The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4)(90)

“It’s temporary Sovaesh. I need the energy that is stored within it. I will return it to you when I can. You have my word,” Seth assured him as he handed over his own dagger. It was a touchy thing to ask and he hadn’t been sure Sovaesh would agree. To any warrior, weapons were important, but to an Assassin, their daggers were more. It was a calling card in a sense. He had essentially just asked Sovaesh for his identity, and his former student was handing it over without question, and all it had taken was a smile.





Chapter 11





Glis





His breath frosted in the air before him as he stepped from his ship. With a frown, Shade pulled his jacket on and stepped down to the thick grass. Turning slowly, he surveyed his surroundings, his eyes searching for any sign of life. The forests of Glis rose to the west of him, barely visible through the morning fog, while the grasslands of Arovan could be seen faintly to the east. By Jala’s directions, he should be sitting right beside Nigel’s guard post. The dragon was supposed to be protecting the Blights from an invasion from Arovan, and yet there was no sign of him anywhere.

“Wonderful,” Shade muttered as he gemmed his ship and dropped the stone into his jacket pocket. He had been counting on information from Nigel to help him in his search. The dragon had been stationed here for close to three weeks. There was no way he could have avoided contact with the Blights in that time, unless of course he wasn’t actually here.

With a heavy sigh, Shade turned toward the forest and shifted his body to the Blight form. He wasn’t really looking forward to searching the entire country of Glis until he stumbled across a Blight hive, but it didn’t really look as though he had much choice. “Scour the country to find the creatures. Somehow make an alliance with them. Convince them to move to a formerly cursed country, and if you could, do it in less than thirty days. Gee thanks, Jala, I love you too,” Shade grumbled as he began to walk toward the distant trees. “Hey Glis, not sure if anyone told you, but its bloody spring. It’s supposed to be warm,” he added in a louder voice as the wind rose around him.

“Strange little thing isn’t he?” The woman’s voice stopped him cold in his tracks and Shade whirled to find three women sitting at a table and watching him with expressions of utter amusement.

“What the…,” Shade muttered, his eyes scanning the table and the obvious camp behind it. Each of the women wore brightly colored gowns and looked better suited to a fine gambling hall in Sanctuary than the wilderness of Glis.

“I thought Shade Morcaillo was famous for his paranoia. Didn’t Jala say he used to wear the glasses that detected the invisible?” the woman in red mused as her counterparts in green and blue watched him with playful smiles.

“He used to. One would think now that he is an outlaw, he would be even more paranoid,” The sound of Nigel’s voice spun Shade around once more and he found himself nose to nose with the dragon he had been seeking. Nigel smiled faintly and bowed his head to Shade in greeting. As always, Nigel was dressed impeccably in a finely tailored suit. Sunlight reflected off the dark glasses he wore, as well as the rings on his fingers. The expression on his face was a mirror for his female companions and filled with amusement. “Might want to start wearing those glasses again, Shade,” Nigel suggested as he sauntered past Shade toward the table and the waiting women.

“Jala said you would drop by,” the woman in blue drawled. She swirled her wine in her glass a moment then took a dainty sip as she waved a long delicate hand toward an empty seat at their table.

“Have you had a chance to meet the Three Sisters Shade?” Nigel asked conversationally as he motioned toward the three women.

“Can’t say that I have,” Shade replied neutrally. It was irritating to know they were seated a few feet from where he had landed and had decided to simply let him wander off before they actually let him know they were there. It was enough of a relief, however, to know he could get information, that he didn’t really want to complain about it.

“We don’t speak true names of course and most simply refer to them as the Three Sisters, but for novelty sake I will introduce them. Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire,” Nigel said with a smirk as he waved to each of the women in turn.

“How fitting,” Shade muttered, his gaze moving from each jewel-toned woman to the next. “I’ve actually heard of the Three Sisters before, though honestly I thought it was only two sisters now. From the stories, I thought one of you died in Avanti.”