Wrath of the Dragon 2, page 14
“You are a strange man.” Kallan frowned. “I trust you, but I think there may be more to you than meets the eye.”
A distant cackle carried over the wind, and the Selkies looked over their shoulders with wide eyes.
“What was that?” Cyra asked.
“It could be many things,” Cordelia said. “Let’s just hope you never meet whatever it was.”
The Selkie shuddered at the thought, and I had a feeling we wouldn’t reach the falls without running into at least some of these vile beasts. They had done a good job at making the western side of the isle seem seriously eerie, and anyone else would have taken that warning and ran. My determination burned stronger than my fear, though, and there was no turning back now.
I’d never been one to cower just because there was a chance I might die, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to start now.
Not when I was a fucking dragon man.
“I hope you find your friend,” Kallan said. “But please don’t walk into danger for someone who may already be gone. Always watch your step.”
The Selkies started to pick up their bags and load them over their shoulders. They made sure all the huts’ doors were locked and looked around once more at their empty home Shore.
“Good luck,” Kallan said. “Be careful of the marshlands. Dangerous things are in the water.”
The women picked up the last of their bags and started to head off down the river to the next Shore. None of them spoke as they walked, and it was obvious spirits were low in the Selkie community.
“Shit,” I breathed as we began to walk again. “Things really are bad on this side of the Water Lands.”
“Do you think it really was her?” Nisha asked quietly. “The one blessing the water?”
“I didn’t at first,” Cyra said. “It’s sooo dangerous for her to be doing that. But they said the river was clear for a whole day? And that they could sense it was her…”
“I know what they mean,” the night angel replied. “I’ve swam through Brooke’s waters before. Her energy is the most soothing feeling in this world. If they’ve felt it… it must be her. Only an angel is powerful enough for that.”
“And now the blessings have stopped,” I said. “That means something happened.”
“Maybe the king caught her,” Cyra said with an anxious frown. “Or she got weaker?”
I could hear the fire angel’s voice getting higher-pitched as she got more upset, and I stopped so I could pull her into my arms. Then I reached another arm out for Nisha, and the two angels buried their heads into me.
“We’re going to save her,” I said firmly as I held my lovers. “If Brooke was managing to bless the river while being a demon king’s prisoner, then she is one strong as hell angel.”
“She always has been,” Nisha said. “Just like water, she always finds a way.”
“Just like two other angels I know.” I smiled. “Just remember everything we’ve gone through so far. All those creatures we’ve killed just to get here.”
“We did slaughter an entire island of demons,” Nisha said.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “That means we can do the same to a cave full of the fuckers. We’re going to get Brooke out of there, and the Demon King is going to get what he deserves.”
Cyra nodded silently, and I could tell there was some anger building up inside the fire angel. Her rage toward the demons had been clear from our very first meeting, and I knew it drove her into a fury when she thought too much about them. Now, her golden eyes seemed to blaze with inner flames, and I could feel her body temperature rising as she silently seethed. The muscles in her jaw twitched like she was grinding her teeth, and Nisha sent me a look of subtle concern.
“Let’s focus on the next step,” I said as I stroked Cyra’s hair. “We need to get to the waterfalls before we can help Brooke.”
“Then we kill the Demon King,” Nisha said. “We’ll slaughter every demon who laid a hand on our friend, and stain the water red with their blood.”
“That’s the spirit.” I grinned. “You with us, Cyra? Ready to storm the caves and drag the king out by the throat?”
“Fuck yes,” the fire angel growled. “Anything for my sisters.”
“Then let’s go.” I nodded.
We started to walk again, and the stench of the river stung my nostrils. The ground below our feet became softer with every step, and I kept a careful eye out for any signs of movement. If there were creatures nearby that were enough to scare the Selkies, then I was ready to fight them off.
With a new dragon form and a new weapon, I was prepared for whatever the hell was waiting for us.
We didn’t see any demons in the river at least, and it seemed that they really had all swarmed to the caves. I wondered if they would all be crammed in the caves together, and if the king was planning on sending his army back out en masse. There would surely be some kind of retaliation after the island was freed, and it probably wouldn’t be long until the demons retaliated.
But even though I had already killed one Demon King, I couldn’t get cocky before the fight.
There were so many variations of species in Dracoria, and we had already seen that the Water Lands’ demons were different than the ones in the Night Lands. There was a possibility that this king would be ten times smarter or faster than the last one. Maybe he even had some kind of weapon that could rival my dragon powers.
I also needed to work out which one of my dragon forms would be better for the fight. Each was so powerful in completely different ways, and the right choice could make or break our rescue mission.
Either way, I had to get there before the king could send out his web-footed bastards. I was the one who’d burned the horde on the island into a pile of ash, so I needed to protect the Water Lands from whatever danger was coming.
The sky grew darker as we walked along the river, and the clouds covered the sun completely. There was some mist that drifted by, and it started to get thicker as we got further west. I hoped that it was going to clear up by the time we reached the waterfalls, otherwise the native demons would have a serious advantage.
“This place really is a swamp,” I said as my foot squelched on the wet grass. “Make sure you’re far enough away from the river, the ground is really slippery.”
“It’s getting harder to see as well,” Cyra said as she squinted through the mist.
She edged away from the filthy water as she shot the river a scathing glare, and there was a distant howling noise coming from somewhere within the mist. We looked around, but it was impossible to tell which direction the sound had come from.
“I can see why the Selkies moved,” Cyra said. “This place really is creepy as hell.”
“I think there--” Nisha said, but then she screamed.
I swung around to see that the night angel’s feet had been swallowed up by mud, and I went to grab her but realized I was stuck, too. Then I looked down to see my ankles being swallowed up by the swampy ground, and a cold shock ran through me.
We were in a sinkhole.
Chapter 11
“Ryan!” Cyra yelled as her ivory calves sank. “What the fuck do we do?”
Both angels desperately tried to fly, and their feathered wings flapped as they groaned with the effort. But it was no use. The mud was so thick that their feet were completely trapped, and mine were, too.
It felt oddly warm, and little bubbles appeared around me every time I moved. I grunted as I pulled my feet, and I used every ounce of my strength to try and free myself. My legs were pretty strong from my firefighting days, and I could feel my muscles burning as I tried to yank my foot up.
“Fuck,” I gasped as I pulled my thigh with all my might, and my foot dragged up through the mud by just a few inches.
I grabbed my knee with my hands and pulled as hard as I possibly could.
Then my foot finally flew up out of the filth, and I quickly put it down on the ground behind the sinkhole. With one foot on solid ground, I sat back on the grass and pulled my other foot. My legs burned from the effort, and I had to use both hands to finally free myself from the swamp.
“Ryan!” Nisha cried, and I leapt to my feet to help the angels.
Their wings were fighting desperately, but they just kept sinking. Nisha was shorter, so her legs were already half-consumed by the mud.
“Give me your hand,” I yelled as I reached over, but I was careful not to take a single step onto the sinking ground.
Nisha extended her navy arm as far as she was able to, and I grabbed a hold of her hand. I had to make sure not to hurt her, but I began to pull as hard as I could. The angel was very light, but her knees had become submerged in the mud. Her silver eyes were wide as I hauled her, and I could feel her sinking deeper.
Cyra was just managing to fight against the mud as she moved her wings with all her might, and my heart was in my throat as my two angels sank.
Then I managed to pull Nisha just enough that her petite legs moved slightly, and her knees emerged from the filth. That gave me an extra few inches of her arm to hold properly, and I gripped her just under her armpit as I steadied myself.
The night angel kept using her wings, and I growled as I put all my strength into one giant pull. A burning sensation ran up my legs as I anchored myself, and I felt a pang of relief as Nisha’s legs and feet were finally pulled from the mud. She tumbled into me, and we immediately raced over to Cyra. I made sure I kept behind her on the solid ground, and Nisha flew right over to her friend. Cyra’s legs had now sunk right up her thighs, and I could only reach her hand as she desperately flailed out to me.
“Ryan!” she cried. “My feet are completely wedged in, I can’t move!”
“Nisha,” I said as calmly as I could. “Get right up close to Cyra and put your forearms under her armpits. I need you to lift her as much as you can so I can get a better grip.”
The night angel quickly followed my instructions and held her friend tightly. As small as Nisha was, I could see she put every ounce of her strength into the task, and she tried to fly upwards as she held Cyra. The fire angel’s ivory legs were pulled up by just a couple of inches, and I grabbed onto her forearm tightly.
“Keep pulling her,” I grunted as I kept my grip.
Nisha and Cyra’s wings combined worked a lot better, and I dug my boots into the ground as I pulled her arm. Slowly, the fire angel began to rise from the sinking swamp, and Nisha never let go.
Her knees appeared then, followed by her calves, and I could feel my heart thumping in my ears. As she was pulled further up, I was able to reach both her upper arms, and Nisha moved to hold her hips.
“Come on!” I yelled, and I heaved the fire angel with every last muscle in my body.
Suddenly, Cyra’s feet were yanked from the ground, and she flew up from the mud. The two angels flew in a tight hug back over to the solid ground, and they tumbled down onto me.
“Are you both okay?” I asked urgently as I looked down at their legs.
“I think so,” Cyra gasped as she clung onto my arm.
“Yes.” Nisha examined her foot. “Thanks to you, Ryan.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I replied. “Holy shit, my whole body felt numb.”
I gripped the two angels close to me and took a second to hold them.
“Your heart is beating so quickly,” Cyra mumbled as she snuggled up against my chest.
“You both scared the hell out of me,” I said.
“The Selkies did tell us to watch our steps.” Nisha smiled.
“But they didn’t say there would be deep mud pits,” I groaned.
“I suppose we should have taken the Selkies’ advice quite literally,” Cyra chuckled.
“I guess so,” I sighed as we broke off our embrace. “Now, let’s try and work out what the fuck we’re working with here.”
I tried to ignore the clammy feeling of mud that had soaked into my pants, and I hoped I would find another place to buy some clothes soon.
It was now clear exactly where the line from solid ground turned into a sinking swamp. The grassy land eased into a much darker-looking substance, and it stretched out as far as I could see. It looked like the same swamp was over on the other side of the wide river, too, and I hoped we would be able to find a way around it.
“Let’s try and see if there’s a bridge or something,” I said as I glanced away from the river. “There must be some way over this.”
We started to carefully walk away from the river, and I studied the ground to try and spot any signs of it becoming solid. I made sure we stayed on hard land as we went, but the swamplands seemed to stretch on forever.
“I don’t want to get too far away from the river,” I said as I glanced back. “That’s our only navigational tool here.”
“So, what are we meant to do?” Cyra asked as we came to a halt. “We need to fly. It’s got to be the only way.”
“I don’t know about that…” I looked out over the marshy swamplands, but I didn’t like the idea at all. It may have been misty in this area, but it still felt like we were too exposed to risk flying. Anything could be out there watching us.
My angels waited for my approval as I kept scanning every inch of our surroundings, but then, just as the wispy clouds of fog rolled by, I spotted a lumbering shape far off in the distance.
“What is that?” I asked as I squinted at it.
“A demon,” Nisha said as she peered into the mist. “It’s the same shape as the big ones we met on the island.”
“Fuck,” I hissed. “So we’re close enough to the falls that we’re going to be seeing demons around again.”
“Does that mean we can’t fly?” Cyra groaned. “But that would solve all of our problems.”
“If they saw us, we’d lose the element of surprise,” I said quietly as a group of demons raced over the distant ground.
“At least we know there’s solid ground over there,” Nisha said.
“True.” I nodded. “We just need to work out how the hell to get there.”
There were a couple of spots throughout the sinking swamp that were clearly patches of solid ground. Two wiry trees with crooked branches stuck out of the ground, and one was a few feet away from us while another sat much further into the swamp. There were also some rocky patches, and a very thorny-looking bush.
“I think we can make it over,” I said as I eyeballed the distance between the solid spots.
“How?” Cyra asked with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t think any of us should be stepping foot in that river if that’s what you mean.”
“Definitely not,” I agreed. “But you can see from here that there are solid spots in the swamp. We can navigate over them to reach the other side.”
“Without flying?” Cyra cried as she threw her hands up. “Ryan, we are going to sink to the depths of this stinking pit if we try that!”
“Shhh!” Nisha scolded her. “Do you want every nearby demon to hear you?”
Cyra clamped her mouth shut and scowled in silence instead.
“I don’t think we have another choice,” I said. “Besides, I know we can do it.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to reach,” Nisha said as she eyed the swamp.
“I can carry you,” I said firmly. “We have to do this. We need to get to Brooke.”
Cyra groaned, but I could see that she knew I was right. Nisha just eyed the marsh suspiciously and pulled on a strand of her dark hair.
“Okay,” I said as I surveyed the land. “We need to find our first stepping stone. I think the closest is going to be that tree.”
The area of ground the tree stood on had a few inches on either side around the bark. It was enough for two people to stand on if we clung onto the tree.
The distance was jumpable, but only just.
“I’m going over first,” I said. “Nisha, get on my back.”
I bent down so the night angel could clamber on, and she clutched me tightly with her thighs.
“Are you sure about this?” Cyra asked. “Maybe we could just fly a little--”
“Cyra!” Nisha and I echoed, and the fire angel sighed.
“Fine,” she grumbled. “Let’s play sinking swamp hopscotch.”
I prepared myself for the jump as I eyed the ground under the tree and focused solely on that spot. It took a couple of steps back to get a running jump, and then I leapt as Nisha clung onto me tightly. I soared right at the tree and reached out my hands to grab it as I landed. My feet connected with firm ground, and I breathed out heavily as I clung to the bark.
“Nice work.” Nisha grinned.
I slowly turned to examine the size of the land, and there was enough room for Cyra to join me. Our next spot was a patch of grass that was only a few inches away.
“Okay,” I called to the fire angel. “Let’s put those long legs to good use!”
Cyra tucked her hair behind her ears as she paced back and forth and then poised herself for the jump. I shuffled to the back of the tree so she could land at the closest spot, and my heartbeat accelerated as I watched.
The fire angel jumped and soared right toward the tree. She landed just on the solid ground, and I reached out to grab her arm and helped to steady her.
“What a pro!” I grinned. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”
“That was one jump,” the fire angel groaned. “We have so much more left to do.”
“You should try this method of travel,” Nisha said. “It’s much easier.”
“I’m sure it is,” Cyra sighed. “Okay, Ryan, how far do we have to go next?”
“You’ll like the next one,” I said. “We can literally step to it.”
I turned to face the next patch of grass that was surrounded by swamp, and I reached a foot carefully over. I pressed down with my toe to check that it was definitely safe and then took a long step over. The patch of grass was a few feet wide, and Cyra carefully stepped over to join me.
It was a slow start, but it was something.
There were constant squelching noises around us from the various oozing spots of swamp, and the smell of stale water was strong. The clouds of mist drifted by and got thicker toward the back of the swamp, but I couldn’t see any more demons wandering in the distance
