Lottery King 10, page 3
The rest of the group were quickly killed by my shadow nymphs and the centaurs. After the last one was put down, I scanned the entirety of the top deck. The only paranormals who were still alive were shadow nymphs and centaurs.
I walked across the body-filled deck to where Ena was checking to make sure every enemy fighter was fully dead.
“That’s everyone on the top deck,” I informed Ena.
“Good,” Ena said. “I’ll get a report on the lower decks, your majesty.”
“It’s okay,” I said, and I waved a hand. “I’ll check.”
“Oh, right…” Ena tilted her head slightly to the side. “I forgot about that new thing you can do.”
“It’s very useful,” Kage said in a conversational tone as he reappeared beside me.
I closed my eyes and scanned the entirety of the ship. I found dozens of magical auras from centaurs, and hundreds more of my shadow nymph guards. There were a handful of signatures from members of The Rising, but they were snuffed out almost as quickly as I found them.
Within two minutes, the last of them were dead, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s it,” I said. “The Rising has been cleansed from this ship.”
“Good,” Kage said.
Ena nodded in agreement, and I looked between the two of them.
“Have there been any signs of the abducted centaurs?” I asked.
“We haven’t found them, your majesty,” Ena reported. “But there are areas of the ship we haven’t searched yet.”
“Can you locate them, your majesty?” Kage asked.
“Your majesty!” Jasper’s light Southern accent shouted through the evening air before I could answer.
I turned around and watched Jasper gallop across the top deck. It took him all of four seconds to cross the hundred yards to where I stood.
“We can’t find them, your majesty,” Jasper said.
His blue eyes were filled with rage and worry all mixed together like a toxic stew, and I raised a soothing hand.
“Don’t panic,” I said. “Let me have a look.”
Jasper’s front right hoof stomped on the deck with irritation, and I half expected him to snort like a horse. All I got was a curt nod, and he crossed his arms over his thick chest.
I took a step away to have some mental space to look for the missing centaurs, and I mentally scanned the ship one deck at a time. I started where we were and went up first to eliminate that unlikely possibility right away.
There was no one but half a dozen shadow nymphs on the three decks above us, and it looked like they were simply doing a security check of the areas.
I shifted my mirror magic echolocation down, and I scanned each of the decks below us. I knew the ship was probably a maze of hallways, stairwells, and doors like the one we’d taken to get here, but my magic didn’t show me any of that.
All I could see were my shadow nymphs and the centaurs walking around much more casually than earlier. I guessed they were all looking for the abducted centaurs, too.
My eyebrow furrowed in confusion as I reached what appeared to be the lowest deck of the ship, and I still hadn’t found any imprisoned centaurs.
“What the…?” I muttered under my breath.
I started to pace the deck idly as I thought and searched, and I found myself wandering toward the stern of the ship. Then something new caught my attention.
A condensed ball of magical energy that didn’t seem to make any sense at all.
I walked further toward the stern to get a bit closer to it. It was like someone had put a hundred magical auras all on top of each other like a hundred layers of tissue paper stacked together.
“That’s fucking weird,” I breathed.
I tried to zoom in with my mirror magic on the strange anomaly, and all at once it made perfect sense what I was looking at.
“Oh, shit,” I hissed.
“Your majesty?” Jasper asked in a hopeful tone. “Have you found something?”
The Rising must have had a room that was magically larger on the inside, and they kept all the abducted centaurs inside the hidden room. Apparently, magically bigger on the inside rooms still looked the size they should be from the outside to my mirror magic, too.
“They’re in a hidden room on the lowest deck,” I explained to Jasper.
Chapter 2
Jasper released an enormous breath, and his muscular shoulders sagged with visible relief.
“They’re here?” he asked.
“Yes, they’re here.” I nodded.
“Hey, y’all!” Jasper shouted across the deck. “King Michael’s found ‘em!”
Shouts and cheers sounded through the night air, and I couldn’t help but smile as I turned to Ena and Kage.
“They’re on the lowest deck in a hidden room,” I explained. “I can see them, but I can’t see the maze of this ship.”
“We will work together, your majesty,” Ena assured me.
“Let’s go find your centaurs, Jasper,” I said.
Jasper nodded, and a bittersweet smile crossed his face. I nodded at Ena, and she showed us which door would bring us to a stairwell that led all the way to the lowest deck.
It took us several minutes to walk down the ten flights of stairs, and Jasper and two of his herd members had to wait for us to start down the next flight before they could leap down without landing on any of us. The rest of his herd remained on the top deck simply because the hallways were so narrow, and I wasn’t sure how cramped the hidden room would be.
“This is the lowest deck, your majesty,” Ena said as we found the bottom of the seemingly endless stairwell. “Which way are the centaurs?”
My answer was drowned out by the loud banging sound of Jasper’s hooves hitting the deck as he landed on the bottom. I waited until his two herd members landed, and then I tried again.
“They’re this way.” I pointed left into a hallway. “Not far down.”
Ena led the way, Kage followed behind her, and Jasper and his herd members followed me. I kept scanning my mirror magic echolocation map, and it became easier to sense the different layers of each centaur piled on top of each other as I got closer.
I found them on the other side of what looked like a linen closet door.
“They’re in here.” I stopped in front of the closet.
“The Rising must have a witch with space-expanding magic,” Ena said.
“Or they acquired the ship with the room already expanded,” Kage countered.
“Could be either,” I said, and I reached for the doorknob.
“Your majesty, stop,” Ena said. “I insist on checking it out first.”
“Right.” I nodded and stepped back.
Ena melted to the floor and slipped under the closet door. I let my mirror magic fade away, and about two seconds later, the door opened.
The room inside was the furthest thing from a linen closet I’d ever seen with my own eyes. It was a large open room with dozens of iron-barred cells lined up like stalls in a stable. Except none of them had nice open tops for their inhabitants to look out of. They were like prison cells, and suddenly all the stacked-together magical auras of the centaurs spread out in the newly opened space.
The room was lit with harsh fluorescent bulbs, and several of them buzzed annoyingly. The whole room was constructed of cold sheets of metal, and it was like the ocean water on the outside was actively sapping any bit of heat from the space.
The longer I stood inside, the stronger the smell of death became, and I knew there were at least a few dead centaurs in the prison cells.
A shiver raced down my spine, but I noticed several puffs of warm breath along the line of centaur prison cells.
“Tiffany?” Jasper suddenly shouted, and there was a hint of desperation in his voice. “Tiff! Are you here?”
“Jasper?” a female voice called faintly from somewhere about halfway down the line, and she had a thicker Southern accent than Jasper. “Jasper, is that you?”
“I’m sorry, your majesty,” Jasper said in a rush as he hesitated to push past me. “But please get outta my way?”
I pressed myself flat against the wall so the brown-haired centaur could get past me, and he bolted into the room. His movements were awkward as he hurried between cells looking for Tiffany, and he skidded to a stop halfway down the long room.
A pair of tan and feminine arms reached out from behind the bars, and Jasper walked right into the hidden centaur’s embrace.
“Is that King Michael?” a weak voice asked from the cell closest to me. “Really? Is it you?”
“Yes, I’m here,” I said, and I raised my voice to address the entire long room. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
A mix of relieved sobs, shocked gasps, and crazed laughter sprinkled through the room at my announcement.
I walked over to Kage. He was inspecting an electrical panel of some kind, and I guessed he was trying to figure out how to open all the cell doors. After a few seconds, he reached up and pressed a large red button, and the sound of a hundred deadbolts opening filled the room.
Tiffany tried to throw herself out of the cell door, but heavy metal chains around all four of her legs stopped her right at the threshold. Jasper closed the distance between them, and Tiffany’s long blonde tail swished as he embraced her in an affectionate hug.
I couldn’t tell if they were lovers or siblings or really good friends until Jasper touched Tiffany’s face and leaned down to kiss her.
Tiffany almost melted into Jasper’s arms, and as more centaurs tried to come out of their cells, my view of them was blocked by the front half of dozens of centaurs who strained to free themselves from the cells. They all had heavy chains around their hooves.
“Your majesty?” The centaur who’d asked if it was really me spoke from right inside the door to her cell.
She looked like an older centaur with silver-streaked hair and tail. Small plastic glasses were perched on her nose, and she was only a few inches taller than me. She shuffled forward slowly as I walked over to meet her.
“Hello, what’s your name?” I asked.
“Mazie,” the older centaur said. “Are you real? Or is this some hallucination?”
“I’m real,” I assured her. “And we’re going to get you home. Are you a member of Jasper’s herd?”
“I don’t know Jasper,” Mazie said, and her eyebrows furrowed.
“You’re not from the Appalachian Mountains?” I asked.
“No, your majesty.” Mazie shook her head. “I’m from the Rockies.”
“We’ll get you home,” I said, and she looked a little relieved by my assurances.
As I’d spoken with Mazie, my shadow nymphs had begun to make their way down the line to remove the heavy chains from each of the centaurs’ legs. It was going to take a while, and they were only about an eighth of the way down the long row of cells.
The aisle between the prison cells slowly and steadily began to fill with so many centaurs that the room was well on the way to looking like an overpacked can of sardines.
I turned to look for Ena and Kage, and I found them deep in conversation with two more centaurs. They finished their conversation right as I reached them, and my shadow nymphs turned to face me.
“There are centaurs here from–” Ena began.
“Other regions,” I finished, and I gestured toward the silver-haired centaur’s cell. “Yeah, Mazie there is from the Rocky Mountains.”
“Did we know there were other centaurs here?” Kage asked in confusion. “I thought they were all from Jasper’s herd.”
“I guess not,” I sighed. “We can figure all that out during our debriefing process. First things first. Let’s get all these centaurs out of here so we can see what The Rising was doing here.”
“Yes, your majesty.” Ena nodded.
I stepped back and nodded reassuringly as all the centaurs made their way up to the stairwell. My shadow nymph guards led them all out in an orderly manner, and I knew they’d be directed over to my ship to be brought to their various home regions. Some of them were injured, and the two herd members who’d come down with Jasper tended to those injuries as the freed prisoners left their prison.
I stood nearby and watched with fascination as Jasper and the two other members of his herd healed the injured centaurs. It was therapeutic in a way, and watching their expressions shift from pained and hopeless to healed soothed the dark parts of my soul that had been created by this atrocious war.
It took almost thirty minutes to clear everyone out, but Jasper remained staunchly persistent that he needed to stay.
“I need to know all the facts so I can best help my herd members,” Jasper insisted.
“Alright,” I relented easily, and I turned to look at Tiffany. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, Tiffany, but I’m glad to meet you anyway.”
“Thanks, your majesty,” Tiffany murmured in an awestruck tone. “May I stay, too, please?”
“I…” I started to protest, but Jasper interjected before I could speak.
“Your majesty,” Jasper said. “Tiffany is my mate, I’d tell her everything I learn anyway, and we’d both feel much better if we could stay together.”
“Please, your majesty?” Tiffany asked in the most respectful tone.
I pondered it for a moment. Jasper wasn’t a subject of mine, so I didn’t have any control over him or what he did or shared with his mate. I couldn’t exactly order him to be silent because I wasn’t his king. I could forcibly have him and Tiffany both removed, but I wanted his perspective on whatever we found. I needed his insight on whatever centaur-centric information we uncovered, too.
“Alright,” I said. “I think I’ll need your specific perspective on things.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” Tiffany said, and her brown eyes shone with tears as she clung to Jasper’s muscular arm.
It was obvious they were fiercely in love, and I couldn’t imagine forcing them apart immediately after being reunited. What a heartless ass I’d be if I did that.
Finally, the room was empty other than Jasper, Tiffany, Ena, Kage, my shadow nymphs, and me. We started our search by inspecting the prison cells, and we discovered The Rising had been treating the centaurs not much better than cattle being brought to slaughter.
Each cell floor was covered with a meager sprinkling of dirty straw, and there was a large bucket in the corner that radiated a very specific scent. In total, we found eight dead centaurs slowly rotting away in the cold room. Tiffany wept silently at the dead centaurs, but Jasper’s rage grew with each cell we passed and each body we found. By the time we reached Tiffany’s cell, he looked like he wanted to set the world on fire.
“It’s okay, Jas,” Tiffany said as she stroked his shoulder. “I’m alive, and we’re together again. This doesn’t matter.”
“Like hell it doesn’t matter,” Jasper spat. “They were treating you like animals.”
“They wanted to use us like prison cells, Jas. Like things!” Tiffany countered. Her tone was cynical, but tears started to stream down her face. “Being treated like animals was the best we were ever gonna get from those monsters. I’m grateful it lasted long as it did.”
“And what about them?” Jasper growled and pointed at the closest dead centaur.
The male centaur must have been dead for at least two weeks based on how stiff and compressed his skin was. It was like all the moisture had been sucked out of his body, and I guessed the chilly temperature of the room was the only reason he didn’t look like day-old roadkill.
“Tiffany, can you tell me how many of the centaurs weren’t from your herd?” I asked, and I kept walking to lead them both away from the dead centaur.
“Um…” Tiffany sniffled and wiped an arm under her nose. “I’m not sure… it was hard to talk since we were all so far apart…”
“Can you give me a best guess?” I asked. “A rough idea. How many centaurs did you know from your herd?”
“Most of ‘em,” Tiffany sighed. “There was Earl… I didn’t know him. He was across the aisle from me.”
“Okay,” I said, and I began a mental tally.
“Earl said his sister was here, too,” Tiffany continued. “He said her name was Amy, but we couldn’t figure out if she was still alive.”
“Why not?” Jasper asked.
“We had a few breaks in the line,” Tiffany said. “Some centaurs who refused to speak, and one who seemed to be out of his mind. He just mumbled crazy nonsense all the time. It made it hard to communicate all the way up and down the line.”
“I understand,” I said. “We’re going to find out who everyone is, don’t worry.”
“Thanks, your majesty.” Tiffany started to cry again. “I think the shock is wearin’ off now!”
Tiffany suddenly looked like she was going into an emotional breakdown. Her hands shook violently, and tears flowed down her cheeks non-stop.
“I need–” Tiffany gasped. “I need to get outta here!”
Jasper wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders, and she looked up at him like she wanted him to just carry her away to anywhere else. Jasper turned to me with a pleading look in his blue eyes.
“Your majesty…?” His request didn’t need to be spoken out loud.
“Go,” I said. “Get her out of here. I’ll let you know if I have any questions I need your help with.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” Jasper murmured.
He led Tiffany back up the aisle, and she leaned as close to his chest as she physically could. She covered the side of her face with one hand to try and block her view of everything they passed along the way.
Two of my shadow nymph guards escorted them out and up to the top deck, and Ena and Kage stayed with me and a handful of other guards. We kept working our way through the cells until we made it to the end.
All totaled up, there were nine dead centaurs, and it appeared they had died for various reasons.
One looked old enough that he might have died simply from old age. Another didn’t seem to have anything wrong with her aside from being a bit older, and I guessed she might have had a heart attack or stroke from the stress of being imprisoned. Two more were sickly thin, and it was clear they’d starved to death.
