Beast Caller

by Brea Alepoú

  Melony looked around at her group, but no one moved. They all watched Trinity walk away. She stopped short before she passed a tree, and she turned her head. The shells and beads in her hair swayed to the side.

  “You will need to walk to get there,” Trinity informed them.

  “Yes, we figured that part out, but I don't have a home.” Melony felt a pang at the memory of her childhood home, now most likely nothing more than rubble.

  Trinity looked confused for a second before turning fully back around. She walked over to the group. She reached out to grab Itsumi, and Zola’s hand moved so fast it was a blur. Zola gripped Trinity’s wrist so hard, Melony was sure there would be bruises later.

  Before anything could get out of hand, Melony intervened. “What home is this and did the elves tell you to take us?”

  Melony wasn’t sure if she could trust the tree elves. During the entire battle, they didn’t help once. They’d shown no signs whatsoever that they had even wanted to help. They had nearly died and neither one of the elves showed up to help.

  “We can carry her,” Melony said to Trinity. “Let her go,” she directed toward Zola.

  Zola’s hand released Trinity but shoved her away at the last second. Melony turned to glare at Zola; she didn’t have to be rude even if she didn’t like Trinity.

  “What house are you talking about?” Melony asked

  Trinity stood up and stared at Melony, her multicolored eyes transfixing Melony for a second before she looked away. Now not only did her head hurt, but it felt fuzzy too.

  “You have used a lot of magic,” Trinity remarked.

  Melony squeezed her eyes shut. “That doesn’t answer my question. If you’re here just to avoid questions, then you can get back into the water and swim away.”

  Trinity seemed to think about it. “I don't like answering questions.”

  Well, that was better than Melony thinking she was purposely misleading or avoiding questions. “I’m starting to think that’s a prerequisite to exist in this crazy, magic place. Fine, but you can’t expect me to let you lead us somewhere when we don’t know your intentions.”

  Trinity’s face scrunched and the scales on her face moved. Melony felt the urge to smooth them back down. It looked uncomfortable to have the scales up, as if they might fall off.

  “But you will die if you stay out here,” Trinity said.

  Melony didn’t want that. She shrugged. “And what is to say that we don’t walk past that tree and die?”

  Trinity’s face once more scrunched up, and Melony was beginning to not like asking the mermaid questions, since every time she got confused, her scales lifted. Ryu moved a little, and she remembered she had a dragon on her shoulder. He sat so quietly she had forgotten he was even there.

  “Just choose already. I need a bath and a bed,” Phillis complained, his eyes going to his sister.

  Nari still hadn’t lifted her head, staying ignorant to everything around her. Melony wanted to reach out, but she didn’t know what to say or how to help. She sighed. There was a way, but them standing outside as sitting ducks wasn’t it.

  “Fine, lead the way,” Melony said.

  Zola touched Melony’s side, and Melony leaned into the touch. She didn’t think Trinity was bad; she’d had plenty of chances to hurt Melony and never done anything wrong. She’d even fixed Melony’s hair for the dinner when she’d gotten drunk.

  If Melony was by herself, she would have easily followed Trinity, with barely any questions, but it wasn’t just her life on the line. Melony was sure her magic was pretty much dried up, but if she had to, she would use the little magic she had left to protect everyone. Ryu headbutted her, as if hearing her thoughts. She could always sic Ryu on her. Melony was sure a full-grown dragon could take on a mermaid.

  At least, she hoped so.

  Mateo picked Nari up, Zola effortlessly lifted Itsumi, and Lemy held Eve in her arms easily. Which left Phillis and Melony to defend them if things got rough. Melony didn’t hold her breath on Phillis being able to do much. She hadn’t seen much of his magic, but the little glimpse she’d gotten from the battle… She wasn’t betting her life on him.

  They followed Trinity. Melony’s eyes were wide open as she looked around for anything that might attack them. She saw nothing as they passed the tree. There was nothing but open land, so they were more out in the open then they had been before. Melony opened her mouth to say something, but as she watched Trinity disappear, Melony stopped dead in her tracks.

  “Mermaids can disappear?”

  Lemy walked forward and half her body disappeared before she turned to look at Melony, confusion written all over her face. “What are you talking about? We’re entering back into the realm.” Then she turned back and disappeared.

  Phillis followed right behind her, followed by Mateo.

  Melony stood there, staring at the spot where they’d all disappeared. “This shit will never be normal,” she whispered.

  Zola nudged her. “I will protect you if it’s a trap.”

  Melony nodded. She knew Zola would. She took in a deep breath and hoped it wasn’t like teleporting. She didn’t think her head would be able to handle it. All the colors and the crazy feeling teleporting gave her… She was sure her head would pop off if she did anything like that now. She stuck her hand through first before taking another deep breath and moving through.

  It felt like walking through water but coming out dry. Melony opened her eyes, back in the realm, and she thought she would see mansions like she had before. No, she thought Lydia had a castle, but she stared at a huge mountain with an old-style castle built right into it. Water crashed at the bottom of the mountain.

  “Holy cow shit,” she exclaimed.

  Everyone turned to look at her.

  “Whose castle is that?” Melony asked.

  Trinity looked as if she didn’t want to answer, her reluctance showing on her face. Melony almost said never mind until Trinity opened her mouth. Her teeth still scared Melony a little. She would have never imagined a mermaid with shark-like teeth.

  “It would be yours,” Trinity answered. She turned around, as if to run from any further questions Melony might have. Melony had a lot of questions. Like, how in the hell was it her castle and when had it become her castle?

  Melony leaned back toward Zola. “Did you know about the castle?”

  Zola shook her head, looking as shocked as Melony was feeling. “I also didn’t know about the dragon.”

  Ryu squeaked, and Melony shrugged the shoulder Ryu wasn’t perched on. “I didn’t either. Kind of just happened.”

  Zola shook her head, a smile on her face, and started walking, following the others as they headed into the castle.

  “What?” Melony asked as she started walking to catch up with Zola.

  “You have been nothing but surprises since I met you. You have no idea what a wonderment it is that you have a dragon. They were hunted to extinction by witches at least a million years ago.”

  “She’s a beast caller,” Trinity announced.

  Everyone nodded, but Melony was confused by the name. “I’m a what?”

  Phillis rolled his eyes. “A beast caller. It’s what they used to call the witches that were able to call dragons to them and tame them.” He shrugged. “You know, before they realized dragon parts are useful and super powerful.”

  Melony felt hot anger pulse through her at the thought of anyone hurting little Ryu. It was a damn crime. She would scorch them and stomp on their burned corpses.

  “That’s terrible,” she said. As if to reassure herself that Ryu was still with her, she ran the tips of her fingers over his head. Her hand was still raw and hurt, but her fingertips seemed to be mostly okay. It felt like rubbing a pet rock, except Ryu made a gurgling sound as if he was purring.

  Melony laughed as she dropped her hand from petting him once they walked through the double doors of the castle. It smelled as if the place hadn’t been used in hundreds of years. There w
as dust and spider webs all over. Trinity stood in the middle of the room, a chandelier hanging above her head that would need bleach and some heavy elbow grease to get clean. Melony’s eyes scanned the whole room. There were two sets of staircases, with what she was sure was supposed to be a white bannister, but it was dingy grey because it was so dusty. She wasn’t sure what the color of the floor was as there were dark black stains all over it. Other areas were just covered in thick layers of dust.

  “This place is protected,” Lemy remarked.

  Melony looked to her, and she wondered how she knew, but she didn’t get to ask. Lemy moved toward Melony, pushing a blue and green speckled gem into her hand. She stood there with pleading eyes, Eve in her arms. Melony nodded and glanced over to Itsumi, knowing Eve would need it more. Itsumi was seriously injured, but Eve was seconds away from death.

  “If you ne—”

  Melony stopped Lemy. She wasn’t going to prioritize anyone’s life over another’s. Yes, Itsumi was important to her, but now so were Lemy and Eve.

  Melony reopened the cut on her lip and smeared blood on the gem. She had dried blood on her, but she thought the fresher the better. Maybe the gems were baby vampires? She must have been more tired than she thought if her thoughts were straying so far. She shook her head to focus back on healing Eve. She pressed the gem against Eve and took a deep breath.

  “Epikaloumai.”

  The gem got hot—just like it did with Zola—only this time Melony’s vision started to get dark. The sides of her vision started to close in. Her hand burned, but she held it there until she felt the gem explode. Melony didn’t try to fight it, her body too heavy and weak. She fell, arms wrapping around her to catch her before she hit the ground.

  “Goo… Don’t want be covered in dust,” she slurred. Even her mouth felt heavy.

  “The queen will need her sleep to replenish her magic,” Trinity said.

  Melony tried to open her eyes. Queen. Melony cringed from the word, a small inkling of fear had her searching around. Making sure they weren’t once again under attack, there was no way she’d be able to fight again. She couldn’t even open her eyes. Everything hurt, and her head could no longer keep up with her thoughts.

  “Sleep, Melony. Everything is okay,” Zola whispered in her ear.

  Melony let herself slip all the way into unconsciousness. Not that she could fight it any longer. Zola would protect them, and they would be okay. She could rest, and when she woke up, they would meet the new queen. Melony only hoped she was nothing like Lydia or had a demon child.

  The End

  To be continued…

  Guide to Gems

  Gems other magical creatures can use, not only witches:

  Solid Green—Protection by creating a barrier

  Solid Pearl White—Can hide things in plain sight

  Light Blue with Green Specks—Healing

  Solid Lilac—Silence barrier (size depends on power of person/creature)

  Gems only witches have enough power to use:

  Easiest to master:

  Rose Pink—Null

  Violet with White Specks—White energy bomb

  Solid Light Blue—Water

  Solid Red—Fire

  Difficult to master and can take years of training:

  White with Yellow Specks—Lightning

  Solid Orange—Flying

  Rare to find and too difficult for most to use:

  Black with Green and Blue Specks—Black hole

  Iridescent—Teleportation

  Brea Alepoú realized her dream was to write and tell stories after spending five years in college getting a degree. She has since been writing and letting her imagination free. She thought she would only write contemporary at first but soon found her love for making worlds. So now she rights it all. With her wild imagination, expect lots of different stories, from fairies ruling, to vampires killing everyone, to the sweet loving between two men, passion between two fierce women, or the love of multiple partners. She believes that everyone deserves love even if not all of her characters get it right away. Love is passionate, hot, needy, confusing, painful, draining, fulfilling, and all-consuming.

  (pnr, contemporary, fantasy, erotica, romance, shifter mpreg, & rh)

  There will be a book for everyone.

  Insanity is Contagious.

  Brea Alepoú

  Feel free to stalk me.

  Brea.alepou@gmail.com

  https://www.brea-alepou.com

  Facebook Group: Brea’s Hearts

  Also by Brea Alepoú

  Series

  The Contracted Series

  Loves Edge (Book 1)

  Loves Choices (Book 2)

  Blood Series

  More Than Blood (Book 1)

  Holiday Blood (A More Than Blood Short Story)

  Their Blood (Coming Soon 2019)

  Standalone

  In Debt to the Devil