Hawk's Nest (Tremble Island) (5 page)

Hawk left him to his new family, and decided to tell Con about his encounter with Flora. They needed to agree on a mate, and since he knew Con was not immune to her charms, he needed to tell him before first light when he had told her to present herself. He found Con atop the Hall sitting in the highest circle room of the tower. Con was snoozing, but he refused to allow the truth to go untold any longer. “I need to talk to you about Flora.

“Today, as I walked to the river, I saw her going into the water, by the time she emerged and came toward me, reason was gone. I took her, my friend, I took her tenderly, but she is virgin no longer. In the taking, I have decided to make her our mate if that is agreeable with you.” He would have smiled if not for the fierce look Con was shooting his way. “She came from the water with nipples puckered and glowing skin, Con, I swear I had no intentions of bedding her until she walked directly to me. You know I am not guided by my prick, but by the time she stood before me as naked and beautiful as anything I have clapped eyes on before, I was done. I could no more walk away from her offering than I would willing stop breathing.”

Con was faced with a quandary, at first he was angry that Hawk had paved the path before he had, yet dealing with a virginal young woman, no matter how eager she might be, was terrifying. His sex organ was quite large, and although she was not a small woman, she would be dwarfed by him when the time came for them to share lovemaking. Hawk sat with his back propped against the wall awaiting his verdict. What could he tell the man?
I resent
it,
and at the same time I am happy that you took her virginity, because I wanted her for my own
? He took his time to sort his feelings out before nodding his head and saying the truth. He loved Hawk as a brother, they had grown up in the same place, side by side. There were no blood ties, nothing that simple tied them together. They had fought alongside each other, defended each other, and now would share a mate between them, just as the Lords of Tremble Castle did with their mate, Rane. By the Lords Tremble, he would be the one to inherit Hawk’s Nest should any harm befall his best friend. Any of Hawk’s or his get would inherit the title of Lord. To be placed in a position of power, they would have to prove worthy to be named such.

“Truthfully? I resent the knowledge that you got to her before I did, but since you have, I want to thank you for clearing the path for me to enjoy. Her virginity doesn’t matter to me, I would rather not have to worry about that when I sink my cock into her sweet body. The question is, does she understand that to take on one of us, means she takes both? I want her to willingly take us both rather than suffer to have one, she must tolerate the other.”

Their discussion was cut short by screams coming from the North end of the village. In the spot the men were, high above the other buildings, they could see every corner of the village and part of the surrounding countryside. They could see fleeing villagers screaming and running to shelter in the safety of the Hall as a small army of skeletal figures advanced toward the village.

There was mass confusion in the village commons where the newcomers had parked their wagons and were camping until homes could be built or older homes refurbished to house the families. People were running willy nilly and it seemed to the two men watching from above that they collectively decided to seek shelter within the stone walls of the Hall. The Lord and Con took to feathers and launched themselves from their window perch into the chaos below.

The clacking noise from the skeletal soldiers making their way toward the Hall was loud, and the bleached bones showed a white glow as they advanced. Twenty-five Amazons and five male soldiers stood behind the Lord and his second. What was puzzling was the fact that no aggression was shown by the walking piles of bones. The birds of prey assumed their human forms, and advanced to the lead animated creatures. Hawk grabbed the arm bone from the nearest being, and it fell into his grasp easily. The thing continued to walk in a straight line toward the large building that was now cluttered wall to wall with people. Drago landed at the rear of the advancing army and began slapping them down to the ground with his huge wings. Hawk used the bone in his hand and began swinging it at the heads and knees of the enemy force, but all they did was crumble where they had stood. The Amazons and Soldiers joined in the fun, laughing and clubbing skeletons until all of the bones were lying in small heaps littering the area. Con directed the bones be heaped into a pile in the side garden next to the Hall. The citizens must be shown what befell a frightening army such as this. The Witches were summoned, and once they convened and burned the bones, the protectors left to find their beds.

Fern held onto her arm to stay her from going out into the screaming throng of people. She wanted to help, but Fern told her to stay. “We will be needed shortly, the Wizard Zurcho has sent his mindless drones to terrify, the army of death’s bones rattles and shakes, but cannot harm much. The next wave will be the test of our Lord Hawk and the defenders of this Hall. Now, we have things to discuss.” They sat close to the fire because of the late springtime chilly night. “You have been intimate with Lord Hawk, did he tell you that you will be shared as a mate between him and Con? It is true you know. I have seen it in the fire’s blue light. You will come to love them more with each day. I have been aware of the attractions you have been feeling for both men for some time now and you should know they are as attracted as you. You must be honest in your passions with them, I know your secrets, my companion, hiding your nature will only eat away the affections they would willingly grant should you only ask.”

Flora felt the fire under her skin, she should have known Fern knew of her most damning secrets. The truth was that she was actually excited by the prospect of being filled completely by the two handsome men. That pain from losing her virginity seemed to make her body crave more. The pleasure and sting that she had avoided until this morning was lying in wait deep inside of her middle.
Would it hurt to be filled by both men’s pricks
? The thought made her shiver. Remembering when Hawk slipped his finger in her rear entrance, she knew exactly where one of them would berth their cock. The other would be kissing the entrance to her womb. Fern’s joyful laughter woke her from the daydream and she flushed even more.

“Yeah, I believe I know what will happen. How, is the question, but I am certain they will show me. Yet Lord Hawk could still change his mind and find a mate more beautiful than I. Until he speaks of the future, I will go about the business of being me.” She needed to get her mind away from the activities of today. “So tell me please, what is our plan of action? Zurcho will not be easy to defeat if he has animated the skeleton army that is now clacking at our door. They might not be difficult to defeat, but what will he attack with next?”

They speculated long into the night, until the noise of a largely one sided battle outside the door was quieted. The knock on the wooden post at the doorway into the hovel had been expected. They were needed to dispose of the pile of bones. In the side yard of the Hall, they found the large pile of bones waiting for them and the other four Witches that met them there. Each witch stood in a lose circle around the pile, then as one, they laid their hands on the bones in front of them. No one would be able to tell which one had started the now smoldering bones on fire. To find one, someone would have to gather all six before being assured that the Echo Witch was found. There was no doubt that Zurcho was somehow spying on the happenings in the village. He was an evil bastard with no care of conventional war.

The Witch’s chanting was an eerie sound in the darkness. Yet none of them stopped chanting until the bones were ash. Fern leaned heavily on Flora’s arm as they made their way back to their cozy nest. At morning light, they would venture to the lake and keep their energy at a peak of preparedness. Burning bones was hard to do. Channeling to make the bones burn took a great deal of energy, bones rarely burned to ash without the crackling energy of a powerful Echo Witch. Flora was drained of energy, but she’d had to make a show of strength in public. She barely lowered Fern onto her resting pallet, before falling onto her own and drifting to sleep. She dreamt of Hawk and the gallant Con. Their wide naked chests were pressing her between them, and their hands were exploring her curves, as she writhed in their embrace. Sleep claimed her, hands cupping her own breasts, as if offering them to her dream lovers.

*****

First light came and went with Hawk watching the doors of the Hall for Flora to appear. He spoke with Drago at length, and was not surprised the dragon man offered to raise the babies at Dragon’s Eyre. The problem this presented would be taking the newborn from its mother’s breast and finding another to wet nurse the child. Taking two babies into his Hall would present problems, but the young mother should not be punished for that which was not her fault. There was the matter of the cat natured child to also take into account.

To Hawk’s astonishment, the small girl child they had found with the others came directly up to Drago and demanded to take the little dragon. That she wished to protect the babe was not the surprise, the way she demanded what she wished for was. She pointed at the babe in Drago’s shirt and said “Winnie,” and then pointed to herself and said, “Animal.” She held her hands out as if to take the child from inside his shirt, but he shook his head at her, and she frowned. He put his arm around the stick thin child and hauled her up and onto his knee, holding her there when she squirmed.

“You will come to my house and help me watch over Winnie, do you understand?” The child just stared at him with her stubborn little mouth set in a pout. Her hand went to the back of the baby’s head and she stroked it as if trying to soothe the little one or reassure herself that her charge was alive and well.

“You will not be named Animal, from this day forward your name will be Mia, you will be my child, and no one will ever harm you again. I hope you understand what I am telling you, you are a very brave girl, and you will be welcomed at Dragon’s Eyre.” The child did not try to leave her perch on the giant man’s leg, she kept her hand on the baby and rested her head on the wide shoulder beneath her head. Drago met Hawk’s eyes and rolled his own when he saw the mirth his friend was trying to hide. “Go ahead, be an ass, but you and I know the tormentors of this child will pay, they will pay dearly for what they have done to these small ones. I will take the lot of them with me when I leave tomorrow if you will loan me a wagon and an escort for them to travel with.”

Hawk chose to smile at Drago rather than frown in case the little girl should become afraid of him. Inside he was seething. The little voice calling herself Animal made his blood boil. The only animals from that homestead currently resided in his dungeon and since it was now time for their trials, he offered Drago a seat to watch the prisoners receive the well deserved justice that had been missing for too long.

He stood on the top step as the prisoners were brought forward in bindings on their ankles and wrists. Con stood on the next to the last step, waiting to mete out what punishments he would be ordered to carry out. The women were brought forward first. There was the older female Con had told him about. Her arrogance made her ignorant as she sneered and remained unrepentant. Hawk asked her only one question, “Why?” Her answer was to call him a filthy animal.

“I refuse to be tried by the likes of you. It is creatures like yourself that should be killed, not the few humans in this world.” He nodded to the Amazon holding the spiteful woman’s leash, and she was jerked to stand off to the side while the next woman was brought to kneel before the Lord. He asked the same question. She told him exactly why, she was not shy about it either. She too was dragged to the side. The next female was smaller than the rest and much thinner. She had the vacant look of the mentally deficient ones and Hawk knew he could not rightfully sentence her to death in the state of mind she was in right now. This one would have to wait until she displayed sanity, or was proven to be one of the daywalkers that existed in their own world. He nodded to the other side of the aisle before beckoning the next Amazons forward with their charges.

The large brutish man was the first of the males to be tried. Con was balancing on the balls of his feet, waiting for Hawk to pronounce the death sentence the man had earned. He was annoyed when Drago joined him in the wait. This prisoner was the creator of his small clan. He and the older female had no children of their own and took children from their homes to create a family of sorts for themselves.

“I had thought to get these trials over with and move on with our lives; however, after what new evidence I have found, not only did you imprison and torture both physically and mentally four dual natured children. It appears you have kidnapped at least one or more young ones from their homes, and punished them for being dual natured and not the bargain humans that you thought to obtain. There is no excuse for the horror you have visited on others. So, for your crimes, I sentence you to death. My inclination is to turn you into a starving mindless animal, chained to a shed with only the barest cover to hide your shivering bones; however, we are a civilized people and will not waste time with you or creatures of your ilk.” Hawk signaled to the soldiers, and they dragged him to the side where the two women waited for their punishments to begin.

Fern, with the aid of Flora, came to Lord Hawk's side. He gave Flora a long searching look, before turning back to the matter at hand.

Drago felt the breath leave his lungs as he saw the tall young man being led to stand for judgement. He left the spot next to Con and reached for the object of his focus. He grabbed the male’s leash from the Amazon holding it and dragged him forward to stand in front of Hawk. “He is one of mine, I beg you to allow me to administer justice for abandoning his offspring and the other crimes attributed to him. I swear he will meet the demons before I am finished.”

Hawk knew the male would feel his death, every prolonged second of it. Drago was of a mind to make an example of the prisoner, and Hawk nodded his head. He could see the man was terrified when Drago stared at him with the red glowing eyes of his dragon. This man was only a carrier of the Dragon gene, but the young woman inside the Hall had told her tale and no one would speak for the man held in the dragon’s grip.

The last man was a human. He was the only true human of the males, yet his arrogance was beyond belief. “You have no grounds to hold me, or judge me. You are animals, freaks of nature. Just as those creatures you have declared are children are freaks. I demand you release me and allow my safe passage to another shore away from the beasts that roam this cursed place. Women are helpmates for men, not for playing soldiers.” Hawk began laughing and his humor incensed the man before him. “You can laugh, but I would teach your soldiers.”

He’d made the mistake of sneering at the Amazon holding his leash. Her temper got the best of her and he was in the dirt at her feet within seconds. The female was visibly attempting to control her inclination to finish the man’s life by pulling his tongue out of his head. The short growl from Quinlan stopped her from completing her plan. She stood and jerked the man’s leash until he regained his feet. Hawk made his decision. He knew that his choice of defenders for the Hall would be questioned at some time. What better time than now to showcase the women’s talents and willingness to fight than today?

“The prisoners will be taken to the training yard and executed there. The steps of this Hall are not to be remembered as a place of death, rather they will be the place of justice given to those who seek it. Those of you witnessing the trials may plead for the mercy for these prisoners now if any one wishes to have mercy shown upon them.” No one stepped forward. “We will meet in one hour. Should the citizens of Hawk’s Nest wish to witness the proceedings, they are welcome.”

Fern tugged at his sleeve when he would have gone to speak with Drago and Con. “I want the girl there,” she said, pointing to the one that he had previously thought mentally deficient. “Her mind is hiding from the horrors she has experienced, she is not dangerous, and I will soon have a use for her, considering your plans for my companion.”

He had never questioned her decisions before and was inclined to allowing her request, because he had no idea what he would do with a pretty but mindless creature walking around the place. She would run into any manner of problems in her current situation. At least he knew Fern would not harm her or allow her to be harmed for any reason. “You may take her with my blessings. I urge you to be careful until you are certain she will be a fit companion. I had thought you would take on a much younger girl to help you when you need someone, but if she is what you wish for, she is yours.”

Flora was already removing the ropes and leather collar from the girl before he had given the girl over to Fern. For some reason this did not set well within his mind. It was one thing for the Witches to know he would give in, but to begin without his verbal agreement, well that was too much. He liked to think he was the ruler here, not the old woman and her beautiful companion. He stomped over to Flora and pulled her wrist into his hand. “I did not say she could be allowed to roam free, yet you would free her without my say. You are unruly and have been given too much freedom. Fern will take her and you will come with me.”

He pulled her along through the Hall and out of the back doorway. He kept his stride at a fast pace, deliberately, so she was forced to trot behind him or fall. He hated the waste of time that it would take for the prisoners to be dealt with, but knew he must be there showing his confidence and support of his soldiers and Amazon force. This was the key to gaining the populaces trust. He was certain of it. There would be time to deal with his unruly soon-to-be mate afterwards.