Mere Passion

Ocean Shifters 2

DAISY HARRIS

Copyright © 2010

Chapter 1

Fangs pierced the scales of General Kai Nasu’s neck. He launched into the bite, slamming his sparring partner’s long skull into the packed-earth floor of the cave. His serpentine body rose above his opponent’s, pinning the other dragon under his talon in the approved manner and ending the demonstration. The dragon soldiers’ roars of approval echoed through the cavern.

The General strove to answer each of his trainees’ questions as quickly as possible before his meeting. Excusing himself from the males, Kai marched to the cave furthest from the soldiers’ training and living quarters. That the Council Chair would meet with Kai in the caverns rather than in the castle bespoke the importance of this mission.

Kai lowered his head respectfully as he entered. “Council Chair, you asked to see me?”

Council Chair Elijah Woodard possessed grayish-green scales and a calculating expression. “A former colony of ours in the Norwegian Arctic has become quite wealthy in the past few years—Murrough Island, have you heard of it?”

Kai nodded. He knew the name and location of every colony his Empire had once controlled.

“Well then you know that their new copper mine brings in far more revenue than the island’s mere population could possibly manage responsibly.”

Kai growled as he spoke. “You are aware of my position in this matter. As I have said before, if I had been alive during the withdrawals, I would have argued against them.”

Woodard scraped his talon at a rock embedded in the floor. “Of course, General Nasu. But at the time it was necessary to downsize.”

Kai stifled a growl at Woodard for using human terms with regards to dragon affairs.

“In the case of that colony, however, we should have maintained a presence.”

Eager for an opportunity to expand the dragons’ holdings, Kai asked, “How many troops shall I bring?”

The Council Chair scratched the ground more deeply, as if to unearth the flat rock. “You shall go alone.”

Kai’s large slanted eyes widened. “For what reason?”

Woodard breathed slowly. “The island’s triton has invited us to help investigate a recent disappearance. It’s best if we only offer what’s been requested at first. Once you earn the trust of the ruling parties, we can negotiate a pact to re-establish a military and financial presence in the area.”

Kai internally argued but accepted his charge. “Yes, sir. I will leave within the day.”

Shortly later, the great Underwater City faded in a haze of green as Kai’s sinuous black tail propelled him from home. He glanced sadly over his shoulder at the spired and turreted majesty that held the seat of the crumbling Dragon Republic.

Schools of fish scattered as the reptile cut through the water. At least the creatures of the sea knew their place. The parting of the tides and currents soothed Kai’s foul mood. As always during long journeys by sea, he imagined music, setting a tune to the life around him. First Chopin, then Vivaldi, he played through the most famous dragon composers, before allowing that human hack Mozart to enter his mental concert.

He turned through the islands of Indonesia into the warmth of the Indian Ocean and allowed his scales to taste the sun through the water’s surface. At one point every human in this area knew of and worshipped dragons. Sadly, that time had passed. Now humans thought dragons a myth, and the Council had a long way to go to regain the respect and fear of men. As for the mere, Kai didn’t understand why dragons even bothered.

The empire had given the race jobs, roads, culture, an economy, but at every opportunity the ungrateful mere had thrown all the dragons’ efforts right back in the Council’s face.

Cutting north, Kai felt the water cool. Soon icebergs floated overhead, and the ocean looked more black than green. He pondered what barbaric customs he might be forced to abide during his time with the provincial island
fish
.

* * * *

Twin 250-horsepower engines screamed as Princess Alara Skjelfjord, commander of the Murrough Island’s Armed Forces, swerved the aluminum chambered boat back from her latest patrol. White, snow-covered shores stretched across the horizon, and floating hunks of ice and rock littered the waters. Hans, Sven and Kaylee lounged on metal benches cracking open beers with the guys while Erling jockeyed the satellite radio. They deserved to celebrate. The day marked the six-year anniversary of the last shark-shifter sighting within Murrough waters.

Unfortunately, Erling had discovered yet another 80s station. Soon the radio belted, “Aruba, Jamaica, Oooh I wanna take ya!”

Alara shouted over the noise. “Dammit, E! Turn on some normal music!”

Pouting, he changed the channel to her favorite.

Black metal screeched through the boat’s chamber, flooding her senses with its jackhammer beat. A curve touched the corner of her mouth as her head rocked forward in time to the driving rhythm.

She kept her eyes on the depth monitor and other navigation equipment. Like all mere, she navigated by sound more than sight. With her hearing drowned out, she wouldn’t know the size of a ‘berg till she hit it. She liked this boat. It would be a shame to dent it so soon.

However, a dip in the icy waters sounded pretty good right about now.

“Who’s up for a swim?” she shouted over
Mayhem’s
snarls.

A chorus of “hell yeah” erupted, and she dragged her many layers of clothing over her head. Strands of white-blonde hair caught on the zipper, but she rushed to outpace the stripping soldiers. The last one to launch would be stuck watching the boat. Before any of the others got down their pants, she dove headfirst into the frosty waves. A shock of cold knocked the wind out of her before her legs and hips melted into a dolphin tail.

Along with the shift came the rapid pounding of her heart as her human upper body adjusted to the cold. As always, her nipples hardened like a motherfucker, and she was glad she’d kept on her sports bra. The driving pulse of the music was mirrored in her veins as her metabolism sped up and her adrenaline reared. Without pausing for anyone, she pumped hard, shooting herself forward through the current.

The song of her troops rang out behind her as they told her to wait up. She sang back, calling them pussies for not swimming at her speed. Her metallic laugh bounced off floating boulders of ice. Soon she ducked between a couple of white masses and doubled back to tease her pals. Yeah, her guys were pretty cool, and a few were even decent in the sack, but something about being their commander made a relationship impossible. There were other males, of course, but she couldn’t stand the idea of sleeping with someone who couldn’t put up a good fight.

Soon Alara’s loop positioned her behind the beating tails of her soldiers, and she prepared to join them again. A wave of current rolled behind her, some disturbance in the ocean that shouldn’t be there. Likely it was a whale or passing fishing boat, but she darted off to investigate, letting the others fend for themselves.

The swishing waves continued, leading her toward her island, and she picked up her pace. No one besides mere should be approaching her home. The navy blue waters gave way to green as vegetation grew in the shallows. She heard it before she saw it—a great beast with a long batting tail. Coming up on her quarry, she saw it was black, reptile, and evil. A dragon had some nerve showing his fucking face in her habitat. She would get her boat, round up her guys, and kick his scaly butt back to wherever it was the asshole came from.

* * * *

Kai dragged his heavy body up onto shore. Sunlight filtered through a heavy cloud cover. He grunted in irritation that he’d have to become human so soon. Water passing through gills increased dragon metabolism, which compensated for changes in ocean temperature. However, on land dragons functioned like enormous reptiles, requiring sunshine and warmth to move.

Reluctantly, he willed his body to change shape and shivered violently as the freezing air seared his wet skin. It took all his strength to cross the few yards to the changing station. His bare feet slipped over the frost-covered ground. He glanced side to side, making sure no other creature lurked nearby before rubbing his arms to remove the chill.

Blessedly, piles of clothes filled the warm, dry room. Council Chair Woodard had called ahead to have proper dress laid out, and on one hook in the far corner, Kai found several types of fabric adequate to insulate his thin human skin against the elements. He pulled layer after layer over his unfamiliar limbs. Kai donned one pair of socks, then another, then plunged his feet into the heavy, insulated rubber boots. With thick fabrics covering him like scales, Kai felt almost normal again.

The path through town was nothing like Kai imagined. Snow had been plowed into neat banks away from the sidewalk. Clean shops with spotless windows displayed good-quality wares. The mere habitat he visited the previous month was nothing more than a mess of shacks and broken-down factories. He wondered how Murrough’s tiny government maintained such a high level of commerce. Not only must the triton have ties to human distributors of these products, but also the mere must earn enough money to buy said items.

After passing the shops, he continued on the plowed path to the castle. A new-looking snowmobile drove nearby. The young male driver in a military uniform called to him, “You’re that dragon, right? The triton said you were coming. You need a ride?” Kai nodded curtly, thankful that the ruler had prepared transportation.

He settled onto the seat behind the mere. The machine vibrated under his groin and he shuffled back from his companion. They shot forward, and thankfully the speed and wind distracted Kai from that incessant rumbling between his legs.

The driver shouted to him over the roar. “So, this your first time in the Arctic?”

Kai thought the answer would be obvious. What kind of lunatic chose to spend time in an environment as unpleasant as this? “Yes.”

If the driver minded his short answer, the boy didn’t show it. “Your first time in a mere habitat as well?”

“No. I have visited two others. However, both were…tropical.” Kai wasn’t sure why he even engaged in conversation with this lowly servant. But the talking distracted him from the freezing air and the disconcerting sensations.

“Awesome. I’d love to go to the tropics sometime. I bet the females there are total babes.” The boy seemed to be talking more to himself than Kai.

Eager to educate the boy, he answered. “Mere everywhere have similar physical characteristics. They are uniformly pale, blonde, and short in stature.”

To his surprise, the boy laughed. “Yeah, I get how you could see it that way. I mean, given that dragons are all taller and dark-skinned. But, like…I’m a red head. And a lot of mere around here are pretty tall—just like the humans in these parts.”

Kai scowled. This boy should be taught not to contradict his betters.

“And I hear that down in the tropics there’s a lot of mixing it up, genetically speaking.”

Kai’s anger flared at the mere’s nerve. Interbreeding between dragons and mere had indeed occurred in some colonies. However, that was a dark mark in the history of the empire. Some of the ruling classes had taken advantage of their position to force favors from female slaves and workers. He grimaced in shame for his race.

“That chapter in mere-dragon relations is over.” If the empire succeeded in regaining control over Murrough Island, Kai wanted the inhabitants to understand that no such atrocities would be committed.

The boy just chuckled. “I think your info might be a little out-of-date, my friend.” The dragon winced at the boy’s use of the familiar term. “My cousin lives in Hawaii, and he says just about everyone there’s got a little dragon in ‘em. Heck, a couple of his friends are part shark-shifter.”

Kai had only a moment to dwell on the boy’s misunderstandings of oceanic race relations. The snowmobile arrived in front of a modern-looking building four stories tall that took up the space of approximately a city block. Fields of snow-dusted grass surrounded the glass-coated walls. The effect was serene. It differed from a castle and resembled nothing in the great City.