Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

The cry didn’t come from me but from the woods. A hailstorm of sparkling fire shot out from the trees and struck a large patch of the sloppy worms, burning them to cinders. A column of flames shot out from the same direction and eliminated more of our dark foes.

Ware and Vargas stepped out of the trees, their jaws steeled and their eyes full of determination. They held up their hands and small fireballs burned in their palms.

“Don’t go showing off!” a voice snapped, and Enna and Allard stepped out from the opposite end of the clearing.

Saber and Blake followed on their heels and all of them had their weapons drawn. Allard held up a hand with a crackling fireball in his palm.

The creature in front of us twisted and contorted to get a look at its foes. A deep, rumbling laugh echoed from deep inside the ooze and Corbin’s distorted voice came out. “You will not defeat us! Nothing can destroy us!”

“I am willing to try,” Vargas challenged it as she held up both her hands.

“At the same time!” Will shouted as he clapped his hands together and spread them apart, revealing a huge string of hot crackling flames.

A small hand wrapped around mine and I looked down to see Ivy holding a small marble fireball. “I want to help!”

I smiled and nodded. “Then follow our lead, okay?” Ivy perked up and nodded.

The humans stuck their blades into Allard’s fire and the metal heated to a glowing red. Enna faced our foe and drew her sword back. “Ready when you are!”

“Now!” Will yelled.

We threw everything we had at our oozing foe. The creature was struck from three sides and above by a torrential downpour of extreme heat. The fire melted its body and exploded its pus sacs. Any worms that tried to escape its sizzling form were instantly vaporized by the hot flames. Ivy flung her small balls and if they didn’t hit their target they rolled to a new one.

Enna and her two comrades leaped forward into the insane mess of oozing shadows and sliced the escaping worms. The heat from their cooked blades meant the worms immediately caught fire and squirmed into ash.

The main body of the creature let out a terrible cry as it melted like a witch under our steady stream of fire. It flung its arms up and a faint wisp of smoke rose from its body.

“Oh no you don’t!” I shouted as I swung my sword at the escaping vapor.

A brilliant slice of light shot out and struck the shadows, catching it aflame. A faint groan of defeat emanated from the mist before it floated to the ground as ash. Even that didn’t remain untouched as our fires burned everything into a blackened mess that became one with the earth.

Vargas dropped her hands and let out a sigh of relief. “I think we have finished it!”

The rest of us followed her example and relaxed our arms. I grasped Will’s shaky limb and looked him over. “Are you alright?”

His face was pale but he smiled at me. “Yes, but I am looking forward to a rest.”

Ware and Allard stepped up to the blackened mess and the old hunter kicked at a hunk of ash. “I believe it will not come back this time.”

Allard smiled and shook his head. “No. The creature is well and truly dead.”

“Who’s the kid?” The question came from Enna as she nodded at Ivy.

“And how can she wield dragon fire?” Vargas chimed in.

Will and I stared at each other with confused expressions before we dropped our gaze to the child. She was all smiles as she looked around us all. “I helped! I helped!”

I knelt in front of her and grasped her shoulders. “Ivy, who exactly are you?”

Ivy blinked at me. “I’m Ivy.”

“Yes, but how can you use magic like you do?” I persisted.

She pointed at Will. “Because Daddy can and because Mommy can. That’s why I can.”

“Who are your parents?” Allard asked her as the others crowded around us.

Ivy pointed at Will and me. “This is Mommy and Daddy.”

Everyone shared a look of stupefaction and Vargas frowned at the child. “This is no joke, girl. Who are you?”

Ivy stuck up her chin. “I’m Ivy and this is my mommy and daddy!”

Ware scoffed. “But how can this be? Lady Thorn has never even been pregnant.”

A sheepish smile slipped onto my lips and I blushed. Vargas gasped. “By all the realms, you are pregnant, aren’t you?”

“That still doesn’t explain how the kid is outside of her and looking like she’s six years old,” Enna spoke up.

I looked Ivy up and down. “That’s very true, Ivy. You haven’t been born yet so how are you standing in front of us?”

She puffed out her chest and beamed. “You wanted to save everyone and me, Mommy, and I wanted to help you, so I came out when you used your light and put my little balls in the ground! They helped a lot, didn’t they?”

“Frightfully so. . .” Vargas muttered.

Ware nodded. “Without them, we would not have fended off the worms that surrounded us at that moment and came to your rescue when we witnessed the glow of flames.”

Blake scratched his temple. “So that’s why she was planting those things everywhere. She made a barrier to protect around the house.”

“So I helped?” Ivy asked me.

Warm happy tears sprang into my eyes as I squeezed her arms. “You not only helped but you saved everyone.”

She grinned and nodded. “I’m so glad. That means I have to go now.”

My heart skipped a beat as a soft white light surrounded her. Her tiny form began to fade into a cloud of glistening sparkles. “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to go to sleep again, Mommy,” Ivy told me as she pointed at my stomach. “But I’ll come back in a little while. Oh, and you’ll name me Ivy, won’t you, Mommy? I really like the name.”

I managed a smile through my tears and nodded. “Of course.”

Her little shape vanished into the sparkling cloud. I leaned back as the wisp floated toward me and into my stomach. The hollowness I’d been feeling over the last day disappeared and a faint warmth filled me.

Allard grinned at Will. “You have a most remarkable mate, Lord Thorn.”

Will smiled down at me as I stood. “I know, and it appears I will have a most remarkable daughter, as well.”

I cupped my stomach in one hand and leaned against him. “I can’t wait for her to be that cute.”

“And I can’t wait to get back to the house and get some sleep,” Enna spoke up as she looped her arms around one of Allard’s and tugged him in that direction. “Come on.”

“You would like my company?” he guessed.

She snorted. “No, I want you to light the way, and I also want to talk to you about forging some weapons with that fire.”

“Wait for us, boss!” Blake shouted as Saber and he scurried after the two.

Ware stood and turned to Vargas to whom he offered his arm. “Shall we?”

Vargas smiled and accepted his arm. “I could not be happier. Now if you would only stop being such a fool.”

Ware chuckled as he led her away. “That is why you must stop me.”

That left Will and me alone. I leaned my cheek against Will’s arm and smiled up at him. “I’d say this was a perfect ending, don’t you?”

He pressed a kiss on my forehead. “Or just the beginning of something wonderful.”

It was a little of both, and in both ways I couldn’t have been happier with my perfect ending.