Figures stood within the greenery at the southern tip of the island, most wearing black and standing as still as statues. One figure was huddled close to the largest unicorn in view, standing amid the poppies and daisies on a bed of plush green grass. I couldn’t see the face, but I recognized the stature of our great buddy Vlad.
“Land.” I tapped Archion. “He’s trying to make off with the unicorns! We have to stop him.”
Saphira landed first, but Archion ignored me and did another lazy circle around the island.
Why aren’t you landing? I asked as I peered down through the trees. More unicorns stood within, but they weren’t grazing or moving toward the vamp visitors. They were staring northward.
Frowning, I looked in the direction they did, not seeing anything to raise suspicion…at first.
Wait, I thought, turning to look over Archion’s shoulder. Something is…
Archion adjusted his course, flying east to west, giving me a sideways view. Boats dotted the murky sea. Five rowers to a boat and at least two dozen boats. They weren’t manned by vampires, though—those willowy forms with their permanently windblown hair could only be elves.
“Look.” Emery pointed ahead of us. Dots moved along the eastern pathways, too far away for any detail, but they had humanoid forms. They could’ve been vampires, but they were coming from the opposite direction as the Lair, and with the elves coming from the north…
“Hurry,” I yelled, tapping Archion’s shoulder in the direction I needed him to turn. “Get back to the others. The elves are going to try to wipe out the unicorns and probably anyone else around.”
“Vlad was almost too late,” Emery said, gripping my shoulders as Archion put on a burst of speed.
We sailed to the southern tip and dipped down.
Get off now; it’ll be faster, Archion urged. I need to look for a larger landing place. Take the mage.
I whipped my right leg around, grabbed Emery’s arm, and jumped. Rather than follow, he tried to yank me back, almost ripping my arm out of my socket.
“Come on,” I yelled, using my magic this time and forcing him off Archion.
“Warn me next time,” he hollered, his voice tight. “I don’t usually just leap off dragons mid-flight.”
“How would you know?” I sped us toward the ground quickly. “You’ve only ridden one twice.”
“This…is…terrible,” Emery said as the ground rushed up to meet us.
I slammed on the hover-brakes as Darius and Vlad turned to look at me. Penny stood off to the side, head back, eyes wide, her attention firmly fixed on the unicorn matriarch rather than her fiancé’s dive through the air.
“Reagan, so good of you to—”
I cut Vlad’s posturing short. “Elves! Quick, elves are coming!” Something occurred to me. “Shit, we should’ve warned the unicorns on the north side of the island. Will they know to run? Will they be fast enough?”
Vlad’s eyes narrowed marginally, as if he suspected a trick, and honestly, maybe it would’ve been a good one if I’d thought I could pull something like that off on a vampire. Darius, however, knew better.
“Where are they coming from?” he asked, surveying the vampires around us. “How many?”
I closed my eyes and repeated what my perfect recall had printed onto my brain.
“Is this everyone?” I motioned around the clearing at the vampires standing idle.
Vlad’s head snapped right, where his second-in-command stood in her leather bustier and spiked high heels. “Send someone for backup. We don’t have enough to keep the elves at bay for long.”
“No.” I put out my hand, sparing a glance for Darius and hardening my resolve. “No.” I met Vlad’s eyes. “Take a team and get the unicorns out of here. Get them down to the Underworld. Find my father and tell him they need protection. Tell him to make them comfortable.”
Darius studied me for a moment, but he didn’t question my command. He turned and nodded to Vlad.
“How magnanimous of you,” Vlad said, nodding at his assistant. She zoomed off and started barking orders.
“It isn’t about me.” I turned to the great beast beside us, the matriarch, her radiance stopping my breath for a moment. Her soft mane fell down her velvety neck, glowing in the sun. Her deep eyes took me in. “You saved my life once. It’s my turn to save your…herd.” Man, I hoped she’d be cool with me calling them that. “Go. Hopefully one day we’ll meet again.”
She neighed and shook her head, drawing my attention to that foot-long horn.
Clouds rolled and boiled above us, and I looked up in confusion as I turned back to the others.
“An enemy has set foot on the island,” Darius said, stripping off his clothes, Vlad doing the same thing beside him.
“It seems the elves aren’t here for tea and a friendly chat,” Vlad said.
“Reagan, take them by air,” Darius said.
“You plan to fight them by foot?” Emery asked as the unicorns started to move, running toward a team of assembling vampires directing them south toward a land bridge.