Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children (29 page)

“Are there others with you?”
Emile asked instead of answering her question.

She quickly shook her head. “No.”

Emile took a sniff. “Aye, she is one of the shifters. She should pose no problem out of the water. Take her to the cellar with the rest.”

“No
problem?
I’ll
be happy to
show you
just
how big of a problem I can—”

A
high-pitched keening echoed from the hallway outside
and interrupted Alia’s tirade. Everyone in the room, including the Ellvinians at the table,
went silent.

Click. Click. Shuffle. Click. Click.

Someone or
something
Kane amended to himself, lumbered toward the open ballroom doors.

Shuffle. Click. Click.
Shuffle.

The
distressed
cry
reverberated
again, and
the hair on the back of Kane’s neck stood straight up.
What in the Highworld was it?
It reminded
him
of the sounds a dying animal might make.
Instinctively, he
pitched
to his feet and
stepped in front of Izzy. Despite the
ominous atmosphere, his gaze sought out the fighter that held his sword. He would
need that sword to get Izzy
and now Alia
to safety.

Click. Click.
Shuffle.

A shadow appeared at the entrance to the ballroom and then the thing itself.

“Oh, dear Highworld,” Izzy whispered.

The beast shuffled into the room hunched over and balanced on the knuckles of his hands. His muscled legs ended in claws that clicked on the tile when he moved, and a long appendage twisted sinuously in the air behind him. White hair stood up in tuffs around
its
skeletal features,
and
the skin
was
pulled tight over a face and ears that looked remarkably Elven.

The creature’s gaze locked on Emile and it stood to its full height, at least eight or nine feet tall,
and let out a loud bellow.

“Tolah!”

The fighter holding the sword of Iserlohn immediately
charged the
beast.

“No! Leave him!” Emile shouted, but it was too late.

The creature lifted an elongated arm and backhanded the soldier with a swing so
brutal, it lifted the Elf off
his
feet
and he
hit neck first onto the floor. The sword
flew
from his fingers
and skidded
across the marble floor of the ballroom.

The Elven creature
sniffed the air and then
snapped
his head toward Alia still in the grip of another Battlearm.

“Tolah! No!”

Faster than
Kane
had ever seen anything move, the beast skittered toward Alia, claws scratching the slick floor. Alia screamed and tried to fight her way free of the Ellvinian holding her, but he
pushed
her
out in front of him to shield himself.

Kane frantically searched for his sword, and spotted it
up against the windowed wall of the ballroom and sprinted toward it.

Alia let out a bloodcurdling
squeal.

Kane spun back around just as his hand clamped on the hilt of his weapon.

The Ellvinian that
had been
holding Alia was
lying
on the ground. At least he thought it was the same fighter. The head was missing.

The beast had Alia clutched in his long arms.
Kane watched in horror as the
beast’s
tail
sprouted two fangs at the end of it and darted toward her. In an attempt to evade the menacing
member, she arched her back
so far away from the creature that her long hair brushed the ground.
It was not enough. The tail struck
her
neck and latched on. A strange sucking noise issued from the tentacle and blood
began to drip
down Alia’s throat.

Kane screamed and
sprinted
toward
the ghastly spectacle,
shoving his way
past
the Ellvinians in the room
who
stood staring transfixed
as though in some kind of trance.

“Move!”

Kane cursed when he saw Alia’s eyes roll up in her head. He was not going to make it!
With a cry,
he lifted his sword and dove at the creature, but with uncanny speed, it dropped Alia and flitted out of his reach.

“Alia!” Kane scrambled to his watershifter friend and cradled her head in his lap. Izzy dropped down next to him.

“Is she all right?”

He shook Alia gently. “Come on, Alia. You are going to be fine.”

Her head lolled listlessly.

A sob tore from his throat. “Alia!
Look at me!” Blood soaked Kane’s trousers and he turned Alia’s head
to inspect her wound. Half of her neck
was torn away.

Something inside him died.

“Kane, let’s
get out of here,” Izzy cried, pulling on his arm.

Kane lifted his head and
witnessed a bizarre scene playing
out in the ballroom. The Ellvinians were trying to catch the
blood-sucking creature
with crazed looks in their eyes. One
managed to get close,
shoved
the tail in his mouth,
and began sucking out
Alia’s
blood before the
beast
launched him off with a vicious kick.

“Leave the Vypir be!” Emile continued to scream at his Battlearms.

So, the beast had a name.
Kane looked back down at Alia with a sad smile and
brushed her red hair away from her face.
“May the spirits of the Highworld take you gently into their embrace,” he prayed over her softly.
“I will miss you, mermaid.”
Then, he carefully moved from under her and stood.

Golden eyes radiated as he called forth the magic that was his to summon. “Izzy, go find Kellan and Kirby. Bring them and the others here to the ballroom.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked worriedly.

“Just do as I say.”

The little Elf looked at him with tears pooling in her purple eyes and then turned and ran.

Without emotion, Kane walked to the door
and
after Izzy went through,
locked it.
He turned back to survey the room with the sword of Iserlohn in his fist.

One of the Ellvinians finally noticed him and yelled out, but it was too late. Kane
splintered his image into five replicas. “For Massa!” he cried and
ran toward
the Ellvinians in a wedge formation.
“For Alia!”

Realizing the sudden danger, several Battlearms broke off from their chase of the Vypir to close with him.
Of course, they attacked the point illusion first and Kane cut into them from the flank. He screamed as he fought and within seconds, he was covered in blood and three Ellvinians lay dead on the floor.

That left nine.

They came at him in a group now, the Vypir forgotten in the need to survive.

He split the replicas up to run in different directions and this fooled the Ellvinians for a time, but it soon became obvious who was the real threat. Still weakened by the beating he suffered, Kane began to tire and grunted in pain when more enemy thrusts snaked through his defenses and found their mark. The slices over his body were growing more numerous and
soon the lion’s share of the blood at his feet was his.

As he tried to defend against three attacks at once, he slipped to the floor and his sword fell from his grip.

“Finish him off!” he heard a feminine voice order. It had to be Samara.

A dark Elf standing over him lifted his sword and in that last second before death,
Kane
found that he
had no regrets. He would go to the spirits in the Highworld knowing he fulfilled his oath.
Knowing he fought to protect the people of Massa with his last breath.
And, knowing that Alia would be waiting there for him.

He smiled and that
modest
act saved his life.

It caused the Elf standing over him
ready
to deliver the fatal blow to hesitate.
And, in that hesitation, the room behind the Elves exploded into a million tiny razor-sharp shards as Jain crashed through
one of the
windows. The enormous white cat landed nimbly on the blood-soaked floor and let out a venomous roar.

A Kenley does not die lying on his back!

Kane’s chest swelled and an involuntary snarl erupted from his teeth at the authority in Jain’s words. From the blood oath? The Dracan bond? Simple pride? It did not matter. Kane
smirked.
Let us
die standing up then, my friend.

Kane kicked out and sent the Elf standing over him to the floor. His golden eyes flared as
he
once
again
conjured five
illusions
into existence.
The distraction gave him just enough time to get to his feet
and retrieve his sword.

Together, Kane and Jain, upholding the
promises
of both of their ancestors,
fought side by side to defeat the Ellvinians.

Kane cried out in frustration when he saw the Vypir, Emile and Samara escape through the broken window, but battling two Ellvinians, he could not give chase. Remotely, he registered the sounds of screaming and fighting out in the hallway, so
Kane stepped up his efforts to end the battle and
the
two Ellvinians fell to his sword.

The locked ballroom doors shook from furious pounding from outside. Kane turned to see Jain make the final kill just as the doors exploded off their hinges and sailed backwards into the room.

It was Kellan.

Pouring in around him were all the people that the Ellvinians trapped in the cellar. Servants, mostly, but some were foreigner guests of the mayor. All had determined looks creasing their features as they ran in holding bloody knives or iron skillets. The cook, Cora, held a broom and she looked like she was more than capable of inflicting damage with it.

“We won back the estate,” Kellan announced. “The Ellvinians are gone.”

C
HAPTER
22

T
HE
F
EAST

In the
open pavilion on a portion of the beach cleared for the feast, Kiernan sat back on her pillow and smiled as she watched the Ellvinians fight for the pleasure of dancing with Airron and Melania. The dark Elves
unabashedly
admitted
to
their fascination with her
white-haired
friends. Airron seemed to enjoy the attention
from the women,
but
poor Melania yelped as she was twirled from one Ellvinian male to the next in a lively dance.
If it had been her, Kiernan knew she would have been sick to her stomach by now.

A young girl
approached
Kiernan
shyly
and held out a necklace she made from a string of flowers. “For you, my lady.”

Kiernan lowered her head and allowed the girl to place the flowers around her neck. “Thank you. They are lovely.”

In response, the girl giggled and ran off to join the
energetic
parade of dancers that
swiveled their way
through the festivities.
The girl raced to the end of the line, placed her hands on the hips of the person in front of her and
proceeded
to kick her legs in unison with the others.

The Elf sitting next to
Kiernan
nudged her and
offered her a pipe that emitted a sweet smelling smoke, but she politely declined. It seemed to make those
who
chose to imbibe a little wobbly on their feet
and as
exhausted as she was at the moment, it would most likely send her
flat on her face right here in the sand. The soft moonlight and hypnotic undulation of the torch flames were not helping in keeping her awake and she stifled a yawn.