Redeemed by Rubies (A Dance with Destiny Book 6)

by JK Ensley

  Jenevier nearly toppled backwards when a giant creature suddenly landed in the center of the arena floor, sending dirt and sand flying in every direction.

  She coughed and fanned the air in front of her. “Wh-what the hell is that?”

  Ardune growled under his breath. “Those bloody Banshee and their ear-splitting shrieks… they’ve stirred up the Griffins.” He glanced sideways at her. “Looks like neither of us can sit this one out, my Lady.”

  Jenevier raised her sword… just as stone wings suddenly blocked her view.

  “…Hunter?”

  “Un. Freaking. Believable,” the Gargoyle grumbled.

  She chuckled. “Don’t go picking up my bad habits, Brother. You are too noble a creature for such as that.”

  Hunter was still smiling when he drew his blade. “I’ll clip his wings. You…” He glanced back at Jenevier. “…watch out for its claws.”

  “And the beak,” Ardune added.

  *****

  The three allies didn’t actually defeat the giant Griffin, no. After Jenevier was way past winded, the mortally wounded creature crawled up through the stands and over the edge of the witch-vine covered arena.

  Jenevier was bent over double as she watched her injured opponent retreating, holding her side and breathing heavily.

  “Bloody hell,” she rasped. “Are there any timeouts in this thing?” She stood up and stretched her back. “How about a water break?”

  Hunter chuckled. “The tournament was originally set for one match at a time. You’re the one who challenged the whole of Sheol.”

  She bumped him with her shoulder. “Go big or go home, eh?”

  Hunter snorted and shook his head. “I’ve never met a creature so desperate for an expedient death.”

  “Pfft… if I wished to pass on swiftly, Brother, I wouldn’t have unsheathed my second blade. I have no desire to die this day, nay. Alas, death is preferable to bondage.”

  Jenevier was still smiling at the large Gargoyle when she heard the unmistakable sound of an arrow being released. The almost silent twong drew her attention half a heartbeat before the tip pierced through her thigh.

  “Gargoyles to the ready!” Hunter yelled out his command as he leapt into the stands. “Find the coward!”

  Jenevier was silent—numbly watching the blood soak through her pant leg—when screams rang out from the audience. She glanced up just in time to see Ardune move like a blur, making short work of the unlucky onlookers in the general area of where the archer should have been.

  When an eerie silence finally hushed the crowd, Jenevier called out, “Any luck?”

  Hunter turned toward her, shaking his head.

  “No, my Lady.” Ardune glanced her way. “There’s not a bow among them.”

  She withdrew Iole Máni and sliced off the pointy end sticking through the back of her leg, then grimaced as she grabbed the dark feathers and pulled the other half out through the front.

  Jenevier growled loudly before yelling, “A coward can never defeat me! If you have the nerve, step forth!”

  “I have the nerve.”

  She slowly turned toward the unfamiliar, deep, warbly voice.

  “I have nerves to spare.”

  Water trickled down from the creature’s sodden hair as he took another step toward her.

  “Holy stars in the merciful heavens…” Jenevier gaped at her massive opponent. “What are you?”

  The creature held up one webbed hand, proudly displaying his talon-like claws.

  “No!” Ardune yelled. “Get back, my Lady!”

  Yet, Jenevier remained as she was.

  When the reptilian looking creature opened his beak-like mouth, he let his forked tongue dart out between the gaps in his needle-sharp teeth.

  “What am I?” he hissed, amused. “I am the god of the deep, the demon of still waters. What I am, tiny human, is a Kappa.”

  “A… Kappa?”

  When the creature flexed its large neck muscles, Jenevier noticed the giant spiked tortoise shell upon his back.

  “But…” She furrowed her brow. “Aren’t Kappa supposed to be childlike water nymphs? I mean… I’ve never actually seen one myself or anything, but Mika used to tell Lala fairy stories concerning mischievous little Kappa. They were nothing like you.”

  “No,” he said before chuckling. “The ones yet remaining upon the layers are nothing like me.”

  When the Kappa took another step forward, Jenevier took a shaky step back. The sharp pain in her leg went straight to her brain. She winced.

  “Wh-what is that upon your head?”

  The Kappa reached up. “This? This is a bowl,” he said, lifting it. “It protects my power.”

  Jenevier’s eyes went wide when she saw that the top of his head looked as if it had been scooped out and filled back in with nothing but water.

  “I will give you a hint,” the Kappa said. “Spill my power upon the sand. Only then can you defeat me.”

  “You mean… just knock off the bowl and let the water underneath spill?”

  He chuckled. “Yes. Just knock off the bowl and let the water underneath spill.”

  “No, Jenevier!”

  She looked toward Ardune when he called out to her, frantically trying to make his way back down to the arena floor.

  “Do not accept his challenge!”

  “Quiet, Drowl,” the Kappa hissed before turning back to face her.

  Jenevier furrowed her brow. “…Why?”

  “Why what, little girl?”

  “Why do you want to fight me? What will you gain from it?”

  “What is wrong, tiny human? Do you fear me?”

  She immediately straightened her shoulders and narrowed her gaze. “I fear nothing.”

  “Is that so?”

  When he ran his long tongue out again, Jenevier had to force herself not to visibly shiver.

  “Sooo…” The Kappa drew the word out into a long hiss. “You fear nothing?” He chuckled again. “Not even your death?”

  “Death?” Jenevier smiled then with only one corner of her mouth, readying Amatiste. “Well now, death is all but certain. Such is true for us all. You ready?”

  “Almost.” The giant creature dug his taloned feet into the sands. “It is only proper that you know the name of the one who will claim you.”

  Jenevier waited—silent, motionless.

  The Kappa placed the upturned bowl back over his concaved skull. “My name… is Naga.”

  “Wha—” She glanced toward Ardune, then back to the creature before her. “But… my name is Naga as well. Kagi Naga.”

  The Kappa chuckled loudly. “A fire serpent, are you? Well, I am Mizu Naga—a water serpent. Which element do you think will overcome, little one? Fire… or water?”

  Jenevier swallowed hard.

  “Come, Kagi Naga.” The Kappa assumed his fighting stance. “Let me douse your lovely little flame.”

  “No!” Ardune yelled.

  “Get out of there!” Hunter was shoving creatures aside as he made his way back to the arena floor. “That beast will destroy you without even trying.”

  Jenevier kept her gaze fixed with the Kappa’s as she answered the frantic Gargoyle. “Oh, trust me, Brother. He’ll have to try.”

  The Kappa didn’t respond, yet moved with such speed… Jenevier almost didn’t have time to dodge his foot before the monster’s claws buried into the arena’s stone wall behind her.

  She gritted her teeth and sucked in a sharp breath when her sudden movement betrayed just how badly that arrow had damaged her leg.

  By the gods! she thought. Of all the times to be human, and minus a healer at that.

  The Kappa didn’t give her time to think. He lunged for her again. Amatiste made a hollow, clanging sound as it banged off of the hard shell covering the creature’s back.

  Dammit! He’s too fast. How am I supposed to get to that stupid bowl?

  As she made to distance herself, the severed muscle of her left thigh
refused to obey.

  Jenevier barely turned in time to see the Kappa’s clawed foot, before the impact sent her flying across the arena floor.

  Slamming hard against that granite wall hurt almost as badly as where the giant talon had pierced her side. She cried out. She couldn’t help it, couldn’t hold all that immense pain inside. Strangling, she coughed and she spit the rising blood from her mouth.

  “My Lady!”

  Jenevier ignored the Drowl’s shouts as she quickly tried to take a mental inventory of her injuries… and determine her next move.

  The Kappa laughed a low, warbly laugh.

  “Damn water serpent,” she mumbled to herself.

  She tried to take a deep breath. It was no use. Jenevier had heard the sickening, cracking internal sound of her spine when she had made contact with the cold stone. Now, the dull numbness inched down from her lower back to the soles of her feet.

  Not like this, she thought, quickly ramming Amatiste’s point down into the ground, propping herself up upon her sword to keep from crumbling. I will not die with my face in the sand. Come on, Kappa. Look in my eyes as you finish it.

  “Well now… look at this.” Mizu Naga laughed. “The fire serpent now gazes at me through ruby flames. Are those ethereal orbs the source of your power?”

  When the Kappa drew back his clawed hand to strike, Jenevier suddenly felt her diamond wings spring to life. It was the same as it had been when she’d finally recalled them upon Val Hal so many years ago… they exploded from her back like a million bursting stars—glorious and ethereal and magnificently lethal.

  She immediately covered her face with those priceless pinions, instinctively trying to protect her precious eyes.

  The jarring impact didn’t come.

  She held her breath… waiting.

  Then… Mizu Naga made a strange gurgling sound.

  Jenevier looked up just in time to see the monster’s grotesque head jerked back—the bowl falling, water soaking the sand… as long sapphire claws sliced cleanly through the creature’s thick neck.

  When the Kappa fell silently to the ground, Jenevier saw her glorious savior standing there—long raven locks blowing softly across his handsome, smiling face.

  Merciful heavens… Who is this man? If my legs weren’t already completely numb, they would melt beneath me. Perfection is too small a word for—

  “Are…” Jenevier furrowed her brow. “Are those… Dr-Dragon wings?”

  The man slowly closed those giant sapphire pinions as he strode purposely toward her, his enchanting golden eyes gleaming brightly.

  “Ahh… Little Fire,” he said softly.

  The man’s rare beauty had left her awestruck, yes. And when he smiled at her, she lost her voice entirely.

  Jenevier’s breath hitched when the stranger reached her. He wrapped one arm around her waist, grasped the back of her neck, pulled her firmly against him—fire blazing in those gorgeous ethereal eyes—and kissed her deeply.

  I have wanted to do this since the day we first met. Tell me, Little Fire. Could you handle thus, daily?

  She gasped for air when he finally released her. “Wha— Ni… Nilakanta?”

  The man smiled again. “I love the feel of you… trembling within my arms.”

  “B-but… how are you here? And… how did you come to be like… like… that?”

  “Ahh, tiny Guardian, have I not oft promised you thus? Have I not warned you concerning the secret desires of Dragons?”

  She tried to chuckle, but it hurt too badly. Nilakanta scooped her up in his arms and sat down upon the fallen statue of the creature he had just felled.

  “Take heart, little one,” he whispered. “I am here now. No other creature can harm you.”

  “I’m no longer worried about me, Brother. My Dragon now holds me. But you… you better watch your back. I know not where Ahriman and Shamsiel are hiding.”

  “I do.” Nilakanta smiled before kissing her again.

  His touch was perfect—strong and demanding.

  I always wondered if it would be like this with you, she thought.

  “I know you have.” He moved down to lightly kiss her neck. “Were we but given the chance, I would keep you this delightfully dizzy… always.”

  Jenevier blushed.

  “Imagine making love to a man who knows your every thought, can read your every desire.”

  Her tummy twisted when she felt his lips part into a devilish smile just before he kissed her neck again. She gasped.

  “Ahh, Little Fire… the joy I could gift you.”

  He chuckled against her skin when he heard her heartbeat suddenly race.

  “I knew you were beautiful,” she whispered. “Magical and enchanting in every way, but… damn…”

  Nilakanta smiled softly, then kissed the tip of her nose. “Yes, well, I am… Dragon.”

  She closed her eyes as she smiled. “Yes… my Dragon.”

  “As you are mine, Little Fire.”

  She gazed into his deep gold eyes. “I should hate you… waiting until it’s already too late to show me this greatest of all magics.”

  “Ahh, but you couldn’t have handled it any sooner.” He twirled one of her curls around his finger. “Imagine all the trouble we would have caused… all the summonses you would have missed. Do not think I didn’t contemplate it upon many occasions—keeping you always within my lair… touching you… caressing you… loving you so deeply that we shared the same space.”

  When Jenevier let escape a tiny moan, Nilakanta buried his nose back against her neck.

  “I could not come unto you like this, Little Fire, because we both know the outcome of such a thing. I remained your Dragon… and only longed to be your lover.”

  Jenevier smiled. “Gratitude for sparing me the temptation, Brother. I could never have resisted you.”

  “Of course you couldn’t, Little Fire.” He sweetly kissed her neck, then whispered, “Because I am Dragon.”

  She giggled then, but the pain caused her breath to catch.

  “Dammit… I can’t believe that disgusting Kappa got me.”

  “Shhh… I’ve got you now, Kagi Naga.”

  “Yeah.” She furrowed her brow. “But… how did you come to be here? And how do you know where those two bloody Angels are?”

  “I know where they are because I watched as they were dragged away.”

  “…Dragged… away?”

  Nilakanta nodded. “Seems Father decided to pass judgment upon them. Shamsiel was delivered unto Uriel, while Jophiel was given charge over Ahriman.” He chuckled softly. “You should have heard that soul-eater’s miserable screams.”

  “Why? What did the Archs do to them?”

  “I cannot name the layer to which either was taken. But know this, Little Fire… neither one of those worthless Seraphs will ever again see the light of day. Or any other creature, as far as that goes.”

  “Tell me.” She squeezed his arm. “I wish to know.”

  “And so you shall.” Nilakanta gently played with her curls as he continued. “Uriel drug Shamsiel deep within a mountain… ran Prisalyn spikes through his body, pinning him to the granite wall while Michael drove massive nails through the forever-damned Angel’s outstretched wings.”

  “And Ahriman?”

  “His punishment was the same.” Nilakanta smiled then. “Yet, Jophiel took his own sweet time about it. Where Uriel pinned his condemned prisoner quickly… Jophiel relished in the torture he gifted the soul-eater.”

  Jenevier smiled with only one corner of her mouth. “Yeah… sounds like Jophiel.”

  “Yes.” Nilakanta chuckled. “He is a twisted little Arch, to be sure. Gabriel had long since finished nailing Ahriman’s wings back, while Jophiel was still slowly twisting and sliding those Prisalyn spikes through every part of the soul-eater’s body.”

  “As it should be,” she whispered.

  “Yes. As it should be.”

  “And what of Apollyon? Was Tenshi able to keep hi
m restrained?” Tears filled her eyes. “When I saw that devil’s beautiful mask fall away… when I saw the hideous creature Vindicus became… I feared for my precious son.”

  “You saw the truth of him, yes.” Nilakanta softly kissed her forehead. “Tenshi’s unleashed power destroyed Apollyon’s enchanting façade.”

  “Yes,” she softly whispered. “I was witness to that wonder.” She grabbed onto Nilakanta’s tunic. “Tell me, Brother. What did that demon-Angel do to my child?”

  He smiled softly. “Your fears were in vain, Milady. Tenshi… Tenshi is… magnificent.”

  Jenevier smiled and crinkled up her nose. “A Dragon… heaping such praise upon an Angel?”

  “And he is the only creature I ever will. That sapphire son of yours not only restrained the Prince of Hell, he dragged Apollyon to the pits himself.”

  Jenevier gasped.

  Nilakanta nodded his head. “Your Tenshi cast that fallen Arch into the flames. Father removed Apollyon’s dominion over that dark realm, and then Raphael chained his old partner in eternal torment.”

  Jenevier swallowed hard. “If those are the sentences carried out for those Angels…” she barely whispered. “…I wonder what end awaits me.”

  Nilakanta kissed her again, then gently slipped the treasure-laden chain from about her neck.

  “This is required of you, little one,” he said. “These rare trinkets should no longer remain among the living… or the dead. No creature should have access to such power. Father wishes them returned.”

  “He… He sent you here for my talismans?”

  “In part.” Nilakanta slipped the Dragon scale he had gifted her, off the chain. “This one will go on with you—the piece of me you coughed up when our melding was undone. This is a literal piece of my soul, Kagi Naga. I wish it to remain with you always.”

  He then held up the sapphire Dragon scale and blew his hot breath upon it. Jenevier gasped as she watched it slowly begin to melt, forming a ring of purest sapphires encircled about with flying silver Dragons. Nilakanta slipped it onto the thumb of her right hand, then kissed it.

  “Wherever you go… there will I go as well.”

  Jenevier bit her bottom lip and tried to blink back her tears.

  “I will treasure it always.” She tried again to take another deep breath. “Do me a favor, Dragon.”