Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Come on, Edith. It's been two weeks, and you haven't said anything. I thought we were friends who shared juicy details.”
Edith was sorely tempted, muttering, “I know, but I wanna ignore it because I have no idea when I'll see him again.”
“Ohhh,” Charlotte drew out knowingly. “I get it. You think about him a lot?”
“Sometimes.” Constantly. Edith rolled her eyes over the thought, then decided to try easing some of her pent up frustration by admitting, “But Isaac is a surprise.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “You'd think the guy's only interested in sex, drinking, trouble making, fucking, alcohol, and sex. But he's … I don't know how to put it. Understanding? Attentive?”
“Sounds like you're talking about Isaac,” Ulric chimed in, coming from the galley to stand behind his mate, arms winding around her sides.
“That's the guy,” Charlotte confessed. “Edith says he actually has appeal!”
Ulric grinned, glancing over at Edith. “You haven't mentioned him much. Things between you coming along okay?”
“I suppose.” She shrugged casually to keep the comments to a minimum, though she did have a question she'd been meaning to ask Ulric, and now seemed like the best time of any. “By the way, Isaac said you pulled him out of the Pit. How did that come about?”
The draconian shrugged. “Chandra hired several mercenaries for the job, and I was the only one who survived the Pit long enough to find Isaac and get him out. Wasn't easy when he tried to kill me three times, though.”
“You never told me that!” Charlotte announced in surprise.
“I didn't?” When she shook her head, he explained, “Isaac was unstable at the time. He'd just spent five centuries in the Pit, and it was all he knew, trusting no one, and killing before being killed. So he barely said two words to me outside of fuck off, unless you want me to use your testicles as chimera bait.”
Somehow, Edith didn't find that so surprising, pointing out, “So he was just a wild man.”
“Basically. I had to knock him out before I could take him anywhere.”
Isaac had to have been extremely distrustful if that were the case, or he didn't realize what type of improvement Terra would be to the Pit.
Probably both.
“What happened when he woke up?”
“We contained him in a cell with the hopes of a rehabilitation. The Crucible even took issue with him staying in Terra, thinking he'd cause too much trouble to be manageable. The fact that he told one of them to suck his cock and choke on the load didn't help matters either.”
Edith was incredulous. She had no personal experience with The Crucible, but did know there weren't many people with the balls to talk to their members that way. Still, Isaac was obviously uncivilized at the time—or he just didn't care about retribution.
Again, probably both.
“So how did he finally become more civil?” she inquired curiously.
“I released him from his cell while announcing my intentions to take responsibility for whatever he did,” Ulric started. “Dalris wasn't happy with it, but I didn't let him stop me, and Isaac wasn't used to selfless acts committed on his behalf. He called me an idiot, but I think it made him curious, and he started helping me on jobs. The rest is basically history.”
Edith smiled, feeling an unexpected sense of gratitude to Ulric. He'd helped Isaac gain his footing, giving him a chance to build a better life, and she decided she'd have to find a way to show her appreciation sometime.
“I bet he was a handful,” she guessed.
Ulric groaned. “You have no idea. We—shit!”
His exclamation came on the heels of a quake sending tremors through the barge, accompanied by a low rumble in the water below.
Edith stumbled, grabbing Charlotte's hand to right herself while asking, “What the hell is that?”
She glanced at her friend to see the fae's eyes going wide. “Caimans are swimming beneath us, and they're pretty big.”
Fae could easily sense such life when they focused, and without pause, Charlotte pulled away from Ulric and leaned down at the edge of the deck.
When another rumble sounded, the draconians steering the vessel began giving orders to turn.
“Don't worry, I've got this!” Charlotte called to them.
They stopped to look just as she reached down into the water and began splashing it about to draw the creatures' attention.
“Charlotte, are you sure you wanna do that?” Edith asked uncertainly.
“Sure! I've never seen a caiman before and—oh!” She gasped when one of the reptiles came up at her hand, pushing its snout against her fingers. “Hey big guy! Go find somewhere else to swim, okay? We're traveling here.”
Despite the caiman's disinterest in chomping her hand off, Ulric groaned. “I know she's a fae, but it still scares the shit out of me when she pets dangerous animals like they're babies.”
Indeed, Charlotte was grinning brightly as another caiman came up to greet her by splashing water on deck with its tail, making Edith wish she'd worn something besides a leather vest and pants.
“Everything okay?” Liam asked, joining them from the galley.
“Yep, it's under control,” Charlotte announced. “The caimans are leaving now.”
Liam nodded, calling a few words of draconic to their traveling companions steering the ship. Still, he didn't look completely relieved by Charlotte's ability to influence the dangerous creatures, prompting Edith to ask, “What's wrong?”
“Caimans don't usually travel this far downstream. Makes me wonder if their home wasn't somehow disturbed.”
“How so?” Charlotte asked as she stood from the edge of the barge.
Liam looked around the wall of mist encompassing their vessel as he answered, “Lots of creatures inhabit this area. Wyverns, basilisks, cockatrices. But the only thing that could scare a group of caimans off is a wyvern, and they usually leave each other alone.”
Ulric contemplated the possibility, then suggested, “Might be a mountain giant around looking for a meal, and if so, the wyverns will spot it quickly enough.”
On board their vessel were five adolescent wyverns—including Rozdra—and most were currently perched on top of the galley despite their nocturnal natures, quietly enjoying the ride. So Ulric was right, if anything showed up out of the ordinary, they'd know it soon.
“We'll just have to keep our eyes peeled,” Liam agreed. “Charlotte, do you sense anything like a giant around?”
The fae looked to be focusing her senses, but then shook her head. “I'm not picking up anything from here besides the caimans and fish in the river.”
“Hopefully that's a good sign. We don't need any giants popping up.”
Edith could easily agree. Not long after her training began, she'd traveled with a group of apprentices to take down a twenty foot tall forest dwelling giant with a fat belly, coarse, brown fur on its back, and a short temper. The only difference between that type and the mountain variety was an extra set of arms used for climbing, and considering their size, if even one giant was traversing the canyon walls, their barge could be in trouble.
As if pondering the same possibility, Liam volunteered to go tell the rest of the crew. Yet the moment he'd taken a step, the canyon seemed to tremble around them.
Rocks went tumbling down the walls, and almost simultaneously, the wyverns on board began shrieking. But Edith knew what a giant's footfalls sounded like, and they weren't heavy enough to send tremors through the entire ravine.
Thankfully, the fog was beginning to clear away as midday rolled in, revealing the forested peaks of the canyon walls reaching several hundred feet into the air. A few large ledges were located closer to the river's surface, and though the quakes rolling through them soon ceased, they were punctuated by the loudest roar she'd ever heard.
The sound echoed out into the sky, seeming distant, but also close.
Still staring
at the rocky slopes on each side of the river, Edith heard Charlotte ask, “Ulric, are you alright?”
Looking back, she noticed that Ulric, Liam, and indeed every other draconian on the barge, had all gone into wrath—an altered state where horns and fangs were visible, and their body markings glowed. It was the dragon blood in them coming to the fore, and Edith realized what it meant just as Ulric confirmed her suspicions aloud on a guttural tone of voice.
“It's Dra'Kai. He's awakened.”
The Great Dragon's roar must've called to them—just as the draconian's horns were calling to Edith the way Rozdra's had before leaving Terra. She'd yet to figure out what type she needed for her staff, but in that moment, it didn't really matter when, nearly seventy yards ahead, the entrance of Dra'Kai's lair was coming into view. Almost there!
It was impressive as well. A large set of stairs led from the docks to the massive archway where a number of draconian warriors stood sentry. Carved into the rock wall were the busts of five dragons, two on each side of the entryway, and a bigger one above it—a depiction of Dra'Kai.
As Edith took it in, another roar sounded from within, and she grinned at Charlotte. The chance to see one of the Great Dragons up close didn't come everyday, and she was excited regardless of this visit's outcome.
Yet her enthusiasm soon dimmed. Isaac's missing this … and I miss him.
She grumbled at the impulsive thought, unwilling to admit the truth, even to herself, but she couldn't deny it either.
Still, they'd dock soon, and she'd get her claw and be back in Terra before she knew it.
“Giant to starboard!”
Or not.
“I was just about to mention that,” Charlotte muttered, looking up toward the sloped canyon wall.
There, a four armed giant had climbed down onto a ledge almost directly above them. It's fur was mostly gray, blending with the rock, and coupled with the previously heavy fog, Edith knew why it hadn't been spotted until that moment.
But most importantly, the giant was lifting a large boulder to throw at the barge.
The draconians immediately responded, archers taking places to fire in the hopes of making the giant drop the boulder before hurling it their way. Simultaneously, the wyvern's were swiftly taking flight—a majestic sight to behold despite the danger. The biggest of the adolescent creatures was almost the size of a horse, and they intercepted their enemy with aggressive shrieks.
Torrents of electricity were unleashed from their mauls as they flew by, causing the lumbering giant to roar in pain. Still, he merely swatted his two free hands at them while grunting to toss the boulder toward the barge.
The rock was big enough to cause some real damage, perhaps even sink them, and as everyone tried to get out of the way, Edith immediately reacted.
Without moving from her spot at the bow, she lifted her hands, palms glowing brightly. Focusing that magic, the boulder's descent began slowing until it was hovering in midair.
Everyone ceased their attempts to take cover as Edith called, “I think you dropped this!” then pushed her arms forward with a grunt.
The boulder was swiftly propelled away while the giant was too distracted by the wyverns to see it coming, his angry growls immediately cut short when it knocked him over completely.
The entire ledge he stood upon trembled from the landing, and if that blow hadn't killed him, the wyverns soon would, immediately moving in to capitalize on a free meal.
Everyone cheered at the turn of events while Ulric mentioned with a grin, “You know, Edith, Isaac's going to be pissed when he finds out he missed this.”
Edith laughed, knowing he was right. But before she could respond, a tremble in the ledge where the giant lay caught her attention—just as a large slab of rock suddenly broke away from the wall.
The giant's landing coupled with the earlier quakes from Dra'kai's awakening must've jarred those rocks loose, and the heavy mass went falling toward the river like an avalanche, hitting the water's surface only a few yards from the barge.
The resulting wave that rose up had enough force to send them traveling with no time to brace. Suddenly, the aft side of their vessel was rising with the bow soon following like a seesaw. The barge turned sideways in the process and, unable to keep her footing, Edith fell to her knees just as her hand was snagged in Ulric's.
The draconian was holding onto the railing with Charlotte clutching him, trying to anchor both women as water splashed high around the vessel, obscuring their view.
That's when the barge tilted and—impact!
It happened so quickly that Edith wasn't precisely clear about what they'd hit. Perhaps it was the canyon wall, or they'd slammed into the docks. But the unexpected collision was hard enough to jostle the entire vessel.
In turn, some of the harnesses pinning the crates down snapped, sending one of the smaller containers right toward Edith. The weight of it slammed into her upper body with enough force to knock the wind from her lungs and break her grip on Ulric's hand.
With a merciless wave of pain spreading through her chest, Edith fell backwards—and had no idea what happened next. She could feel her body moving, and only vaguely heard Charlotte calling her name just before the deck beneath her disappeared.
The deluge had washed her overboard.
Picked up in the river's current and unable to teleport because of the wards on Dra'Kai's lair, she kicked for the surface—but the pain shooting through her chest made it nearly impossible to accomplish. So Edith did the only thing she could think of on quick notice, enchanting her lungs to turn water into air and prevent drowning.
Normally, the spell required a component to be cast at full strength, otherwise it didn't last long. But it would certainly be long enough for her to find actual air to breathe, and her head finally breached the surface just moments later.
Coming up for a raspy breath, she cracked her eyes open just in time to see the barge and the temple's docks disappearing around the river bend. The growing rapids were too strong to swim against, carrying her further away by the second.
And right to the edge of a waterfall.
Eighteen
• • •
Havana, Cuba
It wasn't easy to make partying patrons at a supernatural nightclub abandon their revelry. But they moved pretty damned fast when demons started throwing vampires across the barroom like game balls.
Isaac paid them little attention as the vampire he'd just tossed crashed through a table and writhed on the floor in pain, both of his arms broken and a pocketknife jutting from his chest. But his numerous injuries warranted no mercy from his assailant, who strolled over to grab his right arm, jerking him up so hard he went flying in a different direction.
This time, the landing shattered a display of glasses at the bar, and Isaac cringed.
“Damn, almost hit the whiskey. Need to work on my aim.”
Teleporting over, he snagged the vampire's throat, lifting him to slam down onto the bar counter—and at this point, he was just blowing off steam.
For two weeks, his hunt for the Brute had only located a handful of Rothario's lackeys and their acquaintances, such as the vampire he was now confronting. It was nice to take out so many minions, but after all the failed attempts to locate his true target, and nearly fourteen days without Edith's company, Isaac was more than happy to vent his frustration on said minions in the worst of ways.
Not that his search had been entirely fruitless.
A few days ago, Victoria's spies actually learned of a Perosian agent named Gyles who was rumored to have some influence over the Brute's actions. But sadly, Gyles was turning out to be a pain in the ass to track down.
There was little information available on the demon other than a basic physical description; short with black horns, buzzed hair, and a scar marring the right side of his face that made him easy to identify. As for his ties to Perosia, Gyles was apparently tasked with gathering information, and one of his duties seemed to be relayin
g changes in directives from Rothario to the Brute whenever they were received.
So Isaac's best chance of locating the undead creature was to find Gyles first, and he was last seen at a supernatural nightclub in Havana where he'd been conspiring with the same vampire spy Isaac was currently roughing up.
At first, he'd ordered a drink, sat at the bar, and started talking with the bloodsucker. But once he'd claimed not to know Gyles' current whereabouts, things quickly changed.
Not that Isaac had wasted a trip. After all, the more agents he killed, the more Gyles' would worry, and as an added bonus, it'd piss off Rothario.
So he continued with his assault, muttering to the vampire after slamming him down on the bar, “Just so you know, I really hate that fucking mist thing you guys do. Oh, and I need this back.”
Jerking his pocketknife from the vampire's chest, he flipped it shut and replaced it in his jeans' pocket, then grasped a handful of his enemy's hair in preparation of ending his life. Or unlife, whatever.
“Wait! Don't kill me! I can help you find Gyles!”
Isaac considerately tilted his head, pursed his lips—then shrugged. “You could, but your death will be enough.”
“No!—”
With a quick snap of his hands, he broke the vampire's neck, allowing the body to fall to the floor. The bloodsucker wouldn't actually die unless he was decapitated, but Isaac hesitated in favor of pondering which method he felt like using to accomplish the task most.
He also considered recording it for Edith. She'd get a kick out of seeing a bloodsucker go up in ash after being made a daywalker against her will.
“Now that wasn't very polite, Isaac.”
The random comment came from the barroom several tables away on a deep baritone voice Isaac hadn't heard in ages—and he didn't want to hear it now either.
Rolling his eyes, he muttered, “Well, you know me, always killing with kindness. But what about you? Here to return the favor?”
“Not quite. As ironic as it is to say in this moment, you've proven volatile, but not as malicious as I'd first suspected.”
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