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The Feri War
Chapter 20
'Exactly what are Malakai?' I asked Wren as we cosied up in the wagon. Silas was between us snoring quietly. The little guy has been through a lot and I wish I could spare him the rollercoaster of emotions.
The rain had stopped but the night air was frigid. I shivered even under the blanket.
'Exactly what the man said, they are trained bodyguards.'
'Yeah, but what's so special about them?'
The three of us were alone in the wagon. The others had been assigned cabins for the night. Except for Maya and Connor who were spending the night close to the injured Wes in Doug's cottage. Wes was already out of danger but Maya being Maya wanted to make sure he recovered.
'Yes, Malakai are different from your typical bodyguards. They've been conditioned since childhood for their careers. They are highly skilled fighters. I also heard they were immune to elemental powers, can withstand pain, confuse telepaths and have regenerative powers as well.'
Oh yeah. The confusing telepath thing is real. Wren had a field day when I told him about it.
So, Doug and his band were powerful.
'What am I looking at here, Rye? For the likes of me, I don't know what is wrong with her?' Maya said. She and I were examining Vitara in the presence of Musa.
I know what she was on about. Vitara showed no signs of illness. She did take a blast to the chest and she healed up from that. The only thing weird was the concentrated amount of energy within her chest region and I think I know why that is.'
'Is there something wrong?' Musa said with concern.
'I think you should call Doug in here,' I said.
Doug, Eric, Malik and Greene crowned the bed space.
'What did you find?' Doug said.
I stood up to be at eye level with him. 'I have good and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?'
'Starts with the good one,' he said.
'Vitara may have survived a blast through the chest but she is not ill. Surprisingly, she's all healed up from that.'
The three Malakai glanced at each other. 'What's wrong with her then?' Greene said before Doug.
'There seems to be something lodged within her chest that may be the cause of her coma. Something her body is reacting to because her healing energy had created a shield around to contain it.'
All three Malakai looked perplexed. They genuinely didn't have a clue what happened to their friend and how she ended up with that thing inside her.
'What's the bad news, Rye?' Eric said earning him a frown from Doug.
'What he just said wasn't the bad news?'
I sighed. 'The bad news is that your friend needs an operation to extract the foreign object. Maya and I aren't qualified enough for this sort of medical procedure. She needs a real surgeon.'
'I don't understand half of the things you've just said,' Doug said.
I pinched the bridge of my nose to come up with an easier explanation. 'Whatever that thing inside her chest is, it needs to come out soon because it may be poisoning her. She may die for real if it stays in. We can't remove it here; we don't have the necessary skills or tools for such a delicate operation.' I turned to Eric. 'She needs to be taken to the professor. He may be her only hope.'
'Who is this professor?' Doug said.
'Are you done here?' Eric said to me.
I nodded. 'Go make the necessary arrangement while I tell Doug about the professor.'
Maya and I left the cottage. As soon as she was out, she went still. She appeared to be listening to something. Must be a whisper.
'Mother Gretel is calling me. I must return to Mathyel,' she said.
'Go see what she wants.'
She dematerialized in sparks of blue lights.
'Where did she go?' Connor said rushing to me. He must have been waiting for her.
I laughed. He was so enamoured by the mystic that he can't stand being far from her. That was so cute.
"He's such a puppy. Already feeling abandoned," Wren thought.
I called for one of the lumiums I created from the pole barn last night. It came full speed. I palmed it and imbued it with a message for the professor then I released it. I didn't have to invoked a spell like the Faradays did that night in the human realm where they performed a spell to locate Alex and his dad.
We watched as the lumium left the fort to find Dorek. Wren already sent the older man a whisper telling him about the orb that would teleport him right to us. Being a witch, Dorek was capable of teleportation. And like all witches he can't teleport somewhere he's never been. He could end up elsewhere if he tries.
The older adults emerged from the cottage. They called for a meeting so we followed them to the pole barn.
As we sat in a circle on the mats, I noticed not all residents of the fort was there. There were us, the three Malakai, Ben and the band of teenagers and a few able older ones.
'You will need our help to break into Pixan. But I'll be frank with you. We would be vastly outnumbered. We might also be walking to our death' Doug said.
'Should we call for reinforcement?' Malik asked Eric.
'We can't risk drawing our forces away from Wyrmer right now. They are the only thing keeping Helledon's forces away.'
'I've summoned my troop. They will be here by sundown this evening,' Fiori said.
'How many warriors are we talking about,' Doug said.
'Fifty.'
'Not enough but any help we could get is welcomed.'
'What about The renegades?' Ben said. 'I'm sure they would come if they have the proper motivation.'
'The renegades?' Russell said.
'They are youngsters like Ben and the others here who escaped Pixan's recruitment. They live a life of crimes, mostly thievery, but they are not bad people. They often share their spoiled with the less fortunate.'
Huh! Robin Hood and his merry men. Where was Nick for us to laugh at that joke?
Doug took a second to think about it before addressing Ben. 'Go get them. Tell Zeek I'm collecting on that favour he owes me.'
Ben grinned. 'Let's go, Jared,' he said to another youth. They were both witches. They left behind sparks of blue lights in their wake.
'Now we need a solid plan,' Doug said.
The rest of the meeting was boring so I used Silas as an excuse to leave. Unfortunately for me, Silas came rushing into the pole barn shadowed by Trash.
'Silas?' I said.
Regulating his breathing since he'd been running, he approached us. 'Eric sir, the birds have arrived in the capital.'
'Excellent!' Malik exclaimed.
'Tell us what you see,' Fiori said impatiently.
Eric invited him to sit down next to him. Silas crossed his legs and closed his eyes. When he reopened them again, they were clouded like mine when invoking a vision.
'The pigeons are flying over the city now. Pixan lies in a cove. Hills on both sides. Sentries are guarding them. There are guards all over the city as well.' He paused. 'The birds are flying west now. Before the main gates, the terrain is mostly flat and... Oh no!'
The expression on his face was both of awe and apprehension.
'What's wrong?' Eric said.
'Great feri! There are so many. Warriors... everywhere.'
His eyes returned to normal and the horror was real.
'I don't get it,' Ferard said.
'Me neither,' Rhett added.
'Rye,' Wren said. I knew what he was asking of me and I was already on it.
A gasp escaped me as soon as I touched Silas memory. 'Oh my God! Thousands of warriors had set up camp in the three to four miles stretched of land to the gates. Eric, there are so many of them. It's impossible to fight them all let alone get past them without getting caught.'
The meeting ended an hour later with the return of Ben and the renegades. I wanted to meet "Robin Hood" but frankly, I was tired of all these talks and meetings. So, Wren and I went for a stroll outside the fort.
We settled near a gentle stream.
The rain had abruptly stopped two hours ago and now the sky was devoid of clouds. Seemed impossible, but there it was. It had been raining constantly for days and in such a small window of opportunity already one type of flowers were in full bloom. I broke one and put it to my nose. It had a sweet scent.
'They are called sundrops. A common plant in this realm. The weirdest thing, they only bloom with the appearance of the sun after rain.'
Pulling me to the ground, my mate laid my head in his lap. He toyed with my hair gazing down at me. He smiled. With a finger, he traced the ridged of my nose to my lips and chin.
'What's troubling you?'
'Nothing.'
'Try that on someone who doesn't know you, atsa,' he said with a chuckle.
I focused my gaze on his face after realizing that I had phased out.
'I'm troubled because the more we tarry, Char may be suffering at the hand of his captors.'
Wren went quiet for a moment.
'I understand your anguish, atsa. Nonetheless, the circumstance doesn't favour anyone.'
I huffed. 'I know that. I just want us to find a way to end this quickly.'
'That would be ideal, yes. But I don't want you to get your hopes up.'
We stared into each other's eyes for a while. 'Kiss me. I need some loving,' I said. I needed my mind free of this burden. At least for a little while.
My bondmate gave me one of the most passionate snogging ever. The kind that leaves your lips throbbing for more when he releases you. I hungered for more. I pulled down at his neck and took it.
Without breaking our connection, he manoeuvred himself over me. He finally relinquished my lips only to gnaw at my lower jaw and neck. After some time he pushed up my tunic and tongued my nipples and belly. I felt a little bit embarrassed for I haven't had a proper bath since we left Helding. If he noticed he didn't care. He then tugged at my pants, pushing them down my knees. His eyes glistened at the sight of me. With a devilish grin, he dove right in and gnawed at my groins. He took his time to tongue my balls. I hissed. Too soon he left them for my proud standing little man who was begging for attention. I grabbed a handful of my mate's hair as he wrapped his tongue around the sensitive gland.
'Urgh!'
At some point, I had to push him off me. The sensation was too intense.
He laughed. Then he dropped a series of little kisses up to my lips again. 'Lube. Do we have any?' He asked.
I felt him against my leg and he was hard as a rock. He could be gentle without lubrication but Right now I didn't want gentle.
'In our travelling pack way back at the fort.'
'And what are you waiting for.' he playfully bit my lower lip. I bit him back. We were both horny, and I didn't want to end what we started.
Closing my eye, I visualised the canister, manipulated some feri energy around it and brought it to us. Wren was quick to remove my pants completely and made short work of his own too. After lubricating himself, he spread my legs and shoved right into me. Not so gently. I winced. He paused.
'Sorry, atsa,' he hissed and grimaced.
I rolled my eyes and began rocking myself beneath him. He laughed. But then picked up from there. The act itself was hard and intense. It left me out of breath even if Wren was doing all the work. All I did was hanged on to dear life as he pummelled me with his blunt spear. After what appeared to be hours of bliss, he finally flooded my rectum. Through all of it, I came and I didn't even know I did until I saw the evidence on both our bellies.
Wren laughed! 'We should do that more often.'
'What are you talking about. You do this to me all the time.'
Stripping the rest of our clothing, we went to sit in the stream, washed each other's bodies.
It was then that something occurred to me. 'Wren, earlier Doug talked about Pixan's wards. Do you remember exactly what he said?'
'Don't recall the exact words but he said Pixan has only a shield to suppress teleportation.' I frowned. 'Yeah. I also wondered about that. How is it possible for a big city like Pixan not to have more wards. Although, it kind of makes sense if you think about it. They have an army to protect them. However,that army is outside the city walls. They need to be able to quickly retreat within the city should they be overwhelmed or something.'
'Hmm! Quick question. Will it be sunny like today tomorrow?'
'Most likely, yes. These sundrops. They wouldn't have blossomed if they didn't feel a break in the weather pattern. Why do you ask?'
I grinned. 'I think I have a plan to get past the soldiers in front of the gates.'
'Ok. How?'
'Wings.'
'Wings?!'
'Yes, as in wing, can and sand, remember. That must be what Goddess Mara was referring to. I'm sure of it.'
Wren wasn't convinced. 'Ok. Even if we did have wings, there would still be many obstacles to worry about.'
I turned to him. 'I saw the whole tour of the city in Silas' mind. The front and sides are heavily guarded but not the seafront. Remember the vampire attacks in Belen. Remember how we almost missed them because the black mist was in front of the sun. That's how we should approach Pixan. With the sunrise at our backs. That's their blind spot. By the time they'll spot us, it would be too late. The timing is crucial though. It has to be early with the rising sun.'
He thought about it and smirked. 'It's an alley worth exploring. Yeah.'
............................................... End of chapter 20