Prince of Demons 3: The Order of the Black Swan by Victoria Danann
Authors: Victoria Danann
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lower and more to the right.
The force of the boar’s charge did indeed result in a violent and ugly suicide. It also turned a sharp but harmless branch into a catapult so that he flew over where Brave and Lana lay, and landed on the ground with a mighty thud.
On impact, Lana had dug her heels into the ground, gritted her teeth, and brought every muscle in her body to bear on the task of aiming the arc of descent away from Brave. Then she lay exhausted, breathing hard, listening to a full minute of ear-splitting pig screams and death squeals.
When the boar exhaled his last sound the forest was once again quiet except for the sound of rushing water nearby. She crawled to Brave’s comatose body, laid herself over his chest and listened to his heart beat.
CHAPTER 3
Brave opened his eyes a sliver to see what was tickling his nose. Lana’s head lay on his chest and a lock of her hair blew in his face with the movement of the morning breeze.
He winced when his arms tried to wrap around her of their own volition. She felt good under his hands. Even the throbbing of his injuries couldn’t completely douse the pleasure of feeling the warmth radiating through her clothes.
He turned his head slightly and almost jumped when he saw the dead carcass of the boar. Its tusks were long enough and yellow enough to indicate that he’d been a mature male, probably wily, and not that easy to kill. Brave’s chest filled with pride as he imagined Lana killing the boar while he slept. At the same time that image filled him with fear.
There was no time to let the conflict of those emotions settle before he heard the barks of straithgard. Either the Callii were back or the Reinlitegen were almost on them.
He shook Lana to wake her, not that they could run, but he thought it would be better to be taken awake than asleep. Just then he would have given his good arm to turn back time and choose to leave Atalanta Ravin safe in the strange world of Edinburgh.
She roused then groaned out her body’s weariness. “Brave?”
Lana raised herself up far enough to look at Brave through sleepy eyes that were only half-comprehending.
“Lana, I want you to know that…” His attention shifted past her shoulder where he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. There was a shimmer in the air just a few feet away. He hoped it was Callii. The second he saw skin with a slight tinge of salmon color, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Cavalry’s here, beautiful.”
One of the Callii took hold of Brave to take him through a pass. The demon stabbed Brave with a syringe-like tool then looked at Lana. “Sorry, human. I only brought serum for Brave.”
Brave was looking at Lana with wild eyes and struggling against the Callii who were separating them.
Lana heard a loud raspy voice behind her. She didn’t turn around. Her eyes were fixed on Brave, but she knew it was the Reinlitegen. “Son of Roanald. Come to me or be the catalyst for the death of the Callii.”
Brave only had the chance to scream, “NO!”, as he was carried away through an invisible door and disappeared.
Lana wondered if the Reinlitegen were going to think Brave had replied no to whatever they’d said or that they knew he was telling his captors not to take him without her. Regardless, she was there and he was somewhere else.
She was somewhat impressed by her own ability to accept the turn of events calmly. Or maybe she was just too tired to do anything else.
She turned around to face a dozen Reinlitegen who were gathered behind her. Even though their expressions were cruel, they were undoubtedly the most beautiful creatures she’d ever seen. They spoke to each other in a language composed of sounds that were alien to any linguistics system she’d heard.
She remembered Brave saying that demons, at least Callii, could grasp new languages on contact. Reasoning that there was nothing to lose in trying diplomacy, she said, “My name is Atalanta Ravin.
The force of the boar’s charge did indeed result in a violent and ugly suicide. It also turned a sharp but harmless branch into a catapult so that he flew over where Brave and Lana lay, and landed on the ground with a mighty thud.
On impact, Lana had dug her heels into the ground, gritted her teeth, and brought every muscle in her body to bear on the task of aiming the arc of descent away from Brave. Then she lay exhausted, breathing hard, listening to a full minute of ear-splitting pig screams and death squeals.
When the boar exhaled his last sound the forest was once again quiet except for the sound of rushing water nearby. She crawled to Brave’s comatose body, laid herself over his chest and listened to his heart beat.
CHAPTER 3
Brave opened his eyes a sliver to see what was tickling his nose. Lana’s head lay on his chest and a lock of her hair blew in his face with the movement of the morning breeze.
He winced when his arms tried to wrap around her of their own volition. She felt good under his hands. Even the throbbing of his injuries couldn’t completely douse the pleasure of feeling the warmth radiating through her clothes.
He turned his head slightly and almost jumped when he saw the dead carcass of the boar. Its tusks were long enough and yellow enough to indicate that he’d been a mature male, probably wily, and not that easy to kill. Brave’s chest filled with pride as he imagined Lana killing the boar while he slept. At the same time that image filled him with fear.
There was no time to let the conflict of those emotions settle before he heard the barks of straithgard. Either the Callii were back or the Reinlitegen were almost on them.
He shook Lana to wake her, not that they could run, but he thought it would be better to be taken awake than asleep. Just then he would have given his good arm to turn back time and choose to leave Atalanta Ravin safe in the strange world of Edinburgh.
She roused then groaned out her body’s weariness. “Brave?”
Lana raised herself up far enough to look at Brave through sleepy eyes that were only half-comprehending.
“Lana, I want you to know that…” His attention shifted past her shoulder where he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. There was a shimmer in the air just a few feet away. He hoped it was Callii. The second he saw skin with a slight tinge of salmon color, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Cavalry’s here, beautiful.”
One of the Callii took hold of Brave to take him through a pass. The demon stabbed Brave with a syringe-like tool then looked at Lana. “Sorry, human. I only brought serum for Brave.”
Brave was looking at Lana with wild eyes and struggling against the Callii who were separating them.
Lana heard a loud raspy voice behind her. She didn’t turn around. Her eyes were fixed on Brave, but she knew it was the Reinlitegen. “Son of Roanald. Come to me or be the catalyst for the death of the Callii.”
Brave only had the chance to scream, “NO!”, as he was carried away through an invisible door and disappeared.
Lana wondered if the Reinlitegen were going to think Brave had replied no to whatever they’d said or that they knew he was telling his captors not to take him without her. Regardless, she was there and he was somewhere else.
She was somewhat impressed by her own ability to accept the turn of events calmly. Or maybe she was just too tired to do anything else.
She turned around to face a dozen Reinlitegen who were gathered behind her. Even though their expressions were cruel, they were undoubtedly the most beautiful creatures she’d ever seen. They spoke to each other in a language composed of sounds that were alien to any linguistics system she’d heard.
She remembered Brave saying that demons, at least Callii, could grasp new languages on contact. Reasoning that there was nothing to lose in trying diplomacy, she said, “My name is Atalanta Ravin.
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