The Coming Storm (109 page)

“He still resents me for it. This is his punishment. He didn’t even have the courtesy to use her name.”

For the moment, nor could he. Only think it. Ailith. Elon could feel the pain, still, whatever it was she suffered. He sent her strength as he could, as did Colath. Out there in the borderlands alone. He here alone. He should have gone he knew now but he hadn’t yet given up on getting her back. On lifting her exile.

Turning, he looked at Jareth. The look in his eyes was enough to make Jareth wish it were possible for Elves to weep. It wasn’t. That look was enough to silence the words in Jareth’s throat before they were spoken.

Jareth watched him walk slowly away.

His pale eyes pained, Colath watched Elon go as well. There was nothing he could do, for either of his true-friends, and that inability grieved him. Helplessness didn’t suit him well.

In Jareth’s mind’s eye he saw Ailith as she had been on the battlefield that day when the basilisks had erupted from the earth. Men froze on the field beneath that deadly glare. The lines behind stranded in their rush as a horde of goblins rushed up from behind the basilisks.

He had been fighting, desperately.

A dragon had risen up. An illusion. Every wizard there had known it. Even Avila. The basilisks hadn’t, nor the one who led them. Turning, the deadly beasts had faced their ancient enemy. Freed from that glare, the rush had rolled forward. A moment, only a short moment and then Ailith had been swallowed up amid the fighting, her swords out, her best weapons, as they had always been.

“She’s still alive,” Colath said. “She lives still. We know it. We send her strength through the bond. It’s still there, for him and for me. The bond.”

Listening as Colath spoke softly, Elon looked up at the darkening sky, at the stars spangling it. He remembered Ailith’s voice as she spoke of what she saw in her mind, the awe and the wonder in it, and her brilliant smile.

 She saw everyone inside her mind like the stars in the sky and he knew that somewhere out there in the wilderness, in the borderlands, she watched over him, over them, always.

Elon held the memory of her in his heart and mind. The vision of that day on the veranda, her sleep-tumbled hair gleaming, the sun through her shift, her eyes so blue. And the way she would turn, already smiling, to look at him.

Foresight said they weren’t done yet… It was all he had.

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Valerie Douglas is a prolific writer and genre-crosser, much to the delight of her fans. She writes classic and heroic fantasy, romance, suspense, and as V.J. Devereaux, erotic romance. Who knows what will pop up down the road.

Happily married, she lives with her husband in the beautiful farmlands of Ohio with two dogs, three cats and an African clawed frog named Hopper who delights in tormenting the cats from his tank.

For more information, check out her web pages:

www.valeriedouglasbooks.com

www.vjdevereauxbooks.com

Other Novels by Valerie Douglas

The Coming Storm series:

A Convocation of Kings
– Epic Fantasy – Sequel to The Coming Storm. One war is over but fifty years later another shadow rises as Elon finds new hope.  Is it coincidence, or has an old enemy returned?

Not Magic Enough
– For Delae, a lonely landholder on the edge of the Kingdoms, a frantic knock at the door on a stormy winter’s night brings more than a cry for help. After centuries of war Elves have little contact with the race of men, but Dorovan can’t bring himself to ride past those so obviously in need. One small act, with enormous consequences…

Setting Boundaries
– For journeyman wizard Jareth the task of setting the boundaries between the lands of Elves, Dwarves and men is the opportunity of a lifetime and the chance to meet the great Elon of Aerilann, Elven councilor to the High King. What he doesn’t know is that the journey will test him to his limits and forge friendships that will last a lifetime.

Heart of the Gods
– When archaeologist Ky Farrar starts in search of the ancient Tomb, he awakens its lethal, and lovely, guardian. Both quickly discover Ky isn’t the only one in search of the Tomb and the danger to the world that lies within it.

Coming Soon

Servant of the Gods
– A child of prophecy, she would bear many names. Born a peasant, she became a mercenary, was captured and enslaved, but rose to become a Priestess of Isis. As High Priestess she would face her greatest challenge yet and find a love that would last beyond time.

Romance:

The Millersburg Series

Irish Fling
– Ali was the smart one but brains didn’t stop her from crashing and burning. A desire to connect with her roots takes her to Ireland and a chance meeting with internet mogul Aidan O’Connell. Even brilliant Ali with her nearly photographic memory doesn’t see the danger lurking when she sees the wrong thing.

Dirty Politics
– Returning to her hometown, practical Cam Kenyon discovers that teenage crush Noah Denton is running for D.A. When she discovers that his opponent is going to indulge in dirty politics, she throws her support to him, accidentally resurrecting an old enemy.

Director’s Cut
– When bad-boy director Jack Tyler comes to town to rediscover his passion with the local community theater group, teacher and theater geek Molly has to decide whether to take a chance on him. When his past catches up with him and he seems to be returning to his old bad habits, she has to decide whether to fight his demons alongside him.

Two Up
– Sculptor and welder Jesse was always the wild child, her only family her three friends. A chance meeting with novelist Mitch Donovan gives her a chance to make a new life. For Mitch meeting Jesse gives him new inspiration, but that new inspiration comes at a terrifying price.