Seer and the Shield, page 1
Seer and the Shield
When The Natural Order’s focus shifts from evangelism to a grab for world dominance, the outcome of the Dragon Horse War depends on two unlikely heroines—an anti-social quartermaster and a reticent seer.
Lt. Antonia only trusts a neat row of figures or a complete inventory list. So when she suddenly finds herself responsible for a group of hostages kidnapped by the dangerous cult, she’s reluctant to give any credence to the visions of Maya, a beautiful seer. The two women struggle to trust in each other’s abilities, but still are inexplicably drawn together by an attraction that burns hotter than dragon breath.
Book Three of the Dragon Horse War Series
Praise for D. Jackson Leigh
In Dragon Horse War: The Calling “Leigh writes with an emotion that she in turn gives to the characters, allowing us insight into their personalities and their very souls. Filled with fantastic imagery and the down-to-earth flaws that are sometimes the characters’ greatest strengths, this first Dragon Horse War is a story not to be missed. The writing is flawless, the story, breath-taking.”—Lambda Literary
“Call Me Softly is a thrilling and enthralling novel of love, lies, intrigue, and Southern charm.”—Bibliophilic Book Blog
“D. Jackson Leigh understands the value of branding, and delivers more of the familiar and welcome story elements that set her novels apart from other authors in the romance genre.”—The Rainbow Reader
“Her prose is clean, lean, and mean—elegantly descriptive…”—Out in Print
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Seer and the Shield
© 2018 By D. Jackson Leigh. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13:978-1-62639-394-3
This Electronic Book is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: January 2018
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Shelley Thrasher
Production Design: Stacia Seaman
Cover Illustration by Paige Braddock
Cover Design: Sheri (graphicartist2020@hotmail.com)
By the Author
Call Me Softly
Touch Me Gently
Hold Me Forever
Riding Passion
Swelter
Cherokee Falls series
Bareback
Longshot
Every Second Counts
Dragon Horse War Trilogy
The Calling
Tracker and the Spy
Seer and the Shield
Acknowledgments
This trilogy has been a (very hard) labor of love initiated by some unusual dreams about dragons and my personal distress over the deterioration of civil discourse and lack of respect of our fellow humans.
When I decided in 2012 to write the trilogy, the first person I went to for advice was fellow author Jane Fletcher, who is a master at building and writing fantastic worlds. Jane shot a million holes in my initial outline and sent me back to the drawing table. Her advice made this trilogy a million times better.
There are thousands of details when you build your own world, but my wonderful editor, Dr. Shelley Thrasher, has been extremely patient and her sharp eye found every inconsistency. Best of all, Shelley always lets me feel like editing is teamwork rather than a bitter pill the writer has to just swallow. She’s one of my she-roes.
A big thanks to my beta readers, VK Powell and Anita Kelly. Vic’s honest, expert advice and willingness to read my manuscripts in a very short time to meet my contracted deadline makes Shelley’s job easier, I’m sure. Anita’s read of this manuscript was invaluable because she hadn’t read the first two books and could tell me whether Seer and the Shield had enough backstory to make sense if someone reads only the final book of the trilogy.
I also offer sincere thanks to Bold Strokes Books for sticking with my project. Because fantasy has a smaller audience, my romance novels sell better and make more money for them and me than my fantasy titles. This didn’t dissuade BSB publisher Len Barot, who stands by her commitment to publish books for the limited LGBTQ audience. The entire Bold Strokes Books team is so supportive of their authors that writing for them truly feels like belonging to a very large family.
The concluding book of the Dragon Horse War Trilogy is dedicated to everyone who stands against racism, sexism, and the me-first, name-calling, divide-to-win mentality of our current society. You are my hope for the future, because we are all different pieces of the same puzzle and stronger when we work together.
The Dragon Horse War
More than a hundred years ago, the great religions became so twisted by human interpretation that a great war pitting Christianity against Islam ultimately wiped all faiths and nationalism from the earth.
Born from that war’s ashes was a world government and The Collective thought that valued diversity and championed worldwide sharing of food and educational resources. While some elements of human nature remained unchanged, the people worked in harmony to restore their environment and provide for all. Their minds unshackled from superstitions, the people discovered that some were genetically gifted empaths, telepaths, pyros, and more.
Peace reigned for more than a hundred years until a series of weather disasters threatened the world’s food supplies and gave rise to a cult that believed only the strongest should survive and prosper. The Natural Order, led by a madman, grew in number as it preyed on the people’s fears to take control of the world’s diminished food and medical supplies. In response, an elite army of pyro-gifted warriors mounted on winged dragon horses was activated to hunt and destroy the cult’s leaders.
The dragon-horse army’s cause is righteous, but even they have lessons to learn from the mantra they defend:
We are stronger together.
Prologue
The transport sped down a long dark road to a remote airstrip and stopped next to a sleek silver jet. After a moment, Xavier stepped out, clutching the empath Nicole against his chest, and pressing his gun against her ribs.
Azar, red dragon eyes pulsing and blue flame spurting from his nostrils, swooped down from the night sky, abruptly landed, and rattled his huge bat-like wings in warning as Apollo, Phyrrhos, Potawatomi, and Bero—more dragon horses of The Guard—touched down behind him. Kyle slid from her perch on Phyrrhos, immediately missing the warmth of pressing against Tan’s back. She joined Third Warrior Furcho as he dismounted from Azar and stalked toward Xavier.
Furcho’s face was a mask of fury. “If you do anything to hurt her or my child that she carries, I will burn you so slowly you will feel every layer of your skin blister and char black.”
“Protective, are we?” The headlights of the transport switched off, and Xavier’s mocking smile was a flash of white teeth in the night’s pitch black.
Darkest before dawn, Kyle noted. They didn’t have much time before the dragon horses would transform to their daytime forms as regular horses. The hatch to the plane opened, and automated stairs hummed down, activating the plane’s ground lights and illuminating their confrontation.
“We have you surrounded,” Furcho said. “It will be simple for us to disable your plane. Let your hostages go and meet your judgment like a trueborn.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, dragon boy. The way I see it, I hold all the cards.” He turned his head and raised his voice without taking his gaze from Furcho. “Juan.” Another man stepped out of the transport, holding a gun to the temple of a petite young woman and dragging her by the arm when she stumbled. Maya cried as the hard tarmac scraped the skin from her knees.
Kyle surged forward at the sight of her younger sister. “You bastard.”
Furcho’s upraised hand stopped Kyle’s charge. A second guard appeared in the doorway of the plane, roughly holding Toni, Nicole’s shield, by her collar. Xavier smiled again and gestured to Toni. “If you touch my plane, I’ll shoot that girl.” He shrugged and pointed at Maya. “Next will be Cyrus’s daughter. We still have the wife to keep him in line.” He narrowed his eyes, and Nicole flinched as he grabbed her hand and shoved the gun’s barrel against her knuckles. “Then for every minute you continue to delay our departure, I will shoot off a piece of your girlfriend, starting with her pretty hand.”
Nicole’s eyes were wide with fear, and Furcho cursed.
Maya swayed, her eyes blank and unseeing. Her guard grabbed her around the waist to hold her up. “What the dung is this?”
“Maya?” Not now. Kyle had to think fast. “It’s a medical condition, probably all the excitement.”
Maya straightened, her pupils pinpoints in pools of iridescent green. Her voice was high and wispy as she spoke. “Moon’s magic, sun’s fire, Gandhi’s heart, and Odin’s sword. But first a trade, same heart, two souls will pay a debt long owed.” Maya’s pupils expanded, and she s
eemed to return to awareness. She looked directly at Furcho. “Do not be afraid. The shield will protect. Everything is as it should be for now.” Furcho held her gaze for a long moment, then touched his ear to activate his communicator. He murmured instructions for the army to withdraw.
“Furcho, no.” Kyle was stunned. “Maya.” But Maya’s eyes were closed now, and she slumped against the guard as he half carried, half dragged her toward the plane. Others departed the transport to board the plane. Several men carried Kyle’s mother, still bound, while her father followed meekly. Cyrus seemed to be a confused shadow of the man who’d started this uprising.
“Take me instead of Maya,” Kyle said desperately. “She’ll be more trouble than you want for a hostage.”
Xavier eyed her. “How gallant. But no.”
Furcho’s hand closed around her forearm, his fingers digging into her skin to silence her. He held Nicole’s tearful gaze. “Trust Maya, Nic. Keep her and Toni close.”
Nicole nodded, offering a small smile. “We’ll be fine. I love you.”
Xavier backed away from them, feeling his way up the boarding steps so Nicole was always between him and The Guard.
Kyle had never felt so helpless. Where were they taking Nicole, Toni, Maya, and her mother? Simon, her father’s sinister second-in-command, had to be behind all this. She should have roasted all of him, not just his weapon hand, when she had the chance earlier. Kyle shook off Furcho’s grip and stepped forward. She had to try again. “Don’t you know who I am?” Her shout rang out above the hum of the plane’s engine gearing up.
Xavier stopped in the doorway of the plane. “Should I know you?”
A calm filled her, so deadly she felt as if she could shoot lasers from her eyes to his. “I am the eldest born to Cyrus, the man you call The Prophet.”
Xavier curled his lip and shook his head. “It seems I don’t have a big enough plane for all his whelps.” He pushed Nicole inside and reached for the door to close.
“Simon knows me,” Kyle shouted.
Xavier hesitated.
“I am Kyle.” She raised her hands and palmed two blue-white-hot spheres of flame. “You tell Simon that Kyle is coming for him.”
Chapter One
Toni sat next to Nicole, who curled into a window seat and sniffled as she held Furcho’s gaze through the portal until the last possible moment. When the plane lifted off, tears began to roll down Nicole’s cheeks, and her shoulders shook with choked sobs. Toni was at a loss. Should she hold her hand? Rub her back? She didn’t have a great deal of experience with women, especially opposite-oriented women. Nicole wiped at her tears with her sleeve. Stars. She didn’t even have a tissue to offer.
“There’s a clean handkerchief in the pocket of my skirt. I can’t reach it, but you can get it for her.”
Toni turned toward the low, soothing voice and stared into blue eyes.
Laine smiled from the seat across from Toni. “I got in the habit of carrying one when Kyle was young. She had a lot of childhood allergies and was always wiping her nose on her sleeve.”
Toni hesitated. “You’re Kyle’s mom?” It made sense. They had the same dark hair, blue eyes, and angular profile. But Kyle’s eyes were an intense cobalt laser blue. Laine’s were a soft summer sky.
“Yes.” Laine inclined her head toward the young woman who slumped in the seat next to her. “That’s my other daughter, Kyle’s younger sister, Maya. Their father, Cyrus, is in the seat behind us.”
Unlike her tall, dark-haired mother and sister, Maya’s hair was a rich brown and fell in waves past her shoulders. The resemblance to Kyle’s sculpted features was obvious, but Toni found Maya’s more rounded features softer, decidedly beautiful, and, well, angelic.
Toni peeked around the back of her seat to stare at Cyrus. He bent forward to rest his forearms on his thighs and clasped his hands together as he rocked slightly and mumbled to himself. Was he praying? She didn’t think so. She couldn’t make out all the words, but she could discern an occasional “I am The One.” This was the man they called The Prophet? The man who started this misguided uprising? He didn’t look that imposing, but they said he’d cut off a young boy’s hand as a message to the First Warrior. He glanced up, and Toni was startled by the glazed, scary, wild look in his eyes. He was clearly delusional. Laine seemed to read her thoughts.
“He’s ill and needs medical care. I feel responsible for not making sure he was properly monitored,” Laine said. She shifted in her seat and nodded toward her hip. “The handkerchief’s in that pocket.”
“Oh, right.” Toni glanced back at Nicole, who was now hunched over and covering her face with her hands as she cried.
Toni mentally shook herself. She needed to organize a plan. She was the only soldier here and the only shield available to protect these three innocents. Nicole, who was usually calm, was coming apart. Must be baby hormones. Toni had heard lots of stories about how they affected women. Maya’s petite frame and feminine dress didn’t scream warrior, so Toni doubted she could expect help from her. And, though Laine had Kyle’s athletic body, she looked a bit beat up after her tussle with the guards that had prompted them to tie her hands and feet while they left the rest of them loose. She’d have to get them all out of the clutches of their kidnapper. Cyrus, she decided, could fend for himself.
The plane was an old fuel-based commercial commuter model that had been converted to solar power. The front of the plane had been gutted and refurbished with comfortable lounges, but the hostages had been herded to the rear, where the original seating was close and the aisle between them narrow.
A row of empty seats separated them from their burly guard. But all Toni could see of him were his legs stretched across the aisle, which meant he couldn’t see her either. She reached across and retrieved the handkerchief from Laine’s pocket. “Thanks.”
Nicole didn’t speak or look up when Toni gently tugged on her forearm to lay the handkerchief in her hand. She simply unfolded it and buried her face in the cloth as she sobbed.
Toni put her hand on Nicole’s back. “Furcho and Captain Tan will get us out of this. And, until they come, I promise to keep you and the baby safe.” But her reassurance only seemed to make Nicole cry harder. “Nicole…” Toni twisted in her seat when sudden thumping sounded behind them.
Cyrus was trying to stand but didn’t seem to comprehend that he must release his seat restraint first. The more he tried, the harder he struggled, banging his arms and head against the back of Laine’s seat. The guard stood and looked back at them, frowning.
“Release me.” Cyrus’s mumbling was evolving into angry words. “Infidels. You will regret this. I am The Prophet. Have you not yet seen the consequence of your sins?”
The guard walked back to glare at Cyrus. “I’d shut up and sit quietly before Xavier tells me to slit your trouble-making throat.”
Cyrus flushed, and he sprang from his seat as his fingers finally found the release on the seat restraint. “I am anointed. The One and I are the same.” He slammed his palms repeatedly against the chest of the guard, pushing him backward down the aisle to the front of the plane, where Xavier and four other men lounged in the more-comfortable seating. They stood as Cyrus pushed his startled guard to the floor. “Where is Simon?”
Xavier eyed him. “You’ll see him soon enough.”
“That is not an answer.” Cyrus’s roar filled the plane. He began to pace. “Why are we running from the infidels? The One would have given us protection. We should have stood and fought. We had more than a thousand Believers, most of them armed, and the unnatural army numbered fewer than a hundred.” Spittle ran down his chin. “I am surrounded by cowards.”
