“Lovely. Where is it?”
“Outside the walls. We have to find it before it causes any more harm than it already has.”
She sighed heavily. “What are we waiting for? Lead the way.”
Kellan hurried across the square and she followed him along with the others.
“Prince! Prince!”
Kenley stopped when a tall Ellvinian intercepted their progress.
“Emile! What is it?” Kellan asked.
“Are you going after Tolah…I mean the Vypir?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head in remorse. “I had hoped that we could save him, but I now know that is no longer an option. Not after the…the girl.”
Kenley did not know what he was talking about, but Kane made a tortured sound in his throat.
“How can we kill it?” Kellan asked.
“You will have to behead it. It is the only way.” Emile visibly swallowed and continued. “It is—or once was—a talented wizard. While it is true that every year more of the man is lost to the beast, he will sometimes remember an old incantation and is able to utter the words necessary to cast a spell. After his recent intake of magical blood, I fear he is even stronger now. It will take your most powerful shifters working together to take him down.”
“He could be halfway to Bardot by now,” Reilly complained.
Emile shook his head. “No, he will not go far. He will not leave me.”
Kellan thanked the obviously distraught Emile and they sprinted for the gates once again. Feeling stronger after her long walk from the pier, Kenley decided not to wait for the gates to be opened and took to the air. She thought she heard Kirby curse, but could not be sure.
She plunged into the low-hanging, cold mist and soared over the wall and the milling Draca Cats to scan the open land between Northfort’s wall and the Grayan Forest. The first pink rays of dawn gave her plenty of light by which to see, but nothing moved on the plains below her.
Kellan, Kane, Reilly, Jala and Izzy sprinted out of the gates with their protectors—human and animal. Kenley swooped back down to the ground and walked over to Kirby.
“Kirby, you need to keep everyone back, including the Draca Cats. The shifters will come with me.”
Not surprisingly, he opened his mouth to argue, but she held up a hand. “You heard Emile. We are dealing with a creature that was once a Mage, and it will take magic to defeat it. We cannot be distracted by concern for your safety.”
His eyes flared in anger. “Our safety? Are you—”
Kenley leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “Do not let your feelings for me cloud your duty. You know that the Savitar children have the best chance to end this nightmare. Let me go.”
The words struck home as they were meant to. No one could ever accuse Captain Kirby Nash of shirking his duty.
He nodded reluctantly, but when she turned to go, he grabbed her from behind and leaned down to whisper fiercely, “Come back to me, wife.”
Her mouth twitched up into a smile and she patted his hand on her shoulder. “I will.”
Kenley motioned for the children to follow and they made their way through the host of Draca Cats. She was grateful Kirby did not put up more of a fight. If she had her way, she would have many more years ahead of her to argue with Captain Nash. That settled, she put all thoughts of Kirby out of her mind.
She knew Baya was still making her way through the Grayan Forest. Baya!
I am here, Princess.
Have you seen—?
The beast? I heard your discussions. No. I have seen nothing yet.
Keep your eyes out.
Of course.
Kenley stopped when she reached the center of the wet plains. She waved Izzy forward and tenderly stroked her cheek. The young feralshifter looked much older than when Kenley had seen her last. Her eyes more haunted. Battle will do that she supposed. Reaching out, she ran a hand down the back of Jala’s hair and then smiled at each of the boys. She loved these children so much. More than friends, they were family, and she did not think she could recover from the loss of any of them.
“We are going to do this just like we do in the games we play, except instead of me as your target, it will be the Vypir.” The children nodded, but they looked so tired. She could only imagine what they had been through over the past few days and knew she had to do something to stir their blood oath. It was the only way to give them the enhanced strength and speed they would need to survive. “We can do this,” she whispered ardently. “Yes, we are the children of Savitars, but more importantly, we are the defenders of Massa! We cannot fail in our duty this day!”
Eyes of every color swirled with the intensity of magic that dwelled behind them and she knew the green of hers matched theirs. She could feel her muscles strengthen, her vision sharpen, her hearing amplify.
She could feel the blood oath.
“Just like the games, but remember, this is, or was, a wizard. We cannot let up for a single moment.”
Five heads nodded more eagerly this time.
I see it! It is coming, Princess!
Baya’s warning sounded in her mind mere seconds before she heard a crashing movement from the Grayan. The Vypir was coming toward them. Fast.
As one, the six standing alone in the plains turned to meet the threat.
Kenley took a deep breath. “Kane, you are first.”
Golden eyes glinted with deadly purpose as he took off at a sprint toward the oncoming Vypir without a word. The beast burst out of the woods running on all fours. Large knuckles helped to swing its body forward at an alarming rate. Even from this distance, she could see how muscular and strong the arms and legs were.
As soon as the Vypir saw Kane, it straightened into an upright position and began to take leaping bounds that brought him closer to Kane faster than Kenley would have liked. Kane replicated and five images of her brother tore toward the beast. But, instead of closing with the image in the lead position of the wedge as—without fail—all other opponents did, the Vypir veered off and slammed into the far right image on the wing. The real Kane.
With a powerful backhanded swat, the Vypir sent Kane reeling through the air.
Kellan screamed out in fury and advanced next, swirling his hands in a circle to soften the wet ground at the Vypir’s feet to lock it in place before it could go after Kane.
The Vypir shrieked as it struggled to lift its feet. Kenley silently urged Kellan on as she watched the beast sink lower and lower into the ground. But, then the Vypir’s lips moved in a silent chant and it burst up out of its snare.
Izzy crawled onto the back of a Grayan wolf and crept off to flank the creature, and Jala called fire to her palms and hurled it at the Vypir as she ran forward. The fire latched onto its white garment, similar to what the Ellvinians wore, and burst into flames. Again, she saw the Vypir’s lips move and the fire was quickly extinguished.
Kenley realized then that if they continued to fight the Vypir one on one, the ancient wizard would use spell-casting to defeat their shifting. They would have to make it impossible for him to combat all at one time.
“Shifters! Together! All at once!”
Kenley lifted off the ground and watched as the children circled the Vypir.
“Now!” she screamed and they attacked.
Kellan opened the ground beneath the Vypir once again and it fell into the furrow created by the wet roiling earth. The beast started a chant, but Kenley slammed it hard with a direct force of air and pinned it to the ground.
Jala hurled another fireball into the creature and the bottom half its already charred garment flared.
Izzy directed the Grayan wolf close and the animal clamped its jaws on the Vypir’s arm and, after a few violent tugs, ripped the limb from its body.
Reilly called forth water from the wet grass and a liquid stream slithered up the Vypir’s face and transformed into a suffocating mask. As the water found its way into the beast’s nose and mouth, the Vypir
struggled in panic, but Kenley and Kellan kept it restrained with air and earth.
Finally, Kane unsheathed the sword of Iserlohn and the lethal ring sounded chilling in the dawn light.
Kenley alighted from the air and stood over the Vypir with the rest of the children. When it stopped moving, she gestured for Reilly and Jala to let go of their magic.
“Let me have the sword, Kane,” she told her brother.
He handed the family heirloom to her and she held the point under the chin of the Vypir. Emile told her that it would have to be beheaded. If she did not do it, given enough time, the beast could probably heal itself. She knew her father had such powers. Still, looking down at the pitiful creature, she hesitated. With an arm missing and his hair and clothes singed, it no longer looked like an evil beast. It looked like a wounded animal.
Suddenly, the Vypir took a loud, gasping breath and its enlarged chest rose off the ground. Instinctively, the shifters took a step back as they prepared to assault it again.
“No,” Kenley said softly. It was up to her to end this now. She moved back toward the Vypir and the sword in her hand quivered as she held it against his throat.
The Vypir’s eyes were open now, watery and filled with pain.
“No…more,” it croaked out.
Kenley flinched at hearing it speak, but kept the sword close.
Through lips cracked and bleeding, the Vypir begged, “No more…don’t want to live…no more.”
Sympathy overwhelmed Kenley for what this creature, once an Elven Mage, must have endured during its transformation. She stood still for a long time, the sword tip hovering over the Vypir’s throat, but found she could not do it.
A calloused hand gently reached for the sword and removed it from her fingers. She stepped back in a daze and watched as Kirby Nash lifted the sword of Iserlohn high over his head and took the Vypir’s head from its shoulders.
CHAPTER 36
THE RETURN
Two days later, as Kellan stood up to swipe the back of his hand across his sweat-filled brow, he spotted the The Wanderer on the horizon. He looked around in satisfaction. Most of the debris and wreckage from Reilly’s wall of water and from the battle had been cleared. Hammers rang out as carpenters worked to repair the wooden docks and shop fronts on the pier.
Several Ellvinians remained in Massa to help with the restoration, but most of the Shiprunners and Battlearms had already sailed back to Ellvin. Miraculously, only a handful of ships were destroyed. Most, were pushed out to sea with the tidal wave and the experienced Shiprunners on board were able to deftly sail them away from the danger.
Emile appeared at his side. “Your parents?”
Kellan nodded with a smile. “I hope so, Emile.”
Kellan sent a young Massan to round up the children and protectors and within the hour, they all stood on the platform and watched as The Wanderer neared.
Even from the distance that separated them, Kellan could see clearly that the parents were distressed. In their agitated haste, they did not even wait for Rafe Wilden to dock the ship. Kellan’s father picked up his mother and shot toward shore using a hover spell, and Airron Falewir bodyshifted into a dolphin and cut through the water faster than any watershifter he had seen with Rogan Radek clinging to his back for dear life.
After Airron and Rogan pulled themselves from the water, all four Savitars strode down the extended dock with menace in their eyes and deadly power in their movements. The workmen that saw them coming dove into the ocean to get out of their way.
Even Kellan found himself taking half a step back.
His father pointed an imperious finger at the Ellvinians standing beside them on the platform. “Move aside, Ellvinians! We will not have you anywhere near our children!” he thundered in righteous wrath. “You may have had the upper hand here, but the deception is over. You now must deal with us! Stand back, everyone!”
Kellan saw the air around Airron Falewir shimmer, Rogan Radek called fire to his hands, and his mother reached for a sword that was no longer there.
“Father! Really!” Kenley exploded and threw her hands in the air.
Kellan could no longer smother his laugh.
His father’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll take care of this, Kenley. Don’t you worry, darling.”
“Father!” Kellan interrupted. “Everything is fine. The Ellvinians are our friends.
“Friends!” he roared. “These people tried to kill us!”
“Well, yes, they tried to kill us, too.”
“But, we surrendered,” Emile pointed out, stepping forward. “These children happened to defeat us pretty soundly.”
The Savitars let go of their magic with stunned looks on their faces.
“Explain,” Kellan’s mother ordered.
“It is true that the Ellvinians declared war against us, but we have since come to a meeting of the minds and declared a truce,” he told them.
Emile bowed at the waist. “If you wish to take action against my nation, you are within your rights. However, I can tell you that the Ellvinians have been under the leadership of greedy and immoral people.” He flung an angry look at Samara tied up on the pier behind him. “If it is within my power, I plan to rectify that wrong when I return to Ellvin.”
Kellan’s father waved a hand dismissively. “It is already done. The Ellvin people have deposed your Premier and the Seconds.”
The Ellvinians closest to the conversation let out excited gasps.
“Didn’t the Ellvinians use their Ascendency against you?” his father asked.
Jala Radek laughed. “Oh, yes! You should have seen Kellan fawning over a woman twice his age!”
Now, Kellan glanced at Samara, the tips of his ears burning. “I did not fawn! I was under hypnosis!”
All on the dock laughed at his expense, and Izzy Falewir ran into her father’s arms. She had the roughest time with all that happened. “You should have seen Kenley,” the little Elf shared with the parents. “She pushed back a wall of water with her airshifting. It was spectacular!”
His mother looked at Kenley with pride in her eyes. “That’s my daughter.”
“Oh, she’s your daughter now?” his father asked with eyebrows that reached into his hairline.
“Always,” Kiernan Atlan replied and his father’s face crunched up in disbelief. Kellan thought it must be an inside joke between the two of them. It was something they did often.
His father suddenly noticed that Kenley had her hand on Kirby Nash’s arm. “What is this?”
Kenley stepped forward. “Oh, Daddy, we have much to discuss when there is more time.”
His father turned to his mother again. “She’s calling me Daddy. That can’t be good.”
His mother shrugged and turned away. “Told you so.”
Then, the tone turned somber when Kane said softly, “Not all turned out well.”
Their mother rushed to his side. “What do you mean?”
“We lost Alia in the fight.”
“Our Alia? Digby’s daughter?” his mother cried.
“Yes.”
She turned murderous eyes on the Ellvinians.
“It was not them,” Kellan quickly clarified. “It was the Vypir.”
“The Vypir! Where is it? I must destroy it at once!” his father declared and started a hasty stride down the pier.
“Oh, we killed that, too.”
* * * * *
Beck walked along the road with Kiernan having just completed a tour of the wharf to inspect the progress on the city repairs. Over lunch at the mayor’s estate, the children regaled them with all that happened while they were away, and he was still in amazement over their feats of heroism.
They managed to head off a war with a much larger force, resolved a revolution of the Draca Cats, and saved the city of Northfort from annihilation. He shuddered as he was reminded of the destruction of Pyraan twenty years ago. The drowning deaths of his parents and all of the exiled shifters haunted him to this day.
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At least now, a strong contingent of soldiers would be stationed here in Northfort. He would talk to Kirby Nash at some point to suggest adding shifters to each division of the army so that an event like this did not happen in the future.
The sound of galloping hooves thundered behind him, and he steered Kiernan to safety. From the side of the road, he stopped and watched a woman with long-blonde hair laying flat over her horse ride recklessly through the pedestrians and soldiers. It was the sorceress, Diamond.
“What in the Highworld is she doing here?” Kiernan questioned.
“Only one way to find out.” Beck reached for Kiernan’s hand and together they hurried after the racing sorceress. They came up on her just as she was dismounting from her horse.
Diamond strode angrily to where Emile and the bound Ellvinian woman waited to board a ship back to Ellvin.
“You!” Diamond pointed at the woman, her eyes furious. “How dare you!”
Beck hurried over to her. “Diamond! What are you doing?”
Diamond ignored him and put her hands on her hips. “So, you are the beast of prophecy! I will have you know that you have cost me years of good sleep waiting for you to show your face!” Her lip curled in disgust. “I have to admit, you are even uglier than I anticipated.”
The woman gave her a contemptuous smile and in response, Diamond reached out and slapped her across the face. “An Eyereader you call yourself? You give seers a bad name. Get the hell off my island.”
With that, the blonde witch strode to her horse, mounted and galloped away.
Kiernan’s laugh echoed harshly, and Beck quickly hushed her and led her away. “Wonder what that was that all about,” he mused aloud, hard pressed to suppress his own chuckle.
“Prophecy, my dear husband, that is what that was about.”
He turned on the street that led back to the mayor’s estate. The children were waiting for them there and he was eager to return. “Speaking of prophecy,” he said, “I wonder why the Oracle never showed up. I thought for sure she would give me fair warning that the event she warned me about was approaching, and possibly even offer some kind of assistance. What if it turned out badly for the children? I must admit that I am very disappointed.”
Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children Page 24