Chapter Forty-Two
Rip
I clenched my hand, warding off the tremors running through it. All my life, except for the past few months, my father had been the one to wield the Trident. It was still very much his weapon in my mind, despite knowing I must now take it up. My people were under attack. They needed me.
The Trident beckoned, all but sparkling in the light. It called to me.
This is your destiny.
Reaching the top step, I stared at it, the head taller than I was, even buried into the seat. A powerful weapon indeed.
The trumpets blew more prominently. The attack was intensifying, and all available dragons would be organizing for the defense of the Bastion. That was it, their main thrust.
And it was my duty to be at their forefront.
With a snarl, I reached out, wrapping my hand around the Trident’s shaft.
Two things happened. First, it slid free of the stone with ease, as if it were free-floating.
Second, power flowed through my body and infused my mind.
I could feel the water around me in a way I never had before.
The billions of microscopic droplets in the air coursing through my body and Laurie’s.
It was all there, cataloged and ready to respond if needed.
Out in the Bay of Summoning, I knew fourteen shifters guarded the opening, and another six walked in shallow water, hauling the birthing barges to shore.
Innumerable creatures infested the water as well, most too small to see.
Elsewhere I felt the dragons in the War Room and the town behind the walls as they rushed to their appointed places.
“My prince,” Laurie whispered from behind me in awe.
I turned, looking down at her. That felt wrong. Hurriedly, I descended the stairs, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. “My princess. I must go. I wish I could stay, but …” I hefted the Trident.
She nodded. “I understand. Come back to me, my love.”
“I will,” I said, kissing her fiercely and letting her lips linger against mine before tearing from the room.
“Sir!” someone shouted as I nearly bowled them over in my haste. “You’re back. You’re … my prince.”
I stiffened at the pride in their tone, unsure if I should be worthy of it.
“It’s about time,” another more seasoned voice said.
“Hello, Gisele. See to Laurie while I’m busy, will you?”
“Of course,” she said. “Now, go.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said wryly and continued into the War Room.
Silence spread as they saw the weapon in my hands. One of my attendants, holding my spear, started to look around in confusion.
“Sir,” Suh said, jogging into the room and skidding to a stop. He looked at the Trident, then fell to one knee. “My prince.”
“Oh, get up,” I said with a laugh, walking over to my attendant. “Thank you,” I said.
Turning, I saw Suh rising.
“Here,” I said, tossing him the spear. He caught it with ease.
“Sire …” he said, awed.
“Hold on to that for safekeeping,” I instructed, “until my firstborn is old enough to wield it.”
“Yes, sir!” Suh barked, coming to attention, as did the rest of the room.
“Now, back to work. Report!”
I absorbed the information from the sonar and relayed to the War Room, nodding along.
The outer defenses were under heavy attack and retreating toward the arms of the Bastion.
Shortly, the main battle would be joined.
I directed the disposition of our forces, glad to hear that this time the barges were all docked and everyone was safe.
“You will take the Royal Guard,” I directed Suh.
We stood at the opening in the glass, where the first pieces of the framework for the platform I wanted to be installed were taking shape.
“Deploy half of them outside of the Bastion, and split the remaining half in two, one section on the inside of either of the walls. Slow them down, but do not take unnecessary casualties.”
“What’s the goal?” Suh asked, wings sprouting from his back.
“The goal,” I said, gripping the Trident tightly, “is to get them as bunched up as possible.”
“Of course, sir.”
Suh leaped from the window and descended toward the bay. I watched him go, extending my newly enhanced senses out beyond the wall. I located our outer defenses, the dragons doing a credible job of withdrawing in order. They were facing strong opposition, but—
I blanched as I found the main thrust. Our men were only fighting the vanguard. A fraction of the enemy's forces. The rest were swimming out wide, intending to pincer them.
“Signal the outer defenses,” I snarled. “Full retreat, max speed, now. Tell Suh to advance and cover them as best he can.”
But it was going to be too late. They wouldn’t get there in time.
“I’m going,” I said, lifting the Trident and striking it on the stone in a cloud of light.
Blue-green armor sprang into existence over my body, an extra layer of protection. My wings sprouted wide, their tips coated in multi-inch long weaving thorns full of paralyzing acid, while supple fin-like appendages adorned my feet, giving me extra propulsion.
I leaped from the wall of the Bastion and dove for the water, soaring through the arms of the fortress and diving into the sea beyond while calling out into the water.
A trumpeting sonar blast briefly silenced all my forces’ signals as something else shrieked its war cry.
I hovered in the water, holding the Trident.
From the darkness, something approached with blinding speed, surging forward with wings nearly the size of mine, its body curled into an S-shape.
Red eyes stared, while a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, each the size of my hand, promised pain to anyone who got on its wrong side.
“Enshalla,” I whispered, running a hand down the scaled side of the King of the Sea Horses. “We ride.”
The armored war horse trumpeted its sonar blast again, and I slipped astride his back, feeling his power, eager to be unleashed. I could sense he was ready for battle. It had been too long.
“Ride,” I commanded, and we shot through the water. The seas responded to my call, encasing us in a spinning tunnel, speeding us toward the outer defenses. Light glowed from my armor and the Trident, an eerie green in contrast to the blue filter of the normal seawater.
Up ahead, the enemy vanguard was in full pursuit of the retreating dragons, though they were unable to catch up. However, I wasn’t concerned with that because more beasts from the depths approached from either side, coming on in overwhelming numbers.
Enshalla and I came to a stop directly in between the two pincers. With a roar, I turned the Trident sideways and sent twin whirlpools of water sailing out in either direction, expanding in size as they increased their distance.
The enemy forces were swept up in this attack, spun around, and stalled as the rear ranks ran into a wall of water and bodies. Some escaped, but Enshalla made quick work of the few who made it to us.
The outer defenders arrived and raced past while I guarded their rear, striking down stragglers. It was a race between Enshalla’s snout and the Trident to see which one got there first.
“Sir!” Suh said as I surfaced at the opening of the Bastions’ arms, where dragons and dragon-men waited in ranks for the enemy.
“They’re coming,” I said while Enshalla floated beneath me, most of his body underwater. “You must hold. Bunch them up as tight as you can, Suh. But you must hold.”
“We will,” Suh said solemnly. “On our lives, my prince.”
“I’m afraid it might come to that,” I said, turning to look. “Here they come.”
Suh nodded, and we dove. I longed to stay at the front of the wall of dragons, but that was not my part in the battle; I knew that. While my people fought the individual tentacles of the ancient enemy, it was my job to deal with the beast as a whole.
The forces collided with a tremendous roar that was felt more than heard underwater. Suh, at their front, wielded the spear. Black ink from fallen bodies quickly colored the water, blinding the Tidal Clan troops.
I reached out, and the water swirled, pushing the inkiness away until it dissipated, ensuring my men could always see. The wall of creatures thickened as the enemy forces bunched up at the entrance to the Bastion. The pressure grew on my men and women, and dragons began to fall.
Gritting my teeth, I refrained from acting. Now was not the time. I hated myself for it, but I knew I was risking more death if I moved too soon. It had to be just right.
“Sir!” Suh said via sonar as he dove back for a moment. “We can’t hold much longer.”
“Hold!” I pulsed back.
Enshalla shifted uncomfortably underneath me.
Suh didn’t argue. He turned and raced back into the thick of it, leaving a wall of dead, dissipating bodies in his wake.
I knew I may have just sentenced my friend to death. But I had to do what was best. Such was the price of being the prince.
The dragon lines were pushed back. And back. The enemy nearly had control of the tiny channel between the arms of the Bastion.
Under me, Enshalla whinnied, the sonar ping an angry, impatient thing.
“Yes,” I said to him. “I think you’re right.”
Angling forward, Enshalla didn’t wait for another signal. He shot us forward at incredible speed. Water swirled around me, twisting into a violent maelstrom as I shot through an opening in the lines. The edges grew white as they twisted sharply around me, digging into the black around me.
The bodies of the enemy were packed so tightly it looked like I was moving through black water.
Hundreds died every second as the water itself tore their bodies to shreds from moving so fast. I reached the center of the mass of their position and dove for the ocean floor.
The maelstrom around me grew more violent by the moment, swirling around and around.
Glowing bright blue-green, I held the spear aloft and pumped it at the belly of the enemy with a cry, unleashing the full power of the weapon.
Water spun upward as the entire ocean groaned and began to shift. The enemy, sensing what was about to happen, altered course and began to retreat in all directions. But it was too late.
The arms of the spinning water reached out and grabbed more and more in their grip, spinning wider and wider. I floated on Enshalla’s back in less than ten feet of water while above me, the ocean parted, revealing the night sky.
Such was the pull of the maelstrom that hundreds and thousands of our enemies were swimming away, only to find themselves moving backward. The waters spun and twisted, shredding them as I held the Trident high, my arm shaking as power flowed through it, decimating the enemy ranks.
At some point, I started screaming, though I had no idea what I was saying. I was too caught up in the power streaming through my body and the Trident.
Eventually, the waters closed in above me, and the sea calmed. The bodies of the enemy dissipated into inky nothingness and were carried away on the currents until it was calm.
I slipped from Enshalla’s back and patted him on the side.
Thank you.
The massive sea horse shrieked its sonar shriek, then disappeared into the depths, though I knew he would come again if I called.
But for now, the fighting was over. Sagging from the energy usage, I slowly made my way back to the Bastion, past ranks of awestruck dragons.
I didn’t pause to talk to them.
I had a promise to keep.