His heart tried pounding free from his chest, his lungs ached to the point of failure. He was too exhausted, too frightened to save himself with magic. His arms began to list. Moyra grimaced as she pressed her mouth against his. Angst gasped for air through her while she gripped his shirt and held him close. There was no playful kiss or silly banter, Moyra’s gaze was piercing and dangerous.
“I cannot,” she cried out in his mind, pulling her mouth away.
He drew in a gulp of water and coughed. He dared not breathe in more, but his throat itched and tickled at the same time. She saw his desperation and gave him air.
“You are not food, you are not food,” he heard over and over. “I cannot love you. You are not food. I promised.”
His mind was dizzy with confusion. Her words filled with the instinct to feed, and—did she say love? Moyra grasped at his back and hair, her eyes torn between hunger and hunter. Full consciousness returned, and he wanted nothing more than to swim to the surface.
She bared her rows and rows of thin, horrific teeth then flicked her tongue wildly against his torn lip, lapping up the blood. He swallowed hard, thinking about how much of his face those teeth could take with them. His stomach wrenched with disgust. Moyra withdrew slowly, reluctantly then she tugged at his shoulder. He didn’t budge, his leg still caught in the coral.
“Now,” she thought, her voice high-pitched. “We have to get you out of here now.”
There was a loud thud, and Angst looked up to a vision of creature that was too enormous to fathom. It dwarfed Fire, and Ivan, and moved at a measured pace. Tentacles reached toward them. Moyra jerked his jaw open, forcing air into his mouth before tearing off, slapping at tentacles. Dozens shot at her.
The burst of air did the opposite of what she’d intended. He coughed twice and covered his mouth, pinching his nose. Water tickled his throat and lungs. He tried to cough inward, clamping his mouth shut, but it wasn’t working.
Seconds passed. Hours, days, and years passed. The creature followed her slowly until she was far from sight. His lungs ached and he was becoming dizzy when she returned. She nervously forced air into him. She licked his blood as he coughed through her mouth. He was embarrassed at his reaction, but she didn’t seem to care. Moyra rolled upside down, and slugged the reef that held his leg. Rock exploded, stinging his hands and face. Without hesitation, she breathed for him again, but he caught the scared look in her eye.
He could hear her distant thoughts. “Love, not food. Need hero. Need An-gst. Love, not food.” She drew away slowly, her eyes now awash with guilt. Moyra grabbed his arms, and they swam.
Dulgirgraut sang in his mind but told him nothing, making his heart race furiously as they approached the rock towers. He heard a crunching sound from above and sensed an enormous rock falling toward them. He raised his glowing hand and slowly pushed the boulder aside, fighting the water every inch. The creature had returned. The beast reached out long tentacles with coarse hairs, seeking methodically, as though it had all the time in the world. He looked at Moyra, who stared at them in panic. She pulled him along, diving under an enormous outcrop of reef.
“Air!”Angst thought, shaking her arms.
Her head jerked to face him, and she leaned in to give him quick breaths. It was long enough for the creature to reach him, to reach them. Hairs dug painfully into his leg and her fin, ripping out chunks of meat. Her eyes rolled back as cloudy blood from his wound drifted to her nostrils. Angst found footing, jerked away from her grasp, and kicked off the rocks.
“No!” she screamed, making him wince.
The blue glow around his arms bubbled with air, and for that moment, he felt no need to breathe. A song, two songs, a rush of music and power filled his mind and body. His leg throbbed with pain as blood spilled from his wound. He felt violated. Fury overtook him, and Angst began pulling earth from below the ocean floor.
“You want tentacles,” he shouted in a stream of bubbles. “Try these!”
A hundred arms of sand and mud and rock shot upward, wrapping around the great beast and dragging it to a halt. Without thinking, without knowing if it would work, he summoned the biggest fireball he could. Power from the foci flowed through his body, deep into his chest. He let it grow until it was too much to contain then set it free. The heat was unbearable, burning hairs on his arms and destroying everything in its path. It dissipated quickly, but not before ripping a hole in the beast. Thousands of tentacles splayed under the shock of the impact. He waited for a second. For two. Moyra coiled around him, giving him breath he wasn’t sure he needed.
Angst watched hopefully as the monster remained still. He waited for painfully long moments. How many would pass before they were safe? They should’ve fled, but he had to know. Had he actually killed that monstrosity? He looked at Moyra, who had the barest of smiles. An ounce of tension left his shoulders before her eyes became wide with fear.
“No,” Angst said, awash with panic as he faced the monster.
The nearest appendage wiggled, soon followed by others. A green glop of murky ooze filled in the hole created by his fireball. He screamed a curse as the monster healed.
“Get us out of here,” he thought.
Moyra grabbed him under both armpits and swam faster than Angst would’ve thought possible. He watched their wake. The beast was already following them and speeding up as if angered, tentacles darting from it like arrows. She swam in and out of the rock maze, barely keeping ahead of the creature, dodging every attack it threw at them. Angst couldn’t make out a shape other than the reaching tentacles and that it was the largest living thing he’d ever seen. Angst held out his hands, throwing boulders in its path. It slowed enough for Moyra to help him breathe.
“I do not know where to take you. Where will you be safe?” she asked desperately as she licked the blood streaming from his mouth, leering covetously at his bloody leg. He sensed her restraint, and could only assume he was nothing more to her than a short, chubby sandwich.
“I’m not food,” he forced into her head. “Did you say you love me?”
“Where is safe?” she pleaded.
“Sword,” he said, looking up, thinking of Dulgirgraut on the bow of the ship.
She nodded, giving him a quick burst of air, but withdrew slowly, each gift of air seeming more of a struggle. Moyra turned so he could wrap his arms around her waist as if they were sharing a horse. She swam upward, spinning about, darting in and out to avoid tentacles. His ears popped again and again. He felt weak and sick and cold; nothing about his body was right as they ascended. Dulgirgraut rang in his mind—a beacon, a song that kept him alive, but only this side of almost. His entire body was glowing uncontrollably, which made him shiver with fear. It had never happened before. They quickly approached the dark shadow of a ship and, with a last burst of speed, shot from the water to land on deck.
He rolled and tumbled with her in his arms. Dazed but alive, he gratefully gasped in air the less fun way.
“Mermaid!” pirates yelled, surrounding them.
Curved swords and angry daggers rang out around them, and she buried her face in his chest. There were more yells as the crew advanced on them. Angst held her with the desperation of a child who’d found a lost cat.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Hector shook his head.
“That’s her? The mermaid?” Dallow said in delight.
“Wow,” Tarness said, his eyes wide.
“Whore,” Victoria admonished drunkenly.
Angst somehow pushed himself to sitting, the all-too-naked mermaid resting in his lap, her face hidden in his shoulder. Her blue hair was disheveled, exposing her breasts. Shaky blades inched closer as pirates gathered their courage.
“I will kill every single one of you,” Angst warned, his body still glowing. His leg was mending, and the pounding in his lungs and chest had abated.
“Put those things down before he turns them to dust,” Jarblech commanded, marching up to them both. “Why hasn’t she eaten you
yet? Too small a catch?”
“Probably,” Angst wheezed. He couldn’t stand, and Tarness lifted both of them. Angst held her as tightly as he could. “Thanks,” he said to his friend, who merely nodded.
Moyra looked up into his eyes, but her gaze kept flitting to his lip and leg.
“You wanted to eat me, didn’t you?” he whispered.
“Ashamed,” she thought guiltily, her voice very quiet.
“Why didn’t you?” he asked.
“I am sorry,” she pleaded, her voice filled with panic.
“Don’t be,” he said with a smile. “Why didn’t you?”
“Love,” she thought weakly.
“Love,” he said firmly.
“Does this conversation seem a little one sided?” Tarness asked.
“You can’t hear her?” Angst asked. “She’s talking in my mind.”
“Oh?” Victoria said curtly. “I can hear both of you.”
“Please save them,” Moyra thought to him. “You have to save my people.”
“I’ll save you,” he promised. “I’ll save you all.”
The ship rocked as though it were a toy sailboat being picked up by a toddler. The mermaid’s head jerked from side to side.
“It is here!” Moyra yelled loudly enough to make Angst and Tori wince. She leaned in, gripping the back of his neck and kissing him. Victoria grunted out loud. “Love.”
Angst reluctantly pulled away. “Tarness, bring us to port, please.”
Tarness carried them to the edge.
“Get away,” he pleaded in his mind. “Far away.”
Angst sighed in relief as she dove from his arms back into the ocean. He watched, sadness and longing filling his heart, until she was gone. The ship rocked a second time, violently enough that Tarness gripped the rail.
“Incoming!” Angst yelled. He pointed at his sword. “That! Now!”
Tarness tripped his way to Dulgirgraut and gently set Angst down on shaky legs, careful to let him grab the hilt. Angst couldn’t tell if he held himself aloft or if the hilt had glued to his hand.
“Incoming?” Jarblech asked. “Did we strike an iceberg?”
There was a scream, and Angst watched in horrified disbelief as tentacles plucked a pirate from the deck and tore her into pieces.
“What did you do?” Hector grabbed Angst’s arm and spun him about.
“She needed help,” Angst snapped.
“Of course she did.” Hector rolled his eyes. “We can’t save everyone!”
“That’s our job,” Angst said firmly.
There was a thunk as the creature smashed the ship’s metal exterior, rocking it violently.
“You’re going to owe me a boat for helping your girlfriend,” Jarblech bellowed.
“Which girlfriend?” Angst smirked despite his dizzy head and weak legs.
Victoria smacked him upside the head, and Jarblech nodded in approval. “The other one,” the pirate said in a low, threatening tone.
“I know where we need to go now!” Angst barked. “We don’t have time for this!”
“What do we do, Angst?” Tarness asked.
A largish tentacle smashed toward Tarness. Angst leaped into the air, swinging Dulgirgraut in a wide vertical arc, slicing the end off before hairy feelers could dig into his friend.
“That!” Angst said, watching the appendage undulate and inch toward the railing as though it were crawling away. It slipped over the side of the ship. “Cut off every single one while I hold this ship together.”
“Spread out. Everyone take a point,” Hector ordered. “Jarblech, in the cabin with your pirates! You can’t defend yourself with daggers.”
“We aren’t going into a coffin,” she proclaimed. “Give me something I can use, now!”
From behind his back, Hector pulled a Lochabar axe. “If you can use it, this is large enough to give you some distance.”
“I can use it,” she said, taking it from him. It was two feet taller than her, and she looked up at the tip. “I think I can use it.” She headed aft, followed by several pirate women with swords.
A thin tentacle smacked Tarness’s shield with a thud, thick hairs boring into the metal. He struggled, hacking at the appendage until it freed itself. Three more darted over the edge of the ship after the first made contact. Tarness grunted as he sliced at them, chopping at them like the roots of a tree.
“Dallow?” Tarness called out.
His friend reached to his temple and pressed the memndus shard closer. “How big is this thing, Angst? I see a shadow, a silhouette of the creature, under the ship. But it’s everywhere!”
“Best guess, Dallow?” Hector asked in his gravelly voice, chopping at a limb with an angry-looking axe. Thick green blood sloshed onto the deck. “How big?”
“Maybe a quarter mile, a half-mile in length. It’s like a small island. A really hungry small island.”
“That’s not possible,” Tori said in panic. She gripped Dallow’s shoulder and dragged him to the wheel. “Help get us out of here.”
Dallow tripped over his own feet as his concentration was broken, but remained standing. He dodged angry tentacles expertly, having the distinct advantage of seeing the entire attack from above. He braced his feet and pulled Jarblech close, just in time to avoid the hairy appendage slapping onto the deck.
“I hate you, Angst,” Victoria screamed. “Now duck!”
Angst’s head jerked back when he heard her.
“I said duck!” she pleaded as another pirate was lifted into the air.
Five angry tentacles engulfed the woman’s body, and she screamed in anguish as hairy spikes bored into her skin and pulled, splitting her into pieces. Blood and gore splashed onto Victoria and the two remaining pirates. Angst stepped toward his friend, but Hector held his shoulder.
“She’ll be fine,” he said. “Watch.”
Victoria shuddered before gripping the arms of the other two women. “Do as I say,” she cried out in fury, “or you will die. Do you understand?”
The women nodded, and moments later, they all leaped back together as a tentacle slapped the deck. Both women thanked her before chopping off the end. Together, they dodged another striking out in unison. Victoria directed them like a furious choir, her anger sobering with every word and curse as they fought.
With the suddenness of a lightning strike in broad daylight, the attack stopped. The silence was deafening and everyone looked around for an answer.
“We need to get out of here!” Angst shouted. “I’m pushing her forward!”
The ship began to turn sharply starboard, leaning enough to make Angst bend a knee to stay level. He almost fell as they jerked to a sudden stop. There was a loud wrenching sound of metal and wood. Angst held the sword up, his eyes glowing bright red. He tried forcing the ship to keep moving, and it gave a horrific metallic cry as it bent. He sensed his metal cocoon surrounding the ship pull apart as sharp hair from the creature’s many arms sank into his protection. He couldn’t stop it. Dulgirgraut provided no answer, yet still glowed burgundy, imbuing him with power. He heard the song but didn’t understand. He could feel the metal hull split apart like a peeled banana.
A sudden gust of wind blew at his damp hair.
“Can’t you use that wind to get us out of here?” he yelled before realizing the sails were down.
From behind, he heard a yelp that sounded like Tori, followed by several more.
The ship was being torn out from under him. Metal bent and wood cracked as it sank into the ocean. No matter how much magic he drew from the foci, his best efforts were no match for the raw power of the creature.
“What are you?” he screamed.
He watched Tarness being lifted into the air.
“No!” Angst pleaded. The ship began to list. Angst looked around in desperation to find everyone gone. He was the only one left. His exhaustion overtook him; a mind-numbing pain wracked his body as he dropped to his knees. “Tori! Hector!” he yelled. “What have I
done?” He finally collapsed as a horrific crunching destroyed the remains of the ship.
“Moyra,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
36
Angoria
Cool wind woke him to sore muscles that immediately pined for attention, roiling like the very ocean, boiling like lava. His arm felt heavy, and Angst was surprised to find Dulgirgraut hanging from it, his hand permanently cramped around the hilt. Just like the sword, his legs dangled, but at least they were warm and dry. Dry? Hadn’t he just leaped out of the ocean with Moyra?
Strong hands shifted under his sore armpits, and he looked up to see chainmail reflecting in the waning moon, and colorful, incandescent wings. He could make out the sincere face of a beautiful young woman he already wanted to know. Forcing his eyes away Angst sought his friends. All was lost in a haze of fog. How could there be fog? Were they in clouds? He caught the occasional glimpse of leg or distant lights that seemed like beacons in the dusk.
“Hi?” he asked.
She didn’t reply.
“Thank you,” he said hopefully.
Still nothing. Neither entreaties, threats, nor charm seemed to interest his keeper, and he wondered what sort of appetizer he might become.
“You’re awake,” Jarblech said. “You owe me a boat!”
“Felk,” Angst said.
“Watch your mouth,” Victoria said.
“Are we all here?” Angst called out, and his friends shouted back.
“Shush,” his captor, his savior said.
“You talk,” he replied encouragingly, but she said nothing else.
The sun peeked over the horizon, burning his eyes after so much darkness. Angst looked down and then immediately stopped looking down. The last time he’d been this high, he’d ridden a dragon, and that had ended up in a mess. Averting his eyes from the ocean, he looked around to find his friends being carried helplessly by gorgeous women in various coverings of chain and plate. They looked like the stories he’d heard of the Berfemmian, but the wings of light were unexpected. Beautiful feathers of every color spread out over their shoulders. He could see through them, but they had to be solid enough to fly. It was incredible.
Angst Box Set 1 Page 103