Hot Blooded Episode 1: The Prodigal Prince (Supernatural Thriller Series) (5 page)

Kilar saw a flash of white light, and then felt the whole world spinning.  The throbbing pain in his temple caused him to fade in and out of consciousness.  “Fuck,” he said, attempting to regain control over his senses.  “What the hell did I do?  She’s the one rubbin’ her leg up against my baby-maker, pal.”

Akna spat in his face, then got back to her feet.  She turned to face the fire giants, who were watching the spectacle with bemused looks on their faces.  They seemed to have calmed down a bit.  Akna felt a flicker of hope.

“It isn’t often we see humans traveling these parts,” Takar said.  The gold ornaments that dangled off his skins swayed back and forth.  He also had multiple piercings on his face where more gold hung, including rings for his nose and eyebrows, and large earrings.  “What business do you have here?  You obviously aren’t terrorists.  Are you escaped slaves, humans?”

“No, we were born free,” Akna said, holding her hands above her head.  “We mean you no harm.  My name is Chief Akna.  My men and I are virtually unarmed.”

“It’s the islander rebels,” one of Takar’s followers said to another.  His friend’s eyes widened.

Takar laughed.  “Well, how about that.  You came to us.  I must admit, I’m surprised you call yourself the chief, Akna.  I didn’t think Naslen would ever step down.”

“I’m the Head Chief now,” Naslen said, placing his left hand on his hip and puffing out his chest.

“Of course you are,” Takar said.  “We’ve never met, but your reputation proceeds you.”

Akna lowered her arms and took a step back.  “What do you mean, we came to you?”

“You see, we‘ve been looking for your island for a long time, Chief Akna,” he said, stepping out of the shadows of the grove and into the sunlight.  His gold ornaments shined with even more radiance.  “And you in particular.  My father and mother, King Drarke and Queen Enlaita, are most eager to make your acquaintance.  But no matter who my father sends, no one has been able to find your island among the hundreds surrounding Mapar’s mainland before your warriors found them and drove them away.  You protect yourselves well.”    

Akna’s mouth dropped open.  “You’re Prince Takar?”

“That I am,” he said, holding his arms out to bask his body in the sun.  “So it is only fitting that Rekanii has deemed me worthy of my assigned task.  I will now take you and my heretic brother to the palace of Mt. Rii.”

“Like hell you will!”  Revfran stepped in front of Akna.  “You really think we’ll let you take our leader that easily?  What do you want with her?”

Takar narrowed his eyebrows.  “That is none of your concern, underling.”

“You will not speak to my subordinates in that manner, Prince Takar,” Akna said.  She rested her hand on Revfran’s shoulder and stepped in front of him.  Letting go of Revfran’s shoulder, she craned her neck back, looking into Takar’s face.  Takar’s enormous head eclipsed the sun.  “With all due respect, your highness, I cannot - ”

She was silenced by the deafening roar of an explosion.  Her hands flew to her ears, muffling the sound.  A gust of wind blew through her black hair, and she felt heat on her back. 

“Who the hell did this?”  Kilar’s chest heaved with strained pants. 

Akna turned around, eyes wide.  Revfran’s mangled right arm lay in pieces just behind her.  Lava ate away at his flesh, and his screams carried through the thick smoke that came off his body.  The smell of burning flesh overwhelmed her.  Her mouth dropped open.  “Revfran!”

“G-get out of here, Akna!  Don’t let them take you,” Revfran managed to say in between haggard screams.  He clutched the bloody stump that remained of his arm, blood gushing in spurts from the open wound.  Lakerdi rushed to Revfran’s side and wrapped his friend’s arm in the shark-skin shirt that he tore off of his own body.

“I said, which one of you fuckers got water on my face!”  Kilar wiped the spit from his cheek with the back of his fist.  He reached behind his scarf at the neck and pulled out a handful of small red stones.  “Somebody start talking!”

Akna stared at him.  “You destroyed Revfran’s arm because I spat on your face?”

Kilar blinked.  "What, it was you?  Aww, damn, I can’t kill you.  That wouldn't bode very well for our budding relationship."  He paused for a bit, his head tilted upward with a quizzical expression.  He looked at her. "OK, how do you feel about just LITTLE bits of playful torture?"

Akna stared at him, mouth agape. 

Kilar chuckled nervously.  "Too soon?"

“Enough, Kilar!”  Takar’s booming voice echoed throughout the rocky beach.  “This wanton destruction has to stop!  Haven’t your treacherous ways caused our people enough damage?  If you kill her, there’s no hope left!”  He glared down at Akna, engulfing her in his shadow.  “Despite your hesitation to cooperate, I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.  You will come with me to Mt. Rii, or my men will kill your father and underlings.  Then, they will not rest until they have hunted down your island, and destroyed the remaining rebels once and for all.”

“That still sounds like a choice to me, Takar,” Kilar said.  He stepped in front of Akna.  “And I’ll bet it’s a very tempting one, considering how ugly these guys are.  Plus, I’m afraid that I’ve staked my claim on this one.  After all, how could I let you take something when it’s so obvious how desperately you want it?” 

“My hero,” Akna said, resting her left hand on his left shoulder, her hot breath against his neck.  “It seems like you have some decency in you after all.  Thank you so much...for turning your back on me.”  With one swift movement, she plunged her knife through Kilar’s skins and into his back.  The lean muscles in her right arm defined as she twisted the knife, driving it deeper between his ribs.  Her voice hissed in his ear.  “I don’t want or need your protection.  That was for Revfran, you son of a bitch.”

The knife grew hot in her hand.  She gasped, letting go of the knife just before it could scald her.  Her eyes widened as the knife broke off, the iron hilt falling to the ground.  The broken edge was still white-hot.  The blade of the knife melted into Kilar’s body, becoming one with the bright orange magma that swirled around inside of him in place of blood.  Smoke seeped from the wound.  Kilar bit his lip, muffling a throaty groan as the wound cauterized from the inside out.

With the wound closed over, he took in a huge breath.  beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.  He exhaled, a burst of steam coming out of each nostril at the same time.  “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?  That’s the first time a human’s ever gotten the advantage over me.  Well played.”  A smile spread across his face.  “But even so, don’t you think we should wait until after the fight before we start penetrating each other, my feisty little firefly?”

Akna felt the blood drain from her face as she took a step back.  “What are you, some kind of devil?”

“I’m not a devil, firefly,” Kilar said, looking at her from over his shoulder.  “I am a god.”

“You’re a blasphemous heretic!”  Takar crouched down, his hands tensed in front of his body.  “Men!  I want you to capture Chief Akna.  Kill anyone who gets in the way.  Leave Kilar to me.”

“Yes, your highness,” his troop said, bringing their heels together in salute. 

The stones in Kilar’s hand melted.  They expanded, taking on the form of an enormous spiked club before solidifying.  Instead of the usual glassy obsidian, coarse granite became the club’s material, the black and white speckles decorating the red hue of the stone.   He swung the huge club with one hand, bringing it to rest on his shoulder.  “You want me?  Come and get me.”

“With pleasure,” Takar said.  He withdrew the double-sided battleaxe from the leather binds that held it to his back.

Kilar’s eyes widened.  “That’s new.”

Takar smiled.  “You can’t always fight fire with fire.”

Kilar frowned.  “You and I think too much alike.  Stop copying me.” 

“No matter,” Takar said, brandishing his axe.  “Whatever happens, you won’t be able to run away if you’re in pieces.  I will drag your carcass back to Mt. Rii, where it belongs.  Your borrowed time in this world is about to come to an end.”

“That can’t be true, because it would mean you actually did your job for once,” Kilar said, tapping the club against his shoulder.

Takar narrowed his eyebrows.  “How dare you.  I would give my life for my country, if it was required of me.  You won’t even do that much.” 

The club’s tapping stopped.  Kilar’s nostrils flared.  “If you’re so eager to die, why don’t you go get sacrificed on that altar instead!”  His hands grabbed the club by the handle and his feet pushed off the ground.  Kilar swung the club at Takar’s head, who managed to raise his axe just in time to act as a shield.  The weapons collided, the clang echoing throughout the rocky beach.  The dense axe did not give way to the spiked club, and Takar used this advantage to swing the axe, swatting Kilar against the ground. 

Kilar pushed against the axe with his club, keeping it from crushing him.  He heard cries from the three weak-looking human men he remembered from earlier.  Looking off to his left, he saw the human girl up in the air, held in the grasp of one of Takar’s subordinates.  Her soldiers stood underneath the giant, pelting rocks at him.  Even though he only had his left arm, Kilar noticed that the old man threw with more power than the three young soldiers combined.  The rocks collided with the giant’s head, forcing him back.  The giant shielded his face with his free arm, and kicked at the soldiers.  The old man dodged and ran out to the far side of the beach. 

However, the three young men took the giant’s kick full force.  With the wind knocked out of them, they flew across the beach and slammed into the rock that served as their earlier cover.  Three of the soldiers took off after the old man while another closed in on the three young men.

Akna’s eyes widened.  “No!”

With her only weapon melted in Kilar’s blood, Akna attempted to escape the giant’s hand by bending back the fingers encasing her one at a time.  The giant howled, and brought his other hand up to crush her.

“That attitude is what got you banished from the royal court in the first place, little brother,” Takar said.  He raised his axe off the shattered rocks.  His eyes widened when he did not see Kilar there, and he darted his head around.  Still not laying his eyes on Kilar, he took in a sharp breath.  “Where did you go?” he asked in a low voice. 

“Get away from me!” Takar heard one of his giant subordinates cry out. 

Takar spotted Kilar at last.  But it was already too late.  Kilar used the spiked club to beat into the skull of Takar’s underling, causing Akna to drop from the giant’s enclosed hand.  The loud cracks resonated throughout the area, and blood spurted from the crevices in the soldier’s now-concave skull. 

Takar’s eyes widened.  “You son of a bitch!  Your fight is with me!”

Kilar stood in front of Akna with his club still raised, and looked at her over his shoulder.  “You all right?”

Akna’s eyes darted from the dead giant’s mutilated head to Kilar’s smiling face.  Revfran’s mangled arm came back to haunt her thoughts.  Her breathing increased.  “What the hell are you doing?  I told you, we can handle ourselves.  We don’t want your protection, you barbarian!”  Akna sprung off the ground.  She slammed her fist into the back of Kilar’s head, sending him spiraling head-first into the broken tree trunk he crashed down on earlier, his club flying off to the side. 

The impact sent the upper half of Kilar’s body clean through the wood of the trunk, and the debris rained down on his lower half.  “Ow!  This is the thanks I get for rescuing you?  No wonder why I never help people,” Kilar said, attempting to pull himself out of the shattered trunk. “Fuck, am I stuck?”

Takar’s hand swooped down.  His hand landed on Kilar with such force, the trunk of the tree shattered underneath his weight.  Kilar groaned, feeling the pain of his ribs push against his organs.  His breath came in gasps.  Takar brought Kilar up to his face, shaking him.  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?  Leaving our fight and killing my underlings?  And for what?  For the humans?  Don’t make me laugh.  You’ve never cared about anyone but yourself!”