FOREVER KNIGHTS: #4 Battling Black Roses

Meadowbrook, Grier Country

DERAGAN

Nora was dying. Again.

Far below her a troop of knights topped a ridge in the distance. Gleaming helmets were slashed with a sharp red cross. The same one echoing over white tunics. Leading their mounts down the steep drop into the canyon made their cloaks blow back. Exposing elaborate sheaths. Polished armor glinted in the first yellow rays of morning. The cresting sun dusted everything in shades of burnished gold and pink.

They walked slowly, marked for death.

At the forefront, a dark man led a big black war horse. Dark as onyx, the Captain’s hair caught the light. Piercing blue eyes scanned the hills but couldn’t see the army positioned atop the nearest crest.

Their enemy peered over a rocky overhang to assess their prey.

Despite her silent screaming they didn’t turn, didn’t go back from whence they came. They were going to die.

In that moment, she decided they wouldn’t. Not there. Not this canyon.

A storm darkened the sky in an instant. Thunder crashed, and lightening sliced heavy clouds bloated with rain.

She leapt away from everything she knew. Sending her body careening into nothingness. The fall seemed endless as she rocketed from the raging sky. Spinning viciously. Barely noticing warm tears coursing her cheeks.

Then came the dreaded impact. And the pain. So much pain. Cracking bones sent waves of agony flooding through her.

A face appeared above her. One she loved. Staring up at it, into burnished blue eyes, soothed the burn of her broken body.

Time leapt forward in a flurry of trees growing from saplings to towering green oaks, the sun rose and fell in a delicate dance. Pursuing the ever-evasive moon. Snow fell, then melted to expose layers of green sprouts growing tall.

A man’s voice cut in. Jolting everything to an abrupt stop.

“We’re running out of time. Cimmerii are coming.” Beautiful and masculine it reverberated through silence.

She knew that voice. Pain tightened her stomach and a surge of indefinable longing pulsed through her. Whipping her head, she was desperate to find the source. But everything was black. Far too dark for her to see anyone.

There was the thunder of hundreds of hoofbeats tearing through the fog.

Her surroundings paled to a stormy gray day. Silent clouds blocked all light. Lithe warriors surged forward with clashing swords. Battle cries faded to a din of noise.

Black skinned creatures charged over the field, but larger animals intercepted before anything could reach her.

Fear tightened her insides as she realized the mud and dirt and grass were all tainted in a coating of blood. She gripped a dagger already glazed with it. Thick warm liquid drug over the back of her hand. Armor bands sheathed her forearms. Smudged with human fluids. She’d been in a brutal battle.

The roar of people screaming and battle cries, and clanging metal ceased. Her heart sank. Death was coming for her.

She turned and faced him. Crossing the battle-torn field, the grizzled man tossed a gray cloak, nearly the same shade as his beard, back from his worn leather boots. Watching her darkly, he drew closer. Pure evil.

Paralyzed with terror, her legs refused to move.

Wolves viciously attacked him. Strange birds dived at him, but he deflected every blow with the toss of his hand. Sending animals reeling back. Refusing to break his focus on her. He was unstoppable.

A soundless scream parted her lips as her eyes scanned the field. Finally, she spotted the one she sought. Familiar broad shoulders and jet-black hair. He was so close. Close enough to reach.

Her fearful eyes were drawn back to the demon’s approach. She knew she wasn’t yet strong enough to fight him off. Not yet. But in just a few more sennights…Just a little more time…

Turning to run to her protector she let the dagger slip from her icy fingertips.

But the evil man headed her off. Appearing between them. Lifting bristly gray brows, he grinned. Jagged teeth filled her gaze as he fisted her hair. Bony fingers bit into her bottom jaw. His sudden jerk made bones in her neck pinch off vital chords and twist tendons. Crippling her. Breaths heaving, she struggled for air.

Releasing her, he watched her crumple. She landed on her side. With her head crashing onto the dirt. A copper flavor and the syrupy feel of seeping blood tainted the back of her throat. She tried to cough it up, but her body wouldn’t obey her mind. The fluid was filling her throat. Her vision was consumed by the gray cloak moving closer. Rolling her eyes to see him, she met his joyous stare as he tilted his head down at her.

Her eyes drew involuntarily back to the one she’d tried to make it to. She was so close to him. She was immediately pained. Knowing he’d be devastated.

Even as she thought it, his back stiffened and bloodied sword dropped limply to the mud. Splashing his boots. Frozen in place he didn’t move. But he already knew.

Watching him slowly twist, she met the blue gaze staring at her, hollow with pain.

Afraid for him she willed him to stay away. Rage tore over his face. Her heart broke.

Death sunk in its claws. Fighting it was useless. Body spasming, she gave up the struggle. Jerking violently Nora came harshly awake.

Experiencing the nightmare was nearly as unbearable as when it’d happened. Deragan woke before the scene ended with Radix turning her neck and tossing her body aside. Knowing what came next, he forced himself from the memory. I can’t see it again.

Calming his breathing and the wild rate of his heart, he poured from his bed. Giving an assessing glance around his chamber, he verified no intruders lurked, before striding the hall to the small parlor of his summer home.

Walking in, he aimed for the decanter in the corner to pour some bourbon to soothe his nerves.

He was unsurprised to find Bast peering over the back of the settee. “I wondered when you’d wake.”