having a hard time not killing Blackwood herself.
My horse snorted and approached Blackwood. He held up his hand as if to fire something at it just as a shadow moved to his right. It grabbed his wrist and pinned it behind him. More shadows appeared until a dozen or more Lycans in human form held Blackwood where he was.
I told my stallion to stop. It didn't want to…but it did.
Bastien released me and strode forward to stand in front of Blackwood.
"You wouldn't dare harm me." The arrogance in the Magician's voice was real. And it had a strange ring to it. It stirred an old memory, but I was too angry to think it through.
"You are on our land. Your council has no jurisdiction here."
"I certainly do—"
"Tais toi!" Bastien roared and his voice echoed in the woods.
More shadows closed in around us and I wasn't entirely sure they wolves. I saw their glowing eyes in the half-light of my dozen or so suns, but I couldn't make out their bodies, either wolf or human. Whatever they were, they set Blackwood on edge. Though I'd seen his own men fighting before, I didn't see any standing now.
"You killed on our land. Land set aside by the treaty between the Parliament and our Elders. I will petition the council to have your ass handed over to numéro un," Bastien grinned and his canines shown under the light. "I will ask for your life. For now I mark you as prey. You have six seconds before the hunt begins. The clock is ticking, mon ami."
Blackwood blinked a few times and fell to his knees when the Lycans released him. Then to my enjoyment, they barked and struck at him as they chased him out of the woods.
Dharma would have collapsed on the spot if one of the pack hadn't run to her. An older male caught her and hefted her into his arms. Bastien came forward and touched his hand to her forehead. After a few seconds, he spoke in a low voice to the one holding Dharma.
When the Lycan took off into the woods, I looked at Bastien as the stallion disappeared and the Elementals remained. "Where—"
"I told Ben to take ma pétite to the nursery to rest. Your mother is there with Regine. She came to protect the pup the instant that bastard attacked."
"Oh," I put my hand to my own forehead and stared at…nothing. "Did your pack destroy his men?"
"He brought a few of his group, but we sent them back to him," Bastien put a hand to my face. "Chérie…I am sorry…"
-Gather the souls.-
"No," I shook my head as I looked around at the carnage. Gather the souls?
-Reform. Remake. Repair.-
I heard the words in my head but I wasn't sure exactly what they meant. "Remake? I don't understand."
"Samantha?" Bastien moved back.
I was so tired and the voice of the Arcane was so loud. My Elementals gathered around me as I went down on my knees, and they settled beside me as the sparkling red magic moved from my chest, over my arms, my legs, my face…until I bent forward and pushed my hands into the earth. My Gnome hummed as she closed her eyes. My Undine, Sylph and Salamander all joined into the eerie, almost lulling song that came from the Gnome.
I closed my eyes, as once again the voice moved from inside my head to outside of it. I watched as I felt the power burrow into the soil like roots seeking water, seeking sustenance, seeking…life.
It found life, then three, then four and then more until there was enough power to lift and sift, sort and mold those things that did not belong in the swamp. Around me, the remnants of the dead broke down into their smallest, base parts before they moved into the center of the circle.
I touched the toadstools, the grass, the grains that make the dirt, the carbonized components of magic that had once been a staff of rowan, and within that culmination of information and knowledge I saw the way to reform, remake and repair.
Everything spun around in the center of the Circle in a perfect, living spiral. The parts coalesced and mated, making new life and in the end, it all formed a doorway. Something that was stable, yet moveable. Something to be used. Something…
Wonderous.
When it was done, the Arcane mist subsided and I opened my eyes as I came back to where I'd been. Still bent over on all fours, my