Dragon Born

by J N Moon

  Finally, I’d stopped shaking, pulling myself out I grabbed a towel and went to find my bag of clothes, walking passed those huge windows, my heart dropped looking at the power of the sea. Here in Orkney nature is bold, beautiful and evidently mightier than man or beast. Or maybe it’s Teran since he controls the ocean. Either way, Luke was out there and I wouldn’t stop until I found him and got him away. Startled from my daydream as Elijah and Ava suddenly appeared in front of the window, both looking fresh faced and wind swept, backpacks slung over their shoulders.

  And they were smiling, which I wasn’t sure if that unsettled me more.

  I heard Conor call to them, so left to get my clothes glad I’d packed my wetsuit if Lucius’s plan worked.

  “Here, have this and this one,” Conor smiled warmly, handing me a fried egg sandwich and mug of coffee. “Aside from the coffee, it’s all from the island,” he grinned.

  Finding a seat next to Sabian, my stomach rumbled noisily and I tucked in as the others briefed the dragon shifters as we all sat around the large pine dining table.

  “You met a Selkie?” Ava’s voice high and shocked.

  “You could actually, really say she fell for him,” Lucius laughed, shooting me a grin.

  Wiping egg yolk from my chin, I retorted, “Shut up Lucius!" I laughed, "They were leaving and I had to stop them,” I gasped, grabbing Sabian’s arm. He furrowed his eyebrows, “I thought I was going to die, this sea scares the shit out of me, it dragged me down.” Breathing deeply, Sabian wrapped his arm around me pulling me into his side, “Well, firstly, don’t go off on your own again because you could’ve died and we've come here to help. Now you know that Kai is tied to you for seven years. It's good they're going to help us, but not so good for him."

  "You're wrong, that only applies to humans, and I'm not that. But I need to find the cave today where Luke is being held, the longer he's down there..."

  "No Emma, you're wrong, Kai is tied to you. But that's the least of our problems right now. When you've eaten, I'll try and guide you through the process of using the light to radiate through your body. But, getting there, finding Luke still leaves us with a huge problem, how the hell do we kill Teran? I think the only way possible is for me to go with Kai and seek out help. To kill a God we need to find a God, and that's the easy bit, then I have to convince a God to help us, and me being a demon- not so easy,” Lucius mused.

  "But how can you go with Kai, you'll die," I moaned.

  "I'm physical because I was created from the fear of a mortal, I'm not human Emma, less so than you." Rubbing his eyes, he may not be human or real but he did look tired.

  "I will need your help- all of you when I get back,” Lucius sighed.

  “How will you find a God?” I mumbled in between mouthfuls.

  Rolling his lips, Lucius looked out towards the window. “You’d be surprised what’s out there Emma. I will ask Kai if he’s willing to show me, or tell me where I can find him, if of course he really exists, which I assume he does, as we exist. It would help, no doubt. Teran is still formidable, so we'll still need a powerful deity to help or... or a weapon of a God," Lucius pondered.

  Leaning forward suddenly, Sabian gasped, "No... no, you can't, surely Lucius, I doubt Kai will agree."

  "Ok, what am I missing?" I questioned.

  Grinning madly, Conor got up, Elijah and Ava shuffled in their seats looking wide eyed at each other, Ava beat Conor to it, "You mean to steal the Trident don't you!" she shrieked, "You're insane, he won't help you- he'll probably kill you for asking! But maybe his son will, though I doubt it..."

  I looked from Ava to Conor to Lucius who got up, turned and stared out of the window. When he turned around, his lips curved slightly, his dark eyes shone at me, a hint of passion and wickedness, "Well Emma, the lengths I will go to help you and your lover. It looks like I'm going to have to pay Poseidon himself a visit."

  Nearly choking on my drink, his grin widened, "What! You're not serious..." I spluttered.

  Conor took the conversation, his voice warm and deep, "Afraid so Emma. Look, everything has some truth in it, now none of us here have met this God and don't expect him to look like some Greek mythological being but as far we know, a pagan God, Poseidon does exist. If that's true, Lucius is the only one of us who can hope to meet him, since this creature lives deep under the ocean." He took a deep breath, "Lucius, what do you need us to do?"

  "So long as Kai will help, I'll be fine, though it is a big ask..."

  "Indeed, asking a Selkie to steal from Poseidon, why would he?"

  "I suspect Teran's reign of terror is inflicted on many, not least land based supernaturals. Kai said he'd get the help of others, so I suspect many of the ocean's creatures are suffering at the hands of this ancient God or spirit, if we mean to dethrone him- we'd best start now by not referring to him as a god."

  "Lucius, I am grateful that you would go to such lengths to help Luke, but what's in it for you?" I drew the words out, I liked him a lot and I could see easily that he would be good at being a demon, he was amiable, sexy, seductive but I knew he wasn't doing this out of the kindness of his heart. For a start, he didn't have one, secondly my instincts are normally right, what did he want.

  Eyeing me slowly, he replied, "You will owe me Emma, I haven't decided what yet, you and Luke. In time, when I need something, you'll return the favour."

  "Agreed, so what's next?" Though the words flew out of my mouth, and I didn’t have a choice, gnawing in my stomach made me wonder what type of payment he would want. My soul? My gift perhaps? I’d give that, freely to save Luke. And in truth, I knew I would also give my soul to save the ones I love.

  "Time, we need to get ready to see Kai and ask him. Emma, you need to channel your gift, come." Lucius led me out of the main room and into the little snug, where a cloth was laid out on the floor with a pentagram drawn on it with candles and incense burning, filling the air with a sweet woody fragrance, a thick fog of incense hung in the room.

  "Please sit Emma, I want you to, in a minute start channelling your light, your fire and whilst you do, I will chant an incantation that should help ground the light within you. Once I stop, I want you to maintain your focus for a few minutes, and feel the heat of this celestial light within you before then thinking of something else. It'll be impossible to maintain focus whilst your swimming, so my goal is for you to keep it burning within you, regardless of what's happening around you and this should afford some protection from Teran, as well. Ok?"

  I nodded, took a deep breath trying to shake the tension from me and sat down crossing my legs opposite him. Driven on by the thought, the goal of rescuing Luke, I focused on the light, burning fast, bright and warm and allowed Lucius's chanting to wash over me, like the waves themselves.

  "Divino lumine, in ea manere fortis, et defendat se amat, se custodire ab Deorum, tutam eam custodi: ut in nomine eius calidum Bael ..." Lucius chanted.

  Divine light, stay strong within her, protect her and those she loves, protect her from Gods, keep her safe, keep her warm in the name of Bael...

  As the whispered words tumbled forth, I knew on some deep level what they meant. Shifting restlessly, a wave of fear swept through me, Bael?

  But right now, I would make a pact with the devil himself to save Luke, so I said nothing to break Lucius's spell and instead focused on rescuing the man I loved.

  A torrent of water dragged me down, blackness, an abyss of emptiness engulfed me, heavy, I felt myself plunging deeper, spiralling down. Gasping, I couldn't breathe. As I fell to my death, faint sounds of voices in the background seemed to fade, my limbs shook, I wanted to cry out, but water surrounded me, in the distance a bright crimson light shone bright then seemed to dim, my heart pummelled, I knew I had no time to save him.

  “Emma!” Blinking rapidly, almost convulsing, grabbing at my chest as it seized, Lucius was crouched right in front of me, shaking me.

  Still reeling from lack of breath, my eyes wide as my mind slowly reg
istered, I wasn't under the ocean, I was in the house by the sea with a demon.

  Looking down, I saw a glow radiate out from me, my arms, through my clothes like the faint glow of a torch, looking back up at Lucius, he smiled from cheek to cheek. "I think you died- that is the old you, you underwent a type of death from the old to the new, but... we did it. Well done! Give yourself thirty minutes, get grounded, get ready. We're off to meet Kai."

  He rubbed my shoulder then blew out the candles, put out the incense and left the room.

  Still shaking a little, I got up, looked at this energy as it emanated from me, a hot surge of power building up from my feet, pulsating, growing and with a renewed vigour, strode out to rescue my beloved.

  In the living room, the others waited. Lucius nodded, there wasn't much to say as this strange force pumped slowly from me, "You're sure you can't send me straight into the sea caves?" I asked Lucius one more time.

  "I can try, but they're solid... let Kai and I get there first, if there's any place I can try I will, otherwise we'll go there first, and come back for you. But you'll have to perform your own magic to light your way once there, a torch or a lighter won't work after being under the sea..." he eyed my response.

  "Sabian and I will join you, Marcus you'll wait- what with your wings... you can't risk being in the water. Ava, Elijah, will you wait with Marcus?"

  "Marcus and Ava, and me will wait until you, one of you sends us a signal, we can fly to you and for dragon shifters anyhow the water holds no real danger. We're strong, but Marcus?"

  "You're right, these," he looked over to his shoulder at his massive black feathered wings, "I can't be in the water. However, it would be good for one of us to wait behind, it's usually me out front- this will make a change."

  "Ok, so we're ready. We get to Luke, get him out and you and Kai find Poseidon? We'll meet you here as soon as possible?" I gulped.

  "It'll take a few days Em, I mean, I don't know where he is, it won't be necessary for Kai to join me, I should be able to grab his Trident alone and get it back."

  "How will you do that?"

  He grunted, "How do you think?"

  "Oh, magic. Thank God you're on our side."

  "Ha! Indeed..." he laughed.

  We walked together down to the cliff edge, battling against the wind that never seemed to let up, midday was approaching and, in the distance, I could hear that haunting sound of the Selkies, their songs echoing off the ocean like delicate chimes dancing in the wind, enchanting so much so that I grabbed Marcus's arm, my head mesmerized by their singing.

  Lucius was the only other that seemed to hear it, glancing at me, his face soft but I noticed a slight tremor in his hands. Carefully, we descended the gale thrown path that was spotted with harsh dry ferns, stones and sand leading down to a ledge by the seas that were at least a little calmer than earlier, and I strode to Lucius, hugging him tightly, "I know normally maybe we'd fight on opposite sides and I also know that I shouldn't trust you one hundred percent, neither do I know your full intent, but without you, none of this would be possible, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Promise me you'll return safe."

  Murmuring in the background, the others were obviously shocked at this, and truth be told, I didn't know whether or not he'd betray me yet, but it was true nonetheless that without him, we'd still be travelling here and frankly we wouldn't have a chance, maybe my thanking him, showing him trust would be enough for him to stick by my side. It was all I had, so I had to try it.

  His shocked face, jaw hung open, wide eyed then he hugged me back, his eyes now full of sorrow. Oh, what is must be to be a demon, born in shadow and evil but there were always choices and I recognised this in myself, I'd been too hard on others, judging without giving them a chance for redemption. Closeness to death does that, it forces us to assess where we've wronged others, in my heart I had no idea whether he'd return, why he was doing this but he was trying. That was enough.

  Kai wandered up to meet us in all his glory, he had an innocence lost on us from the walking world, his face full of frowns, tight lipped.

  Lucius and I stepped forward, Lucius put his hand, splayed out towards me, "Let me ask him in private Emma."

  As I waited wondering if Kai would be suicidal enough to go along with the plan, Kai's face turned pale. Brushing his thick hair way from his face, his eyes small with worry looked to me, I gave no expression. It was insane, if these myths were true even as Sabian had said, not exactly like the stories passed down to humans, but nevertheless... it was a good plan. Surely a water God would never expect a land demon to steal his weapon.

  I walked forward, the tension was strained, "Kai you don't have to agree to anything, we can get Luke out, get him back and find another way, there's always a way."

  Lucius turned to me, frowning, "No, I doubt it Emma. Kai, I just need to know where to find Poseidon, I'll do the rest. Did you manage to get help from others?"

  "Triton, Poseidon's son would hear our plight, this God or spirit to be exact, has been treacherous to more than just yourselves, threatening our people and other species but I know why... now." His voice got lower, with the wind it was hard to hear anything much "There's rumours that another beast is stirring, deep in the oceans and this is the true reason that Teran seeks to increase his power.”

  As I stepped closer still, I was joined by the others, "Leviathan... that could be the only beast that worries Teran," Lucius added nodding.

  Then continuing he said, "Let us waste no time, take me to meet Poseidon's son and I will plead our case, maybe I won't have to steal the Trident after all.” Relief washed over the demon and his face was softer but he still had to navigate the ocean with Kai, for me I just had get to the sea caves, one of which housed Luke, and though the Dragon Shifters would carry me so I wouldn't be in that sea long, hopefully they wouldn't let go of me as we swam. It would be too easy for Luke to be accessed by an open cave, more likely a cave where we had to swim to get under it until we came to an opening. That was the dread that turned in my stomach.

  And then we'd have to get out.

  As we stood, Yesnaby Castle caught the sun's rays which shone through its massive archway and bounced off at its base. From a distance it did resemble a primitive tower reaching up to the heavens, its rough stone walls calling to climbers, but to me I shuddered. This whole place had a rugged beauty, nature at her most powerful and harsh should you forget to respect it.

  With a final nod, Kai and Lucius dove into the freezing water, I looked to Ava and Elijah, the latter who snubbed me slightly. Moving away from us, they started to transform, I glanced at Marcus, had he ever seen this before. Forgetting that he could hear my every thought, he came over putting his hand on my shoulder, and handed me a trinket, a wooden angel on a chain, "Take this, wear it- tuck it in safely. If you need me, clench it tightly and call my name, if you can't call it out loud, then do so in your mind and I will come."

  Nodding, we were all fascinated by these two people, as we did on all fours, bones cracked, skin ripped their faces, bodies transforming from man to beast, magnificent before us. Putting the necklace on, tucking it into my wetsuit as the guys gasped as something gigantic roared up in front of us from the ocean. My heart stopped, at first I thought it must be a whale, screaming Marcus grabbed me and Conor who grabbed Sabian and frantically, weighed down as Marcus tried to unfurl his wings to get all of us out of the way. Eva and Elijah's change sped up, two massive dragons stood bellowing fire before the beast from the deep. All of us trying to get out of the way but the dragons needed to run to fly, and she and Elijah were dragged in by massive green- black tentacles that whipped around her brownish green serpentine body- much like Luke’s, I screamed as I heard her wail, then they desperately blew fire but it was useless as the sea just extinguished it.

  "Lucius!" I hollered...

  Elijah turned and dived in as she was pulled away, and struggle as I might, Marcus held me still.

  Looking at Marcus, he spoke
to Conor fast, "Come, let me take you to the cave, can you change in the water do you think? You should have the strength then to get Emma to the cave, at least while our friends are fighting, this should at least distract Teran- no doubt he summoned the beast."

  "I don’t know, even as a werewolf, those currents...” clenching his jaw, Conor glanced across the bay to the cliffs, then breathing heavily, “But there’s no choice now!” And before I could argue, Marcus had whipped us up, firstly dropping Sabian back on land and then whisking Conor and I away fast towards some distant caves that seemed at least to have some sort of opening.

  "It's up to you two now, I'll send help for the others." Dropping Conor, he still clung to me, Conor would be too heavy to carry on the wing in werewolf form, shuddering as I had a flashback from the last time Conor's inner beast tried to rip my heart out, I braced myself for my greatest fear- now made worse.

  Looking down at the murky sea, Conor bobbed back up, splashing and lashing out in the ocean below as we hovered, and finally a mighty roar came from him as his werewolf was out. Holding out his massive arms, Marcus flew down gently, passing me to the ferocious beast below. Gripped with fear of Conor and the thrashing ocean, I held my breath as the beast took me into his arms. I was surprised the light inside me still shone, I guessed that was Lucius's doing. My mind was as wild as the waves, wondering if the others were dead, if Lucius and Kai had escaped but in an instant as the freezing water hit my skin, all I could think about was trying to breathe in that ice-cold sea.

  Clinging to the werewolf's back, his bulky arms pounding through the waves, we were not too far from a ledge by the cave, and within minutes, I clambered up to the side as Conor did the same.

  Panting, he bent over getting his breath back, then wailed as his body started to change back, he was fighting it, growling, scratching at the rock surface and he shivered, I knew why. The chill of the water would shock his human form and yet the beast without would not give up. Pulling my backpack off, I felt around for something, but I had nothing that could help, Conor dropped to his knees.