the correct word,” he said. “I flung it into the wild peaks of Hyperborean Mountains at the northwestern edge of the Eternal Forest.”
“And that is a bad place?” she asked.
His lips turned up at the question. “In and of itself, no. The Hyperborean mountains are the border between this realm and the blessed isles that rest between the world of spirits and fae, and that of the dead. Like the Eternal Forest, the mountain range is far vaster than one can imagine. It connects with many sacred boundary mountains over the world. Because of its nature, it is inhabited by unpleasant beings who protect their territory ferociously.”
“And you threw it there?” Diana gaped adorably at him. She swallowed back her nerves and gamely met his eye. “Is this like a sword in the stone situation? Are we going to have to pull it free from stone or mountainside it imbedded in?”
“Oh, if only it were that simple.” He laughed, smile hardening as he crowded closer to the little human and his voice dropped low. “None but I know where it fell,” he murmured so quietly that he knew that she was forced to strain herself to hear him. Yet even after so many ages had passed, he didn’t trust anyone, not even his subjects, with the secret. “And one other.”
Her breath rushed out in a hard gasp as she sighed one word. “Who?”
His gaze dropped to the line of her throat where her pulse raced. Her scent was rich, a complex barrage of conflicting notes that demonstrated the emotions that were rolling chaotically through her. Fear, anger, and the slightest flavor of… yes… excitement. He licked his lips, stroking his tongue to capture the flavors from the air and draw them over the more sensitive receptors in his mouth. He longed to stroke his tongue down her throat as well, but this was conversation, not seduction. Not yet, anyway.
Dropping his lips against her ear, he felt her shiver in reaction as he imparted the secret to her. The only one, due to the manipulation of the Fates, who was destined to witness the recovery of Nocis.
“Among the dwellings of the horse-devouring griffins, and great wyrms and dragons, along the lower elevations there lives a strix, one of many scattered throughout the worlds. She is a sorceress, a monstrous owl-like being who dines on the flesh of the mortal races—preferably the very young. In her caverns, she jealously keeps all her treasures, tokens of magic and power. I saw the sweep of her enormous feathered wings as she snatched the sword out of the air. At that very moment, I knew that it would be her greatest of possessions.”
Diana jerked back as she met his eyes. “And you just let her have it?”
He shrugged and straightened. “Why not? Did I not just say that she guards her possessions? A strix is no easy conquest. They are not typically among the Tainted Ones, preferring solitude.”
“Are you kidding me? You just said she eats children,” Diana retorted. “How is that not bad enough?”
“She has stolen far more from the clans of trolls and orcs than from men. You are offended on their behalf? They would be touched to hear it,” he commented with no little disbelief.
Her face flushed guiltily but she met his eye, lips pinching with disapproval. “I admit I was thinking more about humans at that moment, but that said, I don’t approval of any child being eaten.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “You certainly honor your namesake on this day. In any case, you do not need to fear. From what I understand, much of her diet is fawns and bear cubs and other creatures that she can easily snatch in her flight. Most figured out long ago how to ward against her. They know that, with the right protections over their home during the night, their little ones are safe from her hunt.” He touched his first knuckle to his chin thoughtfully. “Well, it is well known among most species. With the human world being closed off for so long by the gods, it is hard to say how they will fair against any strix that have crossed over.”
Diana paled. “Do you think they have?”
“Without a doubt. I imagine that, being a race of sorceresses themselves, they felt the magic of the barrier breaking far more intensely than many beings of this world. I have no doubt they were among the first to invade your world to glut themselves in the