Chapter 25
The ride to the cabin had been pretty uneventful as Lauren fired off questions to Garrett and Maureen about everything she could think of concerning their family. They smiled and politely replied, seemingly comfortable with everything. Garrett wasn't broody or annoyed like he had been at their first meeting and Maureen's usually stoic demeanor had disappeared in place of placating her niece's curiosity. That had been six hours ago, and Maureen was now driving up a winding mountain road – paved, thank God, Bo thought – with Shona in the front seat just as awake and alert as Bo.
Bo really didn't feel like falling asleep at the moment, her new companions making her a bit edgy, but having Shona there with her and Lauren made it easier to handle. She did a lot to keep her mind active while Lauren slept, her blonde head comfortably placed on the brunette's shoulder as one of her arms was wrapped around Bo's. She watched the roads and subtly memorized their names and kept track of all the different landmarks that she could find. She had noticed these small, rectangular, upright stones dispersed across the road on either side with smaller, cone-shaped stones structures every few feet between them.
"What are those things?" she asked quietly and pointed at some of the strange structures coming up illuminated by the headlights.
"They're bolt holes and wards, often called dolmens and cairns. We've built and modified them through the centuries to protect the outer-most perimeters of our property and serve as easy escape routes." Maureen checked her rear-view mirror and saw the dark-haired succubus twitching nervously. "They're made of special stone meant to deter Fae, which is why you're probably feeling anxious and uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure we're just adding fuel to that fire."
"No, you're fine." Bo answered quickly, smiling to try and reassure the blonde.
"Bo, I may be over two hundred years old, but that doesn't mean I'm blind. Both of our kinds have never really had much love for each other." the blonde druidess said, arching a brow and not realizing what she had said.
"Still here." Shona commented as she watched the darkness beyond the window while Bo cut a quick glance to a still sleeping Lauren. Maureen had the good sense to look a bit embarrassed.
"Well, under the circumstances I've seen in my short two hundred years. No offense." she chuckled nervously, tapping her fingers gently against the leather grip on the stirring wheel.
"None taken." Shona turned from her gazing to give a small smile to the blonde. "Did you know we've had a truck followin' us for the last twenty miles?"The redhead pointed her thumb behind her.
She saw Maureen's eyes widen as she tried to find movement of any kind in the rear-view mirror. "You couldn't have said anything sooner? They haven't come up this far since we arrived here. Bo, wake the others. We may have to ditch the Pathfinder if they have sufficient back-up this time around." Bo didn't think twice about ignoring the order and shook Lauren gently awake and had her wake Garrett, who asked Failinis to sniff out what they were.
"Who are you talking about?" Bo asked as she grabbed her back pack and handed Lauren hers.
"Trooping fairies mostly. They're units rely more on numbers than actual power but sometimes they can have some pretty nasty pets they let out to play."
"Like what kind of pets?" Bo didn't like how Maureen said that last part.
"Pets that would savor us as they gnawed on our bones while we scream for mercy." Maureen's hazel eyes locked onto Bo's brown.
"Oh, those kinds of pets." Bo simply said as she made sure her daggers were firmly in place on her hips and ankles.
"Up a bit further is a turn-off to a back entrance. I'll turn down that after cutting off the lights and let Alan get an aerial view to see if he can spot how many we've got on our tail."
"I'll circle around them with Failinis. If I can – "
"If ya'll would excuse my little interruption here, I can easily take care of this for ya." Shona spoke up, seemingly completely calm at being followed. "Still go down the turn-off, though, and I'll take it from there. Ya'll won't even have to get out of the Pathfinder."
The siblings exchanged looks through the rear-view mirror. "Like we can argue." Garrett sighed. "She has centuries on us and we probably don't even know all the secrets of our order like she does."
Maureen looked askance at the redhead beside her in the passenger's seat. "I'm trusting you."
"Your imminent danger is my imminent danger. We all really don't need any more problems than we have at the moment and this will be like swattin' a fly for me."
They continued until the small, indiscriminate path came into view. Maureen cut the lights and easily followed the familiar trail through thick trees and bush until she came upon a large, sheer cliff wall with a small clearing to the right of it. It provided no way for an attacker to flee but to a druid it's natural structure was superb for many lines of attack and they couldn't easily be trapped.
Shona arched a brow in admiration. "You may be younguns but you sure do know how to find 'em."
"Only things that's really kept us alive: strategy and topography." Maureen said as she stepped out of the vehicle with Shona. Garrett opened the latch on the back door and let Failinis jump out and scent the air while Alan flew into the trees to watch the progress of their visitors.
He turned to Bo and Lauren. "Stay in here." Before they could protest, he left to join the others leaving the keys with Bo.
"Hi, I'm Bo. Unaligned Succubus that doesn't take orders from anyone? We're standing with you."
"Being within the bounds of our property significantly weakens your abilities. You won't be able to heal or feed as quickly. I'd rather have you and Lauren safe in the Pathfinder and ready to to bolt."
"I'm helping so get over it." Both stubborn and unmoving, they glared at each other before Lauren intervened.
"Just let her help, Garrett. You're not going to win this battle, believe me." The blonde man sighed, realizing his niece was right and scratched behind Failinis' ears.
"Very well."
The slight rumble of another engine soon could be heard nearing the small trail and Shona knelt on the ground, placing a hand on the cold earth before closing her eyes. Maureen did a similar action, but instead of kneeling and touching the ground, she lifted her hands out and tilted her head back.
"Do you know what they're doing?" Garrett decided to question Lauren on how much she'd already learned.
"They're sensing how many we h ave to deal with. Shona's using her connection to the earth to detect vibrations and Maureen is using her connection with Alan to see through his eyes to get a visual." Lauren stated confidently and Bo grinned widely at her before giving her a kiss; Garrett nodded proudly.
"They're not many out there. It's just a small band of scouts." Maureen spoke as she dropped her arms back to her sides before looking to Shona for conformation.
"A small band with something huge in the back of they're truck. I could pick up on a faint, slow heartbeat."
"What do you think it could be?" Maureen asked before seeing Failinis' snout raised to the air, sniffing at a scent yet to make itself known to the others.
"What's he scented?" Maureen asked at seeing her brother's face become grim.
"A dragon."
"You mean like a giant lizard guarding a treasure and a virgin? That dragon?" Bo asked, eyes wide. She had seen her fair share of different Fae, but she never thought that dragons could actually exist.
"I thought they went extinct centuries ago." Lauren was amazed and terrified at that news. She had read up on all Fae and knew they were in serious trouble if they didn't think of something fast.
"Almost," Shona whispered, "They still lived high in the Himalayan Mountains and other high altitude areas around the world. They don't much go after people's cattle as much anymore, but I've seen them pick off mountain goats and Yetis and the occasional explorer unfortunately."
"They eat abominable snowmen?" Bo asked, trying to imagine it in her head how a dragon would pluck a Yeti from a snowy cliff.
"Among other creatures." Shona nodded before turning to the others. "My plan is to bury it underneath the old mine shafts. We don't have the power or time at the moment to fight it when it flies."
Nods came from all around and she prepare everyone on what they would be doing before the sounds of tires screeching filled their ears. The trooping fairies weren't far away now, maybe just at the entrance of the path. They could hear them shouting orders and then heard chains rattling. Huffing noise were barely distinct among the shouting orders and chains.
"They're using it to track us?" Lauren asked, knowing the olfactory lobe of the giant reptile was supremely effective even more so than their infrared vision, which the share with their more realistic serpent cousins.
"No. Its one of the few creatures who aren't affected by our wards." Garrett answered as he listened for the flapping wings of the creature taking flight.
"The beast smells them this way!" They heard the thick Scottish accent of one of the fairies, nearly rhythmic thumping could be heard as the dragon walked the trail.
She placed both her hands on the ground, digging her fingers into the rich soil, and began a slow murmuring chant. After a minute, a slowly escalating rumble could be heard before tremors wracked the land around them, causing Bo to worry about how close they were to the sheer cliff.
Panicked screams rang out as the earth came up in a muddy wave and swallowed the troop of fairies sending them into the bowels of the earth. The dragon, being the clever creature it was, must have managed to somehow fly high enough to dodge the attack.
"It's about to get hotter than a goat's ass in a pepper patch." Shona announced as she readied herself to face and trap the giant lizard with wings.
"Here." Maureen threw a crinkling, metallic cloth at the redhead. "This should keep the heat from getting too intense." She gave everyone a thermal blanket.
Great thuds echoed through the forest as the huffing became more pronounced. It fluttered its wings shifting them back into place against its scaly back. Trees broke as it made its way through to the clearing where its prey waited.
When it burst through the last tree line, Shona was surprised to see it was a juvenile, barely old enough to begin looking for its own territory. Its reddish-brown scales blended with the dried pine needles on the ground as it crouched, flicking its forked tongue near the ground to scent better as it moved its long, lumbering neck back and forth. The small group stayed still, barely breathing for fear the dragon would zero in on them before Shona thought up another plan. She managed to gain the others' attention and mouthed to them all to run when she counted to three.
Suddenly the huffing and tongue-flicking stopped as the beast made a low growl in its chest, slitted eyes narrowing in on the five morsels it was promised by the little fairy men.
"One...Two...Now!" Shona smacked her hands on the ground as the others flung themselves behind the Pathfinder.
Maureen summoned the air, aiming it for the weak tree branch above the dragon's head. The giant hunk of wood smashed into the middle vertebrae of the beast's neck making it screech in mild pain and giving Shona enough time to summon the earth elemental back for one last attack.
The dragon began to charge at them but before it could reach them, the earth opened up to create a dragon-sized fissure. The earth grabbed at its muscular legs trying to bring the beast into its gaping mouth.
Angered roaring rang out as the dragon fell into the giant hole clawing desperately to keep itself above ground, plumes of smoke and flames shot from its nostrils and mouth as its futile attempts ceased, falling deeper into the pit before being silenced. The low rumbling of the earth shifting back was the only sound heard as the pit disappeared, the earth showing no sign that it had ever been disturbed save for the dust still settling.
Maureen and Garrett stood in silence, astounded at the level of power the older druid possessed. The feat of asking the earth to move and bend to your specific commands was something in every druids' bag of tricks, but to this extent was unheard of amongst the younger generations of the order.
"Shall we get goin'?" Shona asked, nonchalantly dusty the dirt off her hands like she hadn't just took down a hunting party and a dragon in under an hour.
Garrett and Maureen nodded their heads mechanically before shedding the thermal blankets and putting the back in their vehicle.
"Shona just took out a dragon." Bo stated as she stared at the ground and then around the area. Trees had re-rooted themselves and only the broken branch remained as evidence of the skirmish. She couldn't believe nothing was destroyed.
"Yes. It ah...appears she did." Lauren was ever being impressed by her mentor. If she was totally honest with herself, she feared Shona on some level. She had been human over two thousand years ago, had lived through many major plagues and wars, saw Rome rise and fall. Who wouldn't be a tad intimidated by that?
"C'mon, slowpokes! Ain't gettin' any brighter out here!" Shona roused them from their stupor as she hollered to them from the passenger seat. They got in and soon were on the path back up the mountain to their new home for the next three months.