Feel the Burn

by MacDonald, Nicole

  Phroma agreed.

  ‘I’ll never forget that time he came to our rescue.’

  ‘I suspect even his father would have declared it a lost cause. I’m sure Sabyn’s hair lightened a shade by the time we returned.’

  Phroma huffed in laughter.

  They both stared at the horizon, lost in thought again. More than two decades had passed since Gredel last set foot on his homeland. The thought of setting foot there so soon, triggered a plethora of memories, good and bad.

  ‘Will you ever take Rirae to Ohranel?’

  ‘No!’

  The griffon glanced at him.

  ‘It’s not all bad memories. Your mother and sister loved the estate there.’

  ‘And they died there. No. I couldn’t possibly.’

  ‘Will we stop by their graves on the way back?’ Phroma asked.

  ‘Perhaps. If there is a way back for us.’

  Lightning flashed, zigzagging through the thick, purple black clouds that drew closer and an ominous roll of thunder vibrated through the air. The white caps broke roughly on the bow of the ship and the floor rocked, splashes of sea water reaching Gredel—who didn’t notice—his mind locked on the memory of his mother and little sister.

  The warmth of the field they played amongst in the summer. Running through it with Cerphyna, playing hide and seek. It wasn’t fair, she’d been so short she could barely see over the long grasses. He’d waited until she stood a foot away, then leaped up with a roar, arms extended to catch her when she squealed and ran. Shortly afterward mother came to scold him for overexciting his little sister. Gredel smiled at the memory of his mother. She’d always smelled of sunshine to him, and of the herbs she worked with in the garden, their fragrance infusing her very skin with a warm and soothing scent.

  Images of the night they fled tore the happy sensations away. Gredel shrugged in an attempt to loosen his shoulders when the muscles tensed in reflex. The torn mutilated body of his mother, his little sister beneath her—dead. The first time he’d drawn a sword, but far too late.

  ‘Did I ever thank you for getting me out?’ he thought, flashing the images of that onerous crossing to Elion and the terrifying night spent on the Isle of Syrenta.

  ‘You never needed to. And you know it.’

  He glanced at the beautiful ebony and violet griffon and felt a surge of love and pride. Reaching out to throw an arm over her neck he thought, ‘Thank you, Phroma.’

  The dark clouds gathered close overhead, thickening till no light showed and the wind screamed. Those on the main deck started to shout commands, preparing the ship for the storm.

  * * *

  Kassie gripped the edges of the bed, taking what comfort she could in the solid wood. A flash of lightning lit the room so bright she could clearly see the whites of Cat’s terrified eyes. The room veered to a ninety degree angle while they both shrieked and clung tight to whatever they could. Thunder boomed and voices roared from the deck above while soldiers, allies, and Draoths fought to keep control of the ship. The guilt Kassie had felt at not helping vanished when the storm hit and the floor pitched high and low. Even with living in New Zealand, none of the girls knew much about sailing and with all the experienced persons aboard there wasn’t a need to help.

  Still, thought Kassie gritting her teeth and keeping her death grip on the base of the bed, it’d be nice to not feel quite so useless. Might take her mind of the pitching and heaving of her stomach.

  ‘Oh c-r-a-p,’ Cat said in a tight voice. ‘Kass, I think I’m gonna be sick.’

  ‘For the love of all that is holy,’ hissed Kassie through clenched teeth. ‘KEEP IT IN!’

  The ship rocked and rolled for hours. Cat resisted throwing up until the ocean leveled out enough that she could crawl to the basin behind the door, face pasty with a nasty sheen.

  Rumal, Ignatius, Leseach, and Rashid all paid visits to check how they’d survived and all of them appeared in high spirits. When Kassie finally staggered off to the room she shared with Rumal the sky looked calm and clear, daybreak only a few hours off, but the crew and everyone else celebrated on the decks upstairs.

  ‘Noisy sods,’ Kassie grumbled while she settled into bed. A few more indignant thoughts along those lines ran through her mind when the sound of singing wafted down, then sleep beckoned and she dozed off.

  She woke to sunlight streaming through the narrow windows, the room warm and the floor steady. A loud snore and potent scent caught her attention. Since when does Rumal snore like that?

  Kassie sat up yawning and brushed her chaotic hair back while she leaned over the prone figure of her—normally so attentive at this time of the day—partner. Rumal lay full on his back, pants still on with a section of sheet dragged over his naked torso. The rather phenomenal sound reverberating through his muscular chest impressed her, she’d never heard anything like that from him the whole time they’d shared a bed. With a cautious look, she tentatively reached out and prodded his chest. The loud grunt made her snatch her hand back with a muffled giggle but other than an incoherent grumble and shifting of figure, Rumal didn’t wake.

  ‘R-u-m-a-l,’ she sang and straddled his waist.

  Still nothing.

  Kassie ran her fingers playfully up that muscled chest and leaned over, about to kiss his lips when he belched.

  ‘Holy shitake!’

  Eyes watering she staggered off the bed shaking her head. The fumes felt like they’d seared her nostrils and the back of her throat burned like she’d taken a decent shot of scotch. A glass of water helped and with an unimpressed ‘humph’ Kassie carried the jug of water to beside the bed, setting it on a chair. He’ll probably need that when he wakes, she thought snidely, then thoughtfully added the basin too.

  The main deck felt eerily quiet while the rest of the ship’s inhabitants presumably slept off their celebrating too. The Draoths, however, looked no worse for wear and hassled the few soldiers and allies paying homage to the fishes over the railings. Kassie chuckled while watching them and continued on her normal route around the ship. Seaweed and other small debris littered the decks and a couple of goblins scrubbed away at the floorboards with sour expressions. A Draoth sauntered over to one and a squabble broke out when the sailor took apparent pleasure in pointing out spots they’d missed.

  Sounds like someone lost a drinking game, Kassie thought, listening to the argument with amusement. With the deck so unusually empty the thought of jogging around it, like Cat did most mornings, occurred to her. I’d love to stretch my legs, she thought and glanced at where Kerak and Loushka slept, feeling guilty. Poor critters, they must be going mad with not being allowed to fly.

  When she reached the stern of the deck and jogged around, starboard side toward the bow, she noticed a large clump of seaweed and stopped to examine it. Covered in zebra stripes of green and dark red, this seaweed didn’t have the air pockets like the seaweed on Earth. Instead it had large lily-like flowers with four widespread petals and a central dark brown mottled bulb. Fascinated, she reached out to pick up the leathery folds then jerked back with a surprised yelp when the mass of seaweed shuddered.

  At her cry the movement stopped. She stared in bewilderment at the plant when it started to whimper, the sound growing louder and the plant shook again, the folds falling away to reveal a small creature tucked amongst it. Two enormous, doleful black eyes regarded her, a transparent eyelid sliding past when it blinked. It sniffed from a flat nose. She gaped at the little thing and the creature’s small chin wobbled. It started to cry again.

  ‘Oh! Shush shuuuussshhh, it’s okay,’ she soothed, feeling awful for just staring at it and she crouched slowly, getting down to its height.

  Such a strange little thing, she thought, unable to resist studying it. It’s kind of cute. The creature looked the size and shape of a baby seal but with more defined, chunky arms and what looked like a tail buried beneath the seaweed. Those huge black eyes blinked again, the transparent lid sliding across while it watched Kass
ie creep closer. Its mouth started to wobble and she made soft, comforting noises, inching nearer. The corners of the creature’s wide angular mouth tugged, hinting at a smile and she grinned, reaching a hand out.

  WHACK!

  A broom smacked down between Kassie and the creature. She yelped in surprise then recoiled when the creature’s face transformed into an expression of fury and it snarled at the broom with a mouthful of needle-like teeth.

  ‘WHOA!’

  ‘Move, Kassandra!’ The goblin who’d slammed the broom down grabbed her arm, wrenching her back when a Draoth hurled a net over the creature and in a swift move threw the thing overboard. The deck, so quiet moments before, now teemed with Draoths the sailors moving around the edges with boat hooks and clubs at the ready as they peered over the rails, down at the ocean. Kassie stood, brushing her pants and noticed the sails on the ship in front flapping up and down. At first glance it looked random but after a moment she could see the pattern.

  ‘What’s that mean?’ she asked the goblin that stood beside her, broom clutched tight in his narrow hands.

  ‘Mernoyds,’ snapped a Draoth from behind. She twisted to see the sailor standing by a mast, the ropes of the expansive concertinaed sail in his hands while he tugged and released, creating the same pattern. The sound of loud horns brought everyone up on deck.

  ‘What’d you do this time, Kass?’ Aswaran soldier Oomoth said loudly, making everyone twist to look.

  Kassie flushed.

  ‘This time? I didn’t do anything!’

  ‘She tried to pick up a mernoyd baby,’ the goblin with the broom helpfully put in.

  ‘Are you mad?’ The centaur grinned when she glowered at him.

  ‘No! I haven’t seen them before.’

  Oomoth tsked and beckoned to her.

  ‘Come have a look then.’

  On the way to the handrail Kassie spotted Cat and Leseach making their way over and stopped to greet them both first, then they joined Oomoth and the others who watched the water below with grim eyes.

  ‘Have you seen them before?’ Cat asked Leseach.

  ‘No,’ the Northerner replied, staring at the waves. ‘We don’t often get them in our waters.’

  Kassie listened while watching the waters breaking away from the ship, the motion quite mesmerizing and she forgot for a moment, until the sleek bodies rose up with the bow wave. A sudden hush came over all those watching.

  Perhaps something like these had inspired the legends of mermaids but the reality was far more creepy. The large black eyes appeared devoid of emotion but the mouths weren’t and with sharp jagged teeth they snarled at those watching above. The sleek body shape with a partially split tail allowed them to easily keep speed with the ship.

  A touch to the back made Kassie look up. Rumal, still shirtless but far less potent, stood looking over her head at the mernoyds and she grinned.

  ‘How you doing?’

  A smile hovered on his lips and he glanced down, gold eyes swirling.

  ‘Better. Thanks for the water.’

  She chuckled and deliberately wriggled back into his embrace when he stretched both arms around her, to hold the handrail.

  ‘You smell lots better,’ she said conversationally, flashing Cat an impish smile while those around laughed.

  ‘Thanks, Kass,’ Rumal said dryly.

  A loud shout caught everyone’s attention. One of the Draoths leaned precariously over the handrail, boathook extended and ready, poised to stab a mernoyd that determinedly climbed the side of the ship, its clawed forearms easily gripping the wood. The creature snarled at the Draoth and swung at the boathook with a heavy arm, trying to knock it from the sailor’s grasp. The Draoth drew the hook back and jabbed again and again at the snarling creature. Far below the other mernoyds shrieked, an awful hair-raising sound and several more started to climb the ship’s side.

  Kassie shrank back against Rumal while staring down. The nasty looking creatures grinned, black eyes sadistically evil while they neared the handrail.

  ‘This is what they do,’ Rumal explained in an unconcerned manner. ‘They seek out ships so to feed on those aboard.’

  ‘Feed?!’ exclaimed Kassie.

  ‘Yes,’ said Oomoth in the same casual tone as Rumal. The centaur worked at winding the cable back on a crossbow, the heavy tension of the weapon took a concerted effort on Oomoth’s part, but he managed it, and slotted a bolt into place, lifting the bow and sighted the closest creature. Kassie jumped at the loud piercing CRACK and the creature Oomoth aimed for was forcibly shot off the side of the ship into the water below. The instant the body hit the water the other mernoyds shrieked and leaped forward, ripping chunks of flesh from the dead mernoyd. The water churned red while more and more surged forward, fighting for a mouthful.

  ‘That’s revolting, they eat their own?’ Kassie stared at the bloody scene in horror.

  ‘Dead meat is dead meat to them, Kass.’

  ‘Vicious bastards,’ snarled a Draoth near Rumal. ‘They’ll track a ship from Nalauth for days, waiting for a sailor to slip up in their need for water.’

  Oh right, Kassie realized with shock and she looked around, seeing quite a few unhealthy sand-colored Draoths. She then noticed stealthy movements on the opposite side of the deck and with a pointed glance at Rumal she stepped away from the crowd and walked quietly across the deck.

  The small cluster of men, goblins, Draoths, and centaurs, glanced at her then back again, focused on the line they drew up the side of the ship. A centaur held a boathook out over the rail, its blunted head keeping the rope from touching the side of the ship. Once the bucket reached the top they emptied it into a large washtub and lowered it again. A particularly chalky-looking Draoth stepped into the tub with a sigh of relief and Kassie watched in fascination while the sailor’s calves and ankles turned a dark glossy green. It only took the sailor moments to douse himself in the tub then another sailor switched places with him. All the while the others drew buckets of fresh water up and added them to the tub.

  The Nyjens paced from one part of the deck to the next, hanging over the rails, discussing things amongst themselves. In a flurry of activity the dark skinned men moved quickly around the deck, gathering short spears. I watched as Leseach stopped one of them and they conversed briefly, then she too hurried off. The Nyjens spread along the length of the ship, straddling the rails, with a pile of spears and throwing blades resting by their boots. Leseach returned with weapons in hand and I shielded my eyes when she walked my way, the sun on her back.

  What a sight, I thought, staring in admiration. Her long blond hair in a fierce quasi Mohawk plait made her face look lean and strong, the illusion emphasized by the shaved sides and I noticed for the first time that her ears pointed slightly, adding to the angles of her face. Her large eyes gleamed with the forthcoming challenge and she reached a muscular arm up to adjust the strap of her top which crisscrossed her breasts and back. The cold air didn’t appear to bother her any more than the others aboard and I hunched against the icy breeze, muttering under my breath.

  How is it that I, the fire elemental, felt the cold?

  It seemed ridiculous but watching Leseach muck around in those tiny shorts and top made me shiver. Rashid didn’t appear to object, however. I noticed the Lieutenant from the corner of my eye and twisted, watching him take a long quick stride to reach the Northerner’s side. I wish Gredel was here. He took great delight in ribbing Rashid at his attempts in courting Leseach. Watching Gredel’s face when Leseach graciously passed a couple of daggers to Rashid would have amused me. The awful screaming from the mernoyds grew louder and I glanced at Ignatius who stood a few meters away watching the water.

  ‘What’s happening?’

  Ignatius turned to find Catherine watching him, an eyebrow arched in question.

  ‘The mernoyds are gathering in greater numbers. The blood is attracting them,’ he explained loudly. She stood from her seat and joined him, peering down at the creatures her up
per lip curling in distaste.

  ‘What are the Nyjens and Leseach doing? And Rashid,’ she added as an afterthought.

  Ignatius glanced over then turned to grin at the Princess.

  ‘Looks like a competition, want to practice with your sleeve?’

  Her eyes lit up then she squinted, lips twisting in concern.

  ‘What if I lose the blades?’

  ‘Not to worry, there’s extra if you do. Elena had another few sets charmed.’

  With an encouraging smile at her he turned and hurried off, climbing down to the lower decks and pushed his way through the crowded corridor, making his way to the armory along with most onboard. Two Rodhite centaurs kept track of the comings and goings in the armory, calling it out to a General Guard soldier who noted it down. Throwing weapons of all types vanished out the door.

  ‘Ignatius,’ one of the centaurs yelled. ‘Are you here for your crossbow?’

  ‘Yes, and the Princess’ throwing sleeve,’ he hollered back, jostling through the doorway while a couple of goblins pushed out, their hands full of weighted ropes. The centaur waded through the crowd to the back of the room and found the weapons, reaching to the upper shelves for a second quiver of bolts. He pushed back to Ignatius and passed them over.

  ‘That should see you well, losers have to do kitchen and deck chores for the next three days. You better get up there.’

  With a nod of thanks Ignatius made his way back to the upper decks.

  The rumble from the soldiers and allies and the screams of the creatures filled the air. No one had yet made a shot and from the excited, impatient glances I kept getting I gathered that they wouldn’t start before me. Feeling anxious I twisted, looking for Ignatius and breathed a sigh of relief when his head appeared through the hatch.

  ‘Are they waiting for me?’ I asked when he reached my side, passing the sleeve over. I buckled the clasps tight while Ignatius focused on winding the cable back on his unusual crossbow.