CHAPTER SIXTEEN（Untitled）Wranth

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Wranth

We follow the stream, and another soon joins it, swelling its size to that of a small river. The water rushes past, crashing into rounded rocks that raise wet-brown tops above the surface.

As we approach a wider section, the foam starts to swirl with extra agitation.

“Humph.” Zephyr tosses her head. “Damned water nymphs.”

“Ooo.” Naomi spins to look for them, one hand already reaching, even though we’re not close enough to the water for them to touch.

My arm tightens around her soft warmth, keeping her in place.

Only it’s not a nymph.

A kelpie rises from the river, yellow-green scales shimmering with wetness, its kelp-frond mane and tail dark and dripping.

Another emerges from right behind the first. “There she is! There’s the human.”

“My, my.” The first kelpie snaps a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. “What a tasty little treat.”

“What the hell are those things?” Naomi jerks back against me.

“Kelpies!” Zephyr comes to a halt and lets out a fierce whinny. My friend is smart. There’s no point in trying to run. Kelpies are fast, and these have the additional advantage of being unburdened by riders.

I dismount on the side away from the water and pull my bride down quickly. “Hide.” I thrust her toward the trees. “Help her, Shadow.”

But the cat sith is gone. I bare my tusks. Why did I ever expect better from the sneaky fae?

Zephyr lunges forward, head lowered to lead with her horn.

My sword flies from its sheath as I run beside her, the moon steel blade ringing in the air with the sound of pure metal.

Angry whinnies and thumps come from my left as the unicorn engages her foe.

The second one charges at me, hooves splashing through the shallows.

I sidestep the vicious snapping teeth and slice across its chest. The cut weeps green blood, even if it’s far too shallow for my liking. Kelpie scales are tough, able to deflect a regular blade. Yet my sword is moon steel, a special alloy gifted by the goddess and worked by our finest metal workers.

“Orc dog!” the kelpie yells, clearly not expecting to be hurt.

“That’s not the insult you think it is.” My lips pull back from my tusks in a feral grin as the bloodlust rises inside me. “I have fought beside the cu sith. The canine fae are noble warriors, which is more than I can say for you, water horse, with your unwarranted attack.”

“Unwarranted?” Its hoof flashes out, striking my thigh in a fire of agony.

Long years of warrior training allow me to ignore the pain. Instead, it only makes me angrier. I chop down, opening a deep cut across his withers.

“None of this is unwarranted,” he says. “Why should orcs get all the sky gifts while the Moon Goddess gives us nothing?”

“How do you even know about—”

A raucous caw from overhead answers my question. Soul stealers. Just as orcs have banded together with like-minded allies, the sluagh, ogres, and kelpies have also formed some kind of pact.

I slice at the kelpie to keep it distracted so I can look up. Fuck. The sky overhead is full of the black birds. It’s at least two flocks.

And the soul stealers want my bride, who burns brightly with energy and joy and life.

“Watch out for deathsleep!” I yell. The vile herb is a coward’s attack, since it knocks out a fae or a human for a hundred-years.

“I don’t know what that is!” Naomi yells back from just within the trees.

“Avoid any gourds falling from the sky.” I grind my teeth and counter another attack, unable to take more time to explain.

“Stupid orc,” the kelpie fighting Zephyr says. “They won’t use deathsleep on us. We’re allies.”

I hope it’s true, but I’ve also heard the sluagh have dosed their “allies” before. There’s little honor among villains. I might carry a precious vial of the antidote on me, but it’s only enough for one person, and it’s not the kind that works on humans.

Goddess, if the soul stealers knock my moon bound unconscious, they can attack her at will. I cannot allow it!

A roar tears from me as I leap forward, sword swinging upward in a ferocious two-handed blow. The impact jars my arms as the blade slices into the hell horse’s neck. Blood flows, but not enough. My shoulders burn with strain, yet I refuse to let up and continue to apply pressure, throwing my entire body behind the effort.

The kelpie jerks backward, and I dance forward, keeping up my assault. Another hoof strikes my thigh in a sharp burst of pain. I pant through it, straining forward. I must finish him so I can get to my bride.

Green blood pours freely now, and I yank my sword free to make it flow even faster.

The kelpie staggers to the side, then his front legs give out, dropping him to his knees.

Zephyr gives a whinny of victory as well.

Triumph fills me as I spin.

Only to find several sluagh swarming Naomi!