The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida
Chapter Six
I had never had so much fun just talking with a man. I was especially surprised to enjoy myself on my way to infiltrate a Farungal fortress. But then, my life had been about war since I was 16. You stop fearing the fight when your life is focused on it. If the war ever ended, I'd probably be fucked and not in a good way.
All of my amusement vanished when a jagged, misty coastline came into view.
“That's Alantri?” I asked as we drew closer.
“Yes. The coast is bleak but it gets better inland.”
“You mean there are pretty places where monsters live?”
“Of course. There are even pretty monsters.”
I pondered that as he started to descend. We dropped through the mist. There was nothing but black cliffs with windswept plains atop them; I saw no sign of a stronghold.
Dalsharan set me down first and even though he did so lightly, I wound up crumbling to my knees. An hour of dangling from the claws of a giant bird will do that to you. The Hawk Lord politely ignored my grumbling and awkward stretching as he landed beside me and shifted.
This time, I looked.
Dalsharan grinned wickedly as my gaze roamed his naked body from broad shoulders to graceful toes, then he held his hand out for his satchel. I shrugged it off and handed it to him slowly, pretending to let it slip a couple of times so I could stare a little longer at his glorious muscles, all honey-brown and sculpted to perfection. His cock, as I mentioned, was beyond perfect. Even flaccid, it's pale-gold length, nestled in snowy curls, was mouthwatering. But it was the rest of the Hawk Lord's body that I couldn't stop looking at. The corded sinews in his arms, the curves of his ass, the dimples at his hips, and the rosy nipples crowning that magnificent chest. There was that pendant again—a triangular stone set in gold, hanging from one point. Neither the chain nor the gold around the stone was anything special, and I would have said the same about the stone—what with it being a polished jewel, not faceted—but there was something strange about it. I swear it winked at me.
“Ravyn,” Dalsharan said in a chiding tone, “give me the bag.”
“Huh?” I realized that my hand had fallen as I stared at his amulet. “Oh!” I tossed the satchel to him.
The Hawk Lord grimaced as he caught it, then pulled out his clothes and a pair of boots. He got dressed as I shimmied out of the flight rig. I snagged the bag back while he was busy, picked up his robe, and tossed the rig and robe inside before slinging the satchel over my shoulder.
“So, where is the fortress?” I asked as I tried to see through the mists that drifted over the rocky plateau.
“Not far. This way” He started walking.
I stepped up beside him. “This feeling I'm supposed to follow to find the amulets, it's the same as that tingle you gave me?”
“I gave you a tingle?” Dalsharan lifted a pale brow.
“Oh, you have no idea,” I drawled. “But I'm talking about that magic pulse thing you sent me.”
“Yes, Ravyn, I know what you're talking about,” he gave me a bemused grin. “And the feeling you'll be searching for will be similar but not exactly like that. What you felt was my stone.”
“I felt your stone? Shit, I don't even remember it,” I teased. “It must be pretty small.”
“If you think you're going to talk me into letting you feel my balls because you call them small, you're more of a child than Raeshal thinks.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, and he snorted a laugh.
“I sent you a pulse through my amulet, the Hawk Soul.” He tapped his chest, right where that pendant hung beneath his tunic.
I stumbled to a stop. “The Hawk Soul? That thing has a soul?”
He glanced back at me. “I'll tell you all about it after you fetch the first amulet. It's not a conversation to be had in the open, especially on Farungal land.”
“All right.” I started walking again. “So, I'm after an amulet that feels like yours?”
“Yes. The soul stone will be in distress so it will be—”
“The soul stone?” I interrupted. “They're all souls?”
The Hawk Lord gave me a stern look.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Please, continue.”
“It will either be the Lion or the Coyote Soul, I'm not certain which stone is held by which army, but it doesn't make a difference. They will both be emitting panic pulses, trying to locate their owners. These pulses are strong; you should be able to sense them as soon as you're in the stronghold and follow those pulses straight to the stones.”
The landscape changed slightly. We'd been walking down an incline and after a few feet, the mist dispersed, revealing a thick forest surrounded by rolling hills. On the other side of the forest a castle stretched its deadly spires toward the sky. Although the landscape was bright and lush, the castle seemed to leech the life from it—a dark wound that absorbed instead of bled. The shortest way to the castle was through the forest, but the Hawk Lord angled our descent so that when we reached the bottom of the hill, we were poised to go around the edges of the forest instead.
I looked at him askance.
“Trust me when I say that you don't want to wander through those trees,” he said in a low voice.
“Right. Got it. No skipping through Farungal forests.”
“Not unless you'd like to meet the creatures the Farungal consider monstrous.”
I turned to look at Dalsharan, certain he was joking, but he only stared grimly back. I swallowed past a dry lump in my throat and followed him around the edge of the forest, keeping an eye on the shadows further in. We stopped about fifty yards from the castle to take stock. The straggling line of trees offered some cover and the hilly terrain helped. We crouched in the grass. The Hawk Lord pulled out two cylinders and handed me one—farseers. Compact spyglasses.
“I'll approach from that side.” As I stared through my farseer, I motioned toward the hills to the right of the castle.
No, it wasn't a castle. It hadn't been built as a pretty place to live that could also be defended, it had been made purely for defense. There were arrow slits in the walls, hinged vats for boiling oil on the battlements, and iron spikes sticking out of the top of the walls, angled downward. This was a fortress. A stronghold. Those spikes would make scaling the wall hell on a fae, but they wouldn't bother me. I might even be able to use them as footholds.
“It will be dark soon and then you can make your approach. For now, we watch the guards.”
I nodded. I'd already been making a mental note of how many guards were on the battlements. Even after 10 years of fighting these creatures, the sight of them still disturbed me. The long limbs, hunched backs, sin-black skin, and wide faces weren't so bad, but the fangs behind their feral lips dripped venom and the barbs on their tails held even more poison. If that didn't scare you, there were twisting horns atop their heads that they loved to use to gore people and the knife-sharps claws they could sprout from both hands and feet whenever they felt like it. I'd never seen one who wasn't in the mood for some claws but then again, I'd also never seen one off a battlefield. The Farungal I stared at now were on guard duty, and they looked calm and clawless.
“Hand me the satchel,” Dalsharan said as he lowered his farseer.
I shrugged out of the strap and passed him the bag.
The Hawk Lord moved away and settled at the base of a tree to rifle through the satchel. He pulled out a flask of water and tossed it to me. “You might want to see to that worrisome bladder of yours.”
“Are you telling me to piss in the water flask?” I scowled at him.
“That's not even funny.” He motioned to the trees with his head. “Find a tree.”
I grinned and took a swig of water. “I'm good. Did you bring anything to eat?” I went to crouch beside him and peer into the pack, even though its magic made it appear empty.
Fae satchels can hold crazy amounts of stuff and still look empty. You had to stick your hand in while you thought of what you wanted to remove, and then the satchel would push it into your palm. It's a little creepy at first but you get used to it fast. And when you're marching for miles, you really appreciate the weight it literally takes off your shoulders.
“You want to have a picnic outside a Farungal stronghold?” He lifted a brow at me.
“It's been hours since lunch,” I grumbled.
Dalsharan smiled and dug out a bundle of dried meat strips. He tossed one to me before taking one for himself. I sighed in disappointment and started gnawing.
“What? The food isn't to your liking?” the Hawk Lord asked.
“I was hoping that since I was with you, we would get better grub.”
“I eat the same food that the rest of you do. I thought my soldiers knew that.”
“I've been told it, but I never believed it.”
He gave me an insulted look.
“What kind of idiot runs an army but doesn't eat better than the lowest private?”
“Evidently, this kind of idiot.” He waved at himself.
“Evidently,” I agreed with him.
The Hawk Lord flicked a finger at me, and I fell back on my ass.
“Hey, what the fuck?” I whined as I sat up.
“Don't speak to your warlord like that,” he chided me. “That was the least of what I can do to you.”
His threat sounded more like a promise, and I grinned at him in anticipation. “Is that right?”
“Focus!” Dalsharan snapped at me. “The time for camaraderie is over, Corporal. You're heading into the second most dangerous place for a human to go. You need to prepare yourself.”
“Fine,” I grumbled and chewed at the jerky. Then I processed what he said. “If that's the second most dangerous place, what's the first?”
The Hawk Lord smirked as if I'd fallen right into his trap. “My arms.”
I tossed my jerky at him, and he laughed his ass off.
