Faery Revenge

by Donna Joy Usher

  It was no use though. I couldn’t shake the image of Turos out of my head.

  I pushed back up out of the water and watched him from the corner of my eye as he strode to the water’s edge, wading in mid-thigh before raising his arms above his head, looking for all the world like an Olympic gymnast as he dived into the water.

  He wasn’t naked as I had first feared, but his undergarments left nothing to the imagination and I felt myself breaking out into a fresh round of blushes.

  I splashed the water onto my cheeks in an attempt to cool them off, suddenly feeling I was in over my head in more ways than one. I’d only ever kissed one man before the incident in the hallway.

  Those thoughts opened the door I’d jammed shut the night Emerald had gone into labour, and thoughts of Aethan flooded in.

  I sighed and sunk back under the water. What was he doing right now? Was he so wrapped up in the perfection of Ebony that he had forgotten all about me?

  I missed the sight of him. I missed the touch of him. I missed the feel of him. It had been so long since things were simple between us. And now they never would be again. I let the agony in my gut compete with my lungs as they started to burn for air.

  Finally, when the need for oxygen overwhelmed my misery, I stroked upwards, taking a breath as my head broke the water. Scruffy was a little white spot in the distance as he inspected the palm trees at the edge of the beach.

  I trod water as I turned slowly, scanning the ocean for Turos. There was nothing but blue water stretching into the distance. He hadn’t returned to the beach, and he appeared to have been a strong swimmer. I couldn’t imagine anything happening to the huge warrior.

  And then, as my concern was beginning to bloom, something grabbed my ankle.

  My shriek echoed through the water, visions of sharks filling my mind. Bubbles blinded me as the surface of the ocean disappeared above my head. I tried to stroke upwards but the creature grabbed my other leg, scaling up my body like a monkey up a ladder till strong arms pinned mine to my sides and Turos’s smiling face appeared before me. He kicked upwards, carrying me with him till our heads broke the water.

  I took a deep, gasping breath. ‘Let go.’

  He shook his head, that infuriating smile still gracing his face. ‘I know what’s going to happen.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘As soon as I let you go, you’re going to punch me.’

  My anger ebbed and a small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. ‘Well, no-one could accuse you of being a slow learner.’

  He trod water as he held me and suddenly I was aware of the movement of his skin brushing over mine. I could feel myself blushing furiously as I looked away.

  ‘I won’t punch you.’ My voice was soft, but he must have heard me because he loosened his grasp.

  ‘Promise? Because you punch like a man.’

  I let out a snort and nodded my head, still unable to look at him.

  My physical reaction to him confused me. I had never felt like this with anyone but Aethan. And even though I knew the theory of why I had to let Aethan go, I was having trouble with the practical part of it. I was still hanging onto a maybe. A what if. But when Turos was this close to me, I had trouble remembering why.

  I pushed away from him, treading water as I finally met his eyes. ‘You stopped trying.’

  He shrugged one shoulder. ‘I got warned off.’

  ‘By whom? Isla?’

  He smiled. ‘By Lance. He said your heart belonged to someone else.’

  I blinked tears out of my eyes and stared towards the shore. ‘It did. I mean it does.’ I sighed. ‘It’s complicated.’

  ‘Love should never be complicated. It’s the simplest thing in life.’

  A laugh escaped my lips and I splashed some water at him. ‘A romantic. I would never have guessed.’

  ‘There’s some romantic in all of us.’ He waved his hand in the air in a dramatic flourish and then dipped it back into the ocean to splash me back. ‘So this complicated man, is he waiting for you back home?’

  I shook my head. ‘If his mother gets his way he’ll be married by now.’

  ‘His mother gets to say who he will marry? Sounds like a wuss.’

  ‘It’s a long story. And it’s….’

  ‘Complicated?’

  ‘See. You are a fast learner.’

  A swishing, splashing noise reached us across the ocean. Turos froze and put his hand in the air in a warning motion. Then, as the black prow of a sailing vessel broke the water around the closest point, he dragged me back under.

  This time I didn’t struggle. Instead I followed him as he swam beneath the surface of the water towards the side of the bay. We came up amongst the boulders as the ship sailed fully into view. Sails flapped and sailors scampered over the deck and up the mast.

  I didn’t need Turos’s warning finger against his lips to stay silent. A quick glance at the beach eased my fears. Scruffy was almost invisible against the white sand. If I hadn’t known he was there, I doubt I would have noticed him.

  ‘Who are they?’ I whispered into Turos’s ear.

  ‘We don’t know.’

  My mind raced as I thought. Messengers from his father. Strained looks on his face whenever he returned from seeing Bladimir. ‘This isn’t the first time they’ve been here.’ It wasn’t a question.

  ‘They’ve never approached this closely.’

  Voices called out in a foreign language and sailors leapt to obey.

  ‘Friendly?’

  He shrugged and then pulled me closer to him behind a boulder. ‘They’re stopping.’

  It takes a while for a ship that size to come to a stop, and by the time they had, they were across the bay and at the other point. If we stayed very still, I doubted they would notice us from there. I saw Scruffy skulk from his position in the shade up into the protection of the trees.

  We watched as a boat was lowered over the side and a rope ladder unfurled. Then sailors scampered down the ladder, all of them with swords strapped to their waists and bows over their shoulder.

  Turos let out a hiss as I said, ‘Pirates?’

  He shook his head. ‘A few of these ships have been spotted. So unless it’s a group of pirates working together, no.’

  Once the boat was full, a bundle of material was thrown to the men below. Oars struck the water and the boat flowed swiftly towards the shore. It was there within minutes and all of the men except the oarsmen jumped into the knee-deep water.

  Then the boat returned to the ship and the whole procedure was repeated, until it appeared that only one man remained on board.

  ‘What’s with the material?’ I whispered.

  ‘It’s a net.’ Turos spoke through clenched teeth.

  ‘Surely they don’t think they can catch a dragon with those nets?’ I shook my head. A dragon was far too large for a net held by a dozen men to control them.

  ‘They aren’t after dragons,’ Turos hissed. ‘They’re after hatchlings.’

  My mind flashed back to the cavern. At least a dozen hatchlings had been playing with Arthur when we had left. From what I had seen as we’d flown in and out there was easily another dozen down the other end of the cavern. And while it would be impossible to steal a single hatchling from their mother, in the confusion of a fight, a hatchling could be smuggled out through the lava tubes.

  ‘Arthur,’ I said, starting to stroke towards the shore.

  He grabbed me and pulled me back. ‘They’ll see us if we go now.’

  I looked at him and smiled as I said, ‘Good.’

  ‘Good? We have no weapons. How can that be good?’

  ‘Watch and learn, big boy.’ There was no way I was letting them anywhere near Arthur. I reached out to Emerald and showed her what we were seeing, sure that Turos was doing the same with Lance. Then I stripped off my shirt, handed it to Turos, and swam to shore.

  The sailors had made their way along the point to the sandy beach when they spotted me. I was si
tting on a boulder as I combed out my hair with my fingers. I looked up at them, fluttering my eyelids as I waved.

  The ones in front stopped. I stifled a smirk as the ones behind ran into the back of them, too busy staring to note the change in pace. They weren’t faeries. But then I didn’t know why I would have expected them to be. We were in a different world and probably the only faeries here were those that had come through with the dragons.

  Well, whatever they were they certainly recognised a female form when they saw it. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, I would have been amused by their sudden change of posture. Shoulders went back and chests stuck out and a few of them started shoving each other.

  I stood, stretching languidly as I tried to look sexy, but I felt ridiculous standing there in my bra and underpants. They didn’t seem to think I was ridiculous as more shoving broke out. The nets lay forgotten on the ground. And then one man pushed his way to the front and turned on the others, a low feral growl breaking out in his throat.

  The others dropped back and no-one contested him as he walked towards me.

  Eeeeeeeeeeeeep.

  I mean I know that had been the whole point of the exercise. Divide and conquer and all that, but I had never fought before wearing only my underwear, and I was seriously regretting leaving my shirt with Turos.

  Holding my hand out to the sailor, I shot a quick glance out to sea. Turos was still where I had told him to stay but the look on his face told me I only had a few seconds before he came to my aid.

  I shot him a warning glance and then turned back to the sailor. Bristly, black hair covered his head and his face, flowing down his neck and under his shirt. I was guessing it covered his whole body, but I wasn’t going to let him show me.

  He stopped a few metres from me and said something in a gruff voice. I wiggled my fingers at him and smiled suggestively and then I turned and sashayed my way up the beach towards the palms. A quick glance over my shoulder showed he was following.

  I quickened my stride as I approached the trees, widening the gap between us. I looked at him over my shoulder, fluttering my eyelids and giggling, before darting into the stand of palms. He seemed to like the challenge, letting out a roar as he chased me.

  I was waiting for him, just not where he had expected. He stopped and looked around, confusion on his face. And then I dropped from the trunk of a palm onto his shoulders, wrapping my legs around his neck and twisting to the side.

  He threw himself to the side in the direction I had twisted and we fell to the ground. The back of my head cracked against a rock as he rolled, pinning me down with his weight. His eyes were bright with excitement as he lifted back his fist and drove it towards my face. I shifted my head at the last second and his hand ploughed into the rock.

  He let out an almighty roar of pain and I grabbed his head and threw him sideways, smacking his head against a boulder with enough force that the fight immediately left him. He slumped to the ground, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the sky.

  Scruffy appeared from amongst the palms, rushing over to me and licking my hands as I dragged the sailor off the path. ‘One down,’ I said to him, ‘nineteen to go.’

  Was there any chance that they hadn’t heard the noise of our fight?

  I could see Turos as I stuck my head back out onto the beach. He had approached as close as he could while remaining unseen. The wait must have been killing him.

  A smile crept over my lips at the thought and I used that smile as I messed up my hair and sauntered back to the sailors. The ones at the front knocked arrows to their bows while the ones at the rear drew their swords, and then they spread out, moving as a group up the beach.

  Uhhh Ohhh. I guess that was a yes to the question of whether or not they had heard me.

  I backed up into the trees, grabbing my pants off the rock as I did. They wouldn’t give me any protection from arrows or swords but I would feel a lot better fighting if I wasn’t worried about flashing certain bits of my anatomy at them.

  It only took me a few seconds to slip into them but the first of the attackers rounded the corner as I was doing up the top button. Scruffy growled and lunged at the man’s ankles, and without thinking, I wrapped Scruffy up in an air bubble and tossed him into the air.

  The man stared up, a stunned look on his face as he watched Scruffy floating just beyond reach. I ball-kicked him in the face before he could recover, and followed it up with a hook. His head flew to the side and his sword dropped out of his hand as he collapsed to the ground. His eyes were rolling around in his head as I scooped up his sword and stepped over him.

  The rest of the group were waiting, spread out across the entrance to the beach. I held my weapon up in a guard position and eyed them. A few of them seemed to know how to hold their swords, and the ones with the bows actually appeared to know how to shoot.

  There was a blur of motion behind them and then Turos was upon them. He moved so swiftly I almost didn’t see him as he downed the first archer with one mighty blow of his hammer-like fist. He had taken out two more before they even realised they were being attacked from behind.

  Half the group turned towards him at the same time as the rest of them charged me. An arrow flicked towards me, rebounding off the shield I threw into place. I left it there long enough to let the men in the front smack into it.

  One of them let out a gurgle and blood flowed out of his mouth as he looked down at the tip of the sword protruding from his chest. The man whose sword it was, let out a snarl, yelling what I was sure were obscenities as he pulled the sword free. His comrade’s body slid sideways down the invisible shield, leaving a smear of blood floating in mid-air.

  I shut down the shield and attacked. Leaping over them in a somersault as I swept downwards twice with my sword. My first stroke took an arm off, while my second lodged in the side of one of the men’s neck.

  I landed on the far side of the group, grabbed another sword off the ground, and turned to face the closest attacker.

  ‘Izzy.’ Another sword flew through the air, appearing point first out of my opponent’s chest.

  ‘Thanks,’ I yelled back as the man collapsed forwards. I stepped onto his back, pulled out the sword and turned to face the rest of the group, a sword twirling from each hand. There were still eleven men standing. They held their weapons and eyed Turos and me warily. ‘Five each?’ I asked.

  ‘What about the last one?’

  ‘We can toss for him.’

  Coming.

  I could tell by the way Turos’s head jerked that he had gotten the same message from Lance.

  ‘Now where’s the fun in that? Winner takes all.’

  Before I could clarify exactly what ‘all’ the winner was going to take, he launched his attack. His swords were blurs as he leapt and struck, and before I could get my mouth shut again, two of his five were bleeding out on the sand.

  Dark Sky. The only way I was going to match him would be to cheat. I slammed a barrier down the middle of the beach, separating him and the three men he was in the process of dealing with, from me and the rest of the sailors.

  ‘Right,’ I said, ‘who’s next?’

  I was pretty sure they couldn’t understand me, but they rushed me anyway. I slid my swords into the fastest of them, dodging to the side as his momentum carried him past me. I grabbed him, and swung him around and back into his comrades, plucking my swords back from his chest as he crashed into them. Then I leapt over him, flicking my swords through the carotid arteries of two of the remaining five.

  ‘Hey.’

  I felt Turos banging on my shield but managed to avoid looking at him, even though I really wanted to see the look on his face. That would be a rookie’s mistake which could end up with me dead.

  ‘Not fair,’ he hollered again.

  I spat a piece of hair out of my mouth and beckoned to the three remaining men. They looked at each other and then turned and sprinted towards the boat lying on the shoreline. I waited till they were pushing
it into the water before I lowered the shield.

  ‘You’re letting them get away?’ Turos was beside me in a flash.

  ‘I’m thinking about it.’ I pushed my wet hair back over my shoulders.

  ‘But why?’

  I turned to look up at Turos. His light-blue eyes blazed into mine. ‘To send a warning?’

  He shook his head and raked a frustrated hand through his hair. ‘We’ve already given them fair warning. They keep coming though. And now we know what they want.’

  ‘Dragons?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Well, okay then.’

  A low rumble began behind us, growing in intensity until I could feel it vibrating through my chest. Two dragons soared into view. One sparkled green while the other looked like a piece of night in the brilliant sun-filled sky.

  Emerald and Lance, flames shooting out of their mouths, roared as they swept overhead. They were magnificent and scary as all hell, and I would have been peeing myself if they weren’t on my side.

  The sailors in the little boat increased the pace of their rowing as they threw fearful glances upwards. I could see the one lone sailor on the ship up the front near the prow. He was fussing around a long metal barrel while shooting fearful glances up into the sky.

  ‘Well,’ Turos said, ‘I guess that’s that.’

  I squeaked as he grabbed my shoulders and backed me up against one of the palms. ‘What’s that?’

  Emerald dived down upon the ship, grasping the mast with her front legs. The man let go of the barrel and lunged to the deck. The mast snapped like a twig and she threw it into the ocean before unleashing her fire upon the deck.

  ‘I win,’ he whispered as he leaned in close, the air from his breath tickling my ear. The tone of his voice left me in no doubt as to what exactly he’d meant by ‘winner takes all’. And then he leaned in even closer, the length of his body pushing into mine and as he leaned down and nipped my ear.

  I stiffened against him, my need for him to continue, warring with my need for him to stop. His lips nuzzled along my ear and then I felt the tip of his tongue graze the soft skin there. It took every ounce of self-restraint I had to push him away.