Rebels and Realms: A Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Heather Marie Adkins

  After a few minutes, it seemed like the shadows had flown off with no intention of returning. She decided not to take any chances, and instead of standing up to walk, she crept low to the ground. Traveling only a dozen yards from her hiding spot, she heard what sounded like a man’s voice. Again, she cowered behind a tree trunk for cover. She thought she heard a conversation, but she couldn’t make out the words, so she decided to peer around the edge of the trunk.

  Only a few dozen yards from her position, two men were engaged in a heated debate. Both were nude except for a belt equipped with a small pouch, which hung directly over their private parts. They were quite different than the man who had fallen to his death. Both were well over six feet tall, powerfully built with almost unnaturally muscled abdomens, arms and legs that rippled even as they stood in a relaxed position. The men had their hair nearly shaved on the sides, but with tufts on top. Most remarkably, their hair had a metallic sheen to it, one head colored like bronze, and the other, silver. Like the fallen man, they seemed to lack body hair with the exception of a sparse amount on their legs and forearms. These were incredible specimens of male beauty, but there was something fierce and powerful about them that frightened her.

  One was gesticulating with his arm toward the edge of the lake. As he spoke, Chloe realized that he wasn’t speaking English. It was some unknown language with harsh consonants and long vowel sounds. The other man argued, pointing in the opposite direction. She realized that they were probably debating about where to search for the fallen man. She was certain that these were the flying shadows—the dragons in the sky—who had done battle with him. If she was right, they were Cloud Lords, and it fascinated her to see them in human form, both handsome and fearsome at the same time.

  As she stared at them, one of the men suddenly raised his head and sniffed at the air. It was as if he had caught the scent of something. He grumbled something in his strange language. His companion nodded, and they separated, walking in different directions, peering through the trees.

  What did he smell? Chloe wondered. Realizing that it might’ve been her, she ducked back behind the trunk. If they were looking for her, she knew there would be little time to get away. She immediately began creeping back on her tracks.

  When she was sure she’d put enough distance between herself and the men, she stood to walk at a faster speed. At that moment, one of the Cloud Lords stepped out from behind the trees, directly in front of her. His eyes blazed with an intensity that she could not have imagined possible. It was as if his pupils were ringed by an orange fire. His metallic, silver hair reflected the moonlight. Up close, this being was godlike, and her heart palpitated from being in such close proximity.

  He growled something in his strange language.

  “I’m sorry,” Chloe whimpered, “I don’t understand.”

  The man gave a whistle, and Chloe heard his partner tromping through the brush toward them.

  “Ah yes,” the Cloud Lord said, “You folk don’t learn our language until you’re sent to serve us. I asked if you’d seen where the prince has fallen?”

  Before Chloe had an opportunity to answer, his bronze-haired partner arrived behind her and muttered something in their language.

  “She’s an earth dweller, Karl,” the silver-haired lord told his companion, “She can’t understand a word of our language.”

  “Aye, Morgriss,” the bronze-haired lord said, “I forgot. Did you question her about the fallen prince?”

  As they spoke to one another, Chloe couldn’t help noticing that their language sounded vaguely Slavic. There was an eighty-year-old cobbler in Chloe’s village who had been raised in Russia, and his inflections had a slight resemblance with the Cloud Lords’ accents.

  “Earth dweller,” Karl said to Chloe. “Tell us where he fell.”

  “There,” Chloe lied as she pointed out into the lake, “He went into the water.”

  Given a moment to reflect, Chloe knew that she didn’t want to reveal the location of the fallen man to his enemies. The battle in the sky had been brutal and for some reason giving up his location felt like a betrayal even though she technically owed fealty to these Cloud Lords.

  Morgriss stared out at the lake in obvious dismay and said, “It may be true. I can’t sense the prince’s Flux. Aegon delivered him right into our hands, and we let the Pillar slip through our talons.”

  “She’s lying,” Karl said. He came forward and sniffed her neck as if he could smell whether she was telling the truth. “I didn’t see a splash.”

  Chloe trembled feeling the powerful lord’s breath on her neck. She did her best to remain still and prove to them she wasn’t meek. But she also felt blind-sided by her hormones, which now raged through her.

  “How could you have seen anything?” Morgriss replied, “We were side-swiped by two more of the Vampirii immediately after he fell, don’t you remember? Moreover, he would’ve used his beacon if he were still alive.”

  “Ah,” Karl said, “Unless the prince knew we were coming after him. These earth dwellers are just as treacherous as the Night Flyers. First you trust their traitor, Aegon, and now this human female. Well, why don’t you let me roast one or two of her limbs to see if she changes her tune?”

  “Save your flame,” Morgriss said, “You’re right, the Night Flyer may still be alive. And you’ll need it if he is. Besides, it would be a shame to char such a pretty specimen. Why do the earth dwellers always send such scrawny slaves to us during the offering? This one here is as well built as any Drakonin female, if not better.”

  Karl snarled. “You’re too much of a human lover. Next, you’ll be wanting to bring her back with us.”

  “That I do,” Morgriss replied, “But several Drakonin fell during the battle. Now that we know the fate of the prince, we have to seek out our casualties.”

  They continued discussing Chloe as if she were an object to be possessed. Their discourse got under her skin, and she wanted to tell them off, but she remembered what Karl had said about charring her flesh with flame. Cloud Lords were capable of shifting into dragon form. If she had to choose between her pride and escaping dragon fire, she knew her pride would get over it, but her flesh would never heal.

  Finally, Morgriss looked her in the eye. “I’d like to see you again, human female. Ask your folk to put you into the balloon for the next Ascension. You will find the life of a slave above to be much more rewarding than having your freedom down here in the muck.”

  “I will,” Chloe stammered. “I’ll ask them.” She stared back wistfully to pretend that she was flattered and give the impression that she was telling the truth.

  Morgriss cupped Chloe’s cheek in his hand and then did the most surprising thing of all. He kissed her full on the lips. Stunned, she forgot to breathe during the minute it happened, and she felt as if all of her wind was sucked from her lungs. She’d never been kissed before. The sudden rush of adrenaline and endorphins made her want to throw her body against the Cloud Lord to keep the rush of emotion from subsiding. When he pulled away, she felt her knees go weak.

  Morgriss stared at her and said softly, “Do as you promised, earth dweller. We have much to share when you join me on the firmament.”

  As he pulled away, Chloe whispered her name.

  “What was that?” Morgriss asked.

  “Chloe,” she said, “My name isn’t earth dweller. It’s Chloe.”

  “And I shall not forget it,” Morgriss said and winked. “But let’s not give away all of our surprises.”

  Karl let out a huge snorting laugh as if he found the entire scene to be ridiculous.

  “Shut up, Karl,” Morgriss told him.

  As they turned and walked away, she heard Karl say, “Stricken by an earth dweller…what’s my lord coming to?”

  Morgriss didn’t bother responding. He had already started shifting. And Karl took that as a cue to follow. It happened remarkably fast. One minute they were muscular men, but within seconds, their skin turned to sca
les, their bodies elongated and expanded, growing larger and larger. Finally they sprouted wings and became full dragons. Chloe was too fascinated to be terrified by the sight of the dragons. The belts they’d worn stretched and now sat around their bellies just over the thighs of their hind legs. Morgriss had become a silver dragon, while Karl’s scales were of polished bronze.

  With only a leap and two flaps of their wings, the two majestic creatures launched themselves high enough above the trees to take flight. As they flapped their enormous leathery wings and flew into the distance, Chloe stood entranced.

  If the Cloud Lords, weren’t gods, they ruled as if they were. And considering their powers, it wasn’t surprising that some people were willing to worship them as such. Most of the older generation knew they weren’t gods but were just playing along to save their own skins. But within a generation or two, that would change. Despite the emotion that Morgriss had planted inside of her, she resented his air of superiority. Slave? As if I would willingly be his slave, she thought. She was attracted to the Cloud Lord, but she wanted to be treated as an equal. She wished there was some way that mankind could find a way to throw off the shackles of subservience to these beings. After all, humans were not always beneath these creatures. We had our Old Faith. There must be a way to overcome them.

  Finally, when the flying dragons had become two specks in the distance, Chloe went to search for the fallen lord. Finding him took her another half hour, and by that time, the sun was already peeking over the horizon. He was certainly dead. He hadn’t moved, and his pale body now had a blue tinge to it. But Chloe was curious to find out more about this fallen figure and learn what was in the pouch at his belt.

  As she stepped into the depression to take a closer look, the sound of a horse whinnying distracted her. She looked up to see Wayne coming toward her on horseback, the animal’s hooves plopped into the mucky marsh, making a splash with every step.

  As he rode up to her, he said loudly, “I followed your tracks in the mud. I can’t believe you’d run away? Why did you do that?”

  She didn’t have an answer—at least nothing that she could put into words—and she just stood there mute. On horseback, Wayne towered over her. His expression turned from dismay to surprise when he saw Chloe standing next to the fallen Cloud Lord.

  “That’s a Night Flyer!”

  Chloe nodded. “He fell during the battle.”

  “Yeah, I wonder what that battle will mean for us? That’s never happened before,” Wayne said. “Well, I’m glad he’s dead. One less demon in the world. When I found your horse straying without you, I got worried sick. I’m not going to let you go off on your own. Come on… if you follow me back to the bridge, you’ll find your horse tied up and waiting for you.”

  Wayne spurred his horse and headed back to the bridge, assuming that Chloe would follow. But she couldn’t help noticing a thin, gold chain around the fallen Cloud Lord’s neck, and an object at the end of it was tucked beneath his shoulder. She reached out for it, and suddenly the body convulsed. The cold hand of the Cloud Lord gripped her wrist. His eyes flashed open, and his mouth gaped wide. He had fangs like a predator, and the indigo irises of his eyes swirled with electric blue sparks.

  As he held Chloe’s wrist, the Cloud Lord stared into her eyes as if questioning her. Why didn’t he say anything?

  “Chloe… I’m Chloe,” she said. “Who are you?”

  “Aethan,” the Cloud Lord gasped. His eyes closed as if that brief moment had exhausted the last remaining light in his soul.

  Chloe yelled out to Wayne, “He’s ALIVE!”

  8

  WAYNE PULLED AN ENORMOUS BOWIE knife from his saddle bag and strode toward the comatose Night Flyer.

  “What are you going to do with that?” Chloe asked.

  “We should do it now,” Wayne said, “while we have the chance.”

  Chloe stared at him in wide-eyed shock. “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “I’m sending him back to the dimension they came from.”

  “You can’t just kill him,” she protested. “You can’t murder another person!”

  “That’s just it,” Wayne said. “They’re not people! They’re not even human. All of them…even our own rulers, the Drakonin, need to be wiped out. Let’s face it…we all hate them, but nobody has the guts to take action. We need to stand up to them, one bastard at a time. Besides, if he wakes up, we won’t stand a chance against him.”

  “I’m not going to let you do it,” Chloe said.

  “Get out of the way,” Wayne insisted. “You know it’s for the best.”

  But she stood fast, and as he tried to walk around her, she threw herself in his path. His quarrel wasn’t with her, but as she continued to jump to either side, blocking his advance, he grew impatient and pushed her away. As she slipped in the mud, she reached for a handhold on his chest and found herself gripping onto the pistol, which she inadvertently pulled from the shoulder holster.

  Oblivious to the fact that she’d just disarmed him, Wayne held out his Bowie knife as he bent toward the Night Flyer’s neck. Chloe pointed the pistol at Wayne and cocked the hammer. The unmistakable sound caused Wayne to freeze.

  “I can’t let you do it,” Chloe said with a half-whimper.

  He turned to face her, and instead of getting angry, he burst out laughing. Then Wayne strode over to her with a sardonic smile.

  “You would never shoot me,” he said, pushing the barrel of the gun away. “Not on purpose anyway. Don’t do that again. You might accidentally pull the trigger.”

  “I’m sorry…” Chloe stammered. “Don’t you see that I can’t let you do this. Please…”

  The hand with the revolver fell to her side. Wayne took it from her gently, then uncocked the hammer.

  “I should just leave you here,” he muttered.

  “Go ahead,” she said, “I’m not leaving without him.”

  “You know what your problem is?” Wayne asked. “Your empathy will be your downfall. I heard you got captured because you stopped to rescue the very dog that was tracking you. Do you want to risk getting captured again? Do you want to risk your life with this Night Flyer? We have to keep moving ahead of the posse that the town will have sent after us.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Chloe said, “I can’t just leave him here to die. Not like this. If we can take him someplace where he’ll be safe, I promise we can leave him and keep moving.”

  Wayne thought about it for a moment and said, “From one of the Regulator patrols I rode with a few years ago, I know of another abandoned farmhouse on our route. We should be able to leave him where he’ll be safe from the elements.”

  Chloe held out the gun, handle first.

  “No, keep the gun,” Wayne said, taking off his shoulder holster and handing it to her. “If our friend wakes up, you’ll need it. They’re supposed to feed off the blood of humans, after all.”

  Chloe slipped the holster over her shoulder and inserted the gun. It felt strange to have this weapon hanging over her left breast. Using all her might, she grabbed the Night Flyer’s arms and tried to lift him off the tree limbs that had pierced his body, but she wasn’t strong enough.

  “Can you give me a hand?” she asked.

  Though displeased, Wayne took the legs of the Night Flyer, and they managed to dislodge him from the branches. As the Cloud Lord’s body came free, thick scarlet blood oozed from his terrible wounds. While sliding his body out of the depression, Wayne nearly tripped over an object in the muddy water.

  “There’s something shiny in the mud,” Wayne said, “It must have tumbled next to the log when he fell.”

  Wayne reached into the dirty water and pulled up a gleaming rod about five feet long. When he held the strange artifact up to the light, it pulsated with energy for a second. A moment later, a strange blue current snaked along its length. With wonder, Wayne ran his left hand along the surface. In response, the long rod retracted like a telescope in upon itself, becomi
ng a thick, foot long baton. Surprised by the device’s recoil, Wayne leaped back, dropping it into the muddy water. He immediately fished it out again to examine it with fierce curiosity. Realizing that he had deactivated the rod somehow, he sought frantically for a way to reactivate the device.

  “Is it a weapon?” Chloe asked.

  “I don’t know,” Wayne said angrily, “I can’t get the damn thing back open.” As his attempts proved to be futile, he grew more and more frustrated and even tried banging the baton against the tree trunk.

  “Help me drag the Night Flyer to the horse,” Chloe said.

  “And what do you plan to do…walk?” Wayne asked.

  “You said the farmhouse was not far from here,” she insisted. “I’m fine with letting the horse carry him. My backside is killing me from all the riding we’ve been doing.”

  The stubborn look on her face showed Wayne that arguing would be pointless. Together, they managed to lift the Night Flyer up over the saddle of the horse so that his legs hung on one side with his torso over the other. When Wayne tied him to the saddle, he also insisted on binding the Night Flyer’s hands and feet to be certain that the being wouldn’t surprise them if he should awake.

  The comatose body slowed them down and due to their plodding pace, the trip to the farmhouse took twice as long as Wayne had anticipated. Once there, Chloe wasn’t surprised to find it empty with the exception of a few bottles on the floor and a huge oak table in the kitchen, which must’ve been too heavy for raiders to carry off. There was no barn for the horses, but there was a well and a trough. Since they were out of oats, they had to let the horses graze for nourishment. Fortunately, their steeds didn’t have a tendency to stray. They left the bound Night Flyer upon the ground until the horses were taken care of, and then Chloe used a bucket of water and a rag to clean off the dusty grime that had accumulated on the huge farm table. She insisted that Wayne help her lay the body out upon the table, and that he remove the tightly knotted bonds from the Night Flyer’s hands.