Merlin's Kiss

by Stephanie Burke

  "Why do you always ask the same questions, dear one?" Dagon walked past her and flexed his wings just to see her jump, before continuing on to his favorite chair. "Could I not just want to visit and observe my child as it bloats your body and makes a mockery of that beauty you hold so dear?"

  "Bastard!" Shala hissed as she stormed across the room, away from him and his stinging poisonous words.

  "Yes, I've been told," he murmured. "My mother always made sure I knew my father never bothered to mate with her after I was presented. You don't have to keep me…'abreast'…of my family history. Besides, we bastards just love to beget bastards. Isn't that right, my dear? Isn't that why you were so ripe for the plucking? And our little bastard child! What will the neighboring Clans think?"

  He widened his red eyes in the dim light, feigning concern as he watched the color drain from her face.

  "I sent for the Clan leaders," Shala continued as she regained composure of herself. She would refuse to let this monster see how he was affecting her. "They should gather here in the next few days."

  "Two," he countered.

  "Two what?" Shala demanded, growing angry with his word games and assumptions.

  "Two days, my pretty. I want the Clan Leaders gathered in two days."

  "That's impossible!" she cried as she stamped her foot in anger.

  "Make it possible, my dear," Dagon purred as he stood and crossed to her. "Two days," he spread his dark wings to their full extent, blocking the light of the window, casting Shala in his shadow. "Or I get to have some fun…with your people."

  "But Kerian…" Shala stalled as she backed away from the menace Dagon exuded with such ease. "He has to return with the sword and the necklace!"

  "Not necessarily, my dear," Dagon purred as he slowly folded his wings, fear reinstalled in Shala. "For you see, I have grown weary of these waiting games. I have decided to eliminate these little…pawns you enjoy playing with."

  "I am the only pawn in this game, Dagon!" Shala growled, losing patience with him and his games. "I am the only thing that anyone sees fit to toy with! How dare you order their deaths? You knew I wanted those magical implements!"

  "Calm yourself, lover!" Dagon suddenly snapped, his eyes flashing red with his growing annoyance. "I understand women who are with child are extremely emotional, but don't push me too far, female. I can drain off enough of your life-force to leave you near death until my child is born."

  "And then what, Dagon?" she snarled, her anger lending her courage. "What will you do with the little winged bastard then? You need me!"

  Dagon smiled, then actually chuckled as he stepped forward and ran one taloned hand across her cheek, leaving a stinging line of fire in its wake.

  "Need you? A whining, pitiful, pale little bitch?" Shala flinched under his harsh words delivered in such a loving tone. "No, my dear. I certainly do not need you. You are but a vessel for my seed, a container that will protect what is mine. And once your main purpose is fulfilled, you can be discarded, like the insignificant bit of fluff that you are." He smiled down at her before he again turned to take his seat.

  "So, in two days’ time, Lady, I expect the Clan leaders to gather and bemoan the loss of one of their own. You, being the intelligent and, oh so…ambitious…woman that you are, will immediately bring calm and soothe fears by assuming his role and maintaining peace. And when the time is right, you will introduce your ally in this venture—me—and we will rule as one big happy family. Isn't that nice?"

  Shala was so angry her eyes took on the red glow that Dagon used so much to his advantage, then a calmer head prevailed.

  Yes, I will let Dagon believe he is having his way, she decided as she gently cupped the small bulge in her abdomen. I will let him feel he is the power behind the woman, but his house of sticks will come tumbling down. I will see to that.

  "Your reply, dearest?" he asked calmly as he easily read her thoughts from her stiff posture. Poor thing still thought she could hold her secrets from him. He would let her play at her game a bit longer. It was so much fun watching the self-righteous crumble.

  "As you wish, Dagon," she muttered as she set her features in a pleasant smile and turned to face the man she hated, feared, and most wanted to be.

  "Then we are in agreement." He rose again to his feet and faced Shala.

  "How is my daughter?" he asked.

  "Daughter?" That bit of information gave her pause.

  "Yes, my daughter. Can you not feel her thoughts speaking to you? Can you not feel her life's energy? And you call yourself a mother!" he tsked.

  "My child, Dagon. My child is doing fine."

  "Any unusual cravings?" he asked, struggling hard to bite back a chuckle.

  "Cravings for what?" she asked, suddenly weary of whatever he was going to say next. Wasn't it enough her body had to be stretched all out of shape, that she could not keep her favorite sweets down, and that all of her energy was sapped for the little parasite? What more could his child demand?

  "Oh, nothing to worry your pretty little head about," he assured as he reached out and pressed his palm against her abdomen.

  Shala jumped back a bit at his contact, but when he raised a dark eyebrow in her direction, she stood her ground. Dagon chuckled.

  "You just begged for my touch not so long ago, Shala. Have I become so repugnant to you?"

  She ignored the question, because before she could answer, her stomach gave a little lurch. Startled, she jerked away from Dagon and swiftly used her own hands to investigate.

  "It moves, this soon?" she asked.

  "She moves, because she recognizes her father," Dagon said as he backed away from Shala's amazed and pleased expression. "Look out for the voices, Shala. Call upon me, my dear, if my offspring becomes too much of a burden to bear."

  "Very well, Dagon," she replied, all the while cursing him from underneath her breath.

  With one final amused look in her direction, Dagon turned and exited her rooms. Slowly the lights again grew bright with his leave taking.

  "You and me, my child," she said as she lovingly rubbed her stomach. "We have a lot to do to teach your proud papa a lesson. And we shall begin by studying that archaic book of magic he tossed at me so many years ago. How would a man-demon sound to put your father in his place?" Her chuckle was every bit as malicious and vindictive as Dagon's.

  It wasn't until later that evening, as Shala sat down to meal with the household for the first time since becoming ill, that she first heard the voices.

  The slop boy was walking by collecting scraps for his Chigs—the large feathered swine that ate anything—when the voice began to speak in her head.

  "Done, My Lady?" he asked as he took the remains of her meal away. She could barely keep anything down, and everyone assumed it was her worry for the Warlord that stole her appetite.

  "Yes," she said in her usual commanding and cold tones. "I find myself not at all hungry this eve, Kelvian, you understand?"

  With a nod, the boy lifted the gold trencher and dumped the contents into his bucket.

  "What is that smell?" Shala began, but then she heard it.

  We are hungry, it purred softly in her mind. We are so hungry! You are starving us!

  Shala whipped her head around, looking for the person foolish enough to whisper at her, when the boy answered.

  "It's the slop bucket, My Lady. I will be away from here in a moment."

  No! the voice demanded. We are hungry! Feed us! It smells so good! You want it.

  "What?" Shala demanded, and the boy repeated his statement.

  No! We hunger! the voice crooned, sounding hypnotic and convincing in her head. We want to see! We want to feed! We are hungry, so hungry!

  "Leave that bucket!" Shala demanded of the startled boy, giving in to the hypnotic suggestion in the voice.

  "Lady!" the boy protested, then decided it was best not to argue with the Lady of the keep. He turned and went into the kitchens to report these strange findings to the cook.


  "Yes, do it!" the voice urged as Shala looked into the rancid smelling bucket. Inside was a noxious mixture of chum, chig, bread scraps, bits of vegetables, bones and fat from the trenchers of the diners in that hall that evening. It was a disgusting chunky mixture, the main colors being green, brown, and orange, and the smell was enough to turn any stomach.

  But suddenly, it looked and smelled very appetizing indeed!

  Yes, do it! the voice urged. Do it! We hunger! We need it! We want it! Yes, eat!

  Shala, almost in a trance, reached for the bucket, reached for its cool slimy contents and was nearly touching them before she was able to break the hold the voice had on her mind.

  "What am I doing?" she almost shrieked as she jumped back from the table, the bucket and its contents once again disgusting in her eyes.

  She whipped her head around the hall, scanning for the person who dared use magic against her, but all she saw was the disgusted looks from the few servants who remained in the hall. Her face exploded into a deep red blush of humiliation—a first for her since coming to this hall and being educated like a lady.

  "I, uh, thought I had lost a ring!" she called out in explanation, and was further chagrined when the staff nodded at her, clearly not believing a word she said.

  Knowing that further arguing would make her seem more demented, she turned on her heel and exited the raised platform the table sat upon, almost tripping in her eagerness to leave the hall.

  "Dagon, that bastard!" she cursed as she quickly made her way back to her rooms. "He will pay for doing this to me!"

  The small voice in her head hissed with laughter.

  The servants in the hall nodded their heads in agreement. Lady Shala did not take strain too well. Or maybe what she felt for their Lord and her stepson was more than maternal.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  "Behind us!" Kerian called out to Brieana as they both bent low over the necks of their unicorns. "Keep going! Don't look back!"

  "Stranger?" she screamed as the wind whipped her hair around her face, obscuring her view momentarily.

  With a curse, she sawed the reins to the right, neatly avoiding a tree that seemed to spring up out of nowhere.

  The wind whipped tears from her eyes and caused her lips to dry as they raced headlong into the forest, away from the mass of furry rabbits, the savage, nasty beasts that pursued them.

  "He is not eaten!" Kerian shouted as he kept close to Brieana's rear, a human barrier between her and the little harbingers of death that followed.

  En mass, the rabbits snarled and growled as they gave chase to the creatures who disturbed their homes, ruined their nest, and now deprived them of a good meal. Devil-red eyes gleamed in the misty darkness of the forest, small red demon's eyes that pierced the fog and created terror in all that observed their passing.

  Everywhere, there were rabbits! Leaping from tree branch to tree branch, covering and hopping along the ground, flinging themselves into the air, they came. And along the path they traveled, devastation was left in their wake, grass torn, trees shredded, any live thing crossing their path voraciously consumed. The rabbits were on the march, and nothing could turn their tide of destruction.

  From above the carnage, Tybo glided and shook his head at the strange creatures that inhabited this cool green place. There were no such creatures in the Dark Isles, and for that he was grateful. But here, they presented a problem.

  Up ahead, he could sense Dagon's troops, the soldiers called by that weak fool who had been destroyed earlier by the Warlord, and the rabbits were driving the ones he sought to save in that very direction.

  By the Magic, these people were troublesome.

  "Warlord!" He called down to the man who kept a margin of space between his lady and the small stomachs with fangs. "Warlord!"

  "Not now!" Kerian cried at the voice that seemed to reach him from a distance. He dared not turn his head and search for the stranger's positioning; he needed all of his attention on the chase, looking for a way to escape the hungry mouths of the rabbits.

  "Yes, now!" Tybo exclaimed, surprised and irritated. Just who did this man think he was? "I think now is a good time, Warlord. In just a few minutes, you will run headfirst into your darkest enemy's forces. I hope that is worth a few seconds of your valued time."

  "What?" Kerian exclaimed, tearing his sights from Brieana and her mount to glance around, looking for the voice.

  "That's right, tall, light, and muscle-headed!" he chortled. "My master's troops are headed right in your direction. If you want to live, I suggest you listen to me!"

  "Listen to you?" Kerian sneered. "Why? So you can work your illusions and paint a bright red sign in our direction, stranger? Why should I trust you?"

  "Because we both need her to live!" was the reply.

  His words bounced around inside of Kerian's head for a moment, and then he came to a swift decision. Even if this man was evil, he would want to take Brieana alive for her sword. No one else knew much about it and she was the Woman of Legend. If he had to kill the man to save his mate, he would do that, but it was better to face a single man in combat than to fight an army.

  "I am listening," he shouted as he kept the pace, still keeping distance between him and the rabbits. "What would you have me do?"

  "Stop!"

  How big a fool did he look like?

  "Stranger, there may not be rabbits where you come from, but I have seen them swarm! If I stop, we will have seconds to live."

  "Trust me!" Tybo argued. "The winged brother trusted me! All I ask for is a second! One second!"

  Kerian thought about that too, for a moment, before he whipped Blaze into a faster pace and overtook Brieana. Once he reached the head of her mount, he gripped her reins along with his and led the unicorns off to the side, slowing their headlong race.

  "What are you doing?" Brieana screamed as her eyes whipped from her mate to the trail ahead.

  Before he could answer, a form dropped out of the sky to land before them.

  "Thank you," the stranger cried, before he lifted his hands and a huge ball of clear energy distorted the area around them. He spread his wings, tinted a strange green color that matched his softly glowing eyes, as the ball of energy grew and began to spread. It buckled and moved in waves, making the forest bubble and warp, before it settled around them, a solid shield that made their view of the surrounding area seem hazy and dim.

  "What…?" But before Kerian could question him further, the rabbits were upon them.

  Brieana stifled a cry, remembering her close brush with the beasts, but they passed by as if the three people and two unicorns were not there.

  A few bodies bounced off of the shield, but they recovered their pace and scrambled past, paying the hiding ones no attention at all.

  "How?" Brieana asked as her eyes turned towards the stranger Zorn had spoken of.

  "Magic," he answered, as he turned his head and gazed at her for moment, before facing front again and concentrated on his shield.

  "True magic, not illusions," Kerian breathed, aware now that the stranger could have used magical abilities against him while they dueled, but had not.

  "True magic, not the illusions of those lesser than myself." There was no boast in Tybo's words; he only stated true fact.

  But all attention again turned forward as the last of the ravenous rabbits scurried by, leaving a dark, torn, scarred path in their wake.

  "What now?" Kerian asked as he dismounted from Blaze, absently rubbing and soothing the unicorn who was still agitated from the near miss.

  "Now we sit back and have ourselves a few laughs."

  "What do you mean?" Brieana asked as she too dismounted from her unicorn. After checking to see that the two swords were sheathed within their places, she approached her mate and the stranger.

  "Now we…" But his words were cut off as muffled curses and screams filled the air.

  "What was that?" Brieana asked as she moved closer to Kerian instinctively. This
man and this forest still made her uneasy.

  "I'd say that that was about one hundred of Dagon's best meeting their untimely demise at the hands of those little fur-balls!"

  His eyes turned a light blue with his mirth and his spread wings changed colors to match. He was still laughing as he lowered his hands and the clear bubble that encased them disappeared.

  "Dagon?" Kerian asked. Was this Dagon the Dark Isle menace he had been warned about? If so, whom was this man helping them?

  "As I was trying to say before I was interrupted by nasty sword thrusts and forced to defend my life from the Warlord here…" Tybo sighed as he furled his wings and faced the couple. "I am Tybo, master swordsman and general of Dagon's conquering army, although now that I think on it, the only thing those hundred are conquering are the insides of a rabbit's stomach!" He chuckled at his own joke while the Warlord and the Woman of Legend looked on in confusion.

  "I was sent forth to help you, Lady," he said finally after managing to control his mirth. "I am at your service, Woman of Legend, defender of all peoples. Your coming has been prophesied by my people for ages, and I am honored to be the one chosen to serve."

  Brieana stared at the stranger who now executed a perfect bow to her and snorted at Kerian.

  "You can start by explaining all of this to me!" she sighed finally. "Why did those men want my sword?"

  "Sword?" Tybo began, looking a bit confused. "Oh! The Warlord's sword. It was a handy excuse to get them all killed. That was all."

  "Then you don't know about Excalibur?" she asked, stepping forward.

  "Ex-what?" Tybo asked as he tried to follow this talk of swords.

  "Never mind the sword!" Kerian spoke over Brieana, bringing attention back on himself. "I just want to know what you really want with us."

  "To help," he answered without hesitation. "And to warn you about some things that are going on at your home, Warlord."

  "Shala?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

  "Shala and Dagon." Tybo answered, looking grim.

  "I will listen," Kerian decided as he climbed onto the back of Blaze once more. "But I will listen on the move. I have a need to be home as quickly as possible."