Dark Oceans (Ocean Series Book 1)

by Rhonda Nelson

  King Frederic walked steadily towards the center; his face completely impassive. He turned to the audience. "This, my lords and ladies, is the punishment for all major crimes – stealing, rebelling, raping, torturing and so on. This man here has been accused for rape and he will pay for it, with his life. Listen to this, citizens, I never give second chances. Once you've disobeyed any laws, your punishment is inevitable."

  The crowd went drop dead silent, as if all of them were holding their breath. "Any member of the royal family, over the age of sixteen, is permitted to strip the magic from an elf if for a good reason," her father carried on, his voice echoed throughout the dry-stone walls. His words made Alyssa stiffen in shock. When she was sixteen, she could hand out punishments just like her father. The slight feeling of responsibility made her smile.

  The king turned back to the elf in the middle, even from the balcony Alyssa saw his iris' dissolve into a pure black color. The accused elf froze, as if time had stopped for him. He didn't blink, he didn't breathe. Suddenly beams of energy lit up the courtyard in a luminous yellow, the strands of energy streamed towards the Kings' outstretched hand. And then she saw it. Like a snake creeping up someone's paralyzed foot. The smooth stone that sneaked up his legs; up his chest; closing in on his head. Someone in the crowd was crying uncontrollably as they watched the elf being locked in a cage of unbreakable rock. The light died down, until only the morning sun lit up the dark courtyard. Then suddenly from the stillness of the crowd there was an outbreak of noise, shouting screaming.

  Elves at the dozen were yelling, firing insults at the King. Some stood stationary, not sure what to make of it. It was like a current fighting itself. The swipe of swords sounded all around, the noise level got louder and louder. Blasts of light were directed straight at her father, who deflected them all. A furious expression marred his face. Those who were crying were now fighting the guards. They didn't care about the consequences of their actions. All they wanted was revenge. Metal clanged into metal. Silver daggers slickly slid into stomachs. The whole place was in uproar.

  Alyssa saw her father trying to calm everyone down, whilst yelling threats to them. But the strength of the citizens was too much for him. More and more people flooded into the courtyard, attracted by the noise and combating. Elves were falling unconscious on the floor, but they were the guards, the nobles. The citizens smelt victory. Footsteps were pounding towards Alyssa; a man was charging right at her his sword raised. Her bodyguard stepped into the fight.

  She had to stop this. She didn't care what her father said. Power coursed through her veins; this spell was the same as her first enchantment. But now, it was on a much larger scale. With a cry, she released the raw energy. This time the effects were immediate. A tower exploded into chunks of debris and rock, falling into the quad in slow motion. The citadel clock shattered to pieces, falling onto victims below.

  But there was no sound. Nothing at all. It was like she had slowed down time itself. People started falling to the ground, as if they were being pulled by weights. Their eyes rolled into their heads as they fell unconscious. Swords froze in midair, slowly dropping down to the ground. Her head was pounding; it felt as if someone was hammering on her skull. Darkness started flooding the arena, as if the sun were fading from the sky. Storm clouds appeared overhead...this wasn't supposed to happen.

  Alyssa panicked, trying to stop the magic. But it kept going. The walls all around her were crumbling, cracks appeared in the floor beneath her feet. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Alyssa tried to run away from the eroding balcony, but it was like fighting a heavy tide of water. Desperately, she pulled herself back into her chambers. The cracks were following her, quicker by the second. Her ceiling was falling on her; furniture tumbled down from the rooms above. The floor split between her feet. Her arms flailed as she fell, her mouth was open wide in horror. The whole castle was crashing down in pieces on top of her. Planks of fractured wood were aimed towards her head. Alyssa screamed, but she couldn't hear herself, she couldn't hear anything. Blackness enclosed her mind.

  She didn't know how long had passed, or where she was. Her eyes opened by themselves, but all she saw was blackness. Fear leaped into her heart; she couldn't see anything at all. Not even her hands when she held them up in front of her face. Her pulse pounded faster than she could count. Alyssa tried walking, but her legs wouldn't obey her mind. Out of nowhere something gripped her hand. She screamed in terror, frantically trying to pull away. Her screams got louder as the grip held on tightly.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  "Alyssa."

  Alyssa choked back a shriek at the unfamiliar voice. "G – Get...get off of me!" she clawed at the hand on her arm.

  "Alyssa! It's me, your mother." Nausea slammed into Alyssa. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. Her eyes widened, but she couldn't see anything in the darkness.

  "M – My mother?" she whispered finally; tears were brimming in her eyes.

  "Yes," the voice replied softly. "I'm your mother."

  "NO! You can't be! Y-you lie!" Alyssa trembled.

  "I give you my solemn oath, I am truly your mother," her voice was soft and soothing, but it was tinged with strange feeling of familiarity.

  Alyssa breathed deeply. "W – Where are you? Why haven't you been here for me?" Alyssa said in a small voice. Pressure suddenly burst in her ears, she felt herself losing consciousness again.

  "I'm so sorry Alyssa, I would be here for you if I could," her voice was getting quieter and quieter by each word. Alyssa's head suddenly seemed sluggish.

  "ALYSSA!" someone else was screaming at her. The grip tightened on her arm. "Get the diary, find the diary! Find Mr. Wright!"

  "Where are you?" Alyssa cried out, before her mother's words drowned out and she knew nothing more.

  "ALYSSA!" She woke up screaming, until she realized where she was. It was her chambers, but everything was perfectly normal...no damage...no cracks in the floor. Her hair was full of sweat and her throat felt raw for some reason.

  Piper, her serving maid was crying down at her in relief. "But...what about the execution? ...the castle crumbling. ...my m – mother?" A lump swelled up in her throat.

  Piper wiped her eyes. "What do you mean? You've been sleeping way past noon – I tried waking you up, but you kept screaming and kicking...and crying..."

  "So, it was just a dream?" Did she really meet her mother?

  "Just a dream," Piper confirmed.

  Ferick leaves. Kelsie paced around her room in Dimitri's section of the dungeons, her mind on ferick leaves. She couldn't remember what they were...something about the name was familiar, but she couldn't think what. Ferick leaves. It was something evil...she knew that, she was sure of it. Maybe Alyssa would know... But Alyssa wasn't here right now, so that was no help. Kelsie pushed the door of her room and stepped into the large rectangular room that Dimitri basically used for everything. Sleeping...eating...writing...potion making... From across the room, a dark tinted book caught her attention. It was bound in an old leather casing; golden letters were scrawled on the side.

  Poisonous plants – by Diana Gardner Diana Gardner? That must be Katie's mother. Kelsie strode towards it, picking it up carefully. The pages were a slightly mottled brown and felt like they would crumble at one touch. She traced her finger down the contents, trying to find ferick leaves on the list. Her eyes gleamed triumphantly at the list of contents. Ferick leaves – page 178 Quickly, she flicked through the thin delicate pages. There! She found it. A picture of a small heart shaped leaf was hand drawn in the book. It was painted a sickly shade of green, with a dark red rim. That drunkard she had met yesterday had said that the King of Alltalos had mentioned these...but why?

  Her electric blue eyes scanned the beautifully written paragraphs. The most dangerous of all plants. The poison of the leaf is fatal for humans; however, for elves it can strip their very soul from them. There is no cure for ferick leaves, but it is a rare occurrence to find one. M
ore commonly found on the west coast of the mainland far away from civilization. Out of the blue, the answer hit her. She gasped in shock. The crateful of wine...the King of Alltalos...the royal banquet...ferick leaves. It all made sense. The king of Alltalos was signing the peace treaty on Alyssa's wedding day – but that day would never come.

  The King – Kelsie should've known he was evil – he was planning to overthrow Mylvehil. But it was such a cowardly act...poisoning all the nobles, dukes, royalty, at the banquet that was in four days! The King obviously wanted to mix the ferick leaves into the wine that he had bought...no one would know it was poison they were drinking. Her fists clenched in fury. She had to act...now. And to do that, she needed to journey to the west coast.

  The horse sped down the open field, trampling the long wavy grass. Midges splattered into Kelsie's face, but she kept galloping forwards. Golden rays of the mid-afternoon sun shone down upon her, the shadows around her were growing longer and longer. She pushed her horse further, but it was slowing down from the exhaustion of running for an hour. Kelsie gritted her teeth, as she trotted to a nearby well.

  The dry stone well stood gloomily in the middle of the moor side. Ivy crept up the sides of the grey damp stone. "Sssssssssssss..." Kelsie stared down into the cold well shaft with inquisitiveness. "Sssssss...Sssss...Ssss..."

  "Who's there?" Kelsie pointed her sword down the well; she didn't care if it looked weird. Bitter laughter thrummed from the bottom of the well. Kelsie heard a trickling of water in the background. "Who are you?" Kelsie demanded.

  The creature cackled again, she heard someone – or something climbing up the shaft. Kelsie backed away slowly, tugging her horse as she went, preparing to escape. Ever so gradually something small and blue climbed over the top of the well. He had skinny gnarled legs with matching long arms; his face was thin and gaunt as if he hadn't eaten in several decades. Sunken deep in his sharp features were narrow pure black eyes, they shone with menace and hunger. "Who I am is not important to you...all that matters is 'who you are'."

  Kelsie pointed her sword at his chest; he stared down at it with a creepy expression. "Don't speak riddles to me – what are you?"

  "So, I'm a thing to you?" he spat. "You elves are not the only creatures with souls. You all think that you're the best, that every other race is lesser than you -"

  "You are a thing," Kelsie hissed, annoyed that this creature was shouting at her. "If you think you can judge a whole race without knowing them – then you're wrong."

  "I already know enough about elves. I know how unjust your kings are – oh, yes! I've seen it with my own eyes, only fifteen years ago since the King of Mylvehil made his first biggest mistake. Then I promise you one day the entire elfish nation will suffer for his crimes."

  "Yeah, I think you better leave your fantasies in the well shaft. Like you can defeat even one elf." The thing growled; his black eyes sparked. "I am more powerful than you think, elfling. I was created out of magic by the power of the oceans – created in the depths of the darkest seas! I am the essence of darkness."

  Kelsie laughed disbelievingly. "Oh yeah, and I'm the essence of light," she mimicked his voice.

  The thing glared murderously at her. His fingers twitched. "You don't believe me? Then let me show you my true power." He smiled creepily and dissolved into a fine mist before her eyes

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Her back connected with the side of the building; a whoosh of air escaped her. Large hands pushed her shoulders to keep her from struggling. Alyssa tried to cry out, but his hand muffled her screams. She brought her knee up and tried hitting him like Kelsie had always taught her. But Triston was stronger and filled with blood thirsty lust. Fear trickled into her. Alyssa tried to shove him away, but he caught her fist with little effort.

  His other hand was unbuckling his belt... "Help – " His hand clamped over her mouth. Alyssa trembled; she wasn't ready for this. Was he really going to rape her in her own chambers? She caught sight of the balcony doors that were wide open. Triston pulled the zip of her dress down, she felt his hands trying to take the sleeves off, but she continued to struggle. Her forehead beaded with sweat and exhaustion, terror gripped her like a vice. There was no way she could escape. Desperately she continued to resist. Where was Ben when she needed him?

  Kelsie notched an arrow in her bow, aiming at the horses' head. A pang of guilt and remorse filled her as the arrow shot and met its target. The dappled colored horse stumbled and tripped. The cart it had been pulling tipped onto its side, the crates of leaves falling into the path. Whoosh. The next horse tumbled down to the ground, embracing its death. Kelsie felt like a murderer...but it had to be done.

  You all think that you're the best, that every other race is lesser than you. The creature's words suddenly floated into her mind. At the time she had contradicted him, since her anger blinded her...but now, she felt like there was a slight truth to his words. Kelsie had just killed a horse, a living creature...two horses in fact. Then let me show you my true power. What had he meant by that? He did absolutely nothing to her, maybe he was lying – though something told her it was true. She shook the thoughts out of her head and dropped down from her branch on the tree.

  Elves surrounded her, their eyes burning with hatred. "Let me destroy the ferick leaves you bring with you," Kelsie told them, she always had to give her enemies a choice. "-or I'll destroy you along with them."

  The men laughed cruelly. "You think that you can beat us? These ferick leaves are none of your business, little girl."

  "Oh, really? I'm the daughter of the Duke of Mylvehil – these leaves are going to be used to poison every noble in the royal banquet. I think it is my business," She unsheathed her sword.

  "You're Devlin' kid?" one of them asked.

  "Yeah," Kelsie said in a tone that said 'duh' The men started muttering to each other. Kelsie tapped her foot impatiently. "So, are you going to let me destroy the leaves then?"

  A tall elf stepped forward. "No, but we'll let you go peacefully this time – and you don't tell anyone about this, ok?" Kelsie kicked him where it hurts.

  "Kill her!" he yelled in agony.

  "But she's Devlin' k-"

  "Kill her!" The men sprung at her, brandishing their swords. Kelsie kicked the first one in the head, spinning round quick enough to stab another in their belly. She slashed across someone's cheek, making them cry for their mummy. Her sword locked with another, but she had more strength and agility. She twisted it upwards sharply, sending his sword flying into a tree. Sensing something behind her, she spun around blasting the attacker with a bright blue beam of energy. With hardly any effort, she threw her dagger into someone's chest, making them howl in anguish and drop down to the ground. The smell of victory was in the air. Suddenly there was a heavy blow at the back of her head; she tumbled to the ground in pain. Kelsie struggled to stay conscious. Fire. Was her last thought before she fell unconscious and the smell of burning filled her nostrils.

  "-she destroyed every last one."

  "What are we going to do with her?"

  "Keep her hostage?"

  "No, her father will kill us – though I bet he won't be around for much longer." The voices laughed as if sharing an inside joke.

  "Talking about killing, the king is going to be furious – if we made a trip back to the west coast then it will take another week to get back to Mylvehil. The banquet will be over. We'll be dead. Literally." The laughing stopped.

  "You're right. What do we do? Make a run for it?"

  "Could do, take the girl with us. Although she can be a tricky one to handle..."

  "Yeah."

  "How about we escape to the sea? No one ever find us there."

  The other elf sighed dramatically. "We don't even have a boat, idiot."

  "Ok then...we could live in the sea."

  "Shut up with the crazy ideas, there is no way I'm living in the sea stuck with fish for company."

  "You've got me!"

  "Like tha
t's encouraging," the other one muttered not so subtly. Kelsie opened her eyes, to find herself tied onto the back of the wooden cart. The two surviving elves sat at the front, arguing loudly. Her head still pounded from the blow; how could she have been so stupid to let them knock her out? It felt humiliating. Kelsie Grace. One of the most feared warriors in Mylvehil, being beaten by mere civilians.

  She looked to the left and was relieved to find the crates of ferick leaves burnt and destroyed. A frayed piece of rope was tied around her wrists, she struggled to pull her hands out of it, though her skin grazed from the rough knots. Kelsie's hands ached; frustration built up in her throat when she realized it wasn't working. Slowly she sat up in the cart, careful not to make a noise, then she leaped out of the vehicle and ran into the tall pine trees.

  "Hey! Come back!" Kelsie ran faster, wishing she could free her hands from their awkward position. She skidded in and out of the rocks, sliding through the squelching mud and up some stone steps. She had no idea where she was going, but she stopped running abruptly as the path suddenly ended. Her foot knocked against a rock that went plummeting off the cliff face, into the dark ocean below.

  The two elves ran up after her, their faces lit up in victory as they approached her slowly. She backed away from them, but she knew that any further would send her catapulting a thousand feet into the freezing cold waters. "You think you can run away?" one of them sneered, his long hair was tied back in a ponytail – it kind of suited him...hmm...weird thoughts, wrong time.

  "Yes," Kelsie told him, if only she could untie her hands, then maybe she'd have a chance at winning. The elves laughed mockingly at her.

  "I think it's time to teach the little duchess a lesson." Oh, that was rich. Little? She stood a head taller than them both. The other elf cracked her knuckles, making her role her eyes. Couldn't they think of anything more original? The classic tough guys always loved knuckle cracking, most of the contestants did it in the Millay. It was incredibly annoying. They started advancing upon her, the tension rose with every step. In any other occasion, Kelsie would've laughed in their attempt to look intimidating.