Lottery King 7, page 26
“Right away, your majesty.” Dedan nodded.
“What should we do?” Dinah wondered.
“How about we explore the house?” Poppy suggested.
“Do you think there’s a library?” Ivis asked with excitement.
“Let’s find out,” I chuckled.
My four wives seemed to try and distract themselves by exploring the house. I didn’t have much interest in it myself, but I wasn’t about to stop their efforts to keep themselves from drowning in the weight of what was happening.
I wandered through the large house alongside them, but my thoughts were trapped in everything we were learning. The lives of several humans hung in the balance at that very second, and I felt like a caged animal as I waited for something productive to do.
My wives discovered there was in fact a library, but almost every book was written in Burmese, Arabic, Turkish, or Armenian. There were a few dozen in Japanese and Mandarin, and a handful in Italian. Not a single book was in English, and it reminded me just how big the world was. It was impressive how many people we encountered who spoke pretty good English.
“Huh,” I chuckled as I realized that Rune probably picked this house over any other good options because at least some of the staff spoke English.
He really did think of everything.
My distraction didn’t last long, though, and I searched for a clock to see how much time I still needed to kill before I could jump on this issue more directly. There were still a few more hours to waste before it would be time to leave, and I heaved a sigh.
Anxious anticipation dripped steadily through me like a leaking faucet, and I found my mind racing to the worst possible scenarios. I tried to respond to my ladies as they perused the books, but most of my responses were short grunts and nods.
They seemed to enjoy the few illustrated ones they found while I managed to find short-lived distraction in the idea of learning another language. I decided that between my lovers and staff, there wasn’t much necessity for me to know any foreign languages. But maybe I should still learn one as a way to improve myself as a person and king.
I didn’t have the brain space let alone the time to focus on such a task right now, though, so I pushed the idea away for later consideration.
And just like that, my thoughts were back on the high stakes of our mission.
And what failure could mean for both the paranormals and human population in this area.
After we enjoyed the library, we wandered through the other rooms of the house. There were several sitting rooms, the kitchen, dining room, another smaller study, and a game room with an expensive billiards table.
“Oooh!” Ivis squealed when she saw the table. “Can we play?”
“You play pool?” I asked, and I latched onto the distraction like a life preserver.
Driving myself crazy with wondering about what might happen wasn’t going to do me any good. All it was doing was making me tense and stressed, and that was not a good way to go into battle.
“It was one of my favorite pastimes at University,” Ivis said as she picked a rack from the wall. “Who wants to play?”
“I will,” Helena said with a smile. “You rack, I’ll break?”
“Okay.” Ivis grinned.
Poppy, Dinah, and I settled into the comfortable chairs around the room to enjoy the game. Ivis racked the balls like she’d done it a thousand times before while Helena applied a generous amount of chalk to the tip of her cue.
“Classic fifteen ball rules?” Helena asked.
“Sounds good to me,” Ivis agreed as she removed the rack from the triangular formation of balls.
“What is the point of this game?” Dinah asked Poppy and me in a quiet voice.
“That white ball is called the cue ball,” Poppy explained. “They’ll use the cue sticks to knock the cue ball into the colored balls. One of them will play stripes, the other solids, and whoever gets all their balls into the pockets first gets to go for the eight ball. You can’t go for the eight ball until all your colored balls are in, and you have to say which pocket it will go in, or you lose.”
“Is it difficult?” Dinah wondered.
“It can be,” Poppy said. “There are a few other rules to game play. Like if you get the cue ball into a pocket, your turn is over.”
“Hmm,” Dinah hummed.
We all grew silent as Helena lined up her shot, pulled her cue stick back, and knocked it firmly into the cue ball. The white ball shot swiftly into the formation of colored balls, and it sent them scattering all across the table. Two solids and two stripes sank into various pockets, and Helena smiled confidently.
“Stripes or solids?” Ivis asked.
“Solids.” Helena smiled.
My harpy wife leaned over the table again and sank three more balls before she missed.
“Is it fair that she was able to take so many turns before Ivis even got a shot?” Dinah asked softly.
“Those are the rules.” Poppy shrugged. “There are advantages to breaking. But now Ivis can sink as many balls as Helena did.”
“She could even win the game right now,” I pointed out.
“Maybe if the peanut gallery was quiet,” Ivis said with a teasing smile in our direction.
I pretended to zip my lips shut, and Ivis giggled as she lined up her shot.
My half-dryad wife sank six balls before she missed, and then it was Helena’s turn again. Helena made her next shot and lined up behind the eight ball.
“Corner pocket,” Helena said.
She shot, and she missed.
“Damn,” Helena muttered.
“That was close,” Ivis said, sank her final ball, and went for the eight. “Side pocket.”
Ivis adjusted her stance and grip twice before she took the shot, and she sank the black ball easily in the side pocket.
“Good game,” Helena said.
“Again?” Ivis asked.
“Sure.” Helena grinned.
They played three more games, each with two victories before the tie breaker game went to Helena. They were very evenly matched, and it was thrilling to watch them play.
“Can I try?” Dinah asked. “I’ve never seen this game before.
“Sure,” Ivis said in a bright voice. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
We all picked up a cue and took turns making practice shots. Helena and Ivis gave us pointers throughout, and Poppy turned out to have a natural talent for trick shots. Dinah was a powerful striker, and I was decent at best.
“This is not my game,” I laughed as I put my cue stick back.
We hung around in the game room for a while until our stomachs pulled us back toward the dining room. Dedan found us on our way down the hall and informed us dinner was about to be served.
“Perfect, cause we’re hungry,” I said with a friendly smile.
Poppy, Helena, Dinah, Ivis, and I wandered into the dining room, and I was thrilled to see Gemma and Nyxx enter from the other end of the house.
“How are plans?” I asked.
“Complete,” Nyxx sighed.
“Everything is set,” Gemma agreed. “The merfolk soldiers are about thirty minutes out now, and they’ll meet us at the rendezvous point.”
“Perfect,” I said.
We settled into dinner, and our conversation was light and cheerful the entire time like no one wanted to breach the darkness of what lay ahead.
Helena and Ivis shared about their rousing battle of billiards, and Nyxx boasted that she had a skill of the game, too. The three of them agreed to a sort of championship bracket when we were all back home in Orlando, and Gemma admitted she’d never played before. Dinah suggested they play against one another for a while to improve their skills.
Before I knew it, the sun was sinking low in the distance, and Nyxx gave me a heavy look.
“We should begin getting ready, Michael,” she said.
I nodded silently as I stood from the table. Poppy, Helena, Dinah, and Ivis each took their turns to get some hugs and kisses from me, and they gave Nyxx and Gemma warm hugs, too. Then my warrior fiancées and I headed back to the study to coordinate with my guards and soldiers.
Rune handed me some stealth armor like what I often saw Nyxx wearing, and he helped me strap the lightweight chestplate and bracers into place. He’d also acquired a pair of hiking boots and thick canvas pants that would offer me protection. Then my advisor handed me a sheathed sword that I belted at my waist. I took a moment to inspect the blade, and I was very pleased by its balance and weight. It felt good in my hands, and thanks to Firo’s training, I was familiar with the fighting techniques such a weapon required.
I realized I’d never seen guns used by anyone in the Eternal Realm, and I thought about how the shadow nymphs’ form damaged electronics. It was logical to assume any electronic accessories like infra-red or thermal scopes would be damaged by their forms. Merfolk couldn’t exactly use firearms under water, either, so that definitely wouldn’t be very prominent in their training.
And I supposed shadow blades were pretty damn stealthy and deadly.
It was interesting to me that guns were almost useless in comparison to what the paranormals of the Eternal Realm had right within themselves. I figured they’d never had very much need for firearms due to their magic, and the fact that their personal wars were fought against such varying powers, skills, and locales, so there had never been a desire to incorporate them. Plus, the noise of guns, even suppressed ones, would lead to a much higher risk of discovery by humans in this particular case.
I grimaced slightly as I thought about the potential for collateral damage from firefights, too. No, it was best to keep with what my soldiers and guards were masters of.
“The boots are ideal for hiking through the jungle, your majesty,” Rune said.
“Thank you, Rune,” I said. “I really appreciate all the extra work you do.”
“It’s an honor, your majesty,” Rune said.
I turned around to see that Nyxx was in her shadow form, and Gemma had strapped on some similar lightweight armor pieces. She had also strapped a sheathed sword to her hip, and I was unsurprised to see her feet were as bare as always.
“Is that the best choice?” I asked as I looked down at her naked toes. “We’re hiking through the jungle after all.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Gemma sighed and smirked.
“I got some boots for you too, commander,” Rune said, and he held another pair up in offering.
“Thanks, Rune,” Gemma laughed.
She accepted the boots and a pair of socks from Rune, and she sat down to pull them onto her feet.
“Oh, that’s so weird,” Gemma commented as she stood back up. “I’m not used to there being so much between my feet and the ground.”
“Alright.” I grinned at my mermaid lover. “Are we ready?”
Everybody confirmed, and we headed outside together. A pair of black motorcycles waited for us in the driveway, and Nyxx and Gemma each climbed onto one. They had matte paint jobs thankfully, or they would have gleamed brightly under the nearly full moon in the night sky.
“Who do you want to ride with?” Gemma asked as she pulled a helmet over her aquamarine hair.
I chuckled as I walked to the closest bike, and I climbed on behind Nyxx. I was impressed that Gemma could drive a motorcycle, and I longed for the story behind the skill.
“Hang on, baby,” Nyxx chuckled.
I jammed a helmet onto my head, wrapped my arms around her waist, and noticed she hadn’t put on a helmet. Not that she needed one. If we crashed, she could just dive into the shadows to protect herself from bodily injury. It was one hell of a useful skill that was for sure.
Nyxx and Gemma started up the engines, and a thick crowd of shadow nymphs rose up around us. They would surround us the entire time as my personal guard, and we would rendezvous with the rest of our forces at the edge of the jungle. We would also park the motorcycles there to allow us a much more stealthy approach to The Rising’s camp.
Our ride through the city was uneventful, and there were almost no people in the streets tonight. More guards moved through the empty sidewalks, and I figured part of the plan was to expand the curfew across the whole of the city.
I spent the time holding Nyxx by the waist and mentally girding myself for the silence, stealth, and tension that waited for us in the jungle. I’d never expected that being king would mean marching into battle so often, and I knew I could be the kind of king that remained safely back at the fortress while I sent my soldiers forth to do battle.
But that idea didn’t sit right with me.
I never wanted to make my employees, staff, soldiers, or subjects do anything I wasn’t willing to do myself. Sure, they were skilled and trained for this, but I would have been consumed by guilt if I wasn’t willing to be present with them.
We drove out of the lamplit streets, and I expected to be plunged into a dark night. The sky was completely free of clouds, though, and it left our path very visible under the bright moon. I gazed up at the moon with a spark of curiosity because it seemed far brighter than it should have.
A small hopeful part of me wondered if the goddess was smiling down on me tonight and lending a bit more of her light to our midnight mission.
We arrived at the edge of the jungle before I realized, and our group was suddenly several hundred times larger than when we’d left the house. There were merfolk and shadow nymphs by the hundreds, and it almost took my breath away to see.
Nobody spoke.
The night was silent other than the droning sounds of night insects and the whoosh of wind through the trees. I waited with Nyxx and Gemma at my side as our teams divided themselves into five groups as planned.
Nyxx gave my hand a squeeze to silently ask if I was ready, and I nodded to her as we marched into the treeline together.
Not fifteen yards in, our groups began to diverge on our different paths. The other groups would move at a slightly faster pace to reach their destination in sync with our more direct path. It had all been calculated and planned out, and each squad leader knew what to do.
Nyxx, Gemma, and I were somewhere in the middle of our team’s formation. There were more soldiers and shadow nymphs in front of me than behind me, but I was well protected on all sides.
The incessant buzzing of the night insects felt like it grew louder and louder as we marched, and nothing happened for quite a while. I knew we had a bit of a hike through the jungle to get where we were going, but I’d anticipated enemy fighters to be patrolling the trees.
It wasn’t very long after I had the thought that we encountered our first patrol.
Three kinnara and two fae emerged from between two thick trees ahead of us. They were able to get out a sharp shout in Burmese before they were cut down easily by my shadow nymph guards.
The echo of their voices through the jungle sent my heart racing, and I knew our cover was probably blown.
A few seconds later, several lights in the distance sparked to life, and the sounds of marching feet and shouted orders reached us.
“Get ready,” our squad leader hissed.
I listened intently, and I could hear that a large portion of the marching feet were moving away from us. There were still plenty moving in our direction, though, and I silently pulled my sword from its sheath.
The shadow nymphs in front of me slipped into the darkness like water into a sponge, and the merfolk soldiers in our group gathered closer around my lovers and me.
About a minute later, the footsteps were less than thirty yards away, and I heard the stomach-churning gurgle of blood in someone’s airway the second before their body dropped to the ground. It had to have been a merfolk soldier’s kill.
My brain tensed every muscle in my body and adrenaline dumped into my veins.
Gemma and Nyxx positioned themselves directly beside me, and I clenched my teeth as more bodies hit the ground.
A final shout ripped through the trees, and then there was only the sound of the insects again.
I thought we were safe for a moment, but dozens of feet pounding through the trees filled the night before I could even complete the thought.
“Incoming,” Nyxx hissed.
My brain seemed to slow everything down into half speed, and my eyes focused in the darkness. I watched as more enemy fighters approached, and this time, my shadow nymphs moved to meet them in the middle.
Nyxx motioned for me to move forward, and I picked my way carefully through the trees and brush.
“Yaaahhh!” a kinnara roared as he flew through the trees.
He’d sent himself over the tops of my front guards, and he landed with a rough thump right in front of Nyxx, Gemma, and me.
Nyxx didn’t hesitate, and she swung her shadow blade into the paranormal’s left wing.
Instinct took over my body, and I lunged forward with my sword in both hands. The tip of my blade pierced into his side as he tried to slash at me with overgrown fingernails that looked like talons.
I ducked under his arm as I pulled my sword back, and I quickly stabbed into his chest once more at a sharp upward angle. His eyes went wide with panic and pain as blood poured down his t-shirt.
Then Nyxx finished him with a quick stab through the base of his throat. Instantly, the Kinnara’s soul and entire body were dead, and his skin turned a sickly black shade as he dropped to the ground.
Before I could even breathe again, a fae with weirdly black wings threw herself at me. I raised my sword in a defensive motion, and Gemma’s blade suddenly burst into my field of vision. My mermaid commander’s sword cut straight through the meat of the fae’s arm, and it pierced into the fae’s upper chest.
This time, I gave the finishing blow, and I thrust my sword through her upper chest and directly into her heart. The fae’s eyes scrunched with anguish for the last two seconds of her life, and then her body hit the jungle floor among the others.
My guards and soldiers swarmed around me, and I had half a second of mental space to reach out and quickly stroke my mind over the attacking enemies.
There wasn’t even the slightest hint of lingering slime from Rhaiden’s manipulation, and I still couldn’t sense a single lifeline tether among any of them.
