by Ben Wolf
Calum stretched his sore limbs. Enough fighting, already. At this point, he just wanted to free Lumen and be done with it. He stared back at Sharkville, over which a few dozen Dactyls still swarmed, then he closed his eyes.
They were almost there.
Vandorian batted three of the Dactyls away with his sword. The fourth gnawed on his shoulder until he dropped his sword, took hold of the monster, ripped it in half with his bare hands, and hurled it to the ground. Even then, its beak still stuck in Vandorian’s flesh, so he yanked that off too and tossed it aside.
He retrieved his sword and felled six more of them, then he reunited with the five Sobeks who’s survived the fracas. The rest of the fishermen had scattered. The Windgales among them had taken to the sky, and the others had boarded the rest of the ships and set off onto the lake after the lead ship, the one his brother had boarded, free from Vandorian’s grasp.
Free for now, anyway.
With only a few dozen Dactyls left, most of them had either found carcasses to feed on or still circled high above the town. They likely wouldn’t attack anymore, not with so few of them left and so much meat on the ground just waiting to be consumed.
“You.” Vandorian tapped the shoulder of one of the remaining Sobeks, the one with the fewest number of scratches and claw marks on his head. “Swim after the nearest ship. Kill all who are on board and bring the ship back to shore.”
The Sobek blinked, then he glanced at the other Sobeks. “But… Prince Vandorian… I—”
Vandorian grabbed the Sobek by his throat and threw him to the ground. “Go, or I will kill you right here.”
The Sobek scrambled to his feet, lumbered down to the docks, and jumped into the water with his black breastplate still secured to his chest.
“What do we do now, my prince?” another Sobek asked.
“We wait.” Vandorian watched the Sobek swim after the ship. “If our comrade succeeds in bringing back that ship, we go after my brother and his friends.”
A huge black mass broke the surface of the water and slammed down on the Sobek teeth-first. He thrashed for a moment then disappeared under a swell of red that tainted the water.
Vandorian hissed. It was as he’d suspected, but he couldn’t have left this place behind until he was certain he had no other options.
“We will return to the Reptilius,” he declared. “Kahn must know of what has transpired here. I suspect he will demand a reckoning for the wrongs committed against our people this day. Gather what supplies you can for the journey home. We leave in ten minutes.”
“Yes, my prince.” The Sobeks smacked their breastplates with their knuckles and dispersed.
Vandorian stared at the lead ship, now far in the distance. You were right, Magnus. This is far from over.
After searching almost the entire ship—twice—Lilly finally found Falcroné in the crow’s nest, of all places. She landed and shifted a coil of thick rope aside so she could sit beside him.
Like him, she let her legs hang off the edge of the platform and stared out across the lake. Stars glimmered in the night sky, and their reflections danced along the water’s surface.
“What are you doing up here?” she asked.
Falcroné shrugged and didn’t make eye contact with her. Instead, he stared into the starry night sky. “Just watching. After you returned home and told me of the Jyrak, I’ve been uneasy about venturing out onto this lake.”
“It was horrible. Axel and I both almost died. He would have for sure had I not—”
“I know, Lilly. You told me already.”
She bit her lip. Was he actually upset with her about having saved Axel? “What’s wrong, Fal?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
He turned his head and stared right into her eyes, but it wasn’t out of love. Instead, he’d donned fearless eyes, the kind only hardened soldiers knew how to employ. “Better?”
She squinted at him and exhaled a silent sigh. “No. It’s not.”
Falcroné looked away again. “Then I don’t know what you want from me.”
Lilly cupped his jaw with her hand and turned his face back toward her. “I want you.”
His soldier’s glare softened. “Sometimes I wonder.”
“Fal, how could you ever doubt my feelings toward you?” Even as Lilly asked him, she asked herself the same question.
“You let Condor join us. You refused to accuse Axel of a crime that we both know he committed against you.” Falcroné numbered her offenses with his fingers. “And it seems like every time you look at Calum, you’re about to start drooling over him.”
Lilly’s eyebrows rose. His accusations stung straight to her heart, but his characterization of her reactions concerning Calum filled her with rage. “That is absurd. I do not look at him that way.”
“You don’t see what I see. You’re attracted to him. I know you are. Every time he’s near you, you change. Your mannerisms adjust, you phrase things differently, and your eyes…” Falcroné sighed.
A pang of guilt stabbed Lilly’s heart. She’d denied Falcroné’s allegation because he’d framed it so rudely, but a part of her knew what he said was true. Calum was so—refreshing compared to everyone else she knew. His passion, his faith, his resolve.
He had sacrificed so much for what he believed, and now it was finally paying off. How could Lilly not be attracted to that?
“That’s the look. You’re doing it right now.” Falcroné pointed at her face. “Those longing eyes, that slight frown. You look like you want something you can’t have.”
“I want you, Falcroné, and that’s all you need to be concerned about.”
Falcroné shook his head and gazed up at the stars. “I don’t believe you.”
“You have no idea what Calum means to me, or even Axel for that matter. They both saved my life countless times. They rescued me from—”
“They rescued you from Roderick, the slave trader. You’ve told me.”
“It’s more than that. So much more.” Lilly took her turn staring at the stars.
“Then tell me.”
“Why?” Lilly frowned. She could see where this was going. “You’ll just use it against me.”
“No, I really want to understand.” He clasped his hands around hers. “What do you mean?”
Lilly’s jaw tightened, and she sucked in a sharp breath as she stared into his eyes. She wanted to tell him the truth. Really and truly, she did. “I—”
Falcroné raised an eyebrow.
But if she told him the truth, everything between them would crash to an end.
“I can’t.” She bowed her head. “I’m sorry.”
A long pause lingered between them. Lilly tried to use the time to formulate some sort of acceptable response, but everything that came to mind sounded successively worse than the previous idea.
“I release you from our engagement.” Falcroné said it so softly that Lilly wondered if she had imagined it.
She squeezed his hands, her heart pulsing with anxiety. “No, Fal. That’s not what I want. I—”
“You don’t know what you want.” Falcroné stroked her face with his fingers. It felt soothing, even as it grated against her nerves. “Don’t try to tell me you do. You’re young, and you have lots of time to figure it out. If it’s me, then I can wait. And if not, then—”
“I want you. I’m telling you I want you.” She grabbed him by the collar of his breastplate, resisting the urge to shed tears at this loss. Why wasn’t he listening? “Don’t you hear me?”
“I hear what you’re saying, but your actions tell me something altogether different.” Falcroné shook his head. “I can’t continue to live a lie, and neither should you. I certainly won’t be a part of it.”
She released her grip on his breastplate, then she leaned back against the mast and rubbed her forehead with the heels of her hands. Part of her wanted to cry, and part of her wanted to fly away, but another part wanted
to inhale her first breath of the freedom Falcroné had just granted her.
“Like I said, I’ll be around when you make your decision. If it’s me, I promise I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.” Falcroné’s tone faded as he stood up. “And if it’s not me, I’ll try my best to be happy for you.”
He faced the stars and bent at his knees to spring into the air, but she caught him by the wrist. She had to try one last time. “Don’t do this, Fal. I love you.”
Falcroné pursed his lips and nodded. “I know. I love you too, but I have to do it.”
He pulled free from her grasp and plunged over the edge of the crow’s nest, then he looped up into the starry sky and out of sight, leaving Lilly alone.
The first of what would be many tears that night streamed down her face.
Long after the others fell asleep, and several hours after Magnus had managed to stanch the bleeding from his arm, soothing warmth spread throughout his wound, and the pain began to dissipate.
The veromine in his blood had begun its work.
Lumen’s bright form burned Calum’s eyes as it had so many times before. “You are near. I can feel your presence.”
Calum shielded his face with his hands, but Lumen’s light penetrated Calum’s very being, deep into his soul.
“You will succeed, Calum. You will free me, and together we will liberate Kanarah.”
Lumen’s image spiraled into darkness with a loud pop.
Shouts, screams, and the nearby snapping of wood jerked Calum from his sleep. Exhausted from the battle, he’d fallen asleep on the ship’s main deck well before yesterday’s sun had set.
He groped for his sword and found it lying next to him in its sheath. He stood and strapped it to his belt in a hurry.
“What’s going—” The words caught in his throat as his eyes fixed on the ship’s central mast, which snapped in half and toppled off the side of the ship into the water. Splintered wood burst into the air and rained down on the deck, including on him. Lake water washed onto the deck up to Calum’s feet, then receded.
What in the world could have—
A loud roar droned behind him, one all too familiar to his ears. He whirled to face the other side of the ship and his eyes panned up the tall, dark form that towered above them.
A long neck suspended a monstrous reptilian head in the air. A dark red tongue snaked from between its bronze teeth. Spikes adorned its head, and two large horns jutted out from just behind its blank glowing yellow eyes. Black talons tipped each of the four webbed fingers on its hands.
The Jyrak.
Chapter Forty-One
“What in the Overlord’s name is that?” Condor’s piercing blue eyes widened. It was the first time Lilly had ever seen actual fear register on his face.
“It’s a Jyrak. Probably the same one we encountered last time we braved these waters.” Jake motioned toward one of his crew. “We’ve got no sails left. Get the men rowin’ immediately, or we’re all dead.”
“How far are we from the bend?” Calum asked.
“It’s right there.” Jake pointed at the Jyrak. “Behind him.”
A chill bristled Lilly’s skin. They had to get around the Jyrak to reach Lumen’s prison?
The Jyrak loosed another droning roar and turned its attention to another of Jake’s ships, which it capsized in one ferocious blow with its enormous hand. Lilly could hear the screams of a dozen or so men before their bodies crashed into the surf.
“What do we do?” she asked, her attention fixed solely on Calum.
It wasn’t just her, though. Axel stood at her side and stared at Calum with a look of terror on his face. Magnus gripped his wounded arm, which seemed to have sealed over during the night, and set his eyes on Calum.
Condor, Falcroné, and Kanton landed near Lilly and gave Calum their attention as well, and Riley and the remainder of his Wolf pack rounded out the circle. Even Jake, who didn’t even know Calum that well, wouldn’t look away from him.
This was what Lilly couldn’t explain to Falcroné. Moments like these, when everything was at stake, she would turn to Calum, and Calum would make a way.
It was an irresistible force. An inevitable attraction.
It made Calum unique compared to everyone else she’d ever met.
“We need to work together.” Calum peered across the water and squinted. “Jake, I need your other ships to head in one direction around the Jyrak, and we’ll head the other.”
Jake nodded. “Got it.”
“Riley, take your Wolves to the ship’s stern. If there’s trouble, they can jump off before the Jyrak destroys the ship. Maybe they can swim to safety.” Calum held up his hand. “But you stay with me. I need you to help me free Lumen.”
Riley nodded too, then he shooed the Wolves away.
“Axel and Kanton, help out on this ship. Work together. Secure sails, tie knots—whatever Jake tells you to do, do it. Then find something heavy that will help us sink nice and fast so we don’t drown on our way down to the Hidden Abyss.”
They nodded and darted after Jake.
Calum pointed to Magnus and his voice hardened. “And you—don’t you dare leave my sight. You’re the only Saurian for miles. If we lose you, we can’t free Lumen.”
Magnus nodded.
“Lilly, take Condor and Falcroné. You three have the most dangerous job, but only you three can do it. Do whatever you can to distract that thing. Buy us time to work around it so the other ships don’t have to sacrifice themselves to get us to Lumen.” Calum’s eyes locked on hers, and a flood of emotion filled her chest and stomach. “Whatever you do, don’t get yourself killed.”
She gave him a half smile then took to the sky, leaving him behind. He had never let her down before, and she wasn’t about to let him down now.
Falcroné and Condor soared alongside her toward the Jyrak, which thrashed at the remnants of the ship it had just destroyed. As they approached, Lilly unsheathed her sword. What she planned to do with it, she wasn’t sure, but she would try nonetheless.
The ring of two more swords leaving their sheaths sounded behind her. At least she had two of the best fighters in all of the Sky Realm with her. Together they would find a way to give Calum the time he needed.
Calum stood at the edge of the deck, his fingers clamped on the rail, and watched Lilly fly toward the Jyrak. She had better make it out of this. If she didn’t, he’d never forgive himself.
“We’re pickin’ up speed.” Jake cranked the ship’s wheel to the right and the ship curled away from the Jyrak. “I gotta take ‘er wide at first to make sure we clear its tail, or it could tip us without even tryin’.”
“Do what you must, Jake,” Calum said.
Magnus’s left hand gripped the rail on Calum’s right, and Riley’s did the same on his left.
“Wish I could do more,” Riley said, his voice much softer than what it could’ve been given the situation. “But I just don’t do boats. Or swimming. Or gigantic monsters.”
“You’ll have your chance soon enough. You’re coming with me to free Lumen.”
“You heard me say I don’t like swimming, right? Because I just said it like five seconds ago.”
Calum eyed him and motioned toward the Jyrak with his head. “I bet you’ll like it more than you’ll like dying.”
Riley raised a furry eyebrow, then he nodded. “Tried it twice already. Not my favorite. So I guess you’re right.”
“You know I will have to dive down and find the entrance to the Abyss, right?”
Calum clenched his teeth. He hadn’t considered that, but Magnus was the only one with a large enough lung capacity to survey the area without drowning. Still, if they lost their only Sobek… “If you get caught by a shark or some other—”
“No one else can stay down long enough to verify its location. Besides, the sharks swam away when the Jyrak showed up last time. Either way, you must let me do this, Calum.”
“I know. I know I do.” Calum sighed an
d focused on Magnus’s right arm, which had scabbed over. “You sure you’re up to it?”
“I will be fine. My arm is regenerating. I have never lost a limb like this before, but I have seen what happens if the veromine in our blood is allowed to do its work. I expect to have a new hand in a matter of days.”
So unfair. Calum had to wear armor and do everything he could to defend himself, whereas Magnus, whose scales were nearly invulnerable in the first place, could just regrow lost limbs if he happened to lose one in battle.
“I trust you, but take your sword in case you run into any lake creatures that want to eat you.”
As if on cue, the Jyrak roared again. Three dark forms zipped around its head, each of them wielding a gleaming metal blade that flickered under the afternoon sunlight.
Calum raised an eyebrow. “Like that one.”
They hit the Jyrak’s left eye first. Lilly whipped past the glowing yellow orb and chopped at it with her sword, and Falcroné and Condor did the same thing. The Jyrak released a roar that shook her to her bones and clenched its eye shut. A trickle of glowing orange blood oozed out onto its scaly cheek.
Lilly wanted to celebrate, but the Jyrak’s hand swung at her before she could so much as smile. She managed to barrel roll out of its path in time, and when she looked back, both Condor and Falcroné had avoided it as well.
They exchanged furtive glances and nods then curled back toward the Jyrak’s head, leaving Lilly alone in the sky above. At first, Lilly was angry that they’d decided to go in for another attack without her, but watching them fly in tandem filled her with awe.
They wove between the Jyrak’s flailing limbs and arced up toward its open mouth. Their swords lashed orange streaks across its extended tongue several times before it could retract it into its mouth. When the Jyrak tried to chomp at them with its bronze teeth, they split apart, circled around both sides of the its head, and slashed at its eyes again.