by Eric Vall
Boiling water coursed down to burn across my skin, and Yvette raised her arm to throw the dagger at me while I tried to shield my eyes from the spray.
I managed to duck in time for the blade to fly only inches over my head, and I heard a bazooka fire from the cliff behind me at the same moment.
This time, the Flumen Mage refused to disappear, though.
She lunged out of the way and came crashing into me just as the rocket struck the jetty where she had stood, and the explosion broke the embankment apart.
Yvette and I went flying while she clawed at me wildly, and I summoned a rogue chunk of the embankment over to catch us before we could crash down into the boiling cove.
I shifted and let her entire left side slam against the rocks as we landed on the block of boulders, but she continued to struggle with her good arm as she rolled over me to pin me down. Blood oozed from the side of her body that had shattered on the rocks, but she kept tearing into my face relentlessly while she snarled and screamed in a crazed state.
Whatever her scores of runes did, Yvette was too far gone to summon their help now, and I could tell my taunting had worked. Once I was sure the Flumen Mage was wholly caught up in her raving, I carefully locked one of her knees in the stones beneath us before I easily threw her off me.
Yvette let out a furious shriek as her locked leg snapped and split open, and with jagged bones piercing her flesh, she could only raise her shaking hands like claws above the water.
We were far out from the cove now, and I struggled to keep from falling into the ocean where I’d be too easy for the Flumen Mage to play with.
Then Yvette began to form a giant swell beneath us.
The searing wave gathered in size as it drew itself further back from the shore and towered higher every minute, and from the teetering edge of the crest, I watched the cove become smaller in the looming shadow.
I readied myself to be smashed against the slate once more, and beside me, Yvette began wrenching at her shattered leg to try and free herself.
With the bullets in my revolver too drenched to do me good, I began running over several means of cracking the woman’s skull with the few boulders beneath us.
Every second, I expected her to give up and dissipate like a coward, but she stubbornly remained fighting the hold of my Terra powers, and I watched the crazed woman tear violently at even her own wound while I carefully timed my attack.
If I missed my mark, I’d be lost in the Flumen Mage’s own element and completely screwed this far from shore.
I took a steadying breath, but then Yvette abruptly stopped her struggling, and she turned a deranged smile toward me.
“It’s healing,” she said with a hideous giggle, and I looked down to see she was right.
Her bones were actually fusing, but at the wrong angle, and her shattered cheek was nearly closed up as well.
I stared at the dozens of runes all over her limbs as I wondered which had given her the miraculous ability, and then I grabbed hold of a boulder as the water began to bubble and turn white along the crest beneath us.
The Flumen Mage let out a hysterical laugh while she watched me, and just as I furrowed my brow and prepared to catch her off guard, my metal magic sparked, and I saw a dagger come flying out of nowhere.
I tried to redirect it, but whatever rune Yvette was using sent it spiraling with unbelievable force, and before I could overpower the rune, the blade impaled my forearm.
The muscles in my hand gave out immediately, and with the wave billowing at least a hundred feet above the ocean, I lost hold of the rock and dropped toward the sea.
Yvette was giggling when she leaned out far and sent me a last little wave, and with the wind rushing past me, I knew the drowning would come next.
I sparked my magic to pull any kind of landing out to me, but as I drew a deep breath into my ragged lungs, all I could think was, what if Shoshanne didn’t know I was plummeting into the sea this time?
I tumbled end over end through the air knowing I could be locked in a boiling hell between life and death any minute, and just as my magic sparked on a rogue slip of slate far off near the bottom of the cove, a strange shadow in the face of the wave caught my eye.
Then the gaping jaws of an iridescent dragon burst from the blackened water, and it tore upward through the wave as the crest curled in on itself.
The last thing I saw before the water engulfed me was the hungry glint in its violet eyes as it snapped its vicious fangs around the Flumen Mage.
I felt a hollow crack in my spine as my body hit the water, but I didn’t care at this point. The wave collapsed on top of me and shoved me straight to the bottom of the cove, and I rolled through rock and seaweed for longer than I could tell while my skin blistered in the water. My head knocked into more than a couple grating things as I held my eyes closed tight, and I felt the water begin to seep through my nostrils.
Still, nothing seemed to be fighting to pull me deeper this time, and the force and heat of the water around me had lost most of its strength.
Gradually, my crack in my back fused itself together while I drifted in the swirling current, and when I finally began to rise again, I fought like hell to reach the surface.
My limbs were going numb by the time I gasped for air, and I found myself alone and drifting outside the inlet of the cove. I quickly checked the skin of my arms, and I let out a harried breath as I saw the burns healing over already.
“Holy shit,” I sighed as I splayed out on my back in a hazy state of relief, and I looked up at the churning clouds overhead.
The rain was slowing already with the flighty Flumen Mage destroyed, and while I treaded water and worked to steady my spinning head, it occurred to me that the giant beast who’d seen to the task might still be hungry.
Yvette was only a bony bit of a mage, after all.
The glint in the dragon’s eyes made me shudder to think of the black expanse beneath me, and I rallied my limbs to book it back to shore.
As I drew closer, I caught sight of Cayla high up on the cliff with her bazooka slack at her side, and she dropped it the moment she saw me drifting like a speck in the swell. Then she sprinted for the cliffside path, but I knew she couldn’t see the path was obliterated from where she stood. Cayla skidded to a stop as she came closer, and I swam faster as she looked out desperately at me.
I motioned that I was okay, and the princess cupped her hands around her lips and hollered out to me.
The waves were settling their thrashing now, but I still couldn’t make out her words over the remnants of rain falling across the water.
Then she pointed toward the mouth of the cave.
As I squinted against the salt and water in my eyes, I realized the slate of the cove was completely gone, and water still sloshed more than halfway up the large ornate pillars of the fortress.
No one had emerged in all this time.
I kicked and swam like hell for the mouth of the cave, and when I finally made it to the far back wall, I filled my lungs and dove as deep as I could.
I fought the current rebounding around the cave while I felt along the walls to find the passageway into the fortress, and I swam through complete darkness to come out in the vaulted chamber. Relief washed over me as I found the swell in here was only up to my chest, but no one was around. I could tell the water was considerably cooler though, and I hoped the Flumen Mage’s boiling endeavors hadn’t reached them.
The thought made my adrenaline peak, and I pushed my way toward the arches lining the far wall while I called out for Aurora.
Only my voice echoed back to me along with the rippling water in the chamber, but after a long moment, sloshing came from somewhere nearby, and the half-elf finally stumbled out of a hallway at the far end of the chamber.
I breathed at last when I saw she was only a little bruised and drenched but not burned, and the odd expression on her face became my next concern.
Aurora’s emerald eyes were blank while her ja
w hung slack, and when I swam to her side, she grabbed my arm and dragged me behind her.
“Get in here,” she ordered.
I slipped on the stones and tried to keep pace against the pull of the water, and the whole time we pushed through the darkness, my nerves became more and more panicked.
The water line was slowly dropping now, but with the ceiling dripping down on us, I could tell this part of the fortress had been fully flooded at some point during the Flumen Mage’s attack.
Anything could have happened to the others while I was out on the jetty with Yvette, but my wild imagination derailed completely when a dim glow appeared at the end of the hall.
I could tell immediately it wasn’t the glow Aurora usually created with her flames, and as we came to the end of the long hall, my own jaw dropped.
I was looking up at the same mural of Deya’s ancestors, only now, thin copper wiring was mounted to encircle the walls, and it spiraled downward around the whole chamber. Along the wiring, tiny orbs of light gleamed to illuminate the place, and I realized Dragir had done it.
He’d fucking invented electricity.
My gaze dropped directly to where he stood just inside the entrance, but neither Dragir nor Shoshanne were looking at me.
“Have you guys just been fucking standing here while I’ve--”
Aurora tugged on my sleeve to silence me.
“She told us to,” the half-elf muttered, and I followed the direction of her line of sight while I worked to catch my breath.
Down on the floor, sitting in water up to her waist, was Deya.
The giant wolf sat beside her, and both of them were as drenched as all of us, but my attention was locked on the pearly dragon scale Deya held in her palms.
There was a rune carved into the surface, and I stared between her and the mural of Nemris that looked down on her from behind her back. There was no doubt in my mind this rune was the very same one that had worn away from the mural.
I didn’t know what to do or say as I processed this, so I remained in silent shock and studied Deya’s blank white eyes.
They were identical to those of the transmuters at House Orrel, and she didn’t move a muscle for so long I wondered if she was still alive.
I was about to nudge Dragir and ask if we should approach her, but then Deya suddenly closed her eyes, and we all jumped at the unexpected movement.
When Deya’s eyes opened again, they were a vibrant violet, and as she registered me standing there, a mischievous smile spread across her lips.
Chapter 20
The glint in Deya’s eyes distracted me completely, but it wasn’t her beauty this time. It was something oddly familiar about the hungry look of her.
Then I realized it was the same glint I’d seen in the dragon’s eye as it swallowed Yvette, and I stammered a bit while I tried to wrap my head around this.
“Wha--did--” I tried and failed. Then I shook my head. “Did you just eat that crazy bitch for me? Is that what this is?”
“Mmhmm,” Deya said with a little nod, and her gaze drifted off thoughtfully as she continued. “She tasted surprisingly good.”
The beautiful elf smacked her lips lightly, and I raised my brows.
Aurora was practically losing it beside me, and I couldn’t remember a time when I’d seen her jaw quite so unhinged.
“You did what?” the half-elf demanded. “What the hell have you been doing all this time?”
Deya attempted to explain she’d transmuted with a sea dragon and killed Yvette, and the minute dragons came into it, Aurora dropped to her knees and insisted the beautiful elf explain everything.
Shoshanne nodded to herself. “I can see why you would like the taste of her,” she mused, and I stared at the healer. “Remember what Luir told us at breakfast? That his transmuters’ senses blend with those of the animals they embody. They share smell and taste, as well as touch and all the others.”
“I must have missed that part,” I mumbled blankly.
Deya just shrugged, and I turned toward Dragir, who hadn’t said a damn word.
His face was much paler, and judging by his blank expression, I figured he was as unprepared for this as I was.
“You ate someone,” he finally said flatly.
Deya’s silvery giggle echoed around the glowing chamber, and she sent me a sweet smile. “You’re welcome.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the beautiful elf, but my mind was overrun with at least a hundred questions. Namely, how the fuck she just managed to transmute.
“I found this chamber while I was exploring the fortress, and I was admiring what Dragir had built--”
I had to pause her there.
“By the way,” I muttered to Dragir as I gestured to the ceiling, “this? This is electricity.”
The elf smirked. “I thought it might be. I like this quite a lot,” he said and looked around at the spiraling copper and orbs overhead. “I think I will use this at House Quyn.”
I chuckled. “The elves wanted to get at you before,” I told him, “but if they see this, they’re gonna stop being so sneaky about wanting to abduct your ass. This is incredible.”
Dragir snorted. “I believe you are the one who must worry about abduction at present.”
“What are you talking about?” Deya asked as she furrowed her brow.
“We can get into that later,” I assured her. “Go on about the dragons and the eating the mage thing.”
“Anyways,” Deya continued with a grin, “I found this chamber and was admiring the beautiful woman on the wall.” She gestured to Nemris, and I didn’t bother to hide my smirk. “Then I felt strange, almost as if I was in a trance, and I needed to sit down. My eyes fell shut, and I began to hear a voice. It was soft and sweet, and I felt as though I had heard it a hundred times before in my sleep. There was something about it that reminded me of the stars too … ”
Deya trailed off as she thought back, and my grin grew wider.
“Nemris,” I told her.
Even by description, I would know her voice anywhere.
Deya looked up with a smile. “That’s what I thought. It must have been Nemris guiding me. She spoke so softly I could hardly hear her words. It was more like a murmuring from very far away, or from long ago. Thousands of years ago.”
“The rune,” Dragir cut in as he shifted impatiently. “How did you create the rune from the mural? This is impossible, you know nothing of runes, Deya.”
“I know a little,” the beautiful elf scoffed.
Her brother cocked a brow, but she ignored him.
“I formed the rune while I was sitting here,” she explained. “I was listening to the voice, to Nemris, and I began to trace lines on the scale--”
“Where did you get a dragon scale?” Aurora interrupted eagerly. “Can I have one?”
Deya giggled once more, and Dragir let out an irritated sigh as he propped himself against the wall impatiently.
“I was swimming with the dragons shortly after you left for House Fehryn,” Deya told the half-elf, “and the eldest dragon lost a scale. I thought I would keep it for good luck.”
“But you engraved a rune on it,” Dragir pressed. “You cannot just draw a rune and have it miraculously work, Deya, how did you--”
I cleared my throat.
“She’s probably getting to that, man,” I told him with a smirk.
Dragir rolled his eyes, but he did make an effort to be less impatient with Deya.
I really couldn’t blame him, though. After everything he’d taught me about runes, this was the point I was most curious about as well.
Without knowing any of the elements, how could she have possibly harnessed them?
Deya sent me a sweet smile and continued, but she took a moment to relieve Dragir of his frustrations.
“You left your little metal stick in the other chamber,” she told him as she pulled his engraving tool from beneath her leg.
“Little metal stick,” Dragir snorted. “S
ee how much you know of rune magic? That is an engraver. It’s a very specific tool, not just a stick of metal.”
Deya worked to hide her smirk. “The tables were all overturned, and there was blood everywhere. I assumed you must have forgotten it when Rhys cut your hand off.”
“Fucking Rhys,” Dragir said, and he snatched his tool back.
“Is his son alright?” Deya asked.
“Yes, he is fine,” Dragir assured her dismissively. “Mason peeled his skin off for him.”
The beautiful elf paled on the spot, and I sighed.
“That makes it sound way worse than it is,” I muttered. “I just … ”
Aurora snorted. “Peeled part of his skin off,” she finished for me.
I sent the gaping elf on the floor an apologetic smile. “To remove the rune,” I clarified.
“That works?” she asked incredulously.
“Apparently,” Dragir muttered.
I could tell by her face she was picturing it all with way too much detail, so I casually nudged her in another direction as I cleared my throat.
“You were saying?”
“Well,” Deya began again, “umm … I sat down, and I drew this rune onto the scale, and I was sitting here wondering what it was for, when I was suddenly not here. I was deep in the water with the pod of dragons swimming around me, and they were singing to one another, but I could sing back. I could feel the water on my scales--their scales--and I could taste the water I breathed.”
Shoshanne shook her head in amazement. “That must be why you didn’t drown,” she mused, and I whipped my head over.
“What?” I demanded.
The healer nodded, but an eager Aurora spoke up before she could.
“We found her sitting just like that,” the half-elf told me, “and we didn’t know what to do. I was going to go back out and help you, but then she spoke to us. It was incredibly creepy.”
Deya blushed, and Dragir chuckled.
“You sounded like a demon,” he told his sister teasingly.
“I do not sound like a demon,” Deya muttered, but everyone else nodded their heads.
“It was creepy,” Shoshanne agreed, “but it did make us listen to you.”