Chapter Thirty-Three
Rip
With the barges and heavily pregnant women safe, I sped back toward the mouth of the bay, powered by rage. That had been too close. A few more seconds and the enemy would have claimed one of our young and its mother, robbing everyone of that precious gift of life.
With a belly full of fury and rage, I arrived back at the swirling battle.
My spear, glowing blue-green under the water, led the way, spitting and stabbing, slicing and killing.
I was remorseless, a machine leaving nothing but inky corpses in my wake.
The enemy came at me, and I returned them in pieces.
My claws rent holes and took life while my wings pumped, driving me through the water with speed and accuracy.
At one point, I found myself on the ocean’s edge of the battle, right in front of a stream of reinforcements coming from the depths. Setting myself, I sent a vicious sonar ping at the enemy, attracting their attention.
Come and get me, I basically announced, holding my spear low to the left, its point forward. As the stream of shadowy beasts altered course and swam at me like eels, I thrust the spear forward and unleashed a sonic wave that tore through the water, shredding rank upon rank into inky nothingness.
That was for Crest.
I swept in on the heels of the attack, determined to drive them back.
After that, it was nothing but a blur of fighting.
Stab. Block. Slash. Cut. Kill. Over and over again.
At some point, other dragons reached my side, and the enemy was stopped cold.
Then we started to drive them back. Recognizing that they’d been beaten, they disappeared into the depths of the sea.
It was over.
I rose to the surface, my exhausted wings pulling me free of the water’s grip as I soared up to the edge of the Bastion to stare down at the water.
“Damn them all,” I growled as Suh joined me, his left side a mess of shattered and destroyed scales. His right eye was swollen closed thanks to a vicious cut running from his hairline down to his collarbone.
“They’re getting smarter,” he said.
“We got predictable. Any time they attacked in force, we responded by sending out the Royal Guard immediately. They just had to wait for it to get far enough away before attacking.”
“We took casualties,” Suh said. “A lot. The defenses at the Bastion are weakened. Even with you here.”
“And I can’t always be here,” I said angrily. “There needs to be more of me.”
Suh didn’t respond while I continued to think.
Damn. Between the attack on Crest’s area of responsibility and the losses there and the departure of the Royal Guard, the Bastion was fairly vulnerable. If I stayed put, then it would be okay, most likely, but the problem was that I doubted I could remain there for long.
Someone had to go out to the northeast, survey the damage, and help bolster the troops. The Royal Guard would ensure that the manpower was there in the meantime, but I would have to swap with them at some point soon.
Damn, damn, damn. If I did that, then I would have to leave Laurie behind. Alone.
Something I’d sworn I wouldn’t do. She’d asked for one thing during her pregnancy, and that was for me to be present.
“Fuck,” I spat at nobody in particular before leaping from the edge of the Bastion wall and heading for the beach.
I would not like my next conversation, but it had to happen.
Upon landing, I shifted back to a human form and headed for the palace. I’d seen Laurie leaving the broken window, trailing Gisele. The older shifter would likely bring her down to the beach, so I waited, making sure everyone on the birthing barges was doing okay.
The wail of a newborn filled the air, breaking the silence that had settled over the beach and bay.
Many smiles were shared, despite the death floating a few feet away.
Loss was a way of life with the Tidal Clan.
But creation was what kept us going. And now we saw that, despite the attack, we had saved those who mattered most. Our young.
“What is it?” I grunted as Suh landed nearby and resumed his human form, the thick-chested dragon making his way over to me.
“Sir …” Suh said uncomfortably.
“Just spit it out. Don’t waste our time, Suh. What’s on your mind?”
“It’s what you said out there, sir,” Suh said. “About there being more of you.”
I looked at him sharply. “Yes?”
Suh nodded at the doors to the palace. “That’s your mate, is it not?”
“Where are you going with this, Suh?” I growled as I faced him, already suspecting the outcome.
“Take the Test,” he said. “Take up the weapon of the prince. Then you can give the spear to someone else.”
I glared at him, irritated by his forcefulness. “That will take some time, Suh, and it’s not any of your business.”
“It’s all of our business,” Suh said, not backing down. “Our people are suffering because the Trident of the Seas sits unused. It is your duty!”
“Can’t you see I’m working on it?” I raged, losing my temper. “Once we’re mated, I’ll finally be able to use the Trident, but not before, okay? So drop it.”
Suh bristled at the dressing-down, but he relented.
Unfortunately, that was the least of my problems.
“So, that’s what this is all about?” Laurie asked from behind me in a tiny voice. “You brought me here so that you could use this trident? I’m just a means to an end, aren’t I?”
I sagged, looking skyward before slowly turning around.
“Laurie,” I pleaded, spreading my hands wide. “It’s not like that, okay. It’s not.”
“I should have known you were too good to be true,” she whispered, spinning in place before storming back up to the palace.
Gisele gave me a sympathetic glance, then went after her.