The Devourer: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Airshan Chronicles Book 3)

by Nhys Glover

  Suddenly Redin separated from the captain’s droplet. I wasn’t ready to leave yet. Could I go into the captain’s bubble alone? But before I could think to do so I noticed what had caused Redin to break his link with our target.

  A murky grey-green droplet was lazing by not far from us. Without seeming to, the other droplets left a space between themselves and it. I could understand why. Everything about that drop was wrong.

  I urged Redin closer, though I could feel his reticence. It was mine as well. If it wasn’t so important to us, I would have turned tail and run as far away from the drop as I could get. Though run or even walk were definitely not terms that applied here.

  We edged closer, and Redin braced himself to let his droplet touch the edge of the grey-green drop. It felt off. If I could have smelled anything here, I would have said it smelled of death.

  Redin edged even closer and we were suddenly in the essence of a Devourer. I felt momentarily confused as my mind splintered into parts. Three parts. Gods, this one essence was experiencing three separate existences. One was back in our world, in an underground temple where there was frenetic activity going on as the priests prepared for the Devourer to do its worst. The other two aspects were on the ship heading for us. This was lucky. I could feel Redin feeling the same sense of satisfaction.

  Together we explored the two parts of this three person essence. Little existed there. Memories of childhood were vague, relationships were seemingly non-existent. But when I recognised the dissolving sensation I’d felt in the Devourer’s nightmare I realised why there was so little real humanity to the man. The split had traumatised him. Them. It had left the separate parts as little more than directionless lumps of flesh, obeying orders without thought, without personal desires of any kind. They, he, didn’t even desire The Jayger’s success. It was all meaningless to him. That moment when he disintegrated, shattered into a million pieces, reverberated around his essence like a bell vibrated long after it was rung. It haunted his dreams, infected his days, and numbed his mind into nothingness.

  Terror surged up inside me. Memories of being lost in a dissolving mind like this one overtook me. Not again, I couldn’t get caught in there again!

  I pushed my way out of the Devourer’s essence, and I must have dragged Redin with me because, in the next instant, I was opening my eyes to see the tall man in front of me doing the same.

  “That was...” I couldn’t find an adequate word to describe the experience. I shifted around so I could see the faces of my husbands. They did the same. Each man reached for me, placing a hand on a part of my body. Reassuring themselves I was with them. That we were whole. I read it in their minds but couldn’t quite put a name to the need.

  “I’d feel sorry for him if there was anything left to feel sorry for,” I croaked out finally. “I apologize for pulling you out, Redin, but I got stuck in that traumatic moment of scattered pieces once before, and I was afraid it might happen to me again. I was a coward.”

  Redin laughed shakily, climbing to his feet. “Believe me, I was more than ready to leave. Had I not experienced being hauled into the hag’s life, and seen how that dissolving and separating happened, I would probably have gone a little mad myself in there. Because, without that knowledge, it was pure chaos.”

  “Well, as traumatic as the exercise was, it was more than successful. Now for Sky and Shardra?” I looked at my men who seemed as shaken up as Redin.

  “You do not need me now,” Redin said as he edged away from us. “If you will excuse me, I feel the need to find the waterfall and drink as much of it as I can. I am so thirsty. As if I drank a cask of seawater.”

  I nodded my approval, though it was hardly my place to approve his actions. I knew what he was feeling though. I needed a drink as much as he did. Though I would satisfy myself with water out of one of the bladders at the campsite. There was no time for finding the source of our fresh water.

  Laric jogged back to the campsite and returned with a pair of water bladders. He offered me one before taking a long swig from the other. Passing it on, he relaxed into the sand, his face closed.

  After taking a long thirsty swig, I also passed my bladder on. Then I took more from the other bladder when it came my way. I doubted any amount of water would be enough, but it would have to do for now.

  Once we’d all drunk as much as our bellies could hold, we settled in for more work. The sun was beginning its slow decent into the sea and it was already getting cooler.

  “Let’s do the mind-reading with Shardra and Sky with our backs together and then experiment with us moving further apart,” Zem said.

  That sounded sensible. We all agreed and leaned in so we rested on each other’s backs. It was relaxing. And when I opened my mind to my men I found them enjoying the position as much as I was. There was something about trusting others to hold you up like this that brought you closer.

  They refocused on me with mixed feelings. Although they knew this next exercise was safe, they still felt afraid for me. The last experience had frightened me and therefore them. This time we had known and liked targets, but that wouldn’t always be the case. They worried I might not be able to escape another Devourer like the one we met on the Nether Plane.

  I wished I could reassure them, but knew I couldn’t, because I was just as afraid as they were. The only thing in my favour was that, if I was in trouble, all they had to do was break the connection and I’d fall away back to my ‘normal’ abilities. Or that was what I hoped. Again, it was something we needed to experiment with. Did I need all my men to do the amazing things I was doing now, or did they just ramp me up incrementally? It might take a couple of them for me to lose sufficient power to get out of a Devourer’s essence.

  Focusing on the problem at hand, which was how far my mind-reading ability could now reach, I thought about sweet Shardra. I imagined her with her beloved Sky, living the kind of life she deserved after what had gone before.

  In the next instant, I found myself on a ledge, looking down at the dense forest far below.

  “The rock fell down there,” Shardra was saying to Sky. “Zem is very strong, and he pushed it out of the way and sent it plummeting down there. It was so deafening I thought the whole mountain was coming down on us. I was almost as frightened then as I was when I thought you dead.”

  Sky stood with a big hand holding her gown, ready to catch her if she lost her balance. Concern was written all over his face. How had I ever considered this creature a conster manipulating an innocent girl? Sky was, in his way, as innocent as she was.

  “Try to send a thought to Flame,” Sky suggested, as if only then remembering why they were there.

  Obediently, she turned inward and mentally spoke to me. ‘I know I should feel terrible that the world is under threat this way, but I’m happy, Flame. I am truly happy for the first time in my life. I hope you hear this.’

  Tears stung my eyes. I hoped she’d get her happy-ever-after. She deserved it.

  ‘I do,’ I told her.

  I switched my focus to Sky and I heard him say in his mind, ‘If something happens to me, you must make sure Shardra stays safe. You must help her continue living.’

  He looked down at the woman at his side and I could feel the intensity of his love for her. It was an overwhelming combination of joy and fear. Every breath she took was a miracle to him. Every smile she gave him was a gift more precious than gold. Her beauty left him incoherent with desire, while her different coloured eyes seemed the most glorious thing he’d ever looked upon.

  ‘I hear you, Sky, and will do my best.’

  I pulled away from them, not wanting to eavesdrop on their private moments any longer. On a whim, I sent my mind out further. I pictured Calun in my mind’s eye as I had seen him last.

  Immediately, I found myself at the airling paddock at the capital. Calun was working with the raw airlings. In recent times, for some reason, wild airlings had started showing an interest in being with humans. Not because the Godde
ss willed it, but because it suited them. Humans were not as bad as they had always thought. Befriending them could be very rewarding.

  Smiling at Calun’s bemusement over this new development, I wondered briefly if I was actually with him or just imagining him.

  My brother suddenly looked up and frowned. ‘Flame?’

  I was so excited I almost broke the connection. Luckily, I had enough sense to calm down and refocused on him—seeing the reddish tinge of scruff on his cheeks, the bright green of his eyes as he looked around him.

  ‘Aye, it’s me. We have discovered we can mentally project over distance. Did you know The Jayger is free?’

  Calun looked disbelieving, as if it was his turn to wonder if he was just imagining me because he was missing and worrying about me.

  He did manage to answer me, though, after a moment. ‘Aye. We assumed as much when water came coursing out of the side of the mountain, flooding Cliffling villages as it went. Luckily, the army had pulled back by then or we might have lost more people. Have you found the Key?’

  ‘Aye. And he is quite amazing and definitely on our side. The hag and the Godling died when the Jayger was released. So did the high priest and some of the others. But there are more of them, and they’re still after us. But we’re discovering new abilities all the time. Like this one.’

  I paused, not wanting to share the worst news with him. Yet avoidance wouldn’t do either of us any good. Gritting my teeth I told him what we knew. ‘We have a half moon before the Devourer begins to cover the land with water. He’s... It’s building its strength now and will start his task in a half moon. It will all be over in a moon if we don’t succeed. You have to start moving people inland. Up into the mountains, if possible.’

  ‘Evacuations are already underway,’ came the reassuring answer before his tone became teasing. ‘Be safe little sister. Save the world, but do it safely, all right?’

  I knew he was adding the playful tone to ease the situation. It didn’t work.

  ‘You too, brother. I love you. Tell Airsha and the others I love them too. And tell Airsha I now understand the benefits of having four men in my bed.’

  He smiled, even as he blushed to the tips of his ears. I felt my cheeks burn as well.

  Why on earth did I share that salacious detail with my brother, of all people? Maybe because he’d understand? Yes, it embarrassed him, but maybe it would also alleviate any worries he might still have about me taking on a harem.

  Throwing him an air-kiss in my mind, I reluctantly drew my energy back to my body and opened my eyes. I a felt soul-deep sadness for a moment. It was hard having people in your life who loved you. Who you loved in turn. Yet it was also... wonderful. And it gave me a reason to fight. I knew what I had to lose if I failed, and so I wasn’t prepared to fail.

  Chapter Eight

  When we shifted around to face each other, knees touching in our cross-legged positions, I pressed them for their thoughts.

  “This ability we have is incredibly useful,” Zem started, eyeing the others speculatively. “But does it require all of us? I think we should add that to our task list for the morrow.”

  “I was able to talk to Calun! That is more than incredible,” I said with frustration.

  Why was he acting as if everything was the same. It wasn’t. I’d... We’d reached out and had a conversation with someone on the other side of the world. This was huge. It meant we could monitor what was going on at home and keep them abreast of our activities as well. Until this last exercise, I’d been resolved to remain in the dark about what was happening back in the world we left behind. Now...

  Zem sighed heavily. “Aye, it is. But we have to keep our feet on the ground. With so many changes to our abilities, it’s easy to start getting over-confident. I think going into that Devourer’s mind during Shardra’s vision was an example of over-confidence. And impulsiveness. It could have gone badly wrong. You could have been stuck there. And going into the Devourer’s essence on the Nether Plane and then racing off without Redin was unwise too, although the last part was understandable, given your past experiences. That past experience was another impulsive act, I might add.

  “You have to be more cautious, Flame. If you get too adventurous and get in over your head, we might not be able to pull you back.”

  I grimaced and only just stopped myself poking my tongue out at him. He was being so Zem.

  Mentally, I laughed at myself. One moment, I felt like a woman much older than I am; in the next, I felt like a childling. I was changing too fast for my personality to keep up with. Dealing with those changes was like riding a powerful wave to the shore. Exciting and heady, but dangerous too, because I didn’t know what would happen when I reached the end of the ride.

  “We don’t have time for your caution,” Laric put in, defending me. “Flame has to follow her instincts if we’re to know the extent of the resources at our disposal. I know it’s worrying. I can still remember how sick I felt when I lost her to that Devourer’s dream. But I got her out, just as I got her out of the root cellar and away from the men sent to kidnap her.” He reached out and ran a gentle hand down my face.

  “I’m not saying that to blow my own trumpet,” Laric went on, turning to address the others. “I did what any of us would have done. That’s the point. We’re her safety net, the rope around her waist when she climbs to dangerous heights. That’s our job! Hers is to push the limits.”

  “He’s right, Zem,” Landor said, fighting the urge to put a hand on Zem’s arm, wanting to calm him, but knowing Zem didn’t want to be touched or calmed in that moment “There is a lot of ground we have to cover in a very short time. Taking cautious steps may be sensible, but they will ultimately leave us unprepared to face our foe. We have to take risks. We have to let Flame take risks.”

  Zem growled and hunched his shoulders. “Have you ever seen someone who has lost their senses? I have. My mother’s family put me in a place that was filled with such people. I realised very quickly just how fragile the human mind is. How easily it can tip over into madness. What if one of these risks you seem so keen for her to explore tips her over? Keeping her physically safe is one thing, keeping her mentally safe? I don’t think any of us can say for certain we can do that.”

  I could see Zem’s point of view, and I could see ours. Maybe if I could assure Zem I’d be more careful it might be enough. I couldn’t stop taking risks. We didn’t have time to take things cautiously, but I could take more care, think before I jumped.

  Then again, what would I have done differently if I had stopped to think? Would I still have gone into the Devourers? Yes, I would have. Finding out what we needed to know from their minds, and the extent of what I could now do—what we could now do—required taking that kind of risk. Even if I’d spent all day thinking over each of my incursions into those foul creatures, I would still have made the decisions I had.

  And I wanted to do more with them. I wanted to see if I could manipulate their minds... what was left of their minds. They were so unthinking. They did what they were told and thought no more about it. So what if I told them what to do? What if I could over-ride some of their orders?

  And if I could do that, then maybe I could do the same to the mindless raging entity that was their master, their god.

  Oh, aye, I was getting overconfident, but I needed to be. And something inside me was guiding my way. I didn’t feel like I was wildly out of control. But then, does a madwoman know when she has gone mad? Zem’s experience as a childling was not to be ignored. I didn’t want to become a vegetable, a ranting lunatic, or a person caught in a nightmare like Laric could create. Which meant I had to keep my feet firmly rooted to the earth, even as I explored my potential. Our potential. I had to keep it firmly in mind that I was just the point of the arrow. Alone I could do little.

  “Zem,” I said pleadingly. “I understand what you mean. I don’t want to end up going over the edge either. All I can say is that I will try to make sensible decisi
ons. I’ll try not to rush in without considering the dangers. Which is the best you’re going to get from someone like me, because we don’t have time for anything else.”

  “You dived off an airling into the middle of a battlefield!” Zem exclaimed in frustration. “You’re not capable of making sensible decisions!”

  I saw red. Fury rose inside me so bright and ferocious I was frightened by it. Was this what Prior had to contend with? I was used to losing my temper. But this? This was something else entirely.

  “I did what I had to do that day, and it worked out,” I said shakily, not sure I could even trust my voice right then. “We had each other’s back in the thick of it. Who knows what might have happened to you, oh-masterful-warrior, if I hadn’t been there? If I’d had a moon to think it through, given the information I had at the time, I would have done exactly the same thing.

  “So leave it alone, Zem! Stop bringing that battle up as evidence of my inability to do my job. Because it isn’t evidence of my bad decision-making, it’s evidence of how much I loved you. And doing what you’re doing now? It doesn’t help. It just undermines me. It makes me think you don’t believe I can do this. And maybe I can’t. Maybe you would do it better. But, guess what? I’m the one with the mind-reading magic. We can see if you can do what I do, but I doubt you can. Call me over-confident, but it feels like I’m it. This is what I was born to do!”

  I stared Zem down when all I wanted to do was either beat him bloody or stomp off. I saw it as evidence I was maturing that I did neither.

  Eventually Zem backed down from our glaring competition. “I couldn’t do what you do. It is more than mind-reading magic you are wielding these days, my love. You are wielding the hearts and minds of four powerful mages. I do not doubt you. I am just afraid for you.”