Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  “Slave,” Leth’s voice leered. “Your very existence sickens me.”

  A sharp whistle, and then blinding pain. Hayjen choked back a cry as tears stung his eyes. It never got easier. He never became immune to the pain.

  “You think you’re better than us, but you’re not.”

  More pain.

  “You’re worthless.”

  His flesh opened.

  “When the time comes, taking your life will be a pleasure.”

  Another lash. The pain was so intense he couldn’t help the bellow that escaped his lips.

  “When you’re gone, little Mer will be mine,” Leth whispered in his ear.

  Hayjen threw his head back, crashing it into the first mate’s face. A satisfying crunch sounded. No one would hurt the little girl.

  “You’ll regret that,” Leth spat. “And so will the little slave.”

  “I think not,” a feminine voice purred.

  Hayjen froze. He didn’t recognize the voice. Slowly, he turned his neck and stared at the woman perched on the railing. Her shocking magenta eyes met his.

  “Let’s play a game, shall we?”

  Two

  Lilja

  Scanning the deck, Lilja took pleasure in the way the crew of Scythian men gaped at her. She doubted they had ever encountered someone like her and lived to tell the tale. No sign of any of the slaves, other than the one tied to the mast. They must be below. The tall warrior with the whip drew her attention as he turned towards her. His smile was sensual with a cruel edge. He was dangerous—she could see it in the way his body moved and the intelligent glint in his black eyes. She assumed he was one of the warlord’s older creations, a warrior bred and altered to be perfect. She had to be careful with this one.

  Cocking her head, she shifted so her naked thigh peeked out of her skirt, the moonlight highlighting her pale flesh. Would he take the bait? Most of the warlord’s warriors had so much testosterone running through their bodies that they couldn’t help themselves. The ringleader’s eyes followed her movement and relaxed a fraction, his gaze running over her exposed skin.

  Men. They were so easy to distract sometimes.

  She held back her disgust when he licked his lips. “It’s not safe for you to be wandering around at this time of night.” His cronies laughed around him.

  How unoriginal. Did they have a book that they all memorized? One with cliché lines to use on women? She shook her head, and allowed a smoky chuckle to emerge. Time to get down to business. “No, I assure you I am quite safe. It is your own health you should be worrying about.”

  “I highly doubt that.” The ringleader glanced at his men before meeting her eyes with a challenge. “You are quite alone. I, on the other hand, am surrounded.”

  Surrounded. How appropriate. He was surrounded, he just didn’t know it yet. Her crew was as silent as the night and just as deadly. Little did he know that they lurked in the shadows. There would be blood shed tonight, but it would not be hers. Her eyes sharpened when he took a step towards her.

  “I feel like I need to remind you that you are trespassing on my ship, Sirenidae whore.” The Scythian leader spat.

  So he knew what she was. Good. She wanted him to know it was a creature he deemed unworthy of life that had bested him. It would make her victory that much sweeter.

  “Do you know what we do with your kind? We use them and then toss them back to the Leviathan where they belong.”

  The threat hardly registered. She’d heard worse over the years from indoctrinated Scythians. Their hate for her kind was legendary. Anything different was condemned. That was part of the reason the Sirenidae disappeared into the sea hundreds of years ago. Scythia was becoming too powerful, too dangerous, too radical. Lilja’s eyes narrowed as his eyes scanned her again, lingering on areas he had no business looking at. His beastly nature was showing itself.

  “But I’ll make an exception for you. I like my women a little wild with some fight.”

  She slipped to the deck in a fluid movement and leaned against the rail, fighting to keep her disgust from her face. “When I spoke of games, that wasn’t quite what I had in mind.”

  He shifted and Lilja tensed, knowing what would happen. In the space of a heartbeat he was pressed against her, his arms clasping the rail, caging her in. She wasn’t a short woman, but he made her feel downright delicate. The warrior was uncommonly large. Her jaw tensed when he dipped, his lips by her ear. She hated this part.

  “What kind of games would you like to play?” he hissed.

  She ran her hands up his huge chest and ignored the flare of heat she saw in his eyes. Her fingers fluttered along his collarbone, drawing designs as his breathing became labored. Lilja met his eyes and tipped up onto her toes. He wrapped his hands around her waist and dipped his head so she could speak to him. She met the eyes of a burly man strapped to the mast as she whispered in the warrior’s ear. “Lesson number one of hand-to-hand combat. Never let your opponent get too close.” She pressed at the base of his skull, using the death touch. His body went slack and crashed to the deck.

  There was a beat of silence before the other Scythians charged her. Lilja reached into the folds of her sarong and pulled her twin cutlasses from their sheaths. Her men exploded from the dark and scrambled up the sides of the ship, cutting Scythians down as she cleared a path to the slave tied to the mast. Several Scythians rushed into the fray from below deck, only to be mowed down, despite their biological advantages.

  Lilja eyed the slave’s back and grimaced. His flesh was laced with old scars and healing lashes that the new beating had ripped open—it was literally cut to ribbons. Would he survive such injuries? Lilja doubted it, but she wouldn’t leave him there to die tied to the mast. She slipped to the side and jerked back as his ice blue eyes clashed with hers. Pain, hate, and rage simmered in them, just waiting to be released. She leaned forward until their noses almost touched. “I am going to release you. Don’t attack me.” Lilja gave him a warning look before straightening and slicing open the ropes.

  “Behind you,” his hoarse voice warned.

  She ducked and slashed her cutlass across the calf of the Scythian attacking her. He bellowed and fell to his knees still viciously stabbing at her. Lilja deftly avoided his attacks and danced around him. She darted in and smashed her pommel against the back of his head. All fight went out of the giant as he crashed to the deck. Breathing hard, she pulled her eyes from the defeated Scythian to the carnage around her. Scythians littered the deck, moaning and cursing. Her gaze swept over her crew as they took care of any stragglers. Female shrieks, curses, and crying floated through the air announcing the arrival of the other slaves. Bedraggled women and girls poured out of the stairway led by her men. From the corner of her eye, she saw the male slave shuffle painfully over to the group.

  “Hayjen!” a little girl with silvery blond hair cried.

  Lilja’s eyes zeroed in on the child. Mer. They had found her niece. She glanced at Lilja as she wrapped her arms around the male, causing him to cry out and fall to his knees. Lilja’s heart pinched when there wasn’t any recognition in Mer’s eyes. This was the price of her ignorance and morals. Her family. Her niece should know her, but life wasn’t always fair.

  She cocked her head, intrigued as the group of girls surrounded the man, offering help. Curious. Every woman gazed at him with concern or adoration. She’d seen looks like those before. Hero worship.

  “Are you okay, Hayjen?” One of the girls asked.

  “I’m okay, Lera.”

  “Captain Femi?”

  She pulled her attention from the spectacle and raised an eyebrow in question at her first mate Blair. “Yes?”

  “Everyone on the ship is accounted for, Captain.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What would you have us do with all the slaves?”

  “That’s the question of the night, isn’t it, Blair?” What would they do with the other slaves? Their priorities were to retrieve the little gir
l, return her to her parents, and ruin a Scythian ship. It wasn’t until they had spotted the ship that they’d found out it was holding more kidnapped victims than just her niece. “I will deal with it.”

  Lilja strode to the group of slaves, halting five paces away. “Do you have a leader among you?” her voice cut through the dark night.

  The man hefted himself up, a groan of pain slipping out. He wiped at the sweat beading across his forehead and pushed his shoulders back, the corner of his eyes pinching. “I am.”

  He must have been in an inordinate amount of pain, yet he stood before her like a warrior. Lilja was impressed. The little Sirenidae girl placed her little hand on his large, weathered one.

  “I have a few questions,” Lilja stated.

  “I am sure you do, but how about you answer mine first?” His ice blue eyes narrowed. “What do you want with my people, pirate?”

  “Nothing, actually.” Pirate. She loved being called a pirate. “I hadn’t planned on a bushel of slaves being on this ship when I attacked. We love to cause the Scythians grief when we can. I fully intended to burn the ship.” The women gasped. “But rest assured, I don’t plan on leaving you on this ship while it burns. While I may be in the business of thievery, mayhem, and vengeance, I am not in the business of murder. So if you’d be so kind as to board my ship The Sirenidae without carrying on, I would be much obliged to you.” Lilja didn’t think his eyes could get much colder, but they did.

  “And what are you planning on doing with us once we board your ship? Do you have plans to sell us? Because I can tell you, we won’t go down without a fight if that is the case.”

  Lilja eyed him. “A prideful one, aren’t you? You’re beaten and broken, yet you stand before me with dignity and demand answers. That takes courage.” She dipped her chin. “I’ll answer your questions. I despise slavery.” Lilja jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Just ask my crew, most of who I have rescued from some form of slavery. It’s a vile, evil practice that I have no aspirations to indulge in. I plan to drop you safely on Aermian soil, hopefully to never see you again.”

  He studied her, his eyes moving over her face like a physical touch. “What is your name?”

  “Captain Lilja Femi at your service,” she said as she dipped into a bow. “And to whom am I speaking?”

  “Hayjen Fiori.”

  “Well, Hayjen Fiori, what say you?”

  He looked at the women around him before turning back to her. “Do I have your solemn oath none of these women will be harmed in any way, and all will be returned to their families?”

  “I promise to give them means to reach their families and that they will come to no harm, but getting to their families will be their responsibility.”

  Lilja placed her hand on the railing to watch the sea as Hayjen whispered to the women surrounding him. She turned back around when the whispering subsided. Hayjen dipped his chin, his mouth pulled tight by pain. “We accept your terms.”

  “Great!” She slapped her hands together, and smiled at the women warmly. “Blair!” Her second in command started moving in her direction. “Blair will organize you so that we can move you safely to our ship The Sirenidae. If any of you need a healer, please let Blair know. May I speak with you for a moment in private, Hayjen?”

  He nodded and moved towards her in jerky movements, eyeing her like she was a Leviathan circling him. “Are any of the children yours?” Her question surprised him. He jerked and glanced over his shoulder at Mer, who was sitting on a barrel watching them.

  “Yes, the little one with the blond hair.”

  Lilja pursed her lips. He was lying. Why? Did he know Mer’s worth? “I have to say, she looks nothing like you.”

  “She’s adopted.”

  “I see.”

  Hayjen glared at her and leaned forward. “Your tone says otherwise. Unless you are going to accuse me of something, keep your questions and opinions to yourself. Mer is mine.”

  “Now, now, I think you have the wrong impression of me.” Lilja gave him her most sultry smile. “I’ve implied—” a whisper of a sound caught her attention. She turned just as the Scythian ringleader plowed into her, knocking all three of them over the balcony and into the black waters.

  Lilja breathed a sigh of relief as the water caressed her skin.

  Home.

  She opened her eyes, seeing through the dark water clearly. The Scythian struggled to the surface but Hayjen sunk deeper, blood from his back swirling around in crimson streaks.

  That wasn’t good.

  Leviathan could smell blood from hundreds of feet away.

  She dove deeper, sucking in a painful breath of water as her lungs closed and her gills opened. Lilja pushed through the transition, reaching Hayjen as her skin began to tingle. The Leviathan were here. Lilja wrapped her arms around the male and lifted her head, her white hair floating in front of her, giving her glimpses of the sleek black bodies circling. Baring her teeth, she hummed a warning tone. One darted in, its sharp white teeth gleaming in the dark water. She snapped her teeth at the beast, causing it to retreat into the circle. Normally they wouldn’t dare test a Sirenidae, but when a meal was in sight, they tended to get excited. The largest of the finned creatures faced her and swam until it was within arm’s length. The alpha. She met its black eyes and stared it down until its nose dipped. Lilja reached her hand out, allowing the Leviathan the choice to make friends. It eyed her and then bumped its nose into her palm.

  Relief washed through her. There wouldn’t be a fight for dominance tonight.

  The Leviathan turned its attention to the Scythian man fighting the waves above. A series of hums drifted through the water, making the hair on her arms stand up. Their hunting song always gave her chills. Lilja propelled herself and Hayjen to the surface. She braced herself for her first breath. Transitioning from sea breathing to air breathing hurt. Lilja choked and coughed as she expelled water from her lungs. Her chest burned and tears came to her eyes. She shuddered as she coughed more water and began hauling them to the side of the ship where a net swayed.

  “Captain! You need to get out of the water now!” Blair shouted, fear tingeing his voice.

  Lilja looked over her shoulder at what had caught his attention. The Leviathan were circling the Scythian, taking playful nips. They always liked to play with their food. It was the fins following her, however, that must have caused her first mate’s panic. Lilja picked up her pace, ignoring the curious beasts following her. They were probably hoping she would give up her prey.

  Not today, beasties.

  A soul-shattering scream erupted behind her, making her wince. No one deserved to die like that. The scream cut off in abrupt silence. It was time to get out before a feeding frenzy started. Even she wasn’t stupid enough to be in the water when they went crazy. Lilja latched onto the net, desperately holding on to Hayjen. “Pull us up!” she yelled.

  Her arms screamed as she clung to the large man. His weight was almost too much to bear, but the sight of the dark creatures now directly below her was all she needed to help maintain her hold on him. Her crew heaved one last time and pulled them over the railing. She coughed up the rest of the sea water and pushed onto her hands and knees.

  “Depths below, Captain. You smell so damn good.”

  Hell. The sea water activated her Lure. What was meant to be a protection for her kind, only caused her trouble. Her poor crew couldn’t help but be drawn to her. It was chemistry.

  “It’s the Lure. Step back and the effect will lessen.” She blinked the salt water out of her eyes and glanced over at Hayjen, eyes widening. “Get him off his back!”

  Blair dropped to his knees and pressed on the man’s chest. “We have to get the water from his lungs first or he won’t survive.”

  Her first mate pushed on his chest over and over before Hayjen’s lips sputtered and he spit up water. Blair quickly turned him to his side, blood and sea water pouring everywhere. Hayjen yelled and went limp.

  “Is
he okay?” she demanded, gaping at his back. It was a bloody mess.

  “He’s unconscious. We need to get him off this hunk of wood and onto our ship.”

  Lilja nodded, never taking her eyes off his back. The pain must have been excruciating. Depths below, the man had suffered, and all the open flesh had been subjected to the salty sea water. He was lucky he’d passed out. At least that way he’d feel no pain.

  Three

  Hayjen

  Stars above, his body bloody hurt. He blinked at the colorful bedding beneath his cheek. Where was he? Hayjen moved to get up and yelped, falling back to the bed. He breathed hard as pain and nausea washed through him. That was stupid. He put his nose into the blankets and attempted to breathe through the pain assaulting him. Vaguely, he registered citrus and sea salt.

  “What the hell did you do?” a smoky voice asked.

  Hayjen jerked painfully, and turned his neck to spot pirate Captain Femi glaring at him as she bore down on him.

  “You opened your wounds back up,” she scolded.

  His nose twitched when her green silk dress brushed his nose. How cliché—a pirate wearing silk.

  “I heard that, you ungrateful brute.”

  He had said that out loud? He must be addled. “Sorry.”

  “Hmmmm…”

  Pain bit him. “Damn it, that hurt.” What was she doing? Where was Mer?

  “Stop being such a sissy, and hold still. You would think I was torturing you or something.”

  “Then stop poking me.”

  “I wouldn’t be poking you if you hadn’t ripped open your wounds.”