that morning rain. She turned to Calyx, who was still praying intensely. “Calyx?”

“Praying,” her friend replied in a distant voice.

“I think our prayers are answered.”

“How?” Calyx’s silver-gray eyes sharpened.

Dirge added, “And would you mind sharing this divine insight with me?”

Thessalia took a deep breath. “We know a spell that can create a very, very narrow corridor through the flames for about a quarter of an hour. Any longer than that and it’ll close right on us. With your wolf speed and our fleet-of-foot abilities, we can make it.”

Dirge nodded, his blue eyes shifting to red. “It’ll be even faster if you two and Kodi ride on my back. Hold him while I shift, would you?”

Thessalia pulled Kodi off Dirge’s back and he attached himself to her generous bosom like a frog with suction feet. He looked up into her face, curious. “Elf?”

“That’s right,” Thessalia said, pleased. “I remember you.”

And she did, now that she thought about it. Dane and Lilia Cresta’s children were infants the last time she saw them, but she noticed the vivid purple eyes. 

Dirge grinned at her, and his round youthful face shone with an optimism and courage that gave her strength. “I think he remembers you too.”

He was such a flatterer! But completely sincere.

“He’s a toddler,” she murmured. “How?”

“Well, he IS Dane’s and Lilia’s child. And judging by how often I have to chase after him, he’s a future Alpha. Elf babies are probably just as aware.”

“But that doesn’t mean he’d remember me. I only saw him once.”

Calyx eyed them with interest. “As sweet as this flirting is, we can’t stay up here forever.”

“We weren’t flirting,” Thessalia and Dirge exclaimed at the same time.

Face flushed, whether from the fire or the embarrassment, Dirge stepped back and shifted into his compact but muscular black wolf form. Thessalia boosted Calyx onto his back and leapt in front of her friend.

“Oooh, his fur is nice,” Calyx exclaimed. “It gives me the happiness boost we need to cast this spell. But there’s one catch.”

Dirge’s ears perked forward.

Thessalia stroked the soft black ear. “Sorry, but you have to climb down from this rock so we can cast the spell.”

Dirge growled in answer and leapt off the side of the boulder, racing down at breakneck speed. Thessalia grabbed fistfuls of his fur with one hand and held her willow wand out with the other. 

The swimming sea of fire drew closer and closer, ready to swallow them up.

Calyx’s breath came fast and quick. “Now?”

“NOW!”

Even little Kodi cried out, “NOW!”

Thessalia and Calyx aimed their willow wands and recited the spell. “Eulogia Incarcerati Viam: May the gods bless this passage of sanctuary, the path of escape from the fiery breath, sheltering us from the flames!”

An icy gust of wind cut through the flames directly ahead of them, parting the inferno and creating a corridor just wide enough for Dirge to race through. Pearly barriers on either side held back the fire. 

Dirge raced along the corridor for all he was worth, and Thessalia’s topknot came apart completely. Her long blonde hair streamed behind her and in her face. She shut her eyes because her hair was blowing around so much that she couldn’t see. She felt Kodi grab a handful of her hair. Oddly, it felt comforting.

She could smell the smoke and the flames, but it grew fainter and fainter as Dirge raced out of the wildfire zone. Calyx counted down the minutes. 

“Thirteen,” Calyx announced.

Kodi howled. It sounded like a baby battle cry. 

“Thirteen and a half,” Calyx said.

“Are we almost in the clear?” Thessalia asked Dirge.

A low, affirmative growl answered her.

“Fourteen,” Calyx said, her voice steady. 

Thessalia had put away her wand, and she pressed Kodi close to her with one hand while holding onto Drge’s fur with the other.

“Fourteen and a half.”

Suddenly, Thessalia smelled sweet, fresh air, but she kept her eyes closed.

Calyx’s breathing slowed. “I think we’re out of it!”

“Are you sure?”

But Thessalia no longer smelled smoke or heard the hungry flames. Dirge was sprinting so fast that she could barely think or catch her breath.

“I’m sure,” Calyx said.

Thessalia brushed her hair out of her face and dared to open her eyes. What she saw was the most beautiful sight of her life. A clear meadow, with nothing but emerald-green grass and wildflowers ahead. 

A squad of shifters in human form and in protective gear as well as several witches holding out crystals and wands, headed toward the blaze. Calyx and Thessalia prayed to their gods to protect the firefighters. Dirge howled his approval and continued his flight to safety. He’d done plenty for one day!

* * * * *

Dirge POV

New Moon City wasn’t far away. If the visiting wood elves had to get trapped by a wildfire, at least it wasn’t too far away from the capital. 

The Moon Goddess must have sent both him and Kodi there at the right time, although he doubted Dane and Lilia would appreciate the timing right away.

He, however, appreciated Thessalia’s care for Kodi, her prayers, her spells, and her hand gripping his fur, to say nothing of her long shapely legs squeezing his sides.

He was away from the fire but he still felt surrounded by flame … much like he’d felt two and a half years ago when he’d had a huge crush on Kulenza, the elf-orc Royal Mage of the Orc Kingdom of Nauru. Alas, she only had eyes for Prince Makhel, the ruler of Nauru. They were engaged now, and his brother Jiro, Alpha of the Crimsontails, and his mate, Luna Garnet, had been invited to the royal wedding, which kept getting postponed …

Thessalia scratched his ears, bringing him back to the present. “Thank you, Prince Dirge. We could have cast the spell on our own, but your help was forest-sent.”

He wanted to tell her it was just plain Dirge, for Fenrir’s sake. Most of the time, he didn’t think of himself as a prince. When you were the youngest of six royal brothers counting Cyran, two of whom were the most powerful Alphas in the shifter lands, you didn’t often get a big head about being a prince. 

She was a princess, though. She’d commanded everyone like a ruler, showed compassion and grace and courage, and looked out for her friend who reminded him of his nearest older brother and partner in mischief Patch. If Patch weren’t happily mated to his beloved Anneliese, either Thessalia or Calyx would catch his eye.

What was he thinking? Wood elves never left their grove for long, and Patch wasn’t about to move away from the pack … although they both once thought the same about their big brother Jiro. But still, he and Patch loved their pack, and Dirge couldn’t even imagine being far away from his nieces and nephews.

Realizing she expected some reaction, he growled softly in reply. Something to the effect of, “My pleasure.”

Thessalia said with a smile, “I’m sure it wasn’t. I mean, what with having to outrun the fire. But you’re very kind.”

She understood his growls? How? 

Maybe it was because wood elves were even more in tune with nature than High Elves or other beings? Definitely more so than humans, orcs, and dwarves. Maybe she had the gift of animal communication?

Calyx laughed softly now that the danger had passed. “Still flirting, Your Highnesses?”

Flirting?

He hoped she didn’t say that around his brothers and their mates!

Relief flooded through him when the buildings of New Moon City came into view, including the sprawling mansion called Birdcliff, his sister-in-law Azandra’s childhood home. Cresta House lay beyond that.

He thought about stopping in at Birdcliff to let his guests catch their breath because Azandra’s mother Titania was much less uptight than she used to be and her father Ransome was like another father figure to the Crestas. But no, best to go to Cresta House. In human form, though. His legs felt like they would fall off if he went another step in wolf form.

He stopped dead and growled softly.

Thessalia understood, and she kissed the top of his head before she and her friend climbed down. She kissed him!

He felt a longing and a need he couldn’t deny.

Shifting back to human form, he faced Thessalia, who had passed Kodi to Calyx when the little one became squirmy. Thessalia stared into his eyes, and he felt his legs turn to porridge. 

“Thank you,” he said,

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Call me Dirge.”

He moved and was in her arms in a second. She was a warm, curvy armful, but also slender like his brother Jiro. Her perfect rosy lips parted, and his eyes traveled to them, lingering on them with desire. They looked so kissable. Her eyes gleamed bright and green, and from the way they moved over his face and body, she liked what she saw. He wished he could see all of her. The brown clothing didn’t exactly show off her charms. He wanted to see, to touch, and to sample her soft lips. How would they taste? As delicious as they looked?

His wolf wanted him to claim her. “Mate. Mate.”

His head was swimming, so he did the only thing he could think of.

He leaned in and kissed her, letting the world explode in radiant color around them and the feeling sweep through his body. She tasted like the sweetest nectar, and when he could think at all, he thought that kissing her might be the best decision of his life.

Or the most foolish.