“Tolah!” Someone cried out.
Through his panic, Kellan sensed others rushing across the square to come to his aid, could hear their boot strikes on the stone. His vision blurred. Blackness pushed seductively at the edges of his consciousness and beckoned him to let go. The temptation to leave everything behind and find refuge in the spirit world surged potently through his enervated mind and body. Death whispered and cajoled, urging him to seek release. Kellan parted his lips to accept the offer, but furious snarls in his ear startled him into full wakefulness once again. His body was jerked first one way and then another. Powerful teeth grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him out of the grasp of the Vypir.
He looked up through heavy eyes and saw Maks and the Vypir rolling across the square in a white ball of struggling fury. It was his first look at the beast. A protracted ribcage and pale skin pulled tight over its skull gave the Vypir a skeletal appearance. Tuffs of white Elven hair poked up through its head in sickly patches. Lashing out with muscled legs that ended in claws, the Vypir managed to get loose from Maks, only to be surrounded by a hundred other Draca Cats, slinking around the beast as they searched for an opening to attack.
That was when Kellan noticed the beast’s tail had been slashed off at the tip. He looked down in alarm. The portion of the tail with the fangs was still embedded in his throat. Still sucking the blood and magic from his body and spurting it out onto the cobblestones.
“Hold on!” It was Kane and he grabbed the offending appendage with two hands and tried to yank it free. It would not budge. It kept slurping and sucking.
“Get…it…off,” Kellan said weakly and tried to lift his hand to help, but his arms felt like they were made of lead weights and he could not move them.
“It’s not coming off!” he heard Kane scream.
Gregor Steele pushed Kane away and pressed his sword against Kellan’s neck to try and pry the tail piece loose.
“Dracas,” Kellan whispered.
Somehow, Kane heard his feeble appeal. Jain! Come quickly! A warm hand grasped his tightly. “Hold on, brother. Help is coming. Hold on!”
Kellan felt movement around him and then hot air on his face. Large golden eyes filled his vision.
Kane’s eyes.
Jain’s eyes.
The magic of the Healing Breath misted over his face and into his lungs. The benevolent vapor traveled through his body with purpose, healing small injuries, infusing him with energy. Then, the sinuous magic focused on the protrusion in his neck and attacked. Kellan gasped deeply and his chest rose in the air as the Healing Breath directed a forceful strike against the foreign object.
“Jain! What is happening?” he heard Kane shout.
He was dying. The magic struck again and he bucked off the ground under the intensity of the battle raging inside his body.
Jain! You’re killing him!
From far way, Kellan could taste the froth at his mouth, could feel the violent convulsions.
I am doing what I must, Jain replied. This beast is created of very ancient sorcery. But, then, so am I.
Jain’s Dracan magic assailed the quivering Vypir tail for a third time. Grab it, Prince!
Kellan felt Kane lean over and with a last vigorous pull and a revolting wet sound, the appendage popped free.
Quickly now, stem the blood flow from outside while I heal him from within.
Again, Kane followed his bondmate’s orders and Kellan felt another strong breath on his face and a cloth pressed hard against his wound. Instantly, he felt the throbbing pain in his neck dissipate.
When the big snowy head lifted away from him, Kellan took a long and ragged pull of air into his lungs and sat up against the outer wall. He tried to form the words to thank Jain for saving his life, but they came out garbled and incoherent. It did not matter. The cat was already gone, back into the fight with the Vypir.
Kellan looked on in shock. The beast was so fast! The muscled creature took leaping bounds from one portion of the square to another somehow managing to avoid the spiked tails and sharp claws of the Draca Cats.
A group of defenders by the gates screamed out as the pouncing Vypir slammed into their position. Kellan got to his feet in horror as the beast ripped limbs from sockets and tore flesh from bone. Blood sprayed into the air in gruesome strings of red death.
Kirby Nash bellowed out a challenge and sprinted to the defense of the defenders. His curved Saber a slashing blur, he was able to cut two long gashes into the Vypir’s abdomen. The beast shrieked in pain, turned, and leapt onto the outer wall. Digging sharp hind claws into the stonework, the Vypir scaled the wall with the agility of a spider. Fireshifters hurled fire at the creature, but none of the flames came close and it almost seemed to Kellan as though the creature had some sort of magical shield around it.
Then, the Vypir scrambled over the top of the wall and disappeared into the night.
Chaos erupted as demands for the gates to be opened filled the air. Ellvinians joined with the Massans as they prepared to go after the Vypir although if they could not kill it in the confines of this walled city square, it would be impossible to find it outside. Especially, if it managed to get to the Grayan Forest. The same forest where the citizens of Northfort were making their harrowing escape.
Over the cries of pain and shouted orders, Kellan suddenly heard a sound far more disturbing.
He put an arm out to Kane. “Listen!”
The rushing noise sounded distant at first and then grew louder. Like a violent clap of thunder directly overhead, it struck a spike of fear directly into Kellan’s heart.
Reilly Radek made it the ocean and he was doing exactly what they discussed on the wall.
He was flooding Northfort.
CHAPTER 34
AIRSTRIKE
“Nooo!” Kellan took off at a sprint toward the wharf, pushing through the thousands of Ellvinians. Maks, realizing where he was going, dodged in front of him and growled out a threatening roar that scattered the dark Elves out of the way.
Kirby Nash, Gregor Steele and Kane chased after him.
“What is going on?” Kirby shouted as they ran.
“Reilly is flooding Northfort! He doesn’t know about the truce! We have to stop him!”
Jain raced by and helped Maks clear the path. Unlucky Ellvinians who did not see the Draca Cats coming paid dearly as they were trampled underneath their huge paws. Several times during their headlong flight, Kellan had to jump over the prone bodies left in their wake.
A sudden shift in the crowd caused Kellan to realize that those in the rear, closer to the wharf, were now pushing their way south.
“Run!
“Tidal wave!”
The Ellvinians’ shouts of terror turned the mob en masse as they caught their first glimpse of Reilly’s shifting. Masks of horror carved their faces as they wrenched at each other in desperation to flee the threat bearing down on them.
Now, even the Draca Cats were unable to make much progress through the massive number of Elves, and Kellan felt his body being carried away backwards under the press of bodies.
“Let go! I have to get to the wharf!” With two mighty swings, Kellan knocked away the Elves closest to him. Maks and Jain filled the gap and snapped at any who got too close.
Standing alone in a small island in the river of Ellvinians streaming past, Kellan looked up in sheer hopelessness.
The entire northern horizon was now a wall of blue water. Gushing straight up out of the sea at least two hundred feet in the air, a tower of ocean loomed over the ill-fated Northfort.
Large three-masted Ellvinian ships swept up in the swell looked like children’s toys as they bobbed on the top of the wave’s crest.
“Demon’s breath!” Kirby cursed behind him. “What is he doing?”
“What I told him to do,” Kellan whispered.
The panicked Ellvinians poured over their position, and Kellan was knocked to the ground under a crush of humanity. No one stopped to help,
they just passed over him, their running feet pounding over his back and legs.
Incongruously, in the midst of the screams and shouts and the swelling waves, and with his cheek pressed into the cobblestone road, he heard laughter.
A great hearty bark of laughter.
What could possibly cause someone to laugh at a time like this, he questioned to himself as another passing boot struck him in the head. Who would laugh as their very life was about to be extinguished for all time?
It was Kane.
“Dear Highworld, that sister of mine sure knows how to make an entrance.”
* * * * *
As Kenley soared toward Northfort, she tried to make sense of what she was seeing far below. Outside the gates, a thousand Draca Cats paced before the wall. Inside, tens of thousands of dark Elves blanketed three quarters of the northern portion of the city. Comparatively, only one hundred or so Massans stood at the southern end in front of the outer gates.
Dead bodies, almost entirely Ellvinian, lay between them.
She wondered if her brothers and the other children were down there. If so, how had they managed to hold off the enemy with so few?
Hurried movement in the north drew her attention. The Ellvinians were pushing forward. Were they attacking? Anger surged through her as she poured on the speed, the wind slicing forcefully over her body. She banked to the left to circle the city and that was when she heard the roar.
Her head snapped out to sea. A wall of water rose straight out of the ocean sending ships toppling—most, thankfully further out to sea, but some crashing into the pier. The deadly swell grew in size until the inevitable arc at the top shaped into existence and the water made a slow, terrifying descent toward the city.
Her heart pounding inside her chest, she plummeted downward toward the gigantic tidal wave. Grasping the windstream coming out of the west, she flattened the thermals into a solid wall of air and slammed it against the oncoming water. Teeth gritted in determination, she pushed. With hands thrust out in front of her and screaming with effort, she pushed with every bit of elemental power that rushed through her pureblood veins. Sweat popped out on her head from the strain, and her arm muscles trembled from the amount of strength necessary to hold the water back.
Her wall of air stopped the onward momentum of the wave, but it did not fall back. No matter how hard she threw herself at the water, it stood firm.
She felt a sudden jolt and her body somersaulted backwards through the air. The water was pushing back! Quickly regaining her balance, she flew back to the wall, threw out her hands once again and pushed.
She was losing ground! How could that be?
An errant thought hit her. Could this be shifted water? But, that did not make any sense. Why would a watershifter be trying to flood the city?
Her eyes scanned the wharf as she struggled to hold back the sea.
There! Standing on a stretch of beach out of harm’s way with Jala and Dallin Storm was Reilly Radek! What in the Highworld was that boy doing? If she did not stop him, he would kill everyone in Northfort.
Kenley had no choice, she had to release a bit of pressure on her wall of air to get to Reilly. Like an arrow, she shot toward the watershifter and hammered him with a blast of air.
The unsuspecting Dwarf flew into the air and rolled backwards in a violent tumble. If not for the quick grab by Dallin, he would have been sucked into the frothing sea.
With an angry scowl, Reilly got back to his feet and lifted his hands once again.
“Stop!” she screamed over the howling winds and raging waters. But, every effort she made to get closer to Reilly so he could hear her, the more ground she lost with the wall.
“Reilly!”
It was too late. The top of the water crested and crashed into Northfort harbor. The platform where they stood more than a week ago to see her parents away on their journey disappeared under the deluge.
Ellvinians screamed as they were swept out to sea.
Kenley swarmed down and hurtled more air at the dangerous gushing water.
“Reilly!”
Finally, Jala noticed her, and the fireshifter rushed to exchange urgent words with her brother, and just like that, Reilly dropped one arm and the wall of water fell back into the sea. With the other hand, he hastily created new and intricate movements that only another watershifter could understand. She watched in amazement as the water pouring into the streets of Northfort reversed its forward momentum and was sent careening back to the ocean.
Exhausted, Kenley plummeted back to the ground in a very ungraceful glide and collapsed onto the sodden sand. If the Ellvinians meant to attack now, they would find very little resistance from her. She could not move. She could not even think clearly.
A shrill caw pierced her foggy mind and with a knowing groan, she lifted her head.
The old woman and crow were back and standing over her, white and beady black eyes boring into her skull. It was the Oracle.
“I thought you would never get here,” the woman remarked brusquely.
“Well, apparently, I cannot seem to move as fast as you can.” Kenley let her head flop back to the ground and closed her eyes. “The Ellvinians?”
“Surrendered.”
“Good.”
The Oracle was silent for a moment, and Kenley said nothing either, refusing to open herself up to another taunt.
Finally, the woman said, “Well done, Kenley Atlan. Very well done.”
Kenley lifted her lips in a smile, but did not bother opening her eyes. She knew the woman would already be gone.
Then, Kenley remembered something that she had to do. She jumped to her feet and took to the skies once again. Fatigue raked at her insides, but this was too important. Gliding low over the city, Kenley flew past the dark heads of the Ellvinians and headed south. It did not take long for her to pick out the distinctive blonde curls. She dreamt of those curls every night for over a week now and in every single dream, he was lost to her.
He stood apart from the others, watching her come.
She swallowed back a lump in her throat when she saw his bloodied face and torn clothing. It was then that she realized just how close she really did come to losing him forever.
She swooped down and grabbed his shirt in two fists and pulled him into the air. “Hang on and wrap your legs around me.”
He did as he was told and she heard cheers from the Massans below as she flew with Kirby toward the beach. He smelled of leather and sweat, and it was the sweetest scent she had ever smelled in her life.
Her movements dipped and swayed as her strength finally gave out. The white sand came up to meet them harder than she intended and they rolled across the beach in a tightly tangled heap. When they finally stopped, he was laying on top of her, looking down into her eyes.
“Now, that was a homecoming I will not soon forget,” he murmured.
Kenley’s eyes blurred with sudden tears as the strength of her love washed over her. Her Kirby. Selfless, strong, honorable. He dedicated his entire life to keeping her safe, to loving her, and something deep inside her broke loose under the potency of that knowledge.
“What is this?” he said, and wiped away a tear from her face with a thumb.
“I just missed you,” she whispered. Not trusting herself to adequately express the depth of emotion she was feeling at that moment, she simply said, “Let’s do it.”
“Do what?”
Hands still fisted in his shirt, she rolled him over until she was on top. “Let’s get married.”
“Married?”
“Yes, you still want me, don’t you?”
His shoulders pulled up in a shrug. “Well…I don’t know. You are quite difficult, you know.”
“Kirby!”
“You do so love to torment me, Princess.”
“Kirby Nash, if you do not agree to marry me right this instant, I will kill you!”
His blue eyes twinkled playfully. “Well, then I guess the answer is yes.”
>
“Yes?”
“Yes, I will marry you, Kenley Atlan.” He reached up and tucked a black curl behind her ear. “Don’t you realize by now that there is nothing I want more in this entire world than to have you as my wife?”
She began to laugh through her tears. “I guess I do.”
“Kiss me, my love.”
She dutifully responded and lost herself in the intense pleasure of being back in Kirby’s arms. “I cannot wait to tell mother,” she said softly. “She will be thrilled for us.”
Kirby’s playfulness vanished. “I hope so. But, in interest of my personal safety, can you wrap your father in a shield of air when we tell him?”
CHAPTER 35
RELEASE FROM DARKNESS
Since Kenley could not shift to save her life, she and Kirby made their way back to the gates on foot. Many of the Ellvinians cheered for her as she passed by and offered shouted words of gratitude for saving their lives. She accepted the praise graciously, but the attention slowed her progress and she was anxious to see the children.
At last, they made it through the vast throng of Elves and entered the city square. Kellan saw her first and rushed to her side only to swallow her in his enormous embrace. “So glad you made it, sister.”
She hugged him back fiercely, but before she could reply, she was ripped from Kellan’s arms and flung against Kane. This brother did not say anything, just held her close, and that was perfectly fine with her.
She enjoyed enthusiastic reunions with Izzy, Jala and Reilly, who was a bit sore at her use of force. Fortunately, she was able to smooth things over with the watershifter, and was soon engrossed in a concerted tale of the mayor’s gala when Kellan interrupted.
“Hate to break this up, but we have more work to do.”
Kenley grabbed her brother’s arm. “What now?”
“We have to track and kill the Vypir.”
“What in demon’s breath is a Vypir?”
“Oh, just a beastly Ellvinian creation that wants nothing more than to siphon the blood of magic users.”
Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children Page 23
