He kissed her forehead. “She will not hurt me, Phara,” he said against it. Pulling back he swiped away the tear hanging on her lower lid. “She had plenty of chances to kill me. If she was truly going to do so, she would have.”
Her fingers tightened around his. “You trust her?”
“I do. As much as you or Draven.”
Phara huffed out a snort just as Zesul broke the surface nearby, whinnying loudly. “Time to go.”
He watched her dive into the water and swim out to meet the seahorse. A tiny niggle of longing he always had where she was concerned tickled at his thoughts, but he pushed it back. It wasn’t meant to be, never had been and he’d accepted that long ago.
“Ready?”
Haydn’s query pulled him back from the normal melancholy he suffered though when they parted and he nodded, turning to board the vessel. “Yes. How long to get to Lad’ak?”
The engines rumbled to life under turn of a key and she smiled over her shoulder. “We will be there by darkfall.”
Terra stared out over the black water ahead. Her mind twisted and turned everything on its ear and ass, looking for the answers, just as it had for the last eight days. Since they’d figured out what possible end game Golix was after, she hadn’t been able to stop trying to put it all together.
Leaning an elbow on the rail, she went over it again.
The Unicorn wanted to rule it all. Check.
They knew he was after Bra’ka, the Capitol of the 3rd Kingdom for the main reason it controlled the majority of the Rustac industry.
And that made perfect business sense to her.
She’d talked numbers with Draven at length and while he’d never really paid that much attention, he had enough basic information that she was able to put the rest together with a little research of her own. Accessing the computer library on board the Magu, she found what she wanted and couldn’t help being impressed.
Rustac, as she’d guessed, was in everything. It was as much a part of the daily life here as steel and iron were back home. From pots and pans to boats and buildings, the citizens of the Five Kingdoms relied on it heavily.
Not only that, the cost to mine, smelt and process the raw ore was nominal for the Chimera. As in almost non-existent. Because it was so prevalent in the very soil on which they lived, their operations to manufacture the element were cheap. Their largest cost was paying the workers, as with just about any business. But the return they made on that investment was well worth a good wage.
From there, Bra’ka paid a decent price for the processed goods and turned around to make a literal mint on the resale value. As in, the processing center in the city quite literally funded everything with its year-end profits.
It provided a generous stipend to House Taraxus, funded an equal number of charities for the citizens, and financed the school system as well as the city’s complex transportation grid. On top of that, it produced a lavish budget for the City Government to spend on everything else. And, to top all that, still managed to pay out a significant return to its stockholders for the last 20 years.
Having finished her calculations earlier in the day, she was still shaking her head over the enormity of it.
Golix would be an absolute fool not to want it under his hoof. And she didn’t doubt for a second he was a fool. No, he was a miscreant for sure, but above that he wasn’t stupid and obviously saw the value in having it under his control.
Which was all fine and dandy for the Five Kingdoms but how did he mean to rule her world with it?
Through money, yes, and again, it made perfect business sense.
But how?
That was what she’d been turning round and round in her thoughts for the last couple of hours…
“You seem a million lengths away, Kyleri.”
Draven’s voice rolled down her spine as his arms wrapped around her waist from behind. She lifted off the rail and shifted back into his chest. “Just thinking.”
“About?”
She spun and smiled when he closed the distance, bending to nip at her neck. Moaning, she tried to recapture her earlier thoughts but it wasn’t easy when he distracted her with his toe-curling kisses. She gave his chest a gentle push, though if she was honest with herself, it wasn’t that hard of one. “Draven,” she whispered. “Stop it.”
He pulled back and a teasing glint rolled through the molten color of his eyes. “You no longer like my attentions?”
She snorted and slipped her fingers into his hair. “You know that’s a lie!” Toying with the soft silkiness, she sighed. “I’m just trying to put it all together.”
He frowned in the shadows. “I thought you did that before evening meal.”
They’d anchored about ten miles off the coast just after the sunset. Draven’s warning that they didn’t want to approach after dark was a sound one. The port city of Lad’ak was the only entrance to Hitsani, the 5th Kingdom. The Goblins that controlled it had very strict protocols, the least of which was being completely visible as you motored in. To that end, they’d spent a considerable number of years building up a wide, thick and circular coral barrier that spanned a couple of miles in front of their docks.
Draven had shuddered slightly as he described the deep, craggy, boat ripping reefs that could only be navigated successfully during daylight.
So, they’d stopped and were waiting for morning to go further.
“I did,” she finally said. “But it still doesn’t make sense.”
“How so?”
She dropped her hands from his hair, regretfully, and explained. “Well once Golix had control of Bra’ka how would he get the money into my world? I mean, from what I could see in your library, you, like humans, have gone mostly digital in your currency, yes?”
Draven moved around to lean against the railing beside her, crossing his arms over his delectably wicked chest. She tucked a hand into the crook and tilted her cheek against his upper arm. “We have. Save for the Goblins, who still use Gems and Necats as their main currency, most of the other Kingdoms have converted. Why?”
“Well, humans are strictly digital now. Everything is computerized and based on credits. Unlike years ago, we don’t have a real monetary system. Gold, even paper money, was discontinued after the Market Crash of 2020.”
He slipped one arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side and kissed her ear. “So, your people no longer use any sort of money?”
She shuddered, in a good way, under his hot breath and tried to concentrate on the question. It wasn’t easy. “Um, yes. Something like that. Now, we use a single credit system. One credit equals one credit,” she finally managed.
“So your credits would equal a necat for us?”
Who knew the talk of currency could be so sexy! But when Draven whispered the question and nibbled on her ear at the same time, it was. Gods above help her! “Yes,” she replied shakily, leaning closer.
He chuckled and shifted away. “Then it would be easy for him to convert it.”
She blinked, drawn back to the discussion with a shock. “How, how so?”
He pulled her around into his chest and wrapped his arms around her back. Nuzzling her neck again, he nibbled on the flesh, speaking around it. “It would simply be a matter of transferring it from my world to yours I would think.”
She couldn’t think when he did that and melted, giving into the fire he always managed to bring to the surface. It burst out of her pores, engulfing them both and he laughed.
“Mmmm,” he murmured. “I love that you are so responsive to me, Kyleri.”
She forced herself to step back, panted at the air and lightly slapped his chest. “I don’t,” she gulped. “You distract me! Now, where were we?”
He kept his hands around her waist, his pearly teeth bright in the darkness. “Transferring money.”
She sighed and forced the fire down, waiting until it had gone out with a sizzle. “Yes, well the question now is how could he do that? There’s only one portal right? And that�
�s guarded by Enon.”
“One that we now know of, yes,” Draven confirmed. “The Pegasus were supposed to have closed that one too. But apparently it was missed.”
“Could there be others?”
“I do not think so. We can ask though. When we arrive in Lad’ak, I will contact…”
Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as the boat lurched violently under them, tossing them against one another. Draven grasped the railing with one hand and her with the other, holding them steady as it did it again.
“What the hell?”
“I am unsure. Captain?” he called out.
The man poked his head out of the bridge and pointed off the port side. They both turned in time to see a large tendril shoot out of the water, curl over on itself and slam into the deck with a thunderous crack…
The crew rushed up from below. One of them pointed toward a second tendril heading at breakneck speed for the ship.
“Carnivore!”
The limb that had crashed across the deck, pulled up, its end swinging left and right. Large sucker like pads opened and closed with sickening slurps, seeking out members of the crew.
She shouted to be heard over the pounding feet and groaning ship. “Is that a giant squid?”
“Indeed. They are the minions…”
His reply was cut short as the second tentacle slammed into the side, nearly capsizing them.
She pointed into the air. “Get up there. I have a feeling we’ll need you.”
A brief look of concern flashed over his face but he nodded and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Be careful, Kyleri, they love to drag you under and drown you.”
He’d no sooner said it and taken off, then the limb wrapped around one of the nearby crew and lifted him off the deck. He screeched and stabbed a sword into it, but it merely tightened, dragging him toward the water.
Well hells bells! Why was she just standing here?
Calling back the fire Draven had inspired earlier, the darkness brightened with her aura and she twirled a ball on her palm. She let it heat as hot as she could and fired it off just before the poor man disappeared over the side…
***
Draven lifted off with two hard flaps.
Turning back, he smiled smugly as the assault from Terra burned clean through the tentacle. A shriek of angry pain rent across the night as the severed end flopped around for a heartbeat. The still smoldering end turned her direction. A brief moment of panic skipped across his scales, but he needn’t have worried.
She stood with her feet braced, another ball of blue and silver flames dancing between her hands. It dove for her and she didn’t move, just smiled and let go of the fire. The vicious fluid that had been leaking out of the steaming end, caught and began to burn back down its length.
He knew instinctively, once awakened, her Fire would be powerful, but he never expected that reaction…
Assured she could handle herself, he turned in time to see the beastie’s bulbous head break the surface. It roared a second time, drawing the burning flesh back beneath the black sea. Sadly, several more took its place, weaving across the deck in search of prey.
Four more wrapped tightly around the ship itself. Rending metal echoed over the screams and orders of the crew and Terra did her best to keep them at bay with her blasts, but there were just too many.
Another bulbous head and then a third surfaced. “There are three!”
She waved to acknowledge his statement and fired off rapidly at any she could see, doing a fair job of keeping them at bay as they twisted back and away from the heat. Metal continued to screech into the night as they slowly ripped the ship apart.
Drawing the sea air into his lungs, he flew high and came around to dive bomb the one near the aft section. It exploded nicely and started to sink beneath the waves, but its tentacles already had a death grip and began to drag the ship down.
“Kyleri!”
She grabbed for the railing, missed and slid down the deck. Landing against the bridge housing, she gained her feet again, shaking it off.
Relief coursed through him and he turned to the one off the port side. This one was bigger than its brethren and seemed to have twice as many sucker laced tentacles. He drew in more air and strafed the creature low and fast.
It bellowed in pain but didn’t release its hold. One did let go and shot up, narrowly missing his foot as he made another pass. He wasn’t so lucky the third run and found himself caught in its cold, slimy grip. Struggling around, he blasted the beast but it sank under the waves. Surfacing again, another of its limb’s snaked around his other foot. Feeling like a fish on a hook, he flapped his wings, hard, but the barbed teeth in the suckers sunk deeper into his scales.
With a bellow, he belched a third time, but again, the beast sunk under the water, extinguishing the flames before they could do any damage.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Terra edging toward the rail and an idea flashed through his thoughts. Relaxing a bit, he let himself be drawn closer to the large, teeth filled beak as it came up out of the water.
He worked his wings just enough to delay the feast and when its mouth was open wide, he bellowed, praying to the Gods Terra would understand. “Now!”
She did.
The largest ball he’d ever seen sailed through the air between him and the massive maw, sliding neatly down its throat as if she’d fed it a treat and not its death. It gulped, howled in agony then blasted into a thousand chunks of meat with a resounding boom.
The tentacles released their hold and he shot back into the air, ready to deal with the last.
But, the damage had already been done. The Malu listed heavily to starboard, black smoke billowing from its engines.
The last beasties arms continued to rip and tear through the vessel, its dark evil eyes watching the remaining crew dive over board. One by one, it scooped them out of the churning waves and either squeezed them to death or tore them in half.
Terra, the Gods love her, continued to pummel the thing with her fire but it ducked each blast, obviously having learned from the death of its fellow attackers.
He couldn’t afford to wait. They’d have to chance heading to Lad’ak in the wee morning hours and hope his Grand Parentals were awake.
Not being able to share his thoughts with Terra, at least not until they’d fully mated, was a drawback at times. Now being one of them. He’d have to hope she trusted him.
He swung around. The plan to strafe the creature and scoop her off the deck as he passed was a sound one. He was confident in it and put it to action.
Keeping low to the churning water, he drew in as much salt laden air as he could and let loose with an angry bellow when he was in range. Caught off guard and his aim true, it nailed the bastard in the back of its gelatinous head and melted across the surface.
The thing let out a shrill wail of pain and he bellowed over top of it as he swooped near the twisted and torn deck.
“Jump!”
Chapter Seventeen
“Where are we going?” Terra shouted as they left the smoldering remains of the Malu behind.
Draven twisted his neck back to see her clutched protectively within his talons. His legs hurt like the dickens but there was nothing he could do until they landed. “Home,” he called back above the wind. “I just hope Grandmere and Grandpare are still awake.”
She shot a look toward the east and he followed her gaze. The sun would not rise for many ticks and if his grandparentals had gone to bed already, they were in trouble. He had not seen them in well over 30 Suns, so he had no idea of their schedule.
It didn’t take him long to reach the coast and he paused, hovering at a distance from the port city. Goblins were an overprotective lot and he followed protocol. If he didn’t, they were likely to get shot down before he could even utter a word.
“Varsoon,” he called out. “Veil’tonak Voos Krin’ar.”
“What did you say?”
“Basical
ly, I come in peace.”
Massive spotlights clicked on and swung long beams in their direction. He blinked in the brightness and shielded his eyes with his free claw.
A voice echoed out of a loudspeaker. “Who goes there?”
“Draven Taraxus, Grandtyke to Rhu’Tus and Resa Taraxus.”
There was a hushed conversation he couldn’t quite make out then, “Identify yourself!”
He pushed the air out of his large lungs, drew it back in and belched. The spinning ball of flames landed just shy of the front gates and erupted in a shower of silver and red, sizzling out in the water before it did any real damage.
The lights clicked off. “You may pass.”
He snorted and aimed for the long, dragon sized tunnel carved into the side of the mountain that protected the town. “I know I can, you sawed-off son of a…”
“Draven!” Terra admonished. “Be nice.”
He sighed. “Yes dear.”
In his defense, the wounds from the carnivore pulsed with pain, he was tired and hungry. Ravenous in fact! Using his Fire always had that side-effect. Maybe it made him a little more grumpy than usual, but still, you couldn’t blame a guy…
He landed in the tunnel and gently unfurled his paw, setting Terra on her feet before morphing into his humanoid half. His legs tried to buckle and he hissed.
She was at his side instantly, looping one of her arms around his waist and pulling the over her shoulder to take his weight. “Stubborn men,” she muttered softly before giving him a sweet smile. “Now, where to?”
He pointed straight ahead. “It is not far,” he said testily but accepted her aid.
It took them a bit longer than normal to get to the door of his grandparentals home, which wasn’t much more than a massive stone wheel that blocked the end of the tunnel. He nodded toward a large pad on the wall. “Would you ring the bell please?”
She laughed and reached over to press the large red button. At first nothing happened and she did it again before they both heard his grandmere’s voice echoing out of hidden speakers.
“I am coming, I am coming, do not get your scales in a twist…”
To Save The Broken Heart: Dragons, Griffons and Centaurs, Oh My! (Dragons, Griffons, and Centaurs, Oh My!) Page 13