Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

W ings beating swiftly, Prince Aeralis glanced back over his shoulder at his men. They were far behind, but he’d given them their last rest period. It had been a long flight, traveling from the continent where the glorious City of Spice rose into the sky like a beacon. Thankful for the island that dotted the ocean below him, he had given the Vralgari time to rest and feed on the inhabitants with magic.

Fueled with enough magic to make the rest of the voyage, he looked forward to his victory. He’d always been the strongest Vralgari flier in his father’s military. It made his father proud but made the council of the Red Fae Court bitter that the Vralgari King’s bastard son was stronger and faster than their heirs.

Being surrounded by his enemies had only made Aeralis stronger as a youth. He’d taken Vesmona as his prize when his father invaded her planet. Holding her tight against his chest as he flew, he could feel her heartbeat. It was as slow as molasses.

Demons lived for centuries by slowing their body processes, similar to the Vralgari, who hibernated. Their species had many similarities, though the Fae despised them. The Vralgari had destroyed their world, feasting on their demon magic. Their enslavement had been brutal. Aeralis was in his youth, still a teen when he witnessed the atrocities. The Vralgari King had taken him to witness the slaughter of the demon royalty.

He’d found Vesmona escaping with the demons through a tunnel system. They’d fought valiantly to protect her. But Prince Aeralis was already very strong by that age, killing many with the ruthlessness his father’s beatings had taught him. Vesmona didn’t look like any demon he’d ever seen. She was a beautiful teenage girl. Her purple eyes blinked with intelligence and innocence. She crouched in a corner, looking up at him as he neared. He took off his crown, bending down to her level.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said.

And then she shape-shifted. It was so sudden that he couldn’t move from shock. Standing on tall, muscular legs, she kicked him in the chest, knocking him backward. Her bony arms were covered in jet-black fur. Her hands were blessed with curved claws that sliced through his armor and into his abdomen like razors.

Moving fast, he swept his foot under her, knocking her back. But she didn’t hit the sodden ground—she arched her back and somersaulted in the air. Landing on all fours, she howled. Then she turned and ran.

It took a year to find her, but he did. When Prince Aeralis showed his father he could control the other demons by taking Vesmona—their princess—hostage, he allowed Aeralis to have her. His father didn’t realize he was giving Aeralis considerable power that day. For the demons bowed to Vesmona, and she bowed to him. Not to the Vralgari King.

“The water is magnificent, my Prince,” said Vesmona, coming out of her sleepy state. She stretched, resting comfortably against him.

Demons couldn’t fly. But on foot, their magic pulsed through their veins, allowing them to reach record speeds. On the ground, they were fast enough to keep pace with the Vralgari flying overhead. They were agile, capable of jumping great distances and landing gracefully. And they could stalk as no other creature could, coming up on you like silent assassins.

Vesmona’s purple eyes scanned over his shoulder, seeing the Vralgari soldiers flying. She laughed, watching his army beat their wings frantically to catch up to them.

“There, that’s the Sea of Cadence,” said Prince Aeralis. Catching a wind current, he stopped beating his wings, gliding over the sea. The angry waves battered the shores like a madman pounding on drums.

“Fascinating! No wonder people pay a fortune to the Mermaiden to cross it.”

His eyes scanned the sea, gliding on the current for what seemed far too long. He was salivating. Though he’d never seen Warlord Jaxxon Hammer in the flesh, he imagined how Jaxxon would look when he saw Prince Aeralis land. He couldn’t wait to see finally the face of the man who’d always stayed out of reach.

Prince Aeralis snarled, “Something is wrong!” Seeing only a handful of demons waiting for him by the cliffs, he clutched Vesmona tightly and dove. After he saw the cliff face destroyed and one catapult bobbing along the sea, he screeched, flying in a circular pattern.

Dead demons floated in the water, while what remained of the others were burned into ash on the ground.

“Where is Warlord Jaxxon Hammer?” he yelled as his feet hit the ground. Releasing Vesmona, he stalked across the sand to the horde. With each step he took forward, they took two back. Their eyes darted to Vesmona, who howled.

“We were no match for his dragons and their magic!” said one demon. The horde fell to their knees. “Forgive us, Prince Aeralis. We failed you.”

Vesmona slapped the demons, yelling at them in her demon tongue.

“Nooo! This cannot be. We had him trapped at sea!” Prince Aeralis flew into the sky, his bloodred markings glowing as his crown blazed hot. His eyes scanned the shore into the tree line.

“Where are they? They couldn’t have gone far? ”

“Our best demon tracker is following Jaxxon’s trail.”

“Following his trail? Jaxxon knows we’re after him. He’ll ride his dragon into the neverlands!” Prince Aeralis hovered over the demons. His anger fueled him as he yelled.

“He can’t go far, my Prince. One dragon was hurt. A tiny one. Jaxxon left on foot.”

This got Prince Aeralis excited as he hit the ground with a thud. Sand flew in the air as he grabbed the demon by his snout.

“My Prince, we didn’t lose everything. We have Seafangs and his crew,” another demon shouted, shaking.

The demons took him a mile up the shoreline, where demons surrounded Seafangs and his crew.

“Prince Aeralis, thank god you’re here. I told the demons we had a bargain. Please tell them to let me and my men go,” Seafangs shouted, trying to rise. But a demon kicked him back down to the ground.

“Let him up,” barked Prince Aeralis.

Seafangs shook the sand off, looking at his men and then at Prince Aeralis. He bowed low and then stood tall.

“I kept my part of the bargain. I brought Jaxxon to the cliffs.” He pointed at the demon horde. “But they failed to capture him!”

The demons howled, but Vesmona told them to keep quiet.

“I did my part. Where’s my brother?” Seafangs looked around.

Sighing loudly, Prince Aeralis moved beside Vesmona, taking her hand as they faced Seafangs. He put on a show, doting over her, ensuring she was okay from their long journey. Then he looked back at Seafangs, who was waiting for a response.

“The other morning, she complained about her food. So , I had some delicious fish prepared for her!”

Seafangs’s body swelled—stripes spread across his flesh as he shape-shifted on land. Serrated teeth fell into place as a guttural growl of pain and sorrow rumbled in his throat. Seafangs shouted, “You killed my brother!”

He moved with surprising speed for a big man, pulling a boomerang made of shark teeth from his side and throwing it at Vesmona.

Prince Aeralis blocked it with his wings, but not before Seafangs barreled into one of the demons holding his men down. One of the mer got loose, running toward the water as Seafangs called out to him.

“Honor my brother’s memory! Tell the Mermaiden what happened here. And tell her I’m sorry for betraying her and the shadow masters.”

The mer jumped into the water, shape-shifting into a tiger shark. As they saw his fin go beneath the surface, they knew there was no way they could capture him beneath the waves. Even Prince Aeralis knew better than to enter the Sea of Cadence uninvited.

Seafangs turned, glaring at Prince Aeralis. It was his undoing.

“Stop!” Prince Aeralis’s bloodred eyes swirled, thralling Seafangs before the man could lunge.

Laughing and smacking his thigh, Prince Aeralis walked closer, waving his hands before Seafangs’s glossy black eyes. “Look what I caught on my hook?”

Seafangs’s crew looked left to right, yelling at him to fight.

“Hmm, fight, you say?” Prince Aeralis sneered at the mer, who the demons held down on the ground. “Seafangs’s mind is mine.”

With the captain’s mind tethered to his, Prince Aeralis forced the tiger shark to tell him everything he knew about Jaxxon and the women. Seafangs said he hid beneath the water when Jaxxon took over the ship. From his vantage point, he saw the fight unfold.

“The women are covered in Crelentian tattoos.”

Prince Aeralis shook with fury. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” said Seafangs. “The tattoos glowed with light and resembled dragon scales.”

Prince Aeralis shook his head. “How...how is this possible?”

“One woman wears a magical amulet that glows with power. The entire ship glowed as a giant map appeared. It’s all I could see because Jaxxon called all the dragons around the map, blocking my view,” said Seafangs.

His voice was slurred as he continued, “But I’m certain Warlord Jaxxon Hammer is looking for something. And the amulet is showing him the way.”

“Do all the females possess an amulet?”

Seafangs shook his head, saying the one named Maya didn’t get along with the others. Only Tiara, who Jaxxon couldn’t keep his eyes off, wore an amulet.

“Hmm, this Maya sounds interesting.” A plan began to take shape in his mind. He would use this to his advantage.

He turned to the Vralgari and the horde. “Who wants a salty snack?”

Several Vralgari soldiers stepped forward, placing their hands on Seafangs. He screamed as they fed on his magic, drawing every thread of power from his body, leaving only the bones of a tiger shark behind. They snatched another mer forward while leaving the other mer to the hungry jaws of the demon horde.

While his men and demons feasted, Prince Aeralis turned to Vesmona and his lieutenants.

“Jaxxon must be seeking something important to bring the women and the amulet into the open! Whatever he seeks, it can’t be good. We must find him!” Prince Aeralis rubbed his chin, his eyes wild with the destruction Jaxxon could cause if he grew more powerful. He would do whatever it took to capture the warlord.

The demons confirmed the women had light magic, detailing the dangerous fight between them and Warlords Jaxxon and Zade and their dragons. And then, they described the lightning the women created. Prince Aeralis clenched his fists.

“I will kill these Crelentian females on the spot! Jaxxon’s race must not breed!” he shrieked, hoping the continent heard him. It was more than a warning. It was a promise. He felt it in his divine blood that fate would deliver these women to him.

His wings shook as fear hit him at the thought of the Crelentians rising again. The Vralgari King had based their entire rise to godhood in this galaxy on one premise. Kill any who can oppose us.

It was the reason they killed the Crelentians first. Elementals had maintained the power balance in the galaxy, along with the demigods and Lunar God shifters. The Crelentians had the most powerful elemental magic known. But they weren’t noble by any stretch of the imagination. They were notorious shadow raiders and fearless fighters. No one fucked with them in this galaxy. So, the Vralgari attacked them without warning. The element of surprise carried the day.

But now, Warlord Jaxxon knows I’m coming for him. It will only make the hunt for him more exhilarating!

Aeralis had been bored for so long on Crelentia babysitting the Vralgari’s hibernating army he savored the idea of battle. The stakes were high. If his father learned he’d left his duty station with only a skeleton crew to watch over the hibernation pods, he’d have Prince Aeralis charged with treason. The Vralgari King himself will kill me for such disobedience!

“My father cannot learn of this!” He paced. He knew leaving the slumbering Red Fae army with little protection was a risk.

“My Prince, you could return to the City of Spice to keep our army safe. We’ll find Jaxxon and his dragons,” said one of his lieutenants. “And his women!”

“No! I’ll capture Jaxxon.” He smiled, looking around. “Besides, who would dare attack the House of Vralgari!”

His men and demons cheered. But Prince Aeralis was cautious in battle, which made him damn good at it.

“The Vralgari King defeated the Crelentians because he had the element of surprise. He poisoned their females and their dragons. Knowledge of the deaths of their women made the Crelentian males weak of heart. Heartbreak killed them before we ever fed on them.”

Everyone murmured, nodding their heads.

“Crelentians are dangerous and tough to kill, given their healing ability. And don’t get caught in the jaws of those vrexing dragons.” He pointed at the bones and ashes of their fallen demons strewn across the shore where the battle with Jaxxon had unfolded two days ago.

Wrinkling his nose, Prince Aeralis sneered, “We will take Jaxxon out for good! We will feast on his dragons slowly.” He cackled.

“Then we’ll return to the beautiful City of Spice, where Jaxxon’s precious mother once ruled as the Light Queen! We snuffed out her light!” He laughed. “We wreaked havoc on little Jaxx’s life.”

He looked at his soldiers, rising in the air. “And I’ll do it again when I take Jaxxon’s dragon from him and everything else he loves. Including this woman, Tiara!”