by Brenda Trim
“Is that the ground shaking?” Finn called out.
Blaine glanced toward Mt. Batia, and nodded. “It is, but it’s not from the volcano.”
Another hard jolt rolled through the ground beneath them, making several knights land on their asses while Finn steadied himself with a widened stance. “What the fuck would cause this if not the volcano?”
“I have no idea. Could Cyril be casting a spell?” Blaine asked as his amber eyes scanned their surroundings.
“Anything’s possible where Cyril is concerned. Question is, what does he hope to accomplish? Everyone stay inside the protections unless we come under attack,” Finn ordered then reached for his communicator. Tapping the screen, he barked, “Legette. It’s Finn. Something is happening in the practice arena.”
The image of Legette on the small screen looked over his shoulder before turning back to face Finn. “We’ll be right there. Remain on guard. It’s possible that Cyril is trying to knock out the protections.”
“We figured as much. You and Angus stay inside the castle. Keep a contingent with you in the event we should fail.”
Legette narrowed his eyes. “You will not fail, Finn. Report as soon as you know anything.”
As soon as the transmission ended, Finn met Blaine, Slate and Caleb’s gazes. Walking to the opposite edge of the area, they scanned the forest for any sign of movement. On his way back Finn’s foot sunk into the softened ground.
Lifting his boot into the air, Finn realized it was covered in mud. “What the fuck?”
“Where is all this water coming from?” Slate asked. Closest to Finn, the knight was shaking his head as he shook his foot. His boots and ankles were covered in mud, as well.
“Doesn’t seem like this is Cyril,” Caleb added. “Perhaps a busted pipe somewhere in the castle?”
“Maybe,” Finn replied as he once again scanned their surroundings. There was no movement in the forest beyond their location. If it was Cyril surely there would be evidence of an impending attack. “I guess we need to find out if there’s flooding anywhere else.”
Finn turned and started across soggy ground when dirt began boiling to the surface in small mounds. Stopping in his tracks, Finn kicked one of the piles and revealed a small hole underneath.
Bending down, Finn peered into the opening. It wasn’t very deep or wide, but there was water at the bottom. Extending a finger to see if the water was hot or cold, Finn yelped when a small creature burst through the water and lunged for him.
“Fuck,” Blaine barked. “It’s a trap.”
The creature was no more than six or seven inches tall and had brownish-black wiry hair covering its body. At first the critter looked slick, but Finn assumed it was because it came out of the water. The mussel was long and there were sharp teeth filling its mouth. All he could see were gleaming white, sharp daggers perfect for rending flesh. It stood there coiled and ready to pounce on four paws.
Two small, beady, black eyes peered at him. As a Cuelebre dragon shifter, Finn was faster than most species, but not faster than whatever popped out of the ground. It leapt through the air and Finn discovered precisely how sharp those teeth were as they sunk into his hand.
Shaking his arm with as much force as possible, Finn dislodged the snapping dog-like creature. Rising to his feet, Finn ignored the blood dripping from his palm and jumped into the air, aiming his boots at the dog.
As soon as blood burst from under his chunky soles, the area was swarming with the little beasts. They popped from the ground with a high-pitched wail then scurried in every direction. The sound was deafening, and he was shocked how loud the small creatures were. Pain erupted in his lower calves, but Finn was too busy being stunned immobile by the fact that the energy signature he was now able to detect was in fact Unseelie.
How the hell had Cyril managed to pull this off? Where was the alarm? It should be screeching a warning throughout the area. “There are hundreds of these fuckers,” Blaine called out.
Several pained yelps echoed around the area as Finn took off toward the side leading to the castle. The magical protections slowed the creatures, but didn’t dispel them like Finn had hoped.
“Form a barrier in front of Tatenen,” Finn called out. “We cannot allow these fuckers to get past us.”
“I’m calling Pema and Isis. Maybe they can add a containment circle around us,” Blaine replied as he pulled his communicator from his pocket.
While Blaine told the Rowan sisters what they needed, Finn concentrated on stomping the little buggers into the ground. Their bodies splattered, and red liquid squirted across his boots and leathers.
Blaine was overrun by the small beasts and Finn reached out to swat them off his friend’s back. The ground was now a mass of chomping, hairy bodies less than a foot tall. They were relatively easy to kill which confused him.
One kick of his leg sent the four that clung to him sailing through the air. As soon as they clambered up his back, he easily knocked them away. He was covered in tiny (and not so tiny) bite marks that burned like a bitch, but it was nothing too challenging.
Why would Cyril pour so much effort into creating creatures that did not pose a big threat? Their vast numbers were the only thing putting the knights at risk. It made no sense.
Finn snatched one off his shoulder and realized their skin beneath the hair was slick and wet. These fuckers must reproduce by the dozens with each coupling, he thought as he squashed the one he was holding between his fingers.
Noise on the castle wall behind them made him turn around. He watched Isis and Pema standing there with their mates. They held crystals and a potion in their hand. It was impossible for him to hear what they said over the wailing creatures that surrounded them.
White light spread from the powerful witches. As soon as it hit the dirt it immediately shot into the air and arched over them. The creatures dashed toward Tatenen but bounced off the invisible shield barring their progress. This was one plan that was going to backfire on Cyril.
The thought made Finn laugh as he stomped on the small beasts. His boots and pants were now coated in Unseelie blood, as well as, his own. The injuries their claws and teeth inflicted on him seeped blood slowly.
Finn stomped, hit, and smashed without pause and within seconds he found himself getting tired. Their sheer numbers were their biggest asset. He had underestimated the damage these things could do to a being of his caliber.
It was such a rookie move Finn wanted to kick his own ass. From the time he was a little dragonette his father taught him not to take anything for granted and not to dismiss any enemy.
The long years spent training as a Maahes and honing his skills should’ve drilled that message into his head. There was a spider in their woods that wasn’t much smaller than these beasts, and yet the spider was capable of causing great damage with a few bites.
A shout from his left made his head swivel in that direction. Bane was completely covered and trying to battle the beasts but wasn’t having much luck. Finn watched Bane fall to the ground, and all that was visible was the swarm of hairy Unseelie.
Rushing to his friend’s side, Finn picked up several at a time and brought his palms together. Several small cuts opened on his palms where their claws sliced his flesh. Thankfully, when he yanked his hands apart the beasts were dead.
As fast as he could with countless creatures crawling up his legs, Finn brushed them off Bane in great sweeping motions. They s
creeched as they flew, and blood sprayed into the air.
Finn’s body was on fire by that point, and his vision wavered. He wondered if it was blood loss or fatigue making him dizzy. The injuries compounded and occurred too fast for his body to heal.
Shaking his whole body, Finn winced as he noticed large patches of the groundcover withering and dying from the poisoned blood soaking the soil. From the corner of his eye, Finn saw several creatures trying to dig under the invisible barrier.
“Oh, no, you don’t, motherfuckers,” he growled as he stomped toward them. After no more than three steps, Finn’s foot hit one of the holes the creatures surfaced from.
He lost his footing and fell to the ground, twisting his ankle. A shout left his throat at the exact moment his body hit the ground. Pain traveled from his injured leg and all the way up to his head where it bounced off several creatures. His large frame pounded Gods-only-knew how many beasts beneath it.
Levering himself onto his hands he decided it was time to call up the fires in his belly. Getting to his feet, he kept his weight on his uninjured leg and accessed his flames.
After centuries of fighting through the pain it was easy for him to access the heat in his core and spit fireballs at the Unseelie scurrying about the clearing and attacking Maahes.
Following his lead, several of the knights unleashed their flames on the beasts. Blaine’s neck was bleeding from countless scratches while he continued to help Bane. Caleb came up on his right and together they put their backs to the shield the Rowan sisters cast. The energy from the spell tingled along his back while he and Caleb kicked the Unseelie away.
They were incredibly fast and had managed to dig significant sized holes. Finn had no idea if there was a way to dig under the spell, but he didn’t waste time finding out. “You keep attacking the ones out there,” Finn told Caleb. “And, I will get these trying to dig under.”
Not bothering to make sure the knight followed instructions, Finn rapidly spit fireballs into the deep holes. Shrieks echoed around them. Needing to make sure he reached the bottom of the pile Finn lowered his hand into the flames and snatched the Unseelie on fire and tossed them over his shoulder.
As a Cuelebre dragon he was immune to dragon fire. Unfortunately, some of the creatures continued biting and clawing his hands. Ignoring the discomfort, Finn quickly cleared the beasts and turned to help Caleb and the others.
By the time they scorched the last Unseelie several minutes later, Finn was breathing heavily, and his stomach was churning as bile rose up his throat. Bane and Blaine kicked flaming carcasses aside as they made their way to Finn and Caleb.
Legette and Angus joined the Rowan sisters on the wall above them. “Smells awful, doesn’t it?” Finn asked when he met Angus’s light green eyes.
“Shite. That smells worse than rotting animals,” the Cuelebre King said with a curse.
“I can’t decide if it’s more fish or more torc,” Finn added. “The skrote is resorting to attacking from underground now. Is there a way to keep that from happening?”
Finn’s head swayed as he looked up and stumbled a step before catching himself. Angus’s mouth turned down at the corners. “Get your arses inside now. The mundunugu are on their way to the throne room,” the king barked then turned to the witches. “Can you extend the protections below the surface?”
Finn missed their response as he and his fellow Maahes limped through the doors and inside the castle. Thank fuck Angus called the healers. He was tired and felt like ass. His entire body felt like it was burning from the inside out. No doubt it was the effect of having Unseelie blood infiltrate his system.
He thanked the Gods for his sturdy dragon nature. His wounds would heal in no time and his body would force out the toxins at the same time. With a little rest, he would be good as new. He would feel much better if he could find a female to fuck.
Like many Maahes he enjoyed releasing the tension and adrenaline after a fight. There was no better way to do that than to take a female to his bed.
The urge to shower and seek out Talysia hit him hard. Having the sexy siren nurse him back to health would speed that process up tenfold. He had no idea what his relationship with Tal meant or if there was anything beyond sexual attraction between them, but he wanted to explore it further. Finn acknowledged he craved the siren more than he thought possible, and it thrilled him as much as it scared the shit out of him.
* * *
Chapter 8
For the first time in longer than she could remember, trepidation rose in Izzy’s chest, nearly choking her. She loved adventure and, better yet, doing something her mother would deem reckless. Such as having Phineas, the Stoorworm King, take her down to Saqara, the city beneath the sea, where he ruled.
“Hey, you.” Donovan said as he nudged her shoulder with his.
He was so much bigger since moving to Khoth with his family. He was born eight years before Izzy, but because she moved to Khoth before he did, they were now the same age. Yeah, the way time moved so much faster on Khoth messed with her head too.
“Why so glum?” he added.
“Huh? Oh, I’m not glum,” she replied. “Just nervous.”
Donovan gasped and his hand flew to his chest. “The infamous Isobel Tarakesh, notorious thrill seeker, is nervous about a little deep-sea diving?”
She couldn’t help but chuckle at the mock horror in Donovan’s tone of voice. “It’s just that it seems like too much of a risk for us to be doing this. I mean, Angus wouldn’t even allow Blaze to come and he can swim without one of Pema and your mom’s charms.” She held the necklace the powerful witch sisters imbued with a spell that would create a bubble of air around their heads so they could breathe.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my Iz? You look like her, smell like her, and dress like her, but you don’t sound like her,” he teased with a wink. “But, seriously, we can go back if you don’t want to do this.”
Heat flushed through Izzy’s face and her throat tightened. It had been years since she discovered sea dragons existed and lived in the oceans of Khoth. From the moment the Cuelebre Queen, Keira, told Izzy about Saqara she wanted to see it for herself.
“No. I don’t want to go back. I have begged Angus for years to let Phineas take me to his world. No way am I going to miss it,” she told him.
Donovan graced her with one of his wide smiles. The affection was clear in his blue eyes. His brown hair was getting long, and the curls weren’t as noticeable at this length. Females loved the careless style he sported most days. She knew it was because he barely ran his fingers through it after his shower, but she’d overheard countless females cooing over his locks.
“Do you think we’ll see mermaids?” Donovan asked excitedly.
Donovan’s energy was contagious, and Izzy found herself smiling and recalling what Talysia told them about mermaids from her home realm of Calypso. “I think it’s possible, but I’m not certain. The siren from the food shack at the beach said she knew mermaids traveled here before the portals closed. I for one have always believed they are real.”
Donovan glanced at her sideways. “So that’s what Talysia is? Makes sense. Her voice was something else. You know, I never thought about it before but maybe you’re a seer, like your mom.”
Izzy cocked her head, looking at Donovan. He was swinging a large branch in front of his body in an easy motion. “No one usually calls my mom a seer. She hates the term.
Says it puts too much pressure on her, but that’s exactly what she is. As for me, I don’t think so. It’s the same with my Dad. He can dream share, but I can’t. I don’t have premonitions. Who knows? Maybe once I transition, that will be a power bestowed on me. But for now, my belief in mermaids is sheer hope.”
“Well, we’re about to find out,” Donovan replied as he kicked a rock that was in his path.
Izzy nodded her agreement as she felt her excitement build. Smoke and an acrid scent filled the air as they got closer to Raynah Beach. Debris impeded their progress after another few feet. Donovan stopped and picked up the branches before tossing them out of the way.
Jumping in to help the process, Izzy picked up large items and cleared even more of the path. When they broke through the trees, a gasp escaped her. The damage to the soft sand was unmistakable. Several feet were missing from the top and there was now a three-step staircase leading from the trail to the beach area.
Thankfully, the damage to the boardwalk and businesses was minimal. Izzy skipped down the steps and raced across the sand when she saw the sea dragon in the water. “Phineas,” she called out and waved.
“You’re the only person I know that would call a king by his first name,” Donovan said under his breath so just she could hear.
“What? I’m not being disrespectful. Do you think it upsets him?” she asked as she contemplated if Donovan was right.
“No. I don’t think it upsets him, and you do it because you have a vastly different view of rulers than anyone else. Your dad is a king and you are his heir, so it makes sense that you see them as equals.”
“I never thought of it like that. My mom hates when subjects call her Highness. I tend to think like she does,” Izzy explained and kicked off her shoes as they reached the water.