Chapter 36

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

J axxon stretched as he sat up. He’d had a rough night. Between the nightmares and the tumultuous sea, it was hours before he dozed off. At one point, Tiara had snuck over, bringing her bedroll next to his, claiming she couldn’t sleep either.

“You two better not get too cozy next to me!” whispered Zade, sending Tiara scurrying back to where the rest of the women were huddled together sleeping. Jaxxon wanted to kick Zade in the skull, as Zade turned over laughing, smart enough to scoot out of striking distance.

“You’re a real bastard when you don’t sleep!” Zade chuckled. Within minutes, he was snoring.

“I second that.” Hassan laughed, shaking his head before returning to stand guard at the windows and doorway leading to where they slept. He and two other men had rotated watches, ensuring no one snuck up on them while they slept.

Jaxxon grumbled he had no plans to do anything to Tiara with ears everywhere, though a little kissing could have been done quietly. Depending on where I kissed! With the images in his head and a trip to the bathroom, he relaxed .

He finally got the sleep he didn’t realize he needed so badly. Feeling refreshed and happy that things were going according to plan, he dressed. Zade was already up, pulling his wavy hair back into a man bun.

The two men talked before heading up to tell Seafangs to dock at the barrier island, joking they were sure Seafangs would charge them to dock.

After leaving their cabin, they entered the deck, stopping in their tracks. Two towering cliffs jutted from the sea, with the shore not too far away on the horizon. In the pre-dawn hours, the bone-white cliffs looked like a gallows risen from hell.

“What the fuck?” Jaxxon and Zade rushed to the captain’s deck. Seafangs startled when they came up the stairs, rising from his captain’s chair.

“Good morning—” Seafangs began.

“Where in hell are we?” said Jaxxon. “We’re off course.”

“We’re taking a shortcut. I want to get you bastards off my ship as soon as possible.” Seafangs took a step back. The four helmsmen frantically used their elemental magic, creating water waves to speed up the boat.

Looking over Seafangs’s shoulder, Jaxxon could see the radar. The barrier island where he intended to let his dragons rest was far away on the left, and they were no longer on the path to the destination they had told Seafangs.

“Lying bastard! I’m a spaceship captain. I can read your goddamn radar.” Jaxxon’s shadows rose.

“How dare the Mermaiden try to double-cross me!” Jaxxon yelled, aware that two mer had just come up the stairs behind him and Zade.

“The Mermaiden’s reign is nearly over. She just doesn’t know it yet!” said Seafangs, disgust in his voice. “Her people suffer under her care. She refuses to make a deal with Prince Aeralis, and he hunts us for sport. He is the true crown. And we must all bend a knee. Or trust me, he’ll find a way to break you!” Seafangs glared.

“I bend for no one!” Jaxxon’s tattoos shimmered, his dragon scales locking into place like armor as inky black and liquid silver shadows flung from his hands, solidifying into a powerful force, knocking Seafangs back.

Seafangs’s body twisted, his scales expanding into thick skin before his entire form swelled. Muscles stretched and rippled as his body contorted and grew larger, his face flattening into a broad snout and teeth lengthening into rows of serrated blades.

His arms extended into powerful pectoral fins with sharp pincers ready to shred as his entire body darkened into the shadowy gray blue of a tiger shark. Seafangs’s transformation was terrifying in its speed and fluidity—a master of shape-shifting magic.

In one coordinated movement, the four helmsmen used their water magic to blast a canon of water, lifting Jaxxon and Zade and thrusting them over the railing onto the deck below.

Jaxxon rolled to his feet, the rumble of the crashing waves against the cliffs getting louder. The cliff edges were jagged, towering high like sentinels of death. Thick, twisted vegetation clung to the rocky surfaces. Zade got on his feet fast, standing beside Jaxxon as they looked toward the shore. Jaxxon tapped into Kylo’s vision.

“ Kylo, something’s not right! Do you see anything at the top of those cliffs? ” His eyes dilated, his pupils in shades of violet like his dragon’s. With Kylo’s sight, every rock and every shadow became vivid as every detail sharpened. His vision shifted, broadening to perceive the faintest movement, sweeping the cliffs from the bottom to the top.

And then they saw them. Rows of demons were hiding at the top, and more were hiding behind rocks on the shore. “ The cliffs are crawling with them! ” Jaxxon’s heart hammered as he counted the numbers, his gaze flicking to each cliff, calculating their chances of survival.

Unless they stopped the ship, they would go right under the two towering cliffs where the ambush awaited.

There was no room for fear as Jaxxon turned to Zade, whose eyes were also dilated, taped into Galan’s vision, as his shadows unfurled.

“Rath’kalesk!” Jaxxon and Zade bellowed the Crelentian war cry, a thunderous roar with jagged snarls and tongue clicks, piercing like a bursting celestial star. Shadows rippled along the legendary sound that could only be made by Crelentians and their dragons.

“Rath’kalesk! Rath’kalesk! Rath’kalesk!”

The war cry reverberated with celestial power, weaving strands of magic from Crelentia’s very core and the spirits of their ancestors. It surged through the veins of riders and dragons alike, blending light and shadows, infusing them with a primal strength that transcended flesh, bone, and scale—binding them to the legacy of every warrior and Celestial dragon that came before. Their roars melded into one, a symphony of defiance that made the air hum with raw, unyielding energy.

The war cry echoed around the ship, warning the others of the betrayal. Dragons roared, coming out of the clouds behind them.

Turning, Jaxxon saw the mer trying to block his way back to the captain’s deck.

Galan descended like a thunderstorm, his wings slicing through the air with a force that shook the ship. His muscles bunched along his broad shoulders and legs, powerful enough to crush boulders. Extending his talons, they flashed like onyx blades. He grabbed a mer in his jaws as he flew over the deck. Using his barbed axe tail, each ridge and spike designed for tearing through flesh, he knocked another mer off the boat.

Zade’s long legs sprinted, jumping over the railing in time to land on his dragon’s tail. His balance was precise as he almost glided along Galan’s scales. He moved with the grace of a trapeze artist, launching himself up the dragon’s back, barely holding on as Galan swooped low. Galan crushed the thrashing mer in his teeth, swallowing half his body and spitting the rest into the water. And then Galan lifted into the air with Zade—a Celestial dragon rider who loved to fight.

Hassan and his men ran onto the deck, the women behind him. Jaxxon was still trying to break through the wall of water the mer were using to hold him back.

“Hassan, we can’t let this boat reach the cliffs!” Jaxxon shouted, pointing to the cliffs where the horde was no longer hiding. The women screamed, looking at more demon hordes running toward an inlet on the shore that led to the cliffs.

Two more dragons with their riders followed Zade toward the cliffs. They would take the fight to them to give Jaxxon and his group time to get control over the ship.

Mer surrounded Jaxxon’s group as the fighting continued. Throwing up a shield of shadows, Jaxxon and Hassan used it like a battering ram to run up the steps. Reaching the captain’s deck, Jaxxon and Hassan battled Seafangs and his helmsmen.

Two of the mer ran at Jaxxon, shape-shifting into tiger sharks before his eyes. Their transformation was horrifying—bodies twisting and warping, skin splitting to reveal their rough gray hides, and jaws snapping opened with rows of serrated teeth.

With blinding speed, they grabbed him, pulling him over the railing into the water. Screaming, Jaxxon’s mouth filled with water when the jaws of one of the tiger shark mer clamped down on his shoulder, wrenching back and forth to tear him apart. Blood gushed from his shoulder, filling the water, as he heard the distant shouts of Tiara and the women screaming his name.

Beating at the shark’s head, it wouldn’t let go. Jaxxon looked into the shark’s eyes, glossy black pits filled with hunger. He saw the second tiger shark circling, coming in for a bite.

Not today, motherfuckers! Jaxxon’s elemental tattoos spiraled along his palms, forming his massive battle hammer. Celestial symbols circulated the golden battle hammer as liquid silver and inky black shadows rippled with energy along its sharp dual blades.

Using his free hand, Jaxxon’s battle hammer sliced through the second tiger shark mer. Wrestling to get his shoulder free from the first tiger shark mer, blood pooled around Jaxxon as pain shot through him.

Eyes dilating as he tapped into his dragon’s strength, he felt Kylo getting close. He thrust both his hands forward in excruciating pain, feeling his shoulder’s tendons rip. Jaxxon reached up as Kylo dove into the water, grabbing him in his talons. Lifting out of the water, Jaxxon’s shadows ripped the head off the tiger shark mer holding him. You shouldn’t have fucked with a warlord!

Using their bond, Kylo’s dragon magic healed Jaxxon’s shoulder as he carried him high into the sky. His shoulder knitted together as he cursed, blood spilling into the air before his wound was sealed shut.

Hearing the fight below through Kylo’s enhanced hearing, Jaxxon yelled, “Take me back!” Kylo dipped immediately into a freefall, wings tight against his sides. Air screamed past them as they plummeted, each muscle in the dragon’s body taut with power.

Kylo spiraled toward the ship as Jaxxon hung from his talons, leaning forward as if he and Kylo were one. Feeling the talons release, Jaxxon landed on the captain’s deck, but not before Kylo’s massive tail cleaved through the last helmsman, steering the ship toward the cliffs.

Jaxxon could see the exact moment Seafangs spotted the lifeless form of his beloved comrades, his entire body rigid. A snarl of anguish tore from his mouth as the pincers on his fins dug deep grooves into the ship’s railing.

Jaxxon smirked as he caught the wild flicker of fury in Seafangs’s eyes, the mer captain’s chest heaving with suppressed rage as his gaze swept over more bodies of his fallen comrades at the hands of the shadow masters and their dragons.

Hassan ran from the left, punching Seafangs and staggering him back. They became locked in a brutal battle. Judging from their vicious punching, the two men were equally matched.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air as Jaxxon turned. One of the mer had grabbed a woman overboard with his tentacled arms, pulling her under before anyone could react. The distraction was well-timed as Seafangs jumped over the railing into the water.

“No!” Maya yelled, jumping into the water to rescue her friend. Everyone was screaming as the scene became frantic. Tentacles thrashed, arms flailed, and light magic flared.

“No one touches a Crelentian female and lives to tell about it!” Hassan growled, menace lacing his words as his shadows rippled into the air. Hassan jumped in the water to rescue both women before they disappeared forever.

Two of the mer swam in fast, going for Hassan, trying to intercept him before he got to the women. But Jaxxon thrust his hands into the air, his shadows forming a harpoon. Steadying his hand, he tracked the mer swimming in the water. Then he threw the harpoon, stabbing one of them in the chest and then reeling him toward the ship’s motor. As Jaxxon withdrew his harpoon, shreds of tiger shark mer hung from the bloodied points.

Hassan’s shadows shot through the water like a sea snake, capturing the other mer as he tried to dive below the surface to get away. The mer didn’t stand a chance against Hassan’s strength, as his shadows ripped the mer in half.

Hassan and Maya worked together to rescue the woman who had gone overboard while everyone else helped safely lift them back aboard the ship.

“Drak!” Jaxxon swore in frustration. The ship doesn’t have a goddamn wheel!

Turning to the sound of a deep-throated grumble that shook the boat, Jaxxon stumbled back. “Double drak!” A colossal whale shark rose from the water with Seafangs shifted back in his usual form, sitting on the whale’s back. The bastard grinned before elemental magic rippled around his body, lifting the water into the air. The wave was strong as it hit the boat, rocketing them toward the cliffs.

But the wave wasn’t what worried Jaxxon. It was the catapults aimed at Zade and Galan as they neared the cliffs.

“Watch out!” Jaxxon screamed to Zade and Galan as they came in hard, ramming into the cliffside and taking down the catapult. But not before a second catapult launched a vast net.

The net, crafted from thick ropes interwoven with barbed steel that gleamed in the sunrise, whistled through the air as it soared. Galan banked right, barely evading the net. It crashed into the rocks below, shattering them.

Kylo’s throat lit up with violet colors as he roared, filling the cliff with powerful flames. As the demons caught fire, some turned to ash, while others tried unsuccessfully to jump into the water to douse their burning bodies. But others took their place at the top of the cliffs, launching another catapult to catch the other dragons flying in formation.

Galan soared for another run, swinging his tail like a battering ram, knocking out the second catapult.

With two catapults down on the cliff to the left, they still had two more to take out on the right. Tiara, Maya, and Lori joined hands. Their dragon scale tattoos riveted over their bodies, forming elaborate golden and pink light around them. The women combined their magic, creating a mesmerizing display of elemental light circulating with pulsing energy around them.

The girls turned their bodies to the side, one foot pointed toward the catapult, as they weaved their hands through the air in a delicate dance of balance and precision. Light wrapped around their hands, creating magnificent rotating glyphs that spiraled in the air. Suddenly, their eyes began glowing as they spoke in unison.

We are the light that binds.

We are the light that severs.

We are destiny’s chaos!

And then the sky lit on fire. It was unlike any fire ever seen before. Brilliant gold and pink lightning struck one of the catapults with an ear-splitting sound. As the smoke cleared, the girls cheered.

They had taken down the third catapult.

But nothing seemed to stop the onslaught of demons running along the shore to where the ship would likely hit within minutes if they couldn’t stop Seafangs.

It took every dragon and every man to create a tornado of shadows to pull the ship from the current, driving it away from the cliffs. Seafangs disappeared below the surface as the dragons flew overhead, ready to turn him into a shark barbecue .

“That was too close,” shouted Jaxxon as they moved beyond the reach of the cliffs, using their shadow magic to steer the boat further up the coast.

“Damn! We’re far from our intended destination,” said Jaxxon as he steered the ship toward the coastline, a safe distance from the horde. They wouldn’t have much time to dock and run safely. They knew the demon horde was still running up the coastline to capture them.

The dragons had very little rest, and their energy was depleted. Jaxxon prayed his dragons could hang on a little longer.

Everyone cheered. They were all battered and tired but thankful they hadn’t lost any man, woman, or dragon. They began helping the wounded as Jaxxon and others continued steering the ship.

“What are they doing?” shouted Tiara suddenly, her eyes wide as she pointed behind them. Everyone turned back toward the cliffs with renewed alarm.

The demon horde began howling.