by Aaron Crash
I’d created a wall from the seabed. I could summon protection from stone far closer. I arched rock from the northern wall over me, creating a shelter as the water hit like a titan-sized fist of watery fury. The fighting platform was cleared as Rhee and Figg dove for cover. Ibbithy and Mudro slid back on their own summoned waves.
“Vankaat injit!” Squidbeard wasn’t done. A thousand ice darts rose from the ocean. I turned my arch into a wall. The frozen arrows smashed into the stone.
I needed to get on the offensive. I considered turning into a dragon, but that would only give him more surface area to hit with any number of frozen attacks. Besides, I could win as a Homo Draconis.
Sweeping the staff out in front of me, I sent the wall crashing into the ice.
Squidbeard was an agile little cephalopod. He spun up into the air, his tentacles fanning out. Droplets coalesced around him, creating a layer of shimmering liquid even as he hung suspended in the air like an octopus helicopter. If his ocean armor was like Ibbithy’s, it could get sticky, and I didn’t want to lose my staff.
While he was in the air, I exhaled an inferno. My flames hit his water in a cloud of steam. He came down in a mist. Ice tentacles reached out of the ice to grab me. Illbro was smart. I could melt the ice again, but I wouldn’t be deep-frying his squiddy limbs.
“Agnaat injit!” I melted the tentacles with another burst of Agni armor. I then slammed the staff on the platform, cracking the already uncertain ice. Between his Vanka-magic shenanigans, my earth sorcery, and all the fire, the entire arena was littered with cracks, rocks, and wet spots.
He waded in with his ax. My staff blocked the attack. I lowered my shoulder and struck him in the chest, driving him back. Swiveling, I whipped my tail into his face, putting out an eye. I would’ve crushed his nose if he’d had a nose.
He staggered back. I took the Calcifax staff in two hands and brought it down on the ice, cracking it more and making him stagger. He came at me again, a monstrous thing of tentacles, fangs, and fury. I smashed his ax in half before smashing a tentacle into pulp.
He went to cast a spell, and my staff struck him in the face, ruining the magic. Blood gushed down his face and into his beard. In a burst of unexpected speed, he darted forward. His working coils grabbed my arms, legs, and tail, and he had his hands around my scaly throat.
I couldn’t cast a spell, not with him trying to strangle me.
He brought his fangs toward my face.
He had fangs. I had fangs. There were a lot of fangs on that platform.
“Axel!” Figg shouted. She’d crawled back onto the ice to watch.
Rhee had joined her. “I’m going to kill them all anyway. This fight is stupid.”
Dryx was silent.
The troops were getting restless. I had to end the fight or else my women were just going to reignite the war.
I’d broken the edge of the ice platform. I could hear it cracking under me. I could use that to my advantage, but first I needed some space.
Squidbeard’s face was like a bloody mask. One eye was swollen shut. His fangs inched toward me.
I breathed fire right in Illbro Brinnib’s squid-black beard. He went staggering back, screaming, clutching at his fried face. The ice cracked under his coils, the edge of the platform giving way to form a slide. He wheeled his arms around as he slipped toward the edge. If he went over, he’d lose.
He wasn’t going to get off that easily.
I reached out with the stone staff to help him right himself. He foolishly circled a tentacle around my stick, thinking to save himself.
All he did was let me draw him in close. I lunged and ripped out his throat with my fangs, the best fangs there in that arena.
Blood filled my mouth. Better, the shakti hit me, giving me enough strength that if Mudro and Ibbithy didn’t honor the terms of the agreement, I could bring them fire and spells, enough to destroy several generations of their families.
I let the lifeless corpse of Illbro Brinnib fall to the ice in a sprawl of lifeless tentacles. The incline of ice slid into the ocean. Most of the platform remained.
Mudro hit me with a surprising grin. “Illbro Brinnib is dead. Good. I always suspected that the Ocean Father Divine of the Brinnib family was a liar and an asshole. There, you and I agree.” He then shook his head sadly. “Many of our people have been killed today. Over nothing. Over nothing.”
Ibbithy approached me. She had a sword at her belt, and she kept her hand on the hilt. “I agree. My trust in Illbro was misplaced. As for the agreement you mentioned? I will pay you for our sacred treasure, for what you still have. Some of my people found what was already sold to the boat merchant in Trident. That is how this started.”
“But it wasn’t just about the treasure. You wanted vengeance for me killing your brother and stealing away the water brand.” I took that moment to turn human, though it meant being naked. I didn’t care. If anyone laughed at the shrinkage, because yes, that ocean water was cold, I’d turn back into a dragon, fry them, and then eat them.
Ibbithy’s gaze traveled south from my face.
“I’m glad you listened to me,” I said. “We’ve always had a special connection.”
“A special connection?” Ibbithy rolled her eyes, and yet, there was heat in her gaze, and she had a smile on her face. Mudro couldn’t see it. “I’d rather fuck a whale.”
“Good choice.” I couldn’t help but smirk. “They are mammals. They can sing. I can see it. I hope you and your whale boyfriend are very happy.”
“Might not be a boy,” Ibbithy said. She looked over at Dryx. Then her eyes returned to me. “I hated my brother. Mudro didn’t like him much either. As for the Vanka Jalana? Well, you won it from us. And you have the Ksu Jalana, I see.” She tipped her head at Figg, who tipped her head right back.
“The three of you are powerful.” Ibbithy kept her eyes on me. “The fourth, the Dawn Coast Hellion, is a waste of breath. I could call the Praachi Mariners to come, and they would take her away, and you’d never see her again. But I won’t. I’m grateful that the lives of merfolk were spared today. I’m glad you killed that liar. And I hope word will spread that the Aquaterreb families do not trade in people.”
Ibbithy drew up close to me.
I could smell the ocean water, but she’d shampooed, and there was a sweet smell to her.
She was my height, but slim. Too bad her armor was only semitransparent. “There are three other brands. One in the forests, one at the top of the Dyuvan Mountains, and one in the far-off Ashchima Wastes, the most powerful of them all. I am searching for them because I am angry to have lost to you. I will enjoy it when you weep after I win the final three.”
“I don’t cry much,” I said. “I have too much to laugh about. Good luck getting those brands, Ibbithy, because we’re going to get them. And I have a feeling, once we do, we’ll have to face the demon kings again. Ancient evil has a way of not staying ancient.”
She smiled, and I liked that smile. “Then finally, Axel Drokharis, you and I can fight on the same side.”
She turned and walked back to Mudro, but then threw a glance over her shoulder. “My friends call me Ibby. You should call me your Ocean Mother Divine, dragon man. You are new to this world, but there is a reason why the other races hate the Aquaterreb. Because we fought the ancient evil, and we lost, and thus were vilified. We are a loving folk. You don’t believe that, I know, but we are.”
Mudro didn’t say a word. He was taking his cues from Ibbithy. It seemed the BuBano family was a little bit more important than the Murderbo family. Ibbithy shifted her legs into tentacles and climbed onto her kraken. Old Yellow Beard got on his, and they were soon scrambling down the wall. The third kraken plucked the headless body of the merman from the ice before disappearing down into the water.
I have to say, it was a glorious sight to see those three armies swim away as the sun rose in the very blue, very clear sky.
Figg came over and leaned against me. “Remember how
I said I hated it when you thought you were right?”
“Yes.” I put an arm around her.
“I hate it even more when you are right,” she said.
Rhee shook her head. “I only killed like twenty of those fin lickers. I want to kill more. And what was that shit about them being a loving folk? They’re coldhearted fish people.”
Dryx came over and slid her hand into the elf’s. “If they were coldhearted, they would’ve continued the fight. I have to admit, I thought I would hate the Aquaterreb forever for what they did to me. Now? I’m not so sure.”
Standing there, enjoying that moment of victory, I took in a deep breath. So the merfolk had fought against the demon kings. That was a very useful bit of information. I would have to look into the history of Xid a bit more. It seemed the past might be coming back in a big way—like the mullet craze of the mid-2030s. I had pictures that I wasn’t proud of.
Cheriela shouted up at me. “Axel! I don’t know what you did, but we’ve won the day! And we’re going to pass a law to make sure you stay naked all the time. You have the cutest butt.”
We turned, and there she was, holding up Geeze, who was alive and smiling.
I wanted to give Stumpy the Nursing Home elf a big hug, and maybe a kiss on his cheek. We’d lost a lot of people that day, but we hadn’t lost him, and I was glad. I still had a lot to learn, and I was pretty sure with both Geeze and Figg teaching me, I could learn everything I needed to beat Eggero Khel and find a way home.
But first? I was going to wash the battle grime off me in a long hot bath, eat a little fried calamari and steamed lobster, and then sleep for three days.
It had been a helluva week.
Rhee, though, had other ideas. “Fine, very well, good. We repelled another invading army. We’re heroes, or legends, or warriors kissed on their shining butts by fate. Whatever. Fuck you all. I want my Broomhelga back!”
Tears shined in her eyes.
Just when I thought I had the slutty pirate elf figured out, she went and turned into a softy.
With one arm around Figg, I pulled Rhee in to kiss away her tears. And Dryx held us all, enclosing her wings around us.
We were home. And Broom deserved a home as well.
Chapter Thirty-Three
FOUR HOURS OF SLEEP in my attic room felt like heaven. Five would’ve been better, but I found myself awake. It was around noon. That morning’s war felt unreal.
I had the windows and balcony doors open to coax a little of that morning breeze into my room. We’d bandaged our wounds because all our spellcasters were as empty as a strip club on a Monday morning.
I’d wanted some time alone, but slowly, the women collected in my room, first Dryx, then Rhee, and then Figg. I made room for the first two, but my little straw bed was only so big, and it was getting hot. Figg grabbed the second mattress, Dryx’s bed, and pulled it over.
While the noon sun blared, I listened to the soft sighs of the women next to me. Dryx liked to curl a wing over her body while she slept. Rhee liked to cover her face. Figg was snoring softly. I lay on my back, looking at the ceiling. We’d won. It had been a hard fight, and it had been close, but Foulwater was still standing.
I eased myself up, not wanting to wake up the sorceress, the sky warrior, or the pirate elf. Was I gathering an Escort or a menagerie? Probably a little of both, which was fine, because gathering an Escort was what us dragons did.
I collected my kettle, a cup, some tea, and my morning bidi. Of course I was trying to be quiet, so every little noise I made seemed so loud. The three women slept on even when I filled the kettle.
My eastern balcony was going to be way too hot with the sun, so I walked down a level and through empty halls with empty bedrooms. Now that I’d been in a Xiddian brothel, I could see the general whore-house-ness of my home. The main baths were below, and the rooms got smaller the more stairs you had to climb. On this floor, the rooms were tiny, basically just a bed and a basin for washing. A central privy was in the middle. At its most sinful, the Scarlet Baths must’ve been a crazy place.
While I walked, I pondered the changes we could make to the former brothel. I had the Calcifax staff. Figg had the Ksu Jalana. Between the two of us, we could reshape the building however we wanted. We could combine rooms so Dryx and Figg could move in. Maybe we could find some people to help us get the bathhouse started up again.
I wasn’t sure about property rights, but I figured as a squatter and the savior of the town, I could call the place my own.
Out on the western balcony, I found shade under the ragged remnants of a canopy. I found a little space of sunlight, took the kettle, and fired up my Agni powers to get the water boiling. I then poured myself the fishy green tea, which was terrible, but I was getting to the point I was looking forward to it. Probably because I flicked a thumb and with some fire magic, got my bidi going. Smoking, sipping chay, I enjoyed the peace and quiet.
West of the brothel was the wall—solid and stable and safe. The wind blew across the grasses in the distance. I’d have to get up and fly back out there to find Broom. We owed her a lot.
And if she knew anything about mining, we could hire her to help us unearth the diamonds under the New Pier.
We had a lot of work to do, not only to clean up after the battle, but also to redesign the city. Now that Figg was a master Ksu sorceress, we could remove the silt and make Foulwater a deepwater port again. We’d keep the defensive wall, but we could make it better while we reorganized the harbor. With more people leaving the Hintala Village to live in Old City, we could turn that into a floating market. The trees were pretty, and they would give the place shade. I could picture shady boughs cooling marketplace stalls and wooden walkways. If we angled the wall more to the east, we could expand the harbor near Victorio Varuna’s shipyard, and we could make a massive dock in the south.
All of that would take a lot of Ksu magic. Speaking of which, I pulled up the Five Magics Skill Tree.
I’D LEVELED AGAIN—BY the skin of my teeth. I immediately unlocked the second Ksu ability, Armor. Having both DarkArmor scales as well as stone armor would make me basically invulnerable. Unlike Eggero Khel, I was going to focus on mastering each branch instead of each category in the Atvar Vidyala.
Eggero was level eight, and now I was too. Still, I had a lot to learn and a lot to practice. I’d been leveling so fast and adding new skills, but I hadn’t really delved into all my abilities. Well, hopefully no other army would come to destroy Foulwater anytime soon. And I hoped we’d be more proactive. I was tired of having to respond to threats. I’d grown up with a sorceress who could see into the future, and we were always ready. Geeze and Figg were good, but they didn’t hold a candle to Sabina Gonzales back on the Infinity Ranch in Wyoming.
Ideally, any assholes with invasion on their minds would learn from the Kankar and the Aquaterreb families and just say no. Foulwater was protected by a dragon, and if any dragonslayers came to test their mettle against me, well, they’d have to deal with me, a sky warrior, and a sorceress marked by two of the ancient Pentakorr brands.
I was thinking about all this when Figg found me. Late to bed, early to rise, she had dark circles under her eyes. She came and sat on my lap and pushed her face in the crook of my neck. I rubbed her back, and we sat there in silence.
She leaned back, frowning. “I can’t go with you to look for Broom. I have to stay here and help Geeze and the rajani. There is a lot to clean up. And we have to prepare the victory celebration. Only, maybe we should wait.”
“Wait for what?” I asked.
“For the Festival of the Long Light. It’s in another week. If we start partying now, we won’t stop for another week. We shouldn’t have such a long festival.” She lowered her head.
I put a finger under her chin and lifted her face. “No, Figg, we should have a long party. This town is going to change. You and I are going to change. Ibbithy will give us a good price for the treasures. She has to, after all the shit she caused
and all the lives that were lost. And we’ll have cash from the diamond mine. This time, that cash will go to you and me. We’ll have control of it, and we’ll do right by this town. I want to put Foulwater back on the map. So we have a lot to celebrate. And celebrate we will. Okay?”
“That word you like. Okay.” She smiled at me. “I’m in love with you, Axel. I know you want to go home, but if you do, I’ll hurt so much. That is unfair for me to say. I know I can’t ask you to stay.”
Most likely, I had wives back on Earth, only I couldn’t remember them. I was troubled by that. More and more, I could name some of my mothers like Aria, Tessa, Mouse, and Sabina. I couldn’t name my wives.
Ha. Mouse. My real mother was Mouse, and what a mother she’d been. I wanted to see her again. Where did I want to live? More and more, I’d found a life in Foulwater and on Caranja.
I brushed Figg’s cheek with my fingers. “I love you, Finniwigg Nightshine. And for today, for right now, I am home. I don’t know if that will change. I don’t have a way back to Earth at this point. Even when I do, that doesn’t mean I’ll be gone forever. Normally, Dragonsouls can create magical portals to take them anywhere. I don’t know what’s going on in this case, but I’ll figure it out.” I chuckled. “And I can’t just leave. Rhee wouldn’t take it well.”
Figg nodded, a little worry in her eyes. “Rhee wouldn’t do well. She loves us all so much, and she loves Broom as well, and we just met her. Rhee feels things deeply. It’s why she drinks a lot, I think. Her emotions are so powerful. She’s lost so much in this life, first her parents, then Jippy and his wives.”
I rolled my eyes. “Jippy. That name. It’s almost as bad as Finniwigg. Who names their kid Finniwigg?”
Figg didn’t get mad. She laughed because she knew I was joking, and then she kissed me. Her feel, her smell, had become so familiar to me.