Hate

by K. A Knight

  It forms through the clouds and fog, stretching so far into the sky I can’t see the tip of it. Flattening my wings, I push higher and higher, climbing through the clouds until I reach the peak, which is an open top, giving me a clear view downwards into the base of the mountain that is far, far down.

  It’s a volcano.

  A dormant one, clearly, and I can feel the net over the top to protect the opening from attack. To keep things in...or out? I’m not sure, but I can’t get in that way, so I tuck in my wings and dive, flying around each side as I try to find an entrance.

  I have to circle three more times and open my mind, pushing out my powers to search the thick, black rock until I locate the opening the ghosts mentioned. A concealed entrance sits at the base behind it, hidden by the edge of the cliff it stands on. If you didn’t have the power or knowledge of how to look, you wouldn’t find it. They really were not taking any chances.

  I set down on the edge of the cliff and change back, lifting my head as I reach for Dawn.

  I will be there soon, hold on.

  Let’s hope the sleeping council doesn’t try to kill me. It would be horrible to explain to my mate why we have the whole supernatural world hunting us down if I murder them.

  Sucking in the cold air one more time, I head into the carved black doorway. I feel a boundary pass over me instantly and I drop to my knees in agony. I can’t breathe, can’t see, or even hear. I lose track of everything, and I seem to be spinning, but I could be wrong. Heat starts at the soles of my feet and travels through my body like lava erupting from my head.

  The sensation surges repeatedly until I am screaming. At least I think I am, it’s hard to tell. But I am a dragon and this is fire. I let the change flow through me, and the cool feeling of the souls trapped in my dragon sooth the burn until I flick open my eyes, my tail dancing behind me as my mouth expands to eat whoever did that to me…

  But there is no one there.

  Surely that couldn’t be a deterrent to get out? If so, what else will be lingering the closer I get…that one nearly killed me as it is. And Griffin said I was antisocial, these guys take it to a whole new level. Forcing the change when I realise I won’t fit through the path that seems to lead up through the caldera, I let my bare human feet meet the sharp rocks, which instantly cut into them. My blood puddles on the black, shiny stone for a moment before being absorbed, like the rock itself is tasting me.

  I shiver, I can’t wait to get out of here. A bad feeling pushes through me at being here, my dragon roaring to flee. Who and what exactly is on the sleeping council? I wish I had asked.

  But I push forward, knowing Griffin will never let me live it down if I come back empty-handed or abscond from the mountain. He will be all, ‘oh big, bad dragon got scared? Poor baby,’ and then I will have to gut him, and that will really put a damper on my relationship with Dawn.

  Muttering to myself, I head farther into the volcano. I insult Griffin and his stupid wings, which are more decorative that functional—I mean, come on...feathers? He can’t even kill anyone with them! Next I start on his stupid, pretty face, the crazy bastard.

  My muttering only stops when the rocks on either side of me give way and open up into a giant hole in the volcano. Okay then. Standing on the edge, I look around for stairs or a path, but there isn’t one, there is just blackness below me in a chasm, and darkness above me.

  And I thought Griffin wasn’t very hospitable.

  Leaping forward, I change mid-air, catching the upstream and flapping my wings to carry me upwards. I’m hoping that’s where they are, they wouldn’t be down, right? Who knows, this whole place is a maze.

  I spot another open cave near the top, which seems a lot taller than the outside, undoubtedly with more magic. I have to change mid-flight and throw myself forward to get into the cave. Rolling to my feet, I come face-to-face with a small man wearing a drab, grey tunic tied at the top with short brown hair. His eyes are wide and alarmed. In his hand is a jug, and I sniff to smell whisky.

  “Hello,” I greet, and he squeaks like a mouse and takes off back into the cave, his feet slapping against the rock. I hear the squeal slowly grow quieter and quieter until it disappears.

  Well, that was odd.

  Shrugging, I follow after him at a normal pace, wondering if he has gone to warn the sleeping council or whoever is awake. They felt me enter, I know it, unless they were distracted. Wait, do they actually sleep? What if they are asleep right now and he panicked because they didn’t feel my arrival?

  The tunnel curves around and down a bit, with carved stone stairs that assist in my descent, until it opens up into what looks like a throne room where two angry-looking supernaturals are standing with the small man hiding behind them and pointing towards me.

  They both turn my way. One’s eyes flash gold, while the other grins, even as mist swirls around him.

  “Hello, do you have any appointments available to speak to the council?” I inquire, and then almost cringe at that. Who storms into a volcano, which is cursed and protected by magic, hunting a sleeping council to save their mate, and then is that polite?

  “I mean, I need to see the sleeping council!” I demand, and raise my chin.

  “Well, well, a dragon, how interesting. How did you get past the guards, I wonder?” the one with the black eyes muses, stepping by the infuriated man who is glaring at me as if I have burned down his home and then asked him to cook me dinner.

  “It was easy, I am a king, after all.” I sniff.

  His lips quirk up again. He’s taller than me, skinnier though, but has some bulk. The power that is leaking from him is staggering and his face, though just as beautiful as my own, has an edge to it—it’s too perfect. Too sharp, too many angles. His eyes are dark, and his eyebrows slope down even as he smirks. I can almost see the outline of a giant monster behind him in the mist that swirls around him.

  What is he?

  “Not something you have ever encountered before, dragon, I can assure you,” he answers, addressing my thought, and I startle.

  “Serpent, this is not protocol! That—this is disturbing, unruly, and against all our laws! We must kill him!” the other man yells, but the first, Serpent, ignores him and tilts his head, watching me closely as a dog comes to his side…if dogs measure to your chest and look like the spawn of evil. Yet the man pets its head like a treasured toy without one ounce of fear on his face.

  “I do not fear what I created. Come, dragon, step inside, tell us why you are here.”

  “You step too far, Serpent! You crave chaos and now look where this has brought us—” The other man’s voice cuts off in a gargle as the serpent whirls and rips out his throat, throwing it to the servant like a trophy. He then turns back to me.

  “There, that will keep him quiet for a while, he does talk too much.” He turns and heads up a dais I didn’t see before and sits on a throne, throwing his legs carelessly over it as his...pet sits at his feet, its red eyes glaring at me.

  I step into the room, the rock solid under my feet. The ceiling is massive here, reaching high up with floating lanterns. To the right are inscriptions along the floor, almost flaring with magic. The servant is standing there, still holding the throat as he looks from it to the other man and back again.

  “M-Master, I—what shall I do with this?” he asks, fear coating his tone as he lifts up the other man’s trachea.

  “Whatever you would like to do with it. Bring us something to drink,” the serpent calls, and waves him away, his eyes locked on me with interest. “So, dragon, why are you here? Not many would be able to find us, never mind get through our barriers. You had to know this would be a death sentence, so tell me why?”

  “For my mate,” I tell him, stepping farther into the room. The hound snarls and I still.

  “Ahh, love.” He spits the word ‘love’ like it’s a falsehood, and I raise an eyebrow. “Or maybe just lust. Free piece of advice, dragon, love is a lie, always trust lust.” He pats the hound.
“So, your mate, what does she or he have to do with you seeking us out?”

  “She, she’s in danger—”

  “How marvellous, why should we care?” he interrupts, and I force back my growl. I can’t be a ‘rich prick,’ as Griffin said, around this man, he could kill me with a blink of an eye. I can feel it. Even a dragon knows when they are beat, and this man is something...old. Ancient, dark, and powerful, maybe even a god.

  “Because that danger is your council,” I offer instead.

  He blinks. I’ve shocked him, I can tell. “Those pompous assholes, what have they done now?”

  It’s my turn to blink, he doesn’t like them? “They are kidnapping female supernaturals and experimenting on them, humans too. It is starting to get noticed. Human police are involved and now hunters are working with the council,” I summarise quickly.

  He leaps to his feet with a roar, the room filling with darkness that seems to suffocate me. I have trouble breathing and fall to my knees, and when it finally clears, I get a look at the true monster I am dealing with and it steals my breath once again.

  If he doesn’t kill us, he might just be the key to saving Dawn.

  He stands before me, no longer a man, his curved horns touching the ceiling. His eyes are black, and in them I see roaring flames. His mouth is wide and filled with rows and rows of sharp teeth like a shark. His face is skeletal but covered in flesh, and he has no eyebrows, but his hair remains the same. His body is wider than even my dragon’s, his arms bigger than my human body. He is covered in nothing but a black piece of cloth over his manly bits, and swirls of red cover his skin, lighting up like I saw a volcano do once while it was erupting. It looks like the flames of hell are trapped inside his body.

  He is a true monster and my dragon grins in approval.

  “They are stealing women?” he booms, and I hear a noise. Turning, I see the other man getting to his feet, rubbing his throat. He glances up and gawks at the serpent who, with a giant fist, punches the other man straight through the wall. He looks back at me. “I felt pain, it woke me up, the flashes of a woman. She was being kidnapped.”

  My eyes fly wide, he could mean any woman, he could...but my gut tells me he doesn’t. “Blonde hair? Body to die for?”

  His eyes narrow. “I did not see.” His voice is so deep, like the shifting of rocks, that I feel blood start to drip from my ears. He finally calms down enough to change back. I watch this monstrous form melt, and then he is before me again with determination on his face.

  “I was going to find her, she intrigued me. If they have taken her, they will answer to me. Come, dragon, let us free your mate and find out what the council is truly doing. I might even let you help me kill them.” He walks past me, the hound on his heels which I swear sticks his tongue out at me.

  “She doesn’t need rescuing, she can rescue herself, she is strong, really strong. The problem is she will kill all of them. I didn’t want you to come after her.”

  That stops him, and he turns his head, a grin on his face. “Your mate sounds like fun. I can’t guarantee I won’t kill her, but I would make it quick. Now, are you coming or do you want the angel to resurrect again and kill you?”

  Fuck, what have I unleashed on the world?

  I feel her need, it calls to me. Echoing through my head and heart. The urge to rush to my mate’s side is so strong I actually step from the forest. My little monster wants for nothing, yet here she is. Needing me, needing to feed and to fuck and I am not there. I have trust in the fallen, but she is my everything and I am done waiting on the side lines.

  I did not become the fabled Cernunnos to hide amongst the trees when the soul I have been waiting for since birth is in need. Turning my head to meet the eyes of the animals waiting for orders, I send the whispers into their head. Giving them instructions on what to do. I have two plans in place.

  Give me a minute, I am good.

  Give me an hour, I am amazing.

  Give me days? I am unstoppable. I could raze this world to the ground and walk amongst the ashes until I found her.

  One way or another, the next time I walk free from that house it will either be with my mate or dead. Once they know their roles, I turn back to the house. The early morning light is warming the world, cutting through the dark where humans believe monsters hide.

  But monsters don’t just work in the dark, no, they live in the light. Amongst you, hiding in plain sight. I am done hiding. Dawn is mine and I am getting her back. I stood by and did nothing once, and all that was left was the empty husks of the people I once cared about.

  If I have to become that monster, the one the world fears, to save my mate, then I will. I will gladly feast on their fears as I kill them. I promised myself never again, but when your mate’s life hangs in the balance, nothing matters. Not fear of yourself, not promises. Just her.

  The world is silent, an eerie stillness as if it is holding its breath for what I will do. I know there is something special about my little monster, something destined, and it seems I am part of that destiny now. Actions have consequences and I can feel the fates’ keen eyes locked on me, waiting, wondering.

  Maybe this is the reason for my creation, mystics are made for a purpose. The old gods were made to create the races, others were built for a pivotal point in history, but me? I have been waiting...waiting for now?

  Dawn is my reason. I will do my duties by the fates and pray they let me live through it to spend a lifetime or two with my mate.

  I step from the forest, ready for what is thrown my way. My decision is made, I will pay whatever the consequence may be. As long as my moments are by her side, nothing else matters.

  I feel it then, the warm brush of the fates, they whisper to me of destinies and prophecies before blowing away with the wind, and I know I have made the right choice. I am meant to be here, as is Dawn...for what purpose?

  We will find out together.

  The gravel crunches under my feet as I head to the front gates and wait. Legs spread and head tilted back, I feel the brush of their magic as they try to assess who and what I am. I allow it and I feel them pull back instantly. Shock reverberates through the air.

  The gates open like I knew they would, they would not dare deny me access. They once asked me to sit on the council, but being a mystic meant I had no one to represent, and it would have been wrong of me. It did not stop them from trying, and I ultimately walked away and never looked back...so for me to be here?

  They are scared of what it means.

  I can feel it, taste it on the breeze as I walk up the drive, past the water feature. I sense the bond connected to Dawn pointing downwards, but I do not head there instantly, it would only begin a war. No, for now I will play the political game.

  I also feel Griffin, he’s angry and in pain, the norm for the fallen.

  I brush along his mind and I sense him look up in shock and confusion, but I simply pull back and leap up the steps as the front door to the council house opens. There, standing in the doorway, is Amos, head of the council. He is ruffled, I can tell it immediately. His suit is wrinkled, his cane is held tightly in his right hand, and his eyes are narrowed and lips thin.

  “Cernunnos, to what do we owe this pleasure?” He sniffs, probing for information, but I flare out my power and push him back. He stumbles from the force, his face flashing in anger before he smooths it and lifts his chin defiantly. I will not get away with that again, to snub his question was simply etiquette and a proof of power, but to attack him again would suggest I am an enemy and the council would be within their rights to kill me on sight.

  The dance of politics begins.

  “I simply wished to visit our council and offer my assistance in the case of the missing females,” I rumble, bowing my head slightly to show that I still see him as the leader. “You are looking into it, are you not?”

  “Well, I am afraid that is private council business—”

  “Of course, I ask merely because others have been comin
g to me with their worries. May I come in?” I inquire with a small smile.

  I watch as he tries to come up with a retort, a way to block my entrance, but he can’t. I am here with help, and though we both know it hides ulterior motives, he can’t call me out for it without breaking etiquette and suggesting I am a spy, which would give me cause to challenge his leadership. His throne is balanced on shaky ground, he needs no more shaking to topple him from it and he recognises that.

  Stepping back, he allows me to pass and I stop in the entryway, looking around at the obvious grandeur they are projecting. “I see you have redecorated, it could do with some more nature in my opinion, it would make you seem less…” I look over my shoulder at him, allowing my eyes to flash white, a simple slight. “Dead inside.”

  His face scrunches up, and I can actually see his eagle feathers ruffling as I turn away. Without being invited, I head to the lounge on the right, making myself at home as I wander around the room. Picking up artefacts and mementoes from history. I hear him follow me, his power washing through the room in a petty display. If only he knew that his tiny drop of power did not even match me on my weakest days, I wonder if he would try to kill me now or later.

  Later is my guess, while I was sleeping.

  Those kinds of assassinations and subterfuge are the council’s game, everything is done behind your back. They smile to your face while their servants plunge the dagger there. “Care to share why you are here and not playing god in your little forest?” he sneers.

  “I have already informed you, I had people come to me with concerns on how the council was handling the missing women. I wanted to offer my services as you seem to be struggling,” I drawl, and then turning around, I throw myself onto the sofa, taking a note from Griffin’s book, making sure to put my dirty boots up on the pristine white sofa. “As always my service is open for our esteemed leaders.”