Wyrmrider Justice: An Underwater Magic Urban Fantasy (The Fomorian Wyrmriders Book 3)

by Theophilus Monroe

  The one advantage we had was that this hadn't been Nehptalie's original plan. We'd been thinking about how to stop her, though, the whole time. There was still a lot I didn't like about our idea—especially the prospect of having to use the magic in the firmament—but I felt a lot better about it with Nagga and Thor fighting alongside us.

  I didn't know how long we had before Nephtalie and her fleet arrived—presuming, of course, that she was still planning to attack Fomoria. I couldn't imagine that she wouldn't, especially now that we had Nagga. Still, I wanted to check in on Shelly. She'd done so much that, at the very least, she deserved a little praise.

  I found her fiddling with the clamshell power plant she'd constructed.

  "Impressive that someone so small can create so much electricity," I said as I sawm up behind her.

  Shelly nodded. "I imagine human power plants are much larger."

  "Usually, they're in huge complexes with hundreds of workers there maintaining them."

  "They don't have access to some of the materials we have in the deeper parts of the sea. If they even knew this much power was down here, I imagine they'd be on us like a shark."

  "So, what are you doing exactly?" I asked as Shelly tossed a small vial of something, a glowing substance, into the clam.

  "This is the catalyst," Shelly said. "Just the right amount, and it gives us the power we require. For the most part, it's safe, but if I added more than a few drops, we'd probably have a surge of power and blow out all our wires."

  "You should probably keep that someplace safe."

  Shelly nodded. "I thought until we have a secure facility to store it, you might be able to keep it in your quarters."

  "How much of this are we talking about?" I asked. "I don't have a lot of room."

  "This is it," Shelly said, handing me the bottle.

  "Just this small bottle?" I asked.

  "Like I said, it only takes a few drops at a time. It'll take some time until we know how many drops per day it'll need but probably not more than two or three drops at a time. We're harvesting more. Some legionnaires are off gathering what I need to make it. Still, even a large jug could probably last us several years."

  When we came back into the city, I swapped my clothes for a new set of armor—I'd commissioned it some time ago, and it had been finished when I was gone. It was a little more flexible than my other set, and bonus, it had pockets. I stuck the vial Shelly gave me in a small pocket sewn into the sea silk around my waist.

  "Excellent work, Shelly," I said. "So this power plant, is it secure?"

  Shelly shook her head. "Not completely. I thought it might be good to build something to enclose it. It's just a little easier to work on right now with it in the open."

  "Understandable," I said. "Probably best, though, if we get that done as soon as you can. I'd hate to have anyone, especially any children, get curious and end up getting hurt."

  "It's pretty safe," Shelly said. "The wires are all heavily insulated, so that shouldn't be a problem. It's necessary since, you know, we're underwater. But if someone climbed into the clamshell or something, it could be bad."

  "Just make sure someone is here to make sure nothing happens, even when you're working on other things."

  I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned. Thor was standing there, his eyes wide.

  "Lightning in a clam," Thor said. "I can feel it."

  "Thor, this is Shelly. She's the genius behind all of this."

  Thor extended his hand. Smiling wide, she shook his hand. "It's an honor, Thor."

  "The honor is mine," Thor said. "I've never drawn lightning from anything except the clouds. I'd love to hear more about your process."

  "Sure! I can tell you about it now if you'd like!"

  I smiled. "You two have fun. I'm going to go make more preparations."

  "Preparations?" Shelly asked.

  I nodded. "We may have to borrow the legionnaires for a little while."

  "Are we under attack?" Shelly asked.

  "Not yet," I said. "But don't worry about it, okay."

  "It's why I'm here," Thor said.

  Shelly nodded and started explaining to Thor how she'd managed to create electricity underwater. A lot of it was rather technical. While I was fascinated by it, I needed to make sure that all the legion and even the young wyrms were prepared for battle. I wasn't sure what they could do against the ghost fleet, of course. Still, if Agwe did manage to invest them with power and we could create a void portal, we'd probably need the wyrms to help herd the fleet into the portal before Nephtalie managed to siphon the power for herself.

  Several legionnaires were already busily armoring up the wyrms when I swam into the wyrm field. Nammu had another set of armor on already.

  "You don't have to fight," I said. "Since you're pregnant, we'd understand if you sit this one out."

  Nammu looked at me. It's still early. And my son is in the fleet. I have to fight. I wasn't there before when he died. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do everything I could to save him now.

  I nodded. "I get that. I'd do the same for my son. Just make sure, you know, that you take care of yourself. Enki isn't your only child."

  Nagga swam over to us—as large as he was, he created a slight current when he moved through the water. I had to flutter my tail to resist being caught up in it.

  The fleet is drawing near. I was circling the city, and I saw them in the distance. We need to move out.

  I nodded. "You can see them, still? Even though you have a body?"

  "I cannot see the ships themselves. But Nephtalie has cast a giant sphere of Fomorian magic around them, allowing them to go under the water."

  "Like Fomoria's firmament?" I asked.

  "I believe so."

  "Thank you, Nagga."

  I swam over to Titus as he tightened a saddle on one of the younger wyrms. Evan was there, and he climbed on top of it.

  "You are joining us on the fight, Evan?"

  Evan nodded. "Finn is on map duty."

  "Are you sure he's ready?"

  "He knows what to do."

  "And you're sure that you're ready?" I asked. "This battle could get nasty. We really don't know what to expect. But if we manage to open a void portal, we'll need you and the rest of the wyrmriders to do what you can to chase the ships into the void."

  "He's got this," Titus said. "So long as you are riding with us, the wyrms will do as you ask."

  Evan nodded. "And I know my role. Protect the wyrm at all costs. They do the rest."

  I put my hand on Evan's shoulder. "Thank you, Evan. We need to meet outside Fomoria's firmament. The fleet has been spotted not far from here."

  Titus climbed aboard one of the other younglings, already armored up. I swam back to Nammu and climbed into her saddle, grabbing her reins.

  "Everyone, on us!" I commanded. The other wyrms, carrying Evan and Titus, obeyed.

  Since the wyrms were leaving the fields, I drew as much as I could from their firmament. If we had to use some from the city proper to open the void portal, fine. But at least this way, no one was at risk. I'd have as much magic as I could handle, siphoned and amplified, to hopefully give us a window of opportunity to separate the fleet from Nephtalie.

  Tahlia, on Tohu, and Agwe on Ruach, were already in position. We swam out and joined them. The fleet was moving toward us at a steady pace. As Nagga had said, they came at us in a firmament of their own, one cast by Nephtalie, surrounding all the ships. It might have given them the ability to go underwater. It also meant that I wasn't the only one on our side who could see where they were. From what I could see inside Nehtaplie's firmament, only the bottom half of the sphere was filled with water. It was like a massive snow globe floating through the water. It wasn't moving as fast as it moved before. Nephtalie was careful. The ships inside were still, floating in the water, and it was the whole world she'd fashioned around them that was moving toward us. She was also moving slow enough to size us up and see what we were u
p to before she launched her assault. And, I supposed, maintaining her firmament and ensuring that all the ships remained within it took more focus than it did for them to simply remain afloat on the surface.

  I channeled a little magic into the sigil on my wrist and summoned my trident.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  "WHATEVER YOU DO," I said. "No one goes into the globe. We need to try and attack them from a distance."

  "Aye aye!" Titus said.

  I needed to be efficient. My trident helped with that. I couldn't risk wasting any energy. If we could avoid drawing magic from Fomoria's firmament, all the better. At least, I hoped, I wouldn't have to use much of it. I thought, for a moment, I might be able to use Nephtalie's magical firmament against her. When they got closer, though, I saw she had her green magic—her death magic of some sort—in a shell surrounding her other firmament. I might be able to blast through that stuff, but I couldn't siphon through it.

  Since the magic that had formed the firmament over the wyrm fields was comparable to that over Fomoria, though, I drew in as much of it as I could. I was reasonably confident it would work. Amplified, it would be far more attractive to the Kraken once we summoned it than the firmament when I cast it. Add to that the fact that Nephtalie would be siphoning and amplifying it, too, and adding it to whatever magic she already had, and the Kraken would find it irresistible.

  I exhaled and gave Nammu a little magic. Just enough that she'd be able to use it to create the void portal.

  I inhaled and took a little from Fomoria's firmament. Not enough to compromise it. But I wanted to have as much as I could possibly wield to throw at the ghost ships.

  Nagga swam around us, the force of the current almost yanking me off my saddle.

  Sorry about that...

  "Keep your distance. One thing we don't want is for the fleet to capture you again."

  Let me try something...

  "What are you..."

  Nagga darted away from us and took off through the waters. Not toward the fleet. As I was facing the ghost fleet, he swam about a hundred yards to my left.

  He wasn't only big, he was huge.

  And the fleet started to change directions.

  "Brilliant!" I said. "Nammu, the fleet isn't after Fomoria at all. It's coming for him. We need to move out where he is, try and move the battle a little further from the city."

  Of course!

  Agwe looked at me and, overhearing what I said, nodded. Titus must've heard me, too. We all moved out where Nagga had swum. I could still draw some magic from the firmament if necessary—we weren't that far away. But at least if the city ended up exposed, it wouldn't be ripe for the taking.

  As the fleet approached, I directed the other wyrmriders to surround it. We didn't want them to scatter. We needed to direct them into the void portal.

  I'd have to strike them with a concentrated beam. I had to use enough magic to overpower Nephtalie's firmament. It also meant I'd have to target one ship at a time. To take out that many ships at the speed we needed was going to be a challenge. Still, we had to try.

  I aimed my trident and unleashed a beam of Fomorian magic, striking one of the boats. It wasn't the largest vessel, a sailboat of some kind. When I struck it, the boat followed the path of my magic and broke through Nephtalie's firmament.

  "Nammu, be ready!" I shouted.

  My legs expanded beneath me as Nammu inhaled. The boat cleared the firmament and started charging for the surface. Nammu opened a giant void portal just above it—big enough to handle most of the ships.

  I aimed at another boat and fired. The same thing happened. The fleet started to move, away from where we were and closer to Fomoria. We couldn't spare any more magic to use to cast another void portal. We still needed to try and drive as many as we could out of Nephtalie's force field and into the void.

  "Dive under it," I told Nammu. "Maybe we can grab Enki."

  I looked up and fired at him. But he wasn't deep. Nephtalie had him floating along with the other ships, and he was right in the middle of a cluster of them. I missed but hit another ship instead, pulling it out of Nephtalie's magical globe.

  Then Nephtalie's magic, the stuff that matched the hue of the ghost ships, enveloped it. Nephtalie was trying to pull it back. I forced a little more power through my trident. It was like Nephtalie and I were in a magical tug-of-war. There was no way I'd have enough magic to take all these ships out one by one. And if Nephtalie pulled the fleet any closer to Fomoria, we'd be too far from the void portal. For Nammu to move it or cast another one, she'd need more magic and I didn't have enough as it was. Agwe and Ruach had some magic stored up—but they were saving it to open a wyrm hole to the Greenland Sea. They were going to retrieve the Kraken. Since I couldn't go, and Agwe knew where it was, it made the most sense.

  I had to go back. I tossed a giant, untargeted, blast hoping and praying I could shower enough magic on the fleet to take everything with me. I knew Nephtalie was trying to bait me, trying to tempt me by acting like she was going after Fomoria to give her more magic so she could siphon it. But we'd accounted for that.

  That's why Thor had the totem to summon the Kraken ready—as soon as we portaled the monster's shell here.

  "Get ready, Thor!" I shouted as he and Naaga swam behind us.

  Nephtalie thought she was trapping us. But she was falling into our trap. She didn't know what we were about to unleash.

  "Agwe, it's time!"

  Agwe and Ruach formed a wyrmhole and swam through it. It didn't take them long. Seconds later, another wyrm hole formed, a larger one this time, just over the seafloor. The Kraken's shell fell out of it, and Ruach and Agwe followed it through.

  "Thor!" I shouted. "Release the Kraken!"

  I'd always wanted to say that.

  Thor held up the Totem of Hafgufa and, reading the runes on it and speaking in a language I didn't know, the totem connected through a blast of golden Valhallan magic, enveloping the Kraken's shell.

  I blasted as much power into Nephtalie's firmament as I could. Some of the ships broke free, but it wasn't enough. Maybe ten of them. "Titus! Evan! Chase them in!" I screamed

  Tahlia joined them and, with Tohu, they pursued the ghost ships, ushering them into the void portal.

  But Nephtalie gathered all my magic into herself—I could see it forming a glowing blue ball in one location. At least now, I knew where she was.

  Where was the Kraken? Its shell was cracking. Who would've thought the thing had to hatch? I suppose after a few hundred years asleep, I'd probably be grouchy if someone woke me, too.

  Thor tossed his hammer at the Kraken's shell, and it shattered into a million pieces. The Kraken was cracked!

  The octopus monster was even larger after it emerged from its shell. It was like it was dehydrated before, and the saltwater made it swell.

  How does someone call a Kraken? If I were on land, I'd whistle. But whistling doesn't work underwater.

  "Hey, Mister Kraken!" I shouted. I cocked my head as soon as I realized how strange it called calling the monster "mister."

  The best spread out its tentacles. Nephtalie's ball of power was growing. Surely the Kraken sensed it. All he had to do was go for it.

  But he charged the other direction toward Fomoria.

  What the...

  "Wyrmriders! On the city!"

  Fomoria's firmament didn't have half the power that Nephtalie was wielding. Why did he...

  When I looked at Fomoria from a distance, it became clear. It wasn't the blue glow of the Firmament that drew it in. It was the electricity, the pure, white glow that emanated from the bottom up. The Kraken would take the firmament if for no other reason than to get through it to feast on Shelly's power grid. And it wouldn't take the monster long to do it.

  Nagga and Thor charged after it.

  "No!" I shouted. Nagga ate krakens. At least, he used to. And we still needed the beast. "Defend the city, but don't kill the thing! We still need it!"

  They mu
st've heard me. Nagga crashed into the beast but didn't even attempt to take a bite out of it.

  "Thor!" I shouted, reaching into my pocket to retrieve the vial Shelly gave me before. She'd intended me to store it up for safekeeping, but, frankly, I forgot until now I had it.

  "Catch!" I shouted, tossing the vial to Thor.

  Thor snagged it out of the water. "What's this?"

  "Put it in that power plant clamshell! You can wield electricity, right?"

  Thor smiled wide. "I see where you're going with this. I like this plan." Thor leaped off Nagga's back and, like a guided missile, shot through the water, through the firmament, and into Fomoria.

  Nammu took me back around to where Nagga was. The giant sea dragon wasn't attacking the Kraken. He didn't try to eat it. But when their bodies collided, he did manage to send the Kraken off course.

  The Kraken wasn't going to win a long race with a wyrm, but it could move in bursts of speed. The octopus-like creature pushed all its tentacles together with force, shot itself back past Nagga toward the city.

  The electricity swelled within Fomoria, consuming the entire firmament in white electric energy.

  Thor had done it. He'd poured the vial into the clamshell.

  I dove off of Nammu and saw Thor, his hands in the clamshell power plant. He was trying to draw it into himself, but that vial was a lot. Only a few drops were enough, Shelly said, to power the whole city, and he'd thrown the whole thing in there!

  "You need to get your friends out of the fleet!" Thor shouted, his body still absorbing the power. It was so much, maybe too much. The Kraken was still descending on Fomoria, sucking away the firmament to try and take what it really wanted—the electricity that was blasting around inside the kingdom. "I need to take it all before I can go. When I do, the Kraken will follow! Get your friends out first!"

  "Nammu," I shouted. "Enki and Cleo!"

  But if I go in...

  "We went in before. You can do it again. You just can't let Nephtalie shoot that green magic, whatever it is, at you. Do what you have to do to get them out of there!"