Page 26 of Shadows Lost (Remnant Archives #1)

“ I knew you were going to get us killed.” My beast growled irritably.

I grunted, my shifter side tingling with a warning that had nothing to do with the wall of churning water at my back nor the armada of water fae ready to impale me beyond that.

No, it had everything to do with what was in front of me.

A lifeless ocean with murky gray waters and the putrid stench of disease. A large lochness carcass could be seen mere feet away, its rib bones protruding out of the black rotting sand—a warning from its shallow grave.

Remnant would have tried to bury the poor creature if she were here to see it.

I snarled at the deep ache growing inside me. The longer she was absent, the more irritated I became. Shaking out my claws, I glared at the direction Kira had gone, where I knew my soulmate would be.

A place I was unable to go.

Instead, I prowled the water, hissing and snarling, sheathing and unsheathing my claws. A fucking sitting duck—prey. I was prey.

“Ducks don’t live under the water, fairy boy and I don’t plan on letting these foul water fae execute me. Get it. Fowl.” The cat chuckled deeply.

I stilled, groaning. “I should just shift and let you drown for that. Your humor will surely make me go feral one of these days.”

“You were feral before me, fairy boy.”

I grinned. Therein lay the truth, my crooked nose more than a testament to that.

“Cyrus.” I shot back to the orange haired guard who helped escort me to my death. “Does the same thing happen when you need to take a shit as it does for your dick? Again, I’m asking for a friend.” The distraction was necessary for my nerves.

“Fuck you, you shifter prick.” The water fae snarled back.

My chest rumbled, easing some of the tension building inside me. “I am going to assume that is a yes.”

“It comes.” My beast prowled agitatedly inside my head.

A piercing scream came with his warning and it rattled my scales.

My eyes widened. I knew that sound.

“Ah, shit. Who in the goddess let that asshole out!” I bared my teeth, narrowing my eyes on the gigantic domineering creature slowly crawling out of the pit from which it came, only growing in size.

“Time to die, shifter prick.” Orange hair called out to me. The faint laughter of the other water fae around him penetrated the darkness.

I cursed under my breath when eight tentacles, with suckers puckering in fluttering ticks, stretched out of the murky waters.

Each one of them curled out widely, pulling along the massive lumbering creature attached to them.

A molten smell of rot that rivaled the sludge of the decayed ocean floor hit me like a tidal wave.

Damn my shifter senses.

“Cronin.” I bared my teeth and folded my arms across my chest. “The last time I saw your ugly kraken ass was when I imprisoned you five hundred years ago for crimes against the shifter crown!” I heard the faint whispers of disbelief from the water fae guards and I smirked—the poor idiots had no idea who they were fucking with.

Cronin’s massive black kraken head turned my way. Clusters of red beady eyes zeroed in on my floating frame and then his black beak clicked agitatedly. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the golden prick of the family.” His voice boomed in the murky water.

I peered down at my glinting claws and tested their sharpness. “Still obsessed with my dick I see. You’d think after a few centuries you’d move on.”

More agitated clicking, grew louder this time. “I’m going to enjoy eating you, Emon…slowly, savoring your bones as they break. Five hundred years has made me more than ravenous for my revenge!”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Same words you said last time and look where that got you, oh guardian of the deadlands.” Pointing one sharp claw his way, I growled low.

“I’ll make you a deal, kraken. I’ll spare your life, albeit you’re still going back to your prison, for the name of the fae who released you. ”

Cronin chortled and I gagged on the stench permeating the water from his molten mouth.

“You are in my territory now, Emon. Your puny water fae body is no match for me. I will make no such deal. My vengeance is all I need.”

“Refrain from pissing off the giant sea insect more, fairy boy.” The cat hissed.

I grinned. “Your moronic simple mind couldn’t even come up with any other goals besides killing me, could it?

” I purred at him. “I’m flattered, you have been thinking so much about me.

Here I thought having eight appendages would assist you in preoccupying your time more pleasurably.

” Crudely, I cupped my hand and stroked it in the water, winking at the kraken.

The beast sighed. “ And there it is… ”

Thoughtless in his own anger, Cronin torpedoed towards me, his globulous head morphing into an arrow, jetting through the sea.

Smirking, I waited. “Three, two, one.”

Darting quickly to the side, a thunderous boom vibrated the gloomy waters and laughter exploded deep from my chest at the sight of the kraken splattering against the water barrier of a wall Kira trapped me in.

The water fae guard behind it cried out in their terror, dropping their weapons and scuttling away in fear .

“ I’m assuming that this little stunt was to break down the water barrier? ”

I chuffed, my laughter dying down. “ It was worth a shot. ” Dark waters curled up around my scaled legs and I shivered. “ Guess I am alone now. With a kraken…in a dead ocean. ”

“You’re never alone, fairy boy.” My beast hissed at me, like he was offended. “WE, need no one…we are MORE.”

I sighed exasperatedly. “I really don’t have time for your cryptic bullshit, cat. You’ve been saying that since I was a faeling and never explain it any further.”

Cronin slid as he peeled himself from the invisible water barrier. His massive frame shook with rage.

“Emon!” He roared.

I roared back. “Here I am, you ugly fuck!”

A thick tentacle whizzed through the waters and I turned, dragging my claws through his rubbery flesh with dark satisfaction.

Jolting from the injury, Cronin’s appendage flung me outward and I shuddered just moments before slimy sludge sands and rotting corpses became my new safe haven. My black water fae body camouflaged perfectly in the darkness.

I needed a plan.

“Get on with it then, it’s not like you listen to me anyway.” The cat grumbled.

I chuckled softly, my beast wasn’t going to like this.

“Here kitty kitty kitty!” A laugh from Cronin vibrated the waters. Powerful enough to send me tumbling sideways.

“Here fishy fishy.” I hissed back, my eyes glowing with power in the darkness.