He pulled on the ropes, helping to extend the bowsprit’s jibs, while the succubi on the harbor platform used long pillars to push the ship out. It worked, as the wind swelled the sails and the ship moved across the water with a loud creaking noise.
I went up on the forecastle deck, watching the waters split under the hull, while Draven and one of the Green Tribe succubi, named Turaya, took on the wheel on the quarter deck to steer the ship toward Marton.
The sky was clear, and the sun shone bright across the ocean. But the farther out we went, the choppier the water became, crashing against the ship and ripping terrible moans from its heavy wooden frame. I could feel Draven’s state of mind bursting through me—equal parts excitement and fear as we headed toward Marton.
My heart, on the other hand, was gradually constricting as I looked down at the foamy water and the high tides coming at us.
“Serena!” I heard him shout.
I looked over my shoulder to find him wearing a confident smile, as Turaya took the wheel for a moment, while he stretched his arms out to the sides.
“Let me show you something I learned the other night!” he said, loud enough for me to hear him on the other side of the ship.
I used my True Sight to get a better look at his face and saw him close his eyes, his lips moving as he said something. His fingers moved as if playing an invisible piano.
A bright white light beamed out of his body before scattering outward in trillions of sparks that vanished into the ocean. Slowly, but surely, the water smoothed over and the waves died down, leaving the strong wind to fill our sails and shorten the distance to Marton. Instead of the ocean resisting, we felt it pushing from behind against the rudder and increasing the ship’s speed.
We were racing across the water now, gobbling up at least a hundred miles per hour, from what I could tell. The ship creaked from all angles, and the succubi gathered half the sails back, as the water was doing most of the work now, rather than the wind, thanks to Draven’s Druid abilities.
I looked around, amazed by his craft, his ability to influence the ocean, and wondered what else he’d learned from the Druid archives. He gave me a confident wink, as if promising that I would soon get to see more of the newly acquired spells. I smiled at him, beaming with pride.
The rest of our trip was clear and uneventful. The ship cut through the dark blue water as various creatures, resembling small whales and dolphins, swam along on both sides.
Several hours later, as the sky turned pink and purple in the sunset, we saw Marton rising slowly over the horizon—a rugged line of red desert spanning hundreds of miles. I noticed some of the succubi were getting seasick, bent over the edge and hurling, cursing and asking Draven to decrease the speed before he crashed us into the shore.
Draven laughed lightly and put his arms out again as Marton grew larger in the distance. His fingers moved vivaciously, and the ship began to slow. The wood howled from every joint, sending shivers down my spine. I couldn’t help but worry it would fall apart before we reached waters low enough to drop the anchor.
He left Turaya in charge of the wheel and came toward me, crossing the main deck in several broad steps.
“Don’t worry, my darling,” he said cheerfully, in an infectiously good mood. “Turaya comes from a long line of sailors. She ran away from the Green Tribe to reunite with her father when she was little. He often took her sailing on a ship like this. She knows how to steer us in the right direction.”
“I don’t doubt that,” I replied. “I’m more worried about the creaking. This ship sounds like it’s about to fall apart at any moment…”
“It’s an old vessel, but it’ll hold,” he said, looking out for a moment before turning back to me. He ran his fingers through my hair, his gaze softening on my face before it focused on Marton again. “We’re nearly there.” He moved across the main deck again to instruct the succubi on turning the sails in order to slow the ship before dropping the anchor.
We settled a couple of miles offshore, a red sand beach stretching out to welcome us with a string of tall palm trees. Blue waters lapped gently at the shore as large black rocks with sharp edges poked out here and there.
“So what now? We take the boats?” I asked curiously.
“I’ve got a better idea, since I have a hard time seeing us getting the horses safely to the shore on boats,” Draven replied with a raised eyebrow.
He walked over to the edge of the main deck facing the shore, and closed his eyes, muttering under his breath. Once again, a bright white light emanated from his body before breaking into a multitude of white sparks that shot into the water. I watched as the incandescent particles vanished below.
“What are you—” I wanted to ask what he was doing, but the ship started to shake, and the waters below rumbled.
I nearly lost my balance, but Draven caught me in his arms, steady on his feet. We both looked over the balustrade as hundreds of large slabs of black stone emerged from the water, forming a clear, wide path from the ship all the way to the shore.
“I’m guessing you found a lot of useful material in the Druid archives?” I gasped, amazed once more by his skills.
“You could say that, yes.” He grinned.
The succubi started carrying their supplies from below, while Turaya and two others pulled out several large planks and pushed them overboard, creating a platform for us to use in order to reach the black stone path across the water.
“I have the power in me,” Draven said. “I just never had the chance to learn these higher-level spells. The last few days we’ve spent in Stonewall have been… let’s say, highly educational.”
“Color me impressed,” I quipped.
He’d made some incredible progress since the discovery of the Druid archives. From what Draven had told me before, he’d lost his father before he could advance past the twentieth circle of magic. The worst part had been the fact that Almus had intended to bring some of the Druid spell books back from Stonewall, but had died before he could do so, leaving Draven with only his novice formulas and invocations to work with.
The upside was that Draven was a fast learner, and had mastered a large number of spells during our visit to Stonewall. He’d also brought more advanced scrolls with him—not just for the young Druids, but himself, as well.
We took the horses out of the hold and guided them down the planks.
Once we got off the ship, Turaya left two succubi behind to guard it. She and the remaining nine guardians escorted the dozen mothers-to-be down the black stone path. They took two of the horses, while Draven and I took the other two.
It took us less than an hour to reach the shore, our weapons ready in case of an attack. We weren’t sure what we were going to find on Marton, but we had to consider the risk of running into Destroyers along the western shore.
I used my True Sight to scan the area and was relieved to announce that there was no movement on that stretch of dry land.
“I believe this is where we part ways,” Draven said to Turaya and the Green Tribe succubi. “Will you be all right for the rest of the journey?”
“I think we’ll do just fine. The mainland is barren and dry, maybe some snakes and lizards along the way, but not much else,” Turaya replied, then bowed respectfully. “Thank you, Druid, for bringing us all to safety.”
“Thank you for letting us tag along.” He nodded politely, the corner of his mouth turned into a half-smile.
“Eritopia will be a better place thanks to you,” she said. “We have faith in you. In you all.”
She looked at me as she said that, making me blush and smile. I felt honored to be considered such an important part of this war against Azazel. I looked at the pregnant succubi and felt a pang in my heart. I made a promise to myself, then and there, to make sure we’d win this, so their children could be born and raised in a world that offered more than darkness and death.
We bade our farewells and followed the map instructions to the black rock s
ettlement. Aida’s visions had helped us narrow the possibilities down to one potential location for the young Druids.
The horses were strong and exceptionally fast. They galloped across the sand as the sun descended behind us.
It wasn’t long before night set in, covering the sky in indigo velvet and billions of stars glimmering like diamonds. The moon rose ahead as we finally reached the Onyx River. The black rocks rose from the sand, the oasis lush on both sides of the water. Birds sang their night trills, hidden beneath the tops of palm trees, while the river whispered its flow over the black pebbles.
It was just as Aida and Phoenix had described it. An exotic corner of paradise stashed away behind seemingly endless sand dunes. But it was too quiet. It seemed like there was no one there. Draven got off his horse first, looking around with his eyebrows drawn into a concerned frown.
“They should be here,” he muttered.
I joined him, my feet sinking slightly into the soft grass. There was plenty of moonlight with which to see clearly. The silence felt heavy. The air too still.
“Maybe we’re in the wrong place?” I asked, although I doubted it myself.
“No, this is it. They’re not here…”
“Wait,” I whispered, picking up a strange sound to our right.
I used my True Sight to scan the riverside and got a glimpse of six figures prowling in the darkness, coming around the massive black rocks.
“Draven, there are—” I managed to say before arrows swished past our heads, missing us by inches.
We fell to the ground as more arrows rained down upon us.
Vita
Patrik came by for a third time, as he’d accepted my offer to help him break Azazel’s spell. He’d already made it quite far; it caused him tremendous amounts of pain to slither into my room and work with me to regain his Druid form. We’d been at it for a couple of days, and it helped keep my mind busy while waiting for Bijarki.
Azazel kept his distance, though I didn’t know why, and neither did Patrik, until Damion had let slip that he’d seen very little of the self-titled Prince of Destroyers lately. Apparently, he’d been focused on finding and squashing the alliance rising against him. The idea made me smile, given that I knew my friends were moving ahead and the rebel armies were already sneaking through the thick jungles of Antara, circling in on the castle.
“Are you ready?” I asked Patrik as he locked the double doors and turned to look at me.
He ran a hand through his curly black hair, then nodded and advanced to the middle of the room. He grasped the pillars of the four-poster bed, his knuckles white.
“Like we’ve done before,” I encouraged him, then held my breath.
He inhaled and exhaled several times, his yellow snake eyes flickering green before he grunted from the pain shooting through his entire body. His skin took on a gooseflesh quality, his carved muscles nervously twitching beneath.
“Think of Kyana,” I said. “She’s out there somewhere. She’s free. You want to be with her again, don’t you?”
Patrik nodded again, then hissed as he took the fight deeper. The bedposts creaked under his tightening grip as he hung his head, heaving. Beads of sweat formed on his bare back and arms, trickling down. I heard bones cracking.
I moved around to get a better look at his face. Pain marred his beautiful features, his lips peeled back to reveal his white teeth, complete with long, clear, extended snake fangs coming out of the protective sheath of his pink gums.
“You once fought to protect this world, and now you’re helping destroy it. You’re helping kill innocent creatures. You’re helping kill Kyana, too,” I added.
He glared at me, his eyes blazing green. His large snake-tail lower body twitched and cracked, as if bones were breaking and rearranging themselves underneath. He grunted from the pain, but kept at it.
“Do you want to see her captured again?” I was surprised by my own cruelty, but it was something I hadn’t tried before. I had to do everything I could to get him into the right mindset to finally break free. “Because that’s what will happen, Patrik. She’ll get caught again, and Azazel won’t let her live this time. He’ll be happy to set an example for the others. He doesn’t need her as leverage against you anymore. You’re already under his control.”
“No, he wouldn’t. He knows I’m strong,” Patrik growled, doubling over while hanging onto the bedposts.
“Strong? Look at you!” I shot back. I’d found a nerve and decided to poke it. “You’re still struggling to break free, after all these years!”
“You know it hasn’t been easy,” he gasped, his snake tail taking on a different form, with sharp corners, as if mangled.
“Is that your excuse? Is that why you’ve been slithering around here while Kyana spent decades rotting in that cage? I thought you loved her!”
“I do!” he roared.
“Then prove it! Break free! Save her! Save us all! Save yourself!”
He grunted and snarled and hissed as he looked up. His whole body trembled, covered in sweat. His veins were swollen, throbbing across his face, his neck, his shoulders and arms, and I feared he’d pop one in the process.
He cried out as his tail split in two with a horrendous fleshy sound, and I gasped.
“Break free, Patrik! For Kyana! She’ll die if you don’t fight!”
He suddenly stilled, looking up with flaring green eyes. His bones kept breaking and resetting on the inside. A bright green light flashed out of him, like a flame burning out, and then he collapsed to the floor.
“Patrik?” I whispered, taking a few steps toward him.
He groaned, lying on his side, obscured by the bed. I moved closer and saw his body had returned to its original form. His long legs were back, muscles twitching as the black scales gradually retreated beneath his pale skin.
“Patrik…”
He looked up at me. The green flames in his eyes were gone. I was met with a steely blue gaze that I’d never seen before. A deep shade that spoke of a midsummer sky and endless oceans. His black hair framed his face with big curls, stuck to his forehead from all the sweat.
“I… I think,” he said slowly, his breathing ragged. “I think I did it…”
He sat up, and stared at his legs for a few moments.
“I… I don’t feel it anymore. The spell. It’s… It’s gone.” He looked up at me, and I instantly looked away, my cheeks on fire. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re naked, Patrik.”
“Oh…”
I heard him stand and wrap something around his waist. I looked back at him and noticed he’d taken the bedspread to cover himself. He then sat down on the bed, watching his toes move with childish curiosity, as he regained his normal breathing rhythm.
“I can’t believe it,” he whispered. “I haven’t seen my legs in so long. I’d forgotten what they felt like…”
“You really did it!”
“Yes,” he said, and gave me a warm smile. “All I can think of now are ways to rip Azazel’s head off, along with his spine, and it feels so damn good…”
He stood up again, holding the bedspread around his waist, getting reacquainted with his legs as he grinned at me.
“There aren’t enough words to thank you, Vita…”
I beamed, feeling overwhelmed with joy. I’d helped free a Destroyer from Azazel’s spell. Patrik was back to his old Druid self. This was an incredible milestone, and, had it not been for the pressing urgency of finding the little Daughter’s location, it would have called for a proper celebration. If Patrik had succeeded in freeing himself, so could other Destroyers, if we could find the right triggers. They’d all believed in something and loved someone once.
“My legs are weak,” he chuckled, and looked down at his trembling knees.
“I’m guessing it’ll take a while to get used to them again, right?”
“Mhm.” He nodded, then looked up at me. “Vita, I can try to get you out of here. I know all the passages, where D
estroyers and incubi are patrolling, where the green fires burn.”
“Thank you, Patrik.” I shook my head. “But Bijarki is on his way here with an invisibility spell. It’s the safest way to get out of here, since I’m not exactly inconspicuous.”
He raised his eyebrows with surprise.
“Invisibility spell?” he asked.
“Yes, we got a hold of the swamp witches’ lost spell books and found it there. He should be here soon, actually.”
“You do have a point.” He scratched the stubble on his chin. “Walking out of here without anyone seeing you is far more sensible than sneaking out and hoping not to run into a Destroyer. Even my knowledge of the castle isn’t infallible. But still, I want to help you, Vita. Tell me what can I do.”
I raised my shackled wrists for him to see, and pursed my lips.
“Done.” He smirked. “I know exactly where that lazy bastard is right now—I’ll swipe the key from him.”
He picked the keys to my room from the leather belt that was now far too big for him to wear, and moved toward the doors, then glanced at me over his shoulder.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Wait, Patrik. You obviously can’t walk out like this. You know that, right?”
“I can still turn into a snake.” He grinned.
“Yeah, but your snake tail was huge. Won’t you draw attention as a full snake when everyone else is stuck in between?”
“Ah… There’s something you don’t know about me. I’m a bit of an anomaly among my Druid folk. I can take the form of any serpent I want. Most Druids discover their snake form during the First Circle ceremony, and stick with it for the rest of their lives. Mine never came as a single form, though. My serpent form changes, from big to small, from harmless to deadly poisonous. So don’t worry about me—I can morph into something small that these oafs won’t even notice.”
I smiled, fascinated. Patrik truly was an interesting character, and combined with his military training and experience, it was no wonder Azazel had taken a liking to him. Oh, the look on that snake’s face when he realized he’d lost one of his best lieutenants!
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