Page 22
Neith
Finally, I break through the trees and find myself at the edge of a giant lake. I mean, it is absolutely fucking huge, and I honestly had no idea that the guys had this much land, but it must be theirs because I haven’t crossed any boundaries, and I would know if I had because I would feel the buzz of magic when I crossed through Ransom’s wards.
The shoreline isn’t that far away from the trees, and I step out onto the rocky beach littered with driftwood and carefully pick my way toward the dark blue water. Even from this far away, I can tell that it is absolutely fucking freezing, hypothermia freezing. I’m guessing that this is where Evander comes to restore his magic and practice. The cold water doesn’t affect him as it would me; he’s a siren, so he is made for all water conditions and adapts within moments depending on what the environment requires, it’s really fucking cool.
Sirens like to live out of the water mostly, although they do spend a large amount of time swimming and learning in water and if they are away from a water source for too long then it can start to cause them issues. Fortunately, they are all very good at using the moisture in the air if they really need to.
The cry turns into a shrill scream as I reach the edge of the water, and a shiver of warning runs down my spine. I look around me, trying to locate where the sound is coming from, and then frown as I look at the lake.
That can’t be right.
How is the scream coming from the water? You need air to scream, and you can’t inhale underwater, not without drowning.
I don’t know what comes over me, but I bend down, my fingers reaching for the icy water.
As soon as my fingers touch the water, weeds wrap around my wrists and pull me in. Quickly dragging me from the shallows to the deeper water. I barely have time to take a breath before I’m pulled under the water. The murky depths swirl around me, the cold threatening to freeze my limbs as my hair obscures my vision and wraps around me.
No, not hair, weeds and vines wrap around me from all directions, as they pull me deeper into the dark depths of the lake.
That’s when I see them, eyes, glowing red eyes. Once I have spotted one set, I see more, dozens of red eyes glowing at me from the depths. Eyes set in horse-like faces, except these horses have razor-sharp teeth. They have two strong front legs like horses, but rather than having back legs, they have a long and incredibly strong tail that helps to propel them through the water and that they also use for fighting. They aren’t the traditional horse colors, but instead, they are a mix of muted greens and blues, varying shades but all very dull in color. They also possess a certain amount of magic.
Fuck.
Kelpies, they are fucking kelpies and that means these weeds aren’t naturally occurring, it’s them and their magic. It also means that they lured me here, and I was the stupid idiot that I should have known better.
I am also reasonably sure that kelpies like to drown and eat people.
Fuck.
I know that one of the worst things that I can do in this situation is panic, but that’s pretty much the only option I have as they swirl around me. I’m surrounded on all sides, and they are snapping their wickedly sharp teeth in my direction, clearly enjoying the terror that they are causing in me. I struggle against the tightening vines, clawing at them and trying to get them to loosen, but getting nowhere as every vine I break just gets replaced with another one.
Just as my panic reaches its height, a familiar weight hits my palm, and I grip the hilt of my sword tightly. I have no idea how it’s here, but I’m not going to question it.
Don’t like a gift horse in the mouth and all that. I could smack myself for that ridiculously bad pun but I kind of need to focus on fighting for my life.
I slash and slice at the vines and the kelpies that start to come for me in earnest now that I have the means to protect myself. I finally escape all of the vines, and they stop being replaced, as the kelpies instead focus on trying to take bites out of me with their wickedly sharp teeth. I manage to catch a few of them with my sword, but it’s really fucking difficult to fight underwater. I’m moving slower, but they aren’t.
My breath is running out, and I need to escape. I can’t just stay floating here and fighting. I guess that my sword can somehow understand what I want, even though I’m not saying anything out loud, because it lets off a sudden pulse of magic, lighting up at the same time. I have no idea what it does, but the kelpies are suddenly nowhere to be found, and I realize that the murky water was being created by them, and the water is actually pretty fucking clear.
I start to swim for the surface when something catches my eye on the bottom of the floor. A kelpie is thrashing around, making an awful, pain filled noise that I can somehow hear even though we are under the water. I quickly realize that its tail is caught between two rocks.
Don’t do it, I say to myself and then roll my eyes as I turn around, and instead of heading for the surface, I head deeper underwater. My lungs are burning as I swim toward one of the creatures who just tried to drown and eat me.
I can’t believe that I am fucking doing this.
The other kelpies could come back at any moment, and I have no idea if my sword can let off another magical blast like that again. Both of those are really good reasons to leave the dark blue kelpie to its fate, and yet, I still swim toward it.
It sees me approaching and starts to thrash more, clearly thinking that I’m about to hurt it. I can’t talk to it to reassure it that I’m only trying to help because we are underwater, and talking doesn’t work for humans or whatever the fuck I am underwater. I also realize that I’m going to have to set it free and swim like hell, hoping that it’s still too injured to chase after me and eat me.
I really shouldn’t be fucking doing this.
It’s too late now.
I start to pull at the rocks keeping it pinned to the floor, and then give up and use my sword to leverage them out of the way. All the while, the kelpie is twisting and turning, snapping at me, and trying to eat me. It should be obvious to the kelpie now that I’m trying to help it, but obviously, that doesn’t matter to it at all, and as I change my angle so that I can move the rock squashing its tail, I inadvertently put myself too close to its snapping jaws, and I feel it clamp down on my arm.
Pain sears through me, and I have to clamp my mouth closed tightly as I fight the urge to yell out in pain. The jolt helped to dislodge the rock and move it away from its tail, and the surprise of being freed made the creature let go of my arm.
I don’t hang around. I push myself off the bed of the lake, ignoring the stinging pain in my arm as I swim as fast as I can to the surface. My lungs are burning like fire as my head finally breaks the surface of the water and I take a deep breath, finally able to fill my lungs with much needed oxygen. I don’t have time to relax though, I’m sure that kelpie will be coming after me as soon as it’s gotten over its shock of being freed. With this in mind, I swim, my sword making it slower than I need it to be, but I refuse to drop it.
Again, it somehow hears me and disappears from my grip, and I momentarily panic until I feel its weight settle on my back.
That’s fucking handy. With my hand now free, I put all of my exhausted effort into heading to the shore, which I can see, which means they didn’t pull me in as far as it felt. I am very aware that I am bleeding and that my blood is no doubt attracting the kelpies, and I’m like a beacon screaming eat me right now. There is fuck all I can do about it. The only thing that I can do right now to get out of this situation is to swim and get to the fucking shore.
The closer I get to the shore, the more certain I feel that I’m going to be dragged back any second, like they are just toying with me by making me think that I have managed to escape them, when really, they are right behind me. I swim harder, and finally I feel the rocky ground beneath my feet, and I push up, wading through the last of the water until finally I’m free and on the rocky beach. I just need to get away from the water. I don’t know much about kelpies, but one thing that I do know is that they can’t go too far from their water source, so if I can get far enough away from the lake, then I will be safe.
In theory.
I start to run, my goal the tree line, but before I have gotten even a meter from the edge of the water, I feel something wrap around my foot and I hit the ground hard. Blood splatters the rocks from my arm, and pain spears through me from the bite on my forearm all the way up to my shoulder. I have no time to worry about it though, as I grit my teeth against the pain and grip tightly onto some big rocks that are buried in the beach.
The vines pull me, and my fingers start to lose grip on the rocks, any minute now they are going to give way and I’m going to be pulled back into the depths of the water. I doubt that I will be lucky enough to escape from the kelpie’s a second time. I instinctively know that if I go back into that water, then I will not be coming out again.
In a snap decision, I let go of the rocks, the only thing stopping the kelpies from ending me, and I reach for the sword on my back. The blood from my arm drips through my fingers and covers the hilt. The sword warms in my grip, taking some of the pain from my arm just like it did for my shoulder. I am really starting to like this sword. I swing, slicing the vines that are holding one of my ankles, and then scramble to my feet, turning to face the creatures pulling themselves out of the water.
As soon as they get their front feet on land, magic engulfs their tails, and they get back legs, making them look much more like horses. You know, except for the razor-sharp teeth, murderous tendencies, and weeds for manes and tails. I briefly glance at the trees behind me but dismiss the idea of making a break for it. With their vines they are more likely to trip me up and if I go down then I am at a serious disadvantage, especially since I’m getting tired.
Stay and fight it is.
They charge me, giant beasts with thundering hooves, and vicious snarls, and I second guess my decision not to run before. I start slashing with my sword, making them bleed black sludge-like blood and causing them to make the most horrifying sound. It’s a cross between a screech and a cry, and it’s not a sound that I am likely to forget any time soon. I realize too late that they are surrounding me, cutting off my exit to the woods and herding me back to the water. They know that their biggest advantage is the water.
I double my attack, my adrenaline pumping through me and pushing back my fear. If I allow the fear to come forward, it could cause me to make a life-ending mistake.
I’m slicing, ducking, and darting around in the small space that is left for me in the center of these terrifying creatures. I’m drawing blood and avoiding the vines and their teeth, but I don’t know how long I can keep it up for, I am absolutely exhausted. From being injured, from swimming in all of my clothes, and from already fighting the fuckers off once. I can feel my energy waning, and that heightens my panic.
Shit.
I start to slow, and as they all move closer pushing in on me from all sides, I think that I am done for until there is a loud roar of sorts. It’s not quite a roar in the traditional sense, but it’s animalistic and mad as hell, so a roar is pretty much the only way that I know how to describe the sound. A dark blue kelpie charges through the ones surrounding me, it’s bigger than the others which I didn’t think was possible.
Great, this one doesn’t want to share and wants to eat me all by itself, fantastic.
Raising my sword and preparing to attack, a zing of intuition zips down my spine and I watch more closely what the kelpie is doing. It’s moving around me in a tight circle, biting and snapping at any of the kelpies that are trying to bite me, and it’s forcing them to back up. He is so close to me that I could reach out and touch his slick-looking side, but as I raise my hand, I realize what a stupid fucking idea that would be, and I snap my hand back, rolling my eyes at myself.
It's nice to know that even in this situation, where I’m most likely going to die, my own stupidity can still astound me.
The kelpie is protecting me, although to what end remains to be seen. Is he protecting me because he wants to eat me, or is protecting me so that I can escape?
I really struggle to believe that he is protecting me so that I can escape. In all of the lore that I have actually read about kelpies, which admittedly isn’t a lot, they never ever spare a victim. I know this, and yet even as he starts to push them all back to the water and a gap to the woods opens up, I can’t seem to make my feet move. They stay rooted to the spot as I watch him force every single last one of the kelpies surrounding me back into the water.
When it turns to look back at me, I realize that it looks familiar. It takes me a moment, and I’m going to attribute my slow brain to the cold, pain, and exhaustion from fighting for my life, but eventually, it clicks.
He’s the kelpie that I rescued.
My shoulders tense as he slowly moves back up the beach to me, I could run. I probably should run, but for some unknown reason I stay exactly where I am. It stops an arm’s length away from me and just stares. When I just stare back at him, he surprises me when he rolls his eyes and huffs like he’s exasperated with me. I can’t help the smile that crosses my features. Who knew kelpies could be sassy? Before I can react, he moves even closer and nudges the hand not holding my sword. I tense, thinking he’s about to take a bite out of me when I realize that he’s behaving like a dog would when they want pets.
Surely not?
Surely this giant, and I do mean giant, my head comes to not even halfway up his side. Surely, he isn’t asking to be stroked?
Honestly, this whole interaction is weird, and the chance to pet a kelpie and not get eaten is something that I simply can’t pass up, as stupid as that may be. I’m most likely about to lose a fucking hand.
Hopefully, Doc can grow it back.
I slowly turn my hand and using the tiniest movements, I gently stroke his soft nose. He jumps at first, as if he’s unsure of the touch, and to be honest that would make a lot of sense. These creatures don’t get stroked with hands, and if they haven’t lured unsuspecting supes and humans to their doom then they are being hunted by them, and so a soft gentle touch is most likely something that they have never experienced.
Slowly, I run my hand up and down his nose, and the tension in his body drains before he leans his head into my shoulder heavily, and I end up stroking the sides of his neck as I desperately try to stay upright.
I laugh quietly, “Oh, so you like cuddles, huh? That’s okay. I can give cuddles.”
He snorts in response, his head still pressed against my shoulder, and I realize that he has at least a small level of understanding. He knows what I am saying, and that means he is a hell of a lot more intelligent than all the books that I have read have made them seem to be. I am quickly coming to realize that all of the books that the humans have, at least, do not have the correct information in them.
After a moment of more cuddles, I add, “Thank you for saving me; I am sure that they would have eaten me and enjoyed it.”
The chuffing sound he makes is almost like a laugh and I’m assuming that means that I was right.
“I knew it. Do you have a name? If we are going to be friends now, I need to know what to call you. I’m not sure you want me to pick out a name myself,” I ask.