67. Civil War
SOUNDTRACK: Takeover by Ganyos
~ MELEK ~
I stood on top of that outcropping in the moonlight, washed in the cheering and applause of my brothers by blood. Below me and behind, Jann stood with Yilan and Diadre, all of them waiting for me to receive the accolades of my people.
But soon I raised my hands and gestured to them to quiet.
“Is Hever here—does he have a measure for the seal of the former bloodline?” I called.
There was a lot of murmuring and turning heads, but no sign of the old Neph. What the fuck was he up to? I shook my head and turned my attention back to those who’d stayed to watch my claim.
Taking a deep breath, I raised my voice so it would be heard across the valley.
“I stand before you victorious,” I intoned. There was another rush of cheering and howling, but I quieted them again. “I stand dominant . You have witnessed the challenge, and my triumph.”
I was weary. So weary. I would have given anything to simply pick Yilan up and fly into the mountains.
Find a cave or an abandoned hut and sleep, and make love, and ignore our responsibilities.
But I knew this was only the beginning. Only the first step.
I had to bring them with me, or none of this would make a difference.
“I stand before you and lay claim to the throne of the Nephilim. Do any further challengers remain? Any who would resist? I stand and say, give me your Crown. I will lead. I will strengthen you. I will build you. As your King!”
A roar went up from the crowd and my heart rammed, pounding in my ears. It was happening.
“See me, Nephilim! See your King!”
There was a hubbub at first, a flurry of calls and roars. But then a chant began somewhere to the east… and in seconds it grew.
“The King is dead… Long live the King! The King is dead… Long live the King!”
Over and over, arms raised, voices hoarse and screaming, they called for my coronation, and for our people.
I would have wept in relief, but the crowd boiled and surged, my brothers agitated after watching the fights. I hushed them again, but questions rose, peppering the air.
“Where do you lead?”
“Take us home!”
As the murmurs rose in the crowd below—some intrigued, others unhappy, I beckoned quickly for Yilan and the others to join me on the outcropping of rock.
Jann led Yilan and Diadre, and the crowd below surged again.
“I don’t like this, Mel,” Jann muttered. I nodded, watching them warily.
“The Fetch! The Fetch tried to take our King!”
“Take us against the Fetch!”
“Onwards! Long live the King—take us to the end, the Nephilim will rule the Continent!”
I growled, pushing it to a roar when the men below surged forward. “No! I have taken the Fetch, they did not prevail against me—stand down!”
“Kill the Fetch! Kill them both!”
Shit! All that fighting had left my brothers with the bloodlust burning in their veins. I needed to calm them. Make them see—
“She is mine and surrendered to me—you will stand down!” I roared.
“You triumphed! Lead us! Take us against them!”
“Let us finally conquer a society with females who are strong enough to breed! ”
“Brothers!” I bellowed. “Think! We have battled for months, and now stand wearied while the Shadekin have stood protected by the Shadows of Shade for millennia. I have walked the mist under their protection. But others have felt the bite of its teeth—”
“Your captive can take us through!”
“You must stop! Think!” I called hoarsely, my heart sinking to my toes.
“Is this our King?”
“He is the strongest and has triumphed where others failed.”
“Bullshit—he neuters us, just as we reach our greatest strength!”
I snarled. “No! Stop equating fear and power. We can rule and rule with ease—in trust, and strength and peace—”
“What the fuck nonsense is this? Has she befuddled his mind?”
“She took him—what did they do to him!”
“Don’t be fools!” I roared. “I am the same General who led you to victory, who crushed our enemies under your feet—”
“Then stop bowing to the Fetch!”
“There is no bowing,” I snarled.
“He’s going to bring us women!”
“He’ll turn us into puppies!”
“No, you idiots—she is mine. Truly mine—she is my mate! She will be your Queen!” I snarled and the entire crowd rippled with shock… then the slow rumble of growls and suspicion.
“Listen!” I ordered. “We will no longer be a tribe ruled in fear. With a King and a Queen we will grow from strength to strength!”
But that rumble of unease was growing.
“Oh, God,” Yilan breathed from my right side.
I took her hand and shook my head, never taking my eyes off them. “Just… pray,” I muttered. “We can’t allow them to—”
A shout rose from my left and I turned to look, my stomach dropping to my toes when I saw a cluster of Nephilim snarling and fighting, shoving each other, wrestling—
Fuck! “Stop! All of you, listen—”
“Melek is King! Long live the King!”
“We won’t serve a King who shares his power with a Fetch! ”
I stood back, hands in my hair, roaring at them, but they’d stopped listening. Another group further out, closer to the tents fought, snarling and snapping like feral dogs. Then another.
The crowd began to boil, and to my dismay…
Frenzy. It was a frenzy. Mindless, cruel, and driven by bloodlust .
But even worse, it wasn’t Nephilim fighting for a prize, or known factions challenging each other for power. This was brother against brother. It was civil war. And none of them knew who was aligned with whom.
“brOTHERS! LISTEN!” I roared, but Jann appeared at my shoulder, tugging me back and away as the mass of Nephilim in front of me dissolved into the frenzy.
“You can’t win this, Mel,” Jann said sadly. “You know they won’t stop until they’ve—”
He grunted and jerked, and I hissed, whirling, pulling Yilan behind me as a warrior appeared from the narrow hollow between the outcropping and the rise of the land below.
Cursing and clawing, punching, the male leaped straight for me—through Jann.
I jumped to help Jann who’d been taken completely off-guard, but just as I did so, a fist of Neph that had followed the first appeared, grabbing for him.
My attacker was dragged back, his fingers clawed into Jann’s back and pulling my brother. But Jann yanked free and turned, all of us watching as the group dragged the attacker below the outcropping, back down into the crowd… who literally tore him limb from limb.
Yilan screamed at the sight, her hands flying to her mouth to stifle the sound as soon as she made it.
I stared at her, weighed down in grief and failure. But before I could reassure her, there was another Neph leaping out of the crowd below the outcropping and tearing up the path towards us.
Yanking Yilan behind me, I leaped to the bottom of the outcropping and dropped to a defensive crouch, my weary body still responding, but slower now.
Still, I was a far more experienced fighter, and not in the mindless frenzy of this fucker.
When he made it to the rocks and leaped for my throat, I dropped under him, coming up when he tumbled onto me and throwing him to the ground in a thud that must have broken bones.
Yilan darted forward and took hold of his hair as he laid there, coughing. She gave me one brief look, and when I nodded, she slit his throat.
We shared a bare second—eyes locked, the bond humming, both of us grieving, and then the fight was upon us. The hollow below boiling with fighting, murderous Neph. And as we strode towards it, all I could think was that I had to get her out of here. I had to make her safe .
Had to pray we could make it through this together.
“Run,” I muttered as I yanked my spears out of the dirt at the base of the outcropping.
“Melek—”
“I said, run, Yilan. I can’t save you from this if they defeat me.”
I started to turn, but she caught my elbow and when our eyes locked again, her teeth were bared.
“You aren’t the only one who can sacrifice—or protect!”
I shook my head. “Yilan… Gall and Istral. They need at least one of us. You know they do. Go. Please. ”
Her eyes widened. “But…”
I clasped a hand to the back of her neck and pulled her to me for the briefest of kisses. Then, with a lingering look to fix her precious face in my mind, I ran down that little ravine to stand against the advancing fray.