Moon Shimmers(88)

“Be cautious. We’re nearing some rock fall up ahead and while it might be a good place to stop for a moment, there could be creatures hiding up there as well.” Smoky turned back to the path and motioned for us to start again.

Bran leaned forward to whisper, “You wouldn’t be here if Aeval and Titania didn’t think you were the right person for the job. Queen Asteria, as well. Remember that.”

I glanced back at him, giving him a quick nod, and tried to keep my thoughts focused on the climb.

As we approached the pile of rocks that littered the side of the mountain and tumbled down below the path, I reached out, trying to sense if anything was there. Smoky had slowed, and was cautiously approaching the first pile of rubble, when a massive, dark figure rose from behind the opposite end of the rocks. Even in the fading light of dusk, it was obvious that we were facing a dubba-troll.

Crap. Dubba-trolls were the worst. Two-headed, they also had twice the strength and half the brains of other trolls. They were immune to bullets and any bladed weapons not made of silver. Hammers, mallets, maces—all worked well against the creatures, but we were sadly lacking in the blunt-weapon division. And far worse, we were on a precarious mountainside with a one-way ticket to an early grave if we fell off.

Smoky immediately called for Shade to join him. Which meant, of course, some jostling. “Camille, Venus, Chase, get to the end of the line. Bran and Delilah, behind us.”

We shuffled around, trying not to knock each other over as we shifted positions, all the while the dubba-troll was grunting, forcing his way through the rocks. The best possibility we had was for Shade and Smoky to tip him off balance and send him over the side.

Delilah drew Lysanthra. The blade would be able to pierce the troll’s skin, at least. And Bran brought out his own sword, which glowed faintly in the dim light. A magical blade as well.

I motioned for Chase to work his way back to the end of the line. “Keep your eyes open. We don’t want anything to surprise us from behind, so if you see anything that looks like it might be a danger, give a shout out. Venus, watch with him. I’m going to call on the Moon Mother’s power. We have a clear sky so I doubt I can find enough energy in the air to call down lightning, but there are other ways to kill a dubba-troll. Damn, if Morio was here, we could cast some form of death spell his way.”

Venus joined Chase without a word, keeping watch over the trail behind us. Meanwhile, Smoky and Shade quickly conferred, with Smoky taking up position first and Shade close behind him. As Smoky engaged the dubba-troll, I turned away. It was best for my magic if I didn’t watch—it was too distracting.

I raised my arms to the sky, summoning the Moon Mother’s power. She was waning, moving into her shadow phase, which was my power. I had started out focusing on the full moon’s energy and my spellcasting had always been wonky, with a good chance of backfiring. But once I had learned that I worked best under the dark moon, my magic had grown stronger and I was less likely to screw up my spells.

The crescent was rising just over the horizon, visible from where we were on the mountain. I gazed up at the Moon Mother, closing my eyes as I reached out to her. I could feel her power crackling around me, the power of shadow and veils, the power of dusk and twilight and the night sky. The wind rose as I called her down into me. What had been a steady breeze strengthened into a stiff squall, buffeting against us. I could hear fighting behind me but brought my focus back to the Moon Mother and her energy.

Give me your strength. I call down your force and your might. Help me, my Lady of the night sky.

As I silently mouthed my prayer to her, the wind turned into a wild whirl of gusts, and the clouds began to gather, racing in from the distant east. They drove forward, huge and luminous, and the sky took on an ominous green tinge. I could feel the rain heavy within them, and the crackling touch of ozone—the smell of lightning—began to build. She was with me, my Lady, in her waning light. She tickled my fingertips, sending trails of prickles along my arms so that the hairs stood straight up. Then her light vanished as the clouds covered the sky, and my stomach tensed. The lightning was there, the energy at my fingertips.

I turned, slowly, holding onto the power, and focused on the dubba-troll as the electricity began to surge into my hands. Holding out my palms, I aimed the fork of lightning at the troll, doing my best to avoid Smoky and Shade, who were launching their attacks at him.

Smoky saw the bolt coming first and jumped back, knocking Shade to the side. They landed against the hill behind them. The dubba-troll paused, then turned my way as the shriek of the lightning hurtled toward him. The brilliant light lit up his face and I could see first the confusion, then the terror as he stumbled back, trying to get away from my attack. But it was too late. The lightning hit him square on the chest, then ricocheted off to blast into the stones on the slope of the mountain below us.