Leaping into the air, I cried out as my blades met his arms. He grimaced as one cut along his forearm. With a twist of his limbs, he spun me around, flipping me over and away from him. My knees hit the stone roof with a painful crack, but I was back on my feet before I could think otherwise.
I came at him again, the heavy folds of the dress entrapping my ankles. This time I aimed lower, searching for some way of reaching his body, but he blocked each parry with a blow of his own. He stepped back and dodged, ducked under and avoided, every move was to keep me at a distance. I grimaced, knowing he was beating me.
The muscles in my limbs strained against the weight of my blades, the exhaustion of trying to beat him weighed heavily on my shoulders. My master’s command rose in my thoughts clouding everything, there were only the two words telling me what to do.
I had to break him. It was all I could do.
The anger rose in a torrent with the pouring rains, as I gathered myself from the ground once more. The siren raged, glaring at the merman before me. Her voice gathered and I let it pour from my lips, as I danced forward.
Don’t hurt me, I called, and he flinched as my arm shot forward.
I nearly made it through his defenses when he knocked me back. My blades had been so close to touching skin. Anger deepened, as the desire for completion took hold. I smiled and sang forth again.
Don’t hurt me! I sliced toward his chest again, he stumbled back, the sound of my voice echoing all around him. His defenses were falling. He had to give up one or the other—he couldn’t fight my voice and my blades.
You love me, you won’t hurt me. Please, don’t hurt me…let me help you…let us be together…
With each phrase, came a blow and with each blow came a closer dalliance with his skin. The knife was balancing on its tip, and I was going to force it to fall my way. He would be mine.
Over, and over again, I repeated the words, and he flinched as my voice reached new heights of strength and power. I was an oncoming torrent he couldn’t overcome.
Merely thinking of him kneeling before Morven’s feet made the siren smile. She cried out louder, always drawing him closer, even as my blades pounded him back. He pushed against both, his mind struggling to hold me back, even as he expertly blocked my advances with his blades. Yet, he was losing ground, and he knew it.
His hands shook and trembled as he deflected another blow. It was only when he stumbled backward, having to catch onto the stone wall to maintain his balance, I actually smiled. We were nearly there.
He was breathing heavily, his hand pressed against the stone wall, near the door he had burst through. His chest rose and fell, and I realized I wasn’t the only one to feel the weariness in my limbs.
Even as the thought took hold, I called forth to him.
It’s done, the sound was a soft echo and he nodded his head, slowly straightening. His arms hung by his sides, his blades flashing whenever his muscles twitched.
There’s no reason to be afraid. His eyes flickered toward me and I felt him weaken. He was becoming mine slowly, he was nearly there. I only had to draw him out. Trust me…trust us.
He nodded, and the corner of my mouth twitched when his blades retracted. Closing the space between us, I crooned over him, keeping him in the warmth of my voice. Rain ran off his hair as his head hung forward, and when my blades disappeared I drew his face up. My thumbs brushed against his cheeks, and when I looked into his eyes, I knew I had won. Somehow, in some way, it was done.
Cocking my head to the side, I smiled and pressed my lips to his as clarity slowly returned. He was stone beneath my mouth, unmoving as though there was nothing between us. When I moved my hand behind his neck to pull his head down, I felt a slithering against my wrist and pulled back in time to see my dagger balanced between us, the tip pointed directly above his heart.
No! The thought electrified my mind like a star shooting across the black pitch of a midnight sky.
I remembered, suddenly, everything, it all came back. I had broken him, I had done what Morven told me to do and this was what he had wanted. He needed Patrick to be under my control, he wanted to have the siren and warrior at his sides and I was his way of maintaining it.
My job was complete. My heart was shattering as I looked into Patrick’s eyes. Everything I needed to know was stirring just beneath the surface, but I didn’t want to confront it.
My fingers wrapped around his, and he flinched at my touch. His skin was smooth, and soft, the point of the knife anything but. His hands trembled beneath mine, shaking more violently with each passing second.
“Don’t do it.” I gasped, finally breaking through the last of the fog.
“I have to,” he whispered, and the knife made a dent in his chest. If he hadn’t been wearing the black soldier’s garb it would have already pierced his flesh.
“No,” I gasped, and from somewhere off to the side Morven approached.
His hands wrapped around my shoulders and Patrick shifted slightly, his eyes burning over my head, boring into Morven. The anger broke through his façade of control, and for a moment, I knew I was looking at the creature who had come to me in the caves long ago. I could almost feel the cold steel against my throat.
Morven’s lips were at my cheek, where he placed a kiss before whispering softly in my ear. “Finish it. Awaken the warrior.”
My eyes closed as the fog took over once again.
Morven retreated and as he did, everything I was, began to slip away. His control was complete and absolute. Though the siren voiced a song to surround Patrick, my mind held onto what it knew.
Patrick wouldn’t fight me, the siren was right. He would never hurt me, he would always be there to keep me from harm. Even when he didn’t remember who he was, he had kept me safe. Even when I had betrayed him, he had fought off the war inside himself to keep me alive. He had been my warrior.
My voice surrounded Patrick and our hands slipped on the handle of the dagger. His forehead resting against mine.
“Let me do this,” he breathed, the water dripping from his lips. “I can’t…I can’t fight it.” He closed his eyes and struggled against the music surrounding him, his will was breaking, falling into mine. It was obvious now.
Even when I had been trying to control him, he had darted out of my reach. He was resisting without hurting, escaping without retaliating. He was still protecting me, even when he was the one who needed help.
For a moment, everything inside me went cold. There was only once chance, one way to change it all. There was only one creature who could stop me, and when the music began to change, the hand on the dagger tightened.
I had been trying to coax him beneath my control, but he had already given me the answer I needed. He had told me how his mind worked, all I had to do was push him a little farther.
My master wanted me to awaken the warrior inside him. And I would.
Don’t be a coward, I cried, and he winced when the sound pierced him. Fight me, fight me you coward!
He flinched again, but something was beginning to stir. I could feel his heart beating faster beneath my hand. He was so close. The dagger steadied.
Become him…you know what it takes…give in. Show me who you really are.
Slowly, he raised his head, the wind whipping past us and lifting the heavy, lank strands of my hair around my face. One stuck to my chin as water rushed past my mouth, but all I could see was him. He glared at me, as the stoking of the fire within him was beginning to catch flame.
Show me who you are…Zale.
As soon as the name passed my lips, the deed was done. Fury burned in his eyes. When the dagger moved, it was pointed in my direction.
I had only a moment to realize the change before he pushed back, throwing me across the stones. My body collided with the roof in agony, and the dagger clattered away, skidding to a halt in a puddle near the edge of the wall.
Darkness and water swirled, tugging at my hair and dress in a blinding fury of uncontrollable power. Gatheri
ng my feet beneath me, my throat contracted as another song reached my lips. The warrior was coming toward me, his eyes filled with a blood lust I hadn’t seen in a long time. The siren reared and when his blades flashed in the night, I retaliated.
Come on, Zale! I taunted him even as he threw me to the ground again.
His body slammed into mine, his fists missing my face by mere inches. When I dodged a blow to the right, he cried out when his knuckles hit the rough stone. A well placed kick to his side released me from his hold, and when I scrambled back to my feet, my blades sliced through the air toward him.
He was fast, but I was too. Skill was on his side, but my new transformation from Morven’s blade had left me with a speed to match any merman’s. Combined with my voice, I was somehow holding on longer than anyone who had ever dared to cross Zale.
As though he could hear my thoughts, his foot connected with my stomach when I leapt into the air, sending me reeling backward. I gasped, barely keeping the song aloft. With one hand clutching my stomach, I stood once more. A following blow glanced off my chest, then another shot forward, hitting me directly in the throat.
All song left, thought and feeling collided in a world of pain.
I was knocked to the ground, my mouth hanging open and nothing pouring forth. Gasping for air, I heaved and struggled to breathe, as the water rushed over my lips.
The siren was dying away as he came at me again, his blades shimmering like wavering moonlight across an angry ocean, and I knew it would be the end. He was the only one who could stop Morven, stop me. Only the warrior in him would be able to save everyone.
“Stop him!” Morven yelled, and for the first time a hint of worry rose within his voice. The siren recoiled before attempting to launch forth with a powerful outpour of song, but no sound came out of my mouth.
For one last moment, I froze uncertain of what I was giving up, afraid of death. I would never see him again, and even as he approached and his blades rose into the air, instinct took over.
His arm sliced downward and I feigned to the left, the blade caught the back of my dress, tearing through fabric and flesh. I screamed as a new fire scoured from the middle of my back to the bottom of my ribs. My legs trembled beneath me, and for a moment I expected his blades to slash across my flesh again, as I hit the stone roof.
The puddle beneath my cheek pressed into my eyes and against my lips, but the image of his feet near me was enough to send a shiver through my body. The siren was no longer singing, weaving her tune of destruction, she was afraid and recoiling. I wanted to cry out to him, to tell him to stop—tell him it was only me. But there was no way to make him understand.
Unexpectedly, he turned away and left me lying on the ground. Momentarily, the relief swept over me before the fog began to filter into my mind once more. My master wanted me to control him, all I needed was to make him mine.
Zale paced the roof top, his intent clear as he crouched lower, stepping carefully toward Morven. His back was to me, the muscles in his shoulders taught. Morven’s eyes kindled with blood lust, shining in anger and his mouth twitched as he sized up his opponent.
The warrior’s hands trembled, giving away his anticipation. He was ready.
Morven edged along the side of the wall, the castle shores to his back. A tick had taken residence in his jaw, his fingers fumbled with the jacket he wore, the garment fell to the wayside as he straightened to his full height. His shoulders shifted and his eyes rested on the warrior he had created, as his blades came into being along his arms. I couldn’t help but notice how he was missing one along his right arm. Even as the thought came to mind, my shoulder seemed to prick with a fire I couldn’t contain.
“Marina,” he called, and though I wanted to block it out, I was looking at him. “To me.”
The pain never ceased, but my mind was controlling all of me in a way I couldn’t understand. Pushing to my feet, I groaned at the aching in my back. I hurried to his side, blades drawn.
With a quick side step, Zale turned and ran toward the cornering wall. I thought he was going to leap over the edge to his death when he grazed the top with his feet. He darted for three steps along the edge in our direction and soared through the pounding water, his blades coming down upon us.
And so it began.
Everything blurred in an instant, movement turned to smoke, dark and clouded, billowing all around us in water and painful slashes, where thought and feeling evaporated into nothing. My dress stuck to my skin, trapping me at times, as I sliced toward Zale’s legs while Morven attempted to reach his chest. Yet, the warrior was relentless, his power and skill keeping us at bay.
Together we shifted in a group across the roof, our assault on the warrior pushing him back, but never breaking through his defense. Trying a different tactic, I kicked out low, knocking his legs out from under him, Morven’s blades slashed down toward his body, but he deflected the blow and rolled over his back. He retreated a few more steps, edging away from the walls to prevent himself from being trapped.
When one of Morven’s blades glanced off his arm, he ducked and nearly placed his throat in the direct pathway of my own. He regained his balance and moved with caution. Feigning left and right, Morven and I shifted, as shadows flickering beneath the trees.
I started to realize a pattern in the way he moved. Waiting for the right moment, I braced myself, getting ready to slide. Shifting his feet, his leg came up to hit Morven in the chest. The blow knocked Morven back a few steps, but I didn’t see what else happened as I was already sliding beneath Zale’s unbalanced body.
Water sprayed to the sides, and he spun to look in my direction, when Morven grabbed his shoulder from behind and brought his blades down along his arm. His eyes closed in pain, and for the moment, I was frozen in a crouch, hair glued to my shoulders.
Fire kindled and a grimace ripped his lips apart. Morven’s blades flashed behind his shoulder once more and as they swung toward him, I tried to cry out, but nothing came to my throat. At the last instant, he reached up and grasped Morven’s arm, one of the blades cutting into his hand. The water turned to deep crimson as they struggled. With a groan of mingled pain, he pulled on the arm behind him, flipping the Hyven leader over his shoulder and onto the roof.
I was a swirling fury as I leapt to my feet, the fog taking control, I fought to keep the master alive. He was struggling to stand once more as Zale brought his arms up. Without thought or feeling, I leapt onto his back, my legs wrapping around his waist and blades ready to slice into the back of his neck, then everything slowed.
I saw each drop of rain as it fell before us, each breath an eternity.
Morven regained his feet, his back hunched as he sidled away. One of my hands held the warrior’s head steady, while the other raised into the air preparing for the plunge. His arm shot as if from nowhere, and wrapped around my wrist. I drew back, tightening the grip I had on him around his waist with my legs.
We were waging the same battle we had before. He was hesitating, wanting to hurt me, but afraid to go too far. And I was under Morven’s control, my orders resounding in my mind. I was meant to bring him under my power, to fight him with all I had.
Break him, Morven’s command streaked across my mind, and I tried to clear my eyes but the fog threatened to take hold.
I tightened my grip around the warrior’s waist, my legs pushing with all their strength, even as his wounded hand withheld my wrist. Struggling, he inhaled sharply, and I concentrated all my strength keeping my hand from moving forward when a flash caught my attention.
It was Morven, limping off to the side, one arm bracing his leg. He sidled up to a deep puddle and after he bent over, I didn’t have to see what was in his hand when he straightened. His eyes gleamed as they met mine. There was something maniacal about them, my stomach dropped. His lips curled back in blood lust, if my hand had been free it would have shaken with uncontrollable fear.
My chest heaving against Zale’s back, I tried to voice some f
orm of sound, but there was nothing.
Morven raised the dagger toward his shoulder and that’s when I knew Zale saw it. He stopped moving, the grip on my arm suddenly stilled. There was only one way out of this for him, he wasn’t going to like it, and I cringed to think of what might happen. My orders kept me pinned to his back, but if he could cast me aside, he would be safe.
Gathering all the power I could behind my scratched throat, I leaned in next to his ear.
Do it. It came out in a garbled rasp, but a tune all the same.
Morven cocked the dagger backward as Zale braced our engaged bodies. The gleaming blade soared forward, he leapt backward falling toward the roof until my back shattered into the stone. His body collapsed on mine, and when my head snapped backward a crack exploded, sending a shooting pain across my skull.
Everything went black, the fog disappearing. When sight regathered, I had to blink the stars from my eyes to see what was really happening before me.
Zale and Morven were moving in a sort of dance around one another. Their bodies dodging and diving in the most violent way I had ever seen. Blades flashed. At times they came to a stalemate, with their arms locked and feet scrambling through the puddles to gain ground.
Morven grunted, breaking free of Zale’s hold and sliced his blades along the warrior’s chest. The shirt tore, revealing a gaping wound and I wanted to cry out to him. He recovered, hooking his foot around Morven’s leg to throw the Hyven leader off balance. With a grunt, Morven escaped, and stumbled backward only to connect another blow beneath Zale’s arms and slice at his leg.
The warrior gasped, and in a whirlwind the battle continued as it had before. I could hardly see which arms belonged to whom. They were smoke, dancing and unfurling in the midst of one another. Muscles strained and rippled in the torrential rain, their feet slipped across the stones scattering shards of icy water about the roof.
Their cries and grunts pulled on me, one on my heart, the other on my mind. I was torn and couldn’t move, even if I wanted to.
A shattering blow connected with the side of Zale’s head. Before he had time to recover, Morven kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground, his head snapping back. I winced as he tried to regain his footing and was kicked down once more.
Torrents (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 3) Page 38