Free Sorceress Found by Lisa Blackwood

Sorceress Found: A Prequel Story
     
    Surrounded by darkness, deep in the heart of his
enemy’s territory, the gargoyle braced his wings against the breeze sweeping
down the onyx-tiled corridor. High above, cobwebs swirled among the shadows
obscuring the vaulted ceiling. With a nudge of magic, lacy tendrils of gloom
floated down, settling over his shoulders and wings like a thick autumn fog.
    While a cloak of darkness might hide him for a
short time, the wet heat of blood seeping down his side would soon tempt him to
embrace the healing sleep of stone. Here in this place death would come swift
and brutal.
    He had to push onward. He couldn’t give
up—something far more precious than his own life was at risk.
    No more than eight summers old, the child slept
soundly in his arms, her weight a reassurance. With her cloud of black hair and
eyelashes dark against pale skin, the Sorceress looked peaceful, innocent—at
odds with this place of darkness. Her safety came first. He couldn’t fail her.
    Not again.
    Sounds of panting and the muted rasp of claws on
stone echoed from the direction he’d just come. An undulating wail of a Death
Hound filled the stale air. Its harsh call reverberated along his wings.
    Another cry answered the first, rising and
falling in the distance. He bolted from the shadows, seeking the breeze’s
source. The sharp click of his talons striking stone tiles drowned out the
noise of pursuit. Urged by instinct, he ran until the corridor forked.
    He veered right and a pale light bloomed in the
distance. Shadows gave way to a gray misty haze. At the end of the tunnel, a
line of vast windows opened onto a balcony. He adjusted his hold on the young
Sorceress and sprinted toward freedom.
    Outside, wind buffeted at his furrowed wings and
howled in his ears, but his attention riveted on the Veil between the Realms.
It shimmered a hundred paces in front of him, silvery mists promising escape. A
vast expanse of empty air stretched between the balcony and the outer edge of
the Veil.
    Worry itched between his shoulder blades. His
wings twitched with tension. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he studied the
way he’d come. For now only a few shadows and lonely statues guarded the way,
but it wouldn’t be long before Death Hounds caught him.
    He bowed his muzzle until he caught the
sorceress’s familiar scent. She calmed him—the other half of his soul. He would
know her anywhere. So many lives they’d shared, hunting down evil in all its
forms.
    Bumping his muzzle against her cheek, he whined
and licked at her face. A sharp flavor coated his tongue.
    He jerked back with a snort. Wrong. Her taste
was wrong. Harsh fear, cold like the first killing frost, flowed through his
soul. He licked at her again, the bitter essence confirming his suspicions. She
was tainted, evil so deeply embedded within her it welled up from below her
skin.
    There was nothing he could do for her here in
this place, but once they were safe he would discover what mischief the Lady of
Battles had planned for his sorceress. First, he had to escape the Battle
Goddess’s clutches.
    His eyes track back toward the shimmering Veil
as his stomach tightened into a knot. He could escape through the Veil, safe
from its life destroying magic, but the child sorceress was tainted. The Veil’s
magic would sense that and attack.
    He clamped his wings to his back and tightened
his arms around her smaller form. If he’d been mature, he could have protected
her from the ravages of the mist. But, newly born, he lacked the raw power
needed to fully shield even himself.
    Had he saved her from imprisonment only to have
the Veil strip the life from her now?
    Instincts screamed a warning and he glanced over
his shoulder.
    Too late. A sizeable weight slammed into his
back, overbalancing him. Teeth savaged the flesh of his right shoulder. With a
howl of pain, he released the child, and twisted, catching his attacker under
the jaw. The beast yelped and