by Raven Storm
“Will you join me on a walk?”
Thad ignored him. Benedict grabbed him up by his collar and pushed him none-too-gently away from our circle.
“I said—we’re going for a walk.”
Thad shoved Benedict’s hands down but let himself be led away. They weaved through the camp, and out of sight.
“Don’t worry, I don’t think he’ll kill him,” I joked weakly. Probably not. Hopefully. My voice caught, and I looked to Kieran for support. His green eyes were narrowed in contemplation.
“Where did you say he hailed from? Specifically?”
Spike poked the fire, unruffled by the entire confrontation.
“He was raised in Aldur, with a family friend near my own estates. I can vouch for that much. His father was a well-known blood descendent of the royal Cantradian line, well-documented if you’d like to see that as well.”
Kieran stared at his hands, as if trying to solve a complex riddle.
“His mother?”
Spike spit on the ground, then covered it with his boot.
“Never got that part of the story. His father showed up beaten and bloody, damn near dead with a squalling babe in his arms. Said they were attacked by lykos. He didn’t make it through the next week after the infection set in. Didn’t get a chance to learn much else. I assumed he was with a band of rebels, and the mother died.”
Kieran’s ears were pricked towards the direction Benedict had gone.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
Green eyes swung back to meet mine.
“I wouldn’t worry. Benedict will have it in hand.”
His tone made me think the exact opposite and I didn’t appreciate being lied to. So much for their grand speech about trust!
“Thad means well, I assure you.” Spike offered; his grey eyebrows raised. “He has carried a large burden his entire life, and sometimes it becomes too much for him.”
“We all have our burdens.” I shot back. Spike put his hands up in the air, ending the argument. The meeting dispersed, with everyone eager to attend to their last-minute affairs.
“I will be glad to get back to Lyoness.”
On that, Kieran and I could both agree.
The refugees moved out and down the tunnels in a calm, orderly manner. Zara was down at the bay, monitoring the tunnel’s entrance from the other side. Becca smiled at me brightly, waving. Her hands were full of clothing and supplies.
“I hear you are accompanying us to the bay?”
“Yes. I have some special abilities that could be useful if we run into trouble.”
Becca sighed wistfully, her face taking on a dreamy look.
“I am friends with a draken! Who would have thought!”
I recognized a few faces from the cage around her—others who had been sold and shipped off from her farm. I glanced back at the massive line forming, everyone preparing themselves for a difficult march that would take the entire night. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Benedict, stalking towards us. A moment later Thad appeared from the same shadow but went in the other direction
Becca bowed nervously when Benedict reached us, but he ignored her.
“Be careful. Shift back at the first sign of danger.”
“I am not a child, Benedict. I grow tired of being treated like one.”
His callused hands cupped my face gently, his forehead bent forward to touch mine. He closed his eyes.
“You are right. You are so much more than that. You are my life—my soul. If something ever happened to you, I would make the world burn.”
Adrenaline spiked through my veins, arousal thick and hot in my blood. He captured my lips in a brief but lingering kiss, taking time to fully taste my mouth and bite gently on my lower lip. He pulled away, and I had to remind myself to breathe.
“Come back to me.”
I could only blink dumbly as he left, making his way towards the rebel fighters.
“Oh la. Where’s the other one? I’d like to see him top that.”
Kieran dropped out of nowhere, his wings sending nearby refugees scurrying with a curse and Becca shrieking in delight. He grabbed me and flew back up, out of sight in a small alcove high in the ceiling.
“You heard what she said, didn’t you?”
He flashed me wry grin, fangs and all.
“Benedict can’t have all the notoriety.”
I leaned my head against his chest, relishing the feel of his body against mine.
“No, I suppose not.”
Kieran tipped a finger under my chin, gently lifting my eyes to his.
“He is right. You are everything. Not just to me, or Benedict and Ronan, but the entire draken race. If you do not love yourself enough to take care, love us enough to do so.”
I jerked, my chest tightening at the truth behind his words.
“Don’t cry,” he admonished, tucking me against him. “You are already three times the female you were when you came to our mountain, afraid and beaten. You have always been a survivor—this is no different. You are a queen, Wren.”
I wiped my tears on my hands, my scales rough against the softer skin around my eyes.
“I can handle myself, thanks to you and Benedict, and Ronan.”
I hated the whining tone of my voice. His hand moved between my wings, rubbing a comforting circle on my back.
“I trust you just fine. I do not trust anyone else in this world to treat you properly or to not get you killed. Please understand Benedict and I are fighting old instincts that have not caught up to our evolved minds. I know it’s not an excuse, but we are trying.”
“I know.” I whispered back.
“Now, let’s give those humans something to really talk about.”
I screeched in happiness as he devoured my mouth. If I appeared rumpled or had any odd bruises around my neck when I returned to Becca’s side, she didn’t say anything. She did raise one eyebrow suggestively, smirking.
“I’d sell my soul to have one man look at me like that, let alone the three you got mooning over you.”
I smiled smugly, holding a torch to help light the way as we began our long procession through the darkness. After a while, my mind caught up to her comment, and I frowned as I pondered the meaning. Becca had never met Ronan to see how he acted around me. It troubled me throughout the night, but I shook it away. It hardly mattered now. Our plan was underway, and only the dawn would bring us answers.
Eighteen
We walked through the night, keeping ourselves roused and awake by telling our stories. Each saga of suffering and pain was another dose of adrenaline through our veins, keeping our legs moving and our feet steady. One young woman finished a horrific tale of abuse, detailing how her vampyre master had kept her as a pleasure slave, shackled to his bed. I shivered, knowing Crullfed’s beatings were a cakewalk compared to that.
“I really had it easy on the farm,” Becca said, her voice once again taking on that wistful tone. “Usually we have strict breeding laws—well, of course you know that, knowing where you grew up and all. Our Master didn’t really care if or who we bred with; it led to more humans to work the farm, after all.”
I looked out at the small mass of humanity stretched in either direction.
“It does seem almost idyllic compared to these stories.”
An older woman who had walked near us for most of the way tapped on my shoulder.
“Where did you grow up?”
It grew quiet as everyone near us listened—only the sound of our feet on the stone could be heard.
“I grew up as a human slave in a breeding manor—Lord Crullfed’s, just outside the city.”
I felt their eyes flick to me, confusion and curiosity warring amongst them. A little girl on her father’s shoulders reached her hands out to me.
“You were a human?”
I took a deep breath and told my story. They gasped at the appropriate times and had tears of anger when I told them all I had suffered. By the time I revealed how my own
enchantment had been broken by Benedict, there wasn’t a single dry eye around me.
“How romantic…” Becca crooned.
I reared back.
“Romantic? He tried to kill himself to pull off a lie in the hopes I’d realize I was the lost siren!”
Another woman clutched her heart, fanning her face with her free hand.
“Like she said—romantic.”
“He fought his own desires all those centuries because he was in love with you and didn’t want to end your protection! It’s the most wonderful love story I’ve ever heard!”
I gaped at the young woman who appeared in front of me, my jaw nearly hitting the ground in disbelief.
“That’s not—it isn’t—that’s not how any of it happened!”
Becca laughed, patting my shoulder as everyone around me began telling the tale to the people around them, spreading my story up and down the refugee line.
“Give it up, Wren. It is a fantastical story.”
“And what about the part where my human lives were miserable, and he treated me like utter shit, even after I fought with his people against the attacking demon hordes?”
Her brown eyes lit up with mirth.
“That part isn’t nearly as interesting. Besides, he said he’d burn the world for you.”
I threw my hands in the air in exasperation, almost taking out the older man behind me with my wings.
“I don’t want anyone to burn the world for me!” I cried. “I’m not worth it,” I whispered, my eyes feeling hot with tears. Becca grabbed my shoulders, her face tinged with sympathy.
“Then I am so happy you have men who see your worth. I pray to the gods that one day, you will too.”
A shout was heard up ahead, even as a crack of daylight could be seen. My legs hurt and I was hungry, but we’d made it with no incidents. I pushed my way to the front, meeting Zara who kept everyone in the cave, out of the sunlight
“Are you able to climb up the dunes and look around? It would be ideal if you could provide cover.”
I nodded, and easily scaled the high dunes with my claws and a flap of wings. The harbor was eerily quiet as dawn crept over the horizon, the human slaves who manned the fishing vessels not even yet to their boats to start the day’s work. I dared to fly higher, gazing out over the expanse of the sea. What I saw made my heart freeze in my chest.
I dove down to the earth, nearly crashing face first into the sand as my claws scrabbled for purchase. I ran to Zara, out of breath and panic on my face. Her face tightened when she saw me.
“What is it? What have you seen?”
I looked at her, and then to the hundreds of refugees behind her, crowded into the passageway.
“The demon armada is coming.”
Zara was a true leader. She allowed a few seconds of fear to twist her features, then a moment later smoothed them out, turning to me with fire in her eyes. We had limited time to plan.
“I can fly out—use my voice magicks to try and take some of them down.”
Zara’s lips quirked upwards quickly in a sad smile.
“It wouldn’t be enough. They would kill you quickly.”
“It could buy you time,” I countered, “enough to get the refugees loaded and escape down the coastline. Besides, I’m not as easy to hit as you think.”
I disappeared in a wisp of smoke ten feet to her right, then back again. Her only reaction was to blink, then nod. Without another word, we raced apart. I flew high into the air, my wings straining and stretching as I fought for altitude against dead air. Zara was shouting now, yelling as refugees ran across the sand towards a large ship anchored at the edge of the harbor. She yelled at those on board, screaming obscenities so thick and piercing it made me blush. Gangplanks were lowered and ropes thrown down. Could they all make it on in time?
That was Zara’s problem. Mine was to distract and detain. I tilted my wings, pointing my body directly at the black line that stretched across the entire horizon. Fear filled my veins, but more on behalf of the terrified people below me than for my own safety.
I raced out to meet the oncoming horde, reaching deep within myself to find my inner draken—embracing her instincts. When the ships were a few hundred yards away I shrieked as loudly as I could, the piercing sound tumbling demons and vampyre alike as they clutched their heads in agony. Male and female vampyres and demons alike fell into the ocean, only to be run over by their own ships, dragged and drowned beneath their massive hulls.
I kept it up for as long as I could, pausing only when most of them shoved wax or bits of cloth into their ears. I disappeared, leaving their archers fumbling with nothing to shoot at.
I reappeared in the air of the fleet’s left wing, far enough away that they hadn’t heard or been affected by my voice. I sang again—a low, seductive tone that left everyone on deck freezing, unable to focus on anything but me. The demon at the ship’s helm fell forward, turning the wheel as he slumped forward. The ship careened into its own line, wreaking havoc as ships crashed into each other in a domino effect. Shrieks and screams filled the air. I reached within myself and disappeared again, repeating the procedure on the right flank.
The lines of the armada were breaking from the outside in, but I wondered if it would be enough. I looked to the shore, where Zara’s ship had just drawn up anchor, struggling to move with no breeze. The center ships were ready, archers poised with arrows if I made a reappearance. I had no choice but to try and delay them further.
I said a quick prayer to the gods as I appeared against above the front lines of the fleet, trying to fly in an unpredictable pattern and too quickly for them to get a bead on me. I sang as loudly as I could, but they had blocked their ears.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of the Lost Siren?”
Severn stood on the deck of the grandest ship in the middle, unafraid as a long red cloak billowed around him. I wanted to smack the grin off his face, but there was no point in responding. I could see the wax in his ears even from my position in the sky. I vaguely wondered if I could sacrifice myself on his ship, and how many ships it could take out. It might be the only way the refugees escape. If I just—
A loud horn sounded from behind the fleet, and I turned. Far out to sea the water was lifting, a small wave forming and rolling towards us. The horn sounded again, and the wave grew, refusing to break on itself, and growing larger, and larger. Those on the ships closest to the rear began shouting and crying out for help. The armada broke formation, each ship suddenly only out for itself. Severn screamed in rage, but hope welled in my chest. My draken eyes caught a small figure riding the top of the wave, a large conch shell clutched in her hand. Blonde, dreadlocked hair shook itself side to side in delight as she blew another call on the horn.
Meruse.
Sea witches emerged to ride the wave along with her, which was three times as tall as any of the ships. The wave crashed into the armada with no mercy, wrecking into ships and drowning out the screams of the demon hordes. Masts cracked and fell into the water, the ships no more than weak timber against the mighty force of the water. Once the wave cleared, the sea witches were left behind, meeting the gasping survivors with steel and iron. It was over in minutes, with only Severn’s large ship surviving enough to reach the shore, instantly beached.
Severn dragged himself onto the sandy beach, turning to fix me with a deadly look full of promise. He snapped at his crew as they desperately raced back out to steady the ship, lest it incur any more damage. He looked out into the bay where the rest of his forces sank beneath the waves, the waters black with demon and vampyre blood. Meruse’s head emerged from the water as she stoically walked towards Severn, death in her eyes. Her sea witches flanked her on either side, and Severn called out to his men, screaming at them to abandon the ship. If they were in the water, it was too late. The sea witches dragged them down into the depths, never again to emerge. The moment Meruse’s leather boots touched the shore, Severn turned tail and ran, the surviving vampyres
and demons with him.
“The refugees!” I shouted, pointing at the struggling ship dangerously close to the rocks near the coastline. With a sharp whistle Meruse and her witches disappeared back under the water, surfacing around Zara’s ship. Slowly, so slowly, the ship turned, and the witches pushed it further out to sea. I raised a fist in victory and shifted back to the rebel camp to report our success.
Nineteen
As planned, the underground lair was empty. Benedict was waiting, with Thad at his side.
“The refugees escaped, and the entire demon armada was destroyed thanks to the sea witches. We are in an excellent position to take back the city.”
Benedict closed his eyes, relief lifting his shoulders.
“Good. I was afraid they would be too late, or not come at all.”
I laughed, the adrenaline from the battle still coursing through my veins.
“It was brilliant!” My eyes shifted to Thad, who was staring at the ground. “What did you offer them to get them to agree?”
Benedict looked away, not meeting my eyes. I narrowed my gaze at him.
“What did you promise?”
He sighed. “I swore we would find their missing witches as soon as this battle was won. Why? Don’t you think I plan to follow through?”
That was precisely what I thought but mentioning it now would get us nowhere. I turned to Thad, scowling.
“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with your men? I can shift you to Cantrada.”
“You’re not going to Cantrada.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised but laughed in his face regardless.
“You’re joking. I have control of my voice magicks—I can fight. Just try to stop me.”
Benedict was far too calm in the face of my refusal.
“I won’t have to. Thad has agreed to stay behind and guard you.”
