His lips were at her neck, trailing kisses and whispered words that she barely registered, before she lost her footing and unbalanced both of them, sending him completely under the water, and her swallowing water as she tried to keep from submerging. He came up sputtering and shaking his head back and forth to fling the water from his hair. He looked at her panicked face and began to laugh. She joined in his gleeful laughter. They waded from the water and got dressed.
Hawk watched as she pulled her fishing lines from the water. She had four nice sized fish for the dinner that she and Fern would share. “Some of us have to be smarter than the fish, we cannot spot our dinner from far above and grab our unwary prey like some others I could mention.” The swat on her ass and the mock scowl topped by laughing eyes set the tone for the afternoon.
He walked with her back to the Village and right to her doorway. She ducked inside before he could steal another kiss, but he followed her. She was his woman now, she needed to know it. She would also need to come to terms with the fact she would be taking on two men as her mates, not just him. They needed to talk, but he could hear the crunching of a wagon outside of the hovel, and Fern would be joining them within moments. “I want you to come to the Hall at first light, we have much to speak of, and that is a discussion that needs to be done in private. If I take you back to the Hall, the temptation of your embrace would be far too tempting, and I am fairly certain your body is too sore for any further lovemaking tonight.” He leaned in for a breath stealing kiss and whispered against her lips as he let her go. “Be there at first light.” Then he turned away, and left the hovel.
The noise and confusion of the returning villagers combined with the influx of prisoners and their victims insured that Hawk would be kept busy for hours. First came the victims riding in the wagon pulled by the lumbering beast. The wagon stopped at the pathway into the Hall, and a small crowd gathered as the victims of abuse were unloaded and taken into the building through the main doors. There were gasps as the emaciated bodies of the wolf cubs were tenderly carried inside. The tiny girl with her ragged shift and skin covered bones elicited gasps and shouts of outrage. The little dragon was sleeping peacefully within an Amazon’s arms. No one had seen such a creature before. Some chuckles could be heard at the sight of the creature, but it made a burping sound as would any baby, the small puff of smoke that escaped the fanged mouth had those closest drawing back, wondering what sort of creature it was. Fern was assisted down from the transport and followed the small troupe into the wide doors.
The victims were handed over to Fern’s coven of witches who had been preparing for her promised influx of patients. The Amazons who were left behind for the Hall’s defense marched outside and lined the steps and pathway to the Hall as Lord Hawk approached. They were a magnificent sight for the villagers’ eyes. The noise level grew too loud to attempt to speak as each Amazon soldier knelt on one knee as Hawk passed between them. They rose as one when he finally stood on the top step leading into the Hall, and flanked him two deep while he spoke to the crowd.
“You have seen the victims of abuse come through our home. They are the very reason that segregation on the Isle of Tremble is not tolerated. The young ones were found chained by the neck with no hope of escape as the buildings burned down around them. Their parents who claim to be fully human left them to die, and as you can see, before that they have been starved and beaten to the edge of death. The defenders of Hawk’s Nest have found the people who have tortured these young ones and are bringing them in for justice to be meted out. Sir Quinlan and our Amazon forces have worked tirelessly to defend all of the citizens under the care of this Hall, and shall continue to do so.
“As most of you know, when I first came here, I sent requests for volunteers to defend the Hall and few came to my call. Those men who have are amongst the ranks of soldiers who will fight side by side with our Amazons. I expect the citizens of Hawk’s Nest to treat them with the same dignity as you would any defender of our home. If not, you will be tried as any other traitor and judged accordingly.
“There will be a publicly held trial of the prisoners at the noon hour tomorrow, here on the steps of this Hall. It will not be said that we are not fair and open in the treatment of lawbreakers at this Hall of Care.” With his speech ended, Hawk walked through the doors, checked to make certain the young ones were being cared for, then took on his feathers and flew out through to still open doors of the Hall. People ducked without needing to as he flew over their heads and continued to climb higher in the sky. Three huge, silent winged owls followed the Master of Hawk’s Nest in a show for the people below. The beautiful sight of the waning sun reflecting on the birds’ feathers was a sight to see. Murmurs of appreciation could be heard, before a noise of a different sort began.
As the prisoners were paraded through town, on their way to the Hall, people lined a path for the Amazons to march the humans through. In front of the procession was Quinlan, he was in his striped cat’s skin, and walked with the great dignity associated with such huge predators. Two male prisoners followed his trail with two of the brightly plumed Amazons holding short leashes attached to thick collars around the necks of the prisoners in their charge. A third male was being prodded by his escort, this man sneered at the crowd and spit at his captor. She backhanded him without missing a step, and his next spittle contained the blood from her tender tap on his cheek. When he tried to spit at her again, she yanked the leash in her hands and he fell to his knees in the dirt.
Several onlookers heard her say to the man, “You can walk, or you may crawl, one way or the other, you will face justice.” The calm way she stated the harsh fact, and the moment that she gave the prisoner to gain his feet was remarked upon in the crowd. It seemed the woman they all knew as the silly daughter of the pig farmer, was indeed a woman capable of rendering a man almost twice her size into compliance.
Her younger brother watched the scene with pride for her actions. He could barely wait to go home and relate this tale to his parents. Seeing his sister in her uniform of golden brown and rusty red colored feathers, made him puff his chest a bit and tell his friend, “That is my sister.” That sentiment was felt by many people as they watched their daughters or siblings escort the prisoners.
Behind the men, four women were being led in a similar manner by an Amazon with a leash in her hands. They were a rag tag looking group with only one of the women showing any sign of defiance. She was older than the rest but still kept pace as she was pulled along. A litter being carried by two more defenders, containing a heavily pregnant woman, was at the rear of the group. One Amazon walked behind all, keeping a vigilant eye out for trouble.
The prisoners were taken to the well used dungeon under the Hall. The former lord had used the place to store his victims and for torturing those he saw fit to indulge his evil hobbies upon. The pregnant female was taken into the Hall, and given over to the mercies of the witches who were coddling the young victims.
Before the evening meal, Hawk’s Nest had two new citizens, and Hawk almost choked with laughter when he was introduced to the tiny bundles of joy. One was definitely a cat of some type from the slant and color of the babe’s eyes, and the other he would wager was yet another dragon baby. It had the same hue to its skin as Drago did. The elder witch asked to speak with him for a moment once he had greeted the new lives. Droxel told him of the whip scars and of the rope burns on the new mother’s wrists and ankles. Her examination of the girl estimated her to be very young and a victim of abuse herself. “I believe she is no abuser, My Lord, from the condition of her body, it is a miracle that she has lived to birth the babies. She has been starved and has open wounds on her back and thighs that should not be there if she is like the others.”
He thanked her and went to the female’s side. The girl was young, he could see the marks on her wrists, and the thin lines of scars across her neck from what must have been something too tightly wound around the tender flesh that cut into her skin. The l
ook of fear of him did not set well in his mind. After seeing the evidence, there was no way she would stand trial for wrong doings to anyone, she was barely more than a child herself.
“Rest easy, little mother, you need have no fear that you will be further abused here at Hawk’s Nest. We do not torture or rape innocents in this place. You will be treated fairly and with dignity. No further harm will be visited upon you. You must sleep now, and allow the healers to care for you, so you may care for your offspring. Before you sleep, I want you to tell me who did this to you.”
By the time her eyes were closed and her breathing was evened out in sleep, Hawk had his answers. The girl was taken from her family as a small child, she did not remember the name of the place she was taken from, only that she was used as a beast of burden until she was used for the men’s carnal appetites. He wanted to go to the dungeon and use whatever leftover torture devices Lord Loris had left behind on the three men. He made plans for the biggest brute. The man had been the one to abduct the young girl in the first place and used her before the others had, too. He would be happy to dispatch the man to the demons tomorrow. The brute was called Ignual, and he would be the prime example of what not to do under the Hawk’s watchful eyes.
Con and Drago flew in late into the night, and were rested and fresh for the day’s activities. Drago laughed as he watched the small dragon burp her smoky offerings. He plucked the little beauty from the arms of her witchy nursemaid and raised her over his head as he spun around. By the time he stopped spinning the little one was making gurgling noises and spitting small flames from her tiny nostrils. He continued to speak in a gibberish tongue to the baby as he cradled her in his arm looking as if the child was his own get.
Hawk grinned at his antics but pulled the proud new poppa over to the corner where the young mother of the newest babies was lying. Next to her in a basket were the two babies lying side by side. “Have a look here, my friend, I think you will be interested to see what lies beneath the blankets.” He waited for Drago to gently slide the blanket back from the newborn babies and watched as the huge man fell to his knees. Drago looked at the sleeping infant in his arm, and then to the even tinier children in the basket. He recognized the dragon features right away and stuck a finger down to touch the newly birthed child’s hand.
For thirty years Drago had been a solitary creature. Said to be the only one of his kind on the island. Today proved that to an untruth. There were two more like him, and if there were these two, there could be more. The babe’s mother was not marked in any way as having the DNA of dragon’s blood, so the father must be a carrier, or the genetics were so deeply buried inside of one or the other, that the dragon gene was only recognizable when a child was conceived. Hawk signaled to a house servant to bring a large wooden chair that was fatly padded with cushions for Drago to sit near the small family. He had to decide what was to become of the babies, Con had made it clear that they would need someone who knew what the little one needed to thrive, and now there were two of them. He wanted to laugh and he wanted to cry in humility. The tiny beings seemed to accept him readily. He lay his head back on the cushion and sought wisdom in sleep. Before he drifted off, he pulled the blanket over the babies in the basket and tucked the scaly baby inside of his shirt, to let it absorb the heat from his body. Once the tiny one was warm, she would change into her human form.
The baby must have been very cold to force herself to change to her dragon. The thick leathery skin would not allow the elements to penetrate it and, by nature, a dragon was hot inside of its skin. They could also eat raw meat and creatures that were otherwise inedible for a human to eat. The little one had learned to survive without the tender care of a loving parent, until this day. This one and the child in the basket would be raised at Dragon’s Eyre under his watchful eyes and training. Someone had to care, and his heart was already taken over by the scraps of human and beast.
Hawk left him to his new family, and decided to tell Con about his encounter with Flora. They needed to agree on a mate, and since he knew Con was not immune to her charms, he needed to tell him before first light when he had told her to present herself. He found Con atop the Hall sitting in the highest circle room of the tower. Con was snoozing, but he refused to allow the truth to go untold any longer. “I need to talk to you about Flora.
“Today, as I walked to the river, I saw her going into the water, by the time she emerged and came toward me, reason was gone. I took her, my friend, I took her tenderly, but she is virgin no longer. In the taking, I have decided to make her our mate if that is agreeable with you.” He would have smiled if not for the fierce look Con was shooting his way. “She came from the water with nipples puckered and glowing skin, Con, I swear I had no intentions of bedding her until she walked directly to me. You know I am not guided by my prick, but by the time she stood before me as naked and beautiful as anything I have clapped eyes on before, I was done. I could no more walk away from her offering than I would willing stop breathing.”
Con was faced with a quandary, at first he was angry that Hawk had paved the path before he had, yet dealing with a virginal young woman, no matter how eager she might be, was terrifying. His sex organ was quite large, and although she was not a small woman, she would be dwarfed by him when the time came for them to share lovemaking. Hawk sat with his back propped against the wall awaiting his verdict. What could he tell the man? I resent it, and at the same time I am happy that you took her virginity, because I wanted her for my own? He took his time to sort his feelings out before nodding his head and saying the truth. He loved Hawk as a brother, they had grown up in the same place, side by side. There were no blood ties, nothing that simple tied them together. They had fought alongside each other, defended each other, and now would share a mate between them, just as the Lords of Tremble Castle did with their mate, Rane. By the Lords Tremble, he would be the one to inherit Hawk’s Nest should any harm befall his best friend. Any of Hawk’s or his get would inherit the title of Lord. To be placed in a position of power, they would have to prove worthy to be named such.
“Truthfully? I resent the knowledge that you got to her before I did, but since you have, I want to thank you for clearing the path for me to enjoy. Her virginity doesn’t matter to me, I would rather not have to worry about that when I sink my cock into her sweet body. The question is, does she understand that to take on one of us, means she takes both? I want her to willingly take us both rather than suffer to have one, she must tolerate the other.”
Their discussion was cut short by screams coming from the North end of the village. In the spot the men were, high above the other buildings, they could see every corner of the village and part of the surrounding countryside. They could see fleeing villagers screaming and running to shelter in the safety of the Hall as a small army of skeletal figures advanced toward the village.
Chapter Seven
There was mass confusion in the village commons where the newcomers had parked their wagons and were camping until homes could be built or older homes refurbished to house the families. People were running willy nilly and it seemed to the two men watching from above that they collectively decided to seek shelter within the stone walls of the Hall. The Lord and Con took to feathers and launched themselves from their window perch into the chaos below.
The clacking noise from the skeletal soldiers making their way toward the Hall was loud, and the bleached bones showed a white glow as they advanced. Twenty-five Amazons and five male soldiers stood behind the Lord and his second. What was puzzling was the fact that no aggression was shown by the walking piles of bones. The birds of prey assumed their human forms, and advanced to the lead animated creatures. Hawk grabbed the arm bone from the nearest being, and it fell into his grasp easily. The thing continued to walk in a straight line toward the large building that was now cluttered wall to wall with people. Drago landed at the rear of the advancing army and began slapping them down to the ground with his huge wings. Hawk used the bone in his
hand and began swinging it at the heads and knees of the enemy force, but all they did was crumble where they had stood. The Amazons and Soldiers joined in the fun, laughing and clubbing skeletons until all of the bones were lying in small heaps littering the area. Con directed the bones be heaped into a pile in the side garden next to the Hall. The citizens must be shown what befell a frightening army such as this. The Witches were summoned, and once they convened and burned the bones, the protectors left to find their beds.
Fern held onto her arm to stay her from going out into the screaming throng of people. She wanted to help, but Fern told her to stay. “We will be needed shortly, the Wizard Zurcho has sent his mindless drones to terrify, the army of death’s bones rattles and shakes, but cannot harm much. The next wave will be the test of our Lord Hawk and the defenders of this Hall. Now, we have things to discuss.” They sat close to the fire because of the late springtime chilly night. “You have been intimate with Lord Hawk, did he tell you that you will be shared as a mate between him and Con? It is true you know. I have seen it in the fire’s blue light. You will come to love them more with each day. I have been aware of the attractions you have been feeling for both men for some time now and you should know they are as attracted as you. You must be honest in your passions with them, I know your secrets, my companion, hiding your nature will only eat away the affections they would willingly grant should you only ask.”
Hawk's Nest (Tremble Island) Page 5