Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children (43 page)

She felt a sudden jolt
and her body
somersaulted backwards through the air.
The water was pushing back! Quickly
regaining her balance, she
flew
back to the wall,
threw out her hands once again
and pushed.

She was losing ground!
How could that be?

An errant thought hit her. Could this be shifted water? But, that did not make any sense.
Why would a watershifter be trying to flood the city?

Her eyes scanned the wharf as she struggled to hold back the sea.

There! Standing
on a stretch of beach out of harm’s way with Jala
and Dallin Storm was Reilly Radek!
What in the Highworld was that boy doing? If she did not stop him, he would kill everyone
in Northfort.

Kenley had no choice, she had to release a bit of pressure on her wall of air to get to Reilly. Like an arrow, she shot toward the watershifter and hammered him with a blast of air.

The unsuspecting Dwarf flew into the air and
rolled
backwards
in a violent tumble.
If not for the quick grab by Dallin, he would have been
sucked
into the
frothing
sea.

With an angry scowl, Reilly got back to his feet and lifted his hands once again.

“Stop!” she screamed over the howling winds and raging waters. But, every effort she made to get closer to Reilly so he could hear her, the more ground she lost with the wall.

“Reilly!”

It was too late. The top of the water
crested and
crashed
into Northfort harbor. The
platform where they stood
more than a week ago
to see her parents away on their journey
disappeared under the deluge.

Ellvinians screamed as they were swept out to sea.

Kenley swarmed
down
and
hurtled
more air at the dangerous
gushing water.

“Reilly!”

Finally, Jala noticed her,
and the fireshifter
rushed to
exchange urgent words with her brother, and just like that, Reilly dropped
one arm
and the wall
of water
fell back into the sea.
With the other hand, he hastily
created
new and
intricate movements
that only another watershifter could understand. She
watched in amazement as the
water
pouring
into the streets of Northfort reversed its
forward momentum and
was
sent careening back to the ocean.

Exhausted, Kenley plummeted back to the ground in a very ungraceful glide and collapsed onto
the sodden sand. If the Ellvinians meant to attack now, they would find very little resistance from her. She could not move.
She could not even think clearly.

A
shrill caw
pierced her
foggy mind
and
with a knowing groan, she
lifted her head.

The
old woman
and
crow
were back and standing
over
her, white and beady black eyes boring
into her skull. It was the Oracle.

“I thought you would never get here,”
the woman
remarked brusquely.

“Well, apparently,
I
cannot seem to move
as fast as you
can.”
Kenley let her head flop back to the ground and closed her eyes. “The Ellvinians?”

“Surrendered.”

“Good.”

The
Oracle
was silent for a moment,
and Kenley said nothing either, refusing to open herself up
to
another
taunt.

Finally, the woman said,
“Well done, Kenley Atlan.
Very well done.”

Kenley
lifted her lips in a smile,
but did not bother opening her eyes. She knew the woman would already be gone.

Then, Kenley remembered something that she had to do. She jumped to her feet and took to the skies once again.
Fatigue raked
at her insides, but this was too important. Gliding low over the city, Kenley flew past the dark heads of the Ellvinians and headed south. It did not take long for her to pick out the
distinctive
blonde curls. She
dreamt of
those
curls
every night
for over a week now and in every single dream, he was lost to her.

He stood
apart from the others,
watching her come.

She swallowed back a lump in her throat when she saw his bloodied face and torn clothing. It was then that she realized just how close she really did come to losing him forever.

She swooped down and grabbed his
shirt
in two fists and pulled him into the air. “Hang on and wrap your legs around me.”

He did as he was told and she heard cheers from the Massans below as she flew with Kirby toward the beach. He smelled
of
leather and sweat,
and it was the sweetest scent
she had ever smelled in her life.

Her movements dipped and swayed as
her
strength
finally gave out.
The white sand came up to meet them harder than she intended and they rolled across the beach in a
tightly
tangled heap. When they finally stopped, he was laying on top of her, looking down into her eyes.

“Now, that was a homecoming I will not soon forget,” he murmured.

Kenley’s eyes blurred with sudden tears as the strength of her love washed over her. Her Kirby. Selfless, strong, honorable.
He dedicated
his
entire
life
to keeping her safe, to loving her,
and
something
deep
inside her
broke loose under the potency of that
knowledge.

“What is this?” he said, and wiped away a tear from her face with a thumb.

“I
just
missed you,”
she
whispered.
Not trusting herself to adequately express the depth of emotion she was feeling at that moment, she simply said, “Let’s do it.”

“Do what?”

Hands still fisted in his shirt, she rolled him over until she was on top. “Let’s get married.”

“Married?”

“Yes, you still want me, don’t you?”

His shoulders pulled up in a shrug.
“Well…I don’t know. You are quite difficult, you know.”

“Kirby!”

“You do
so
love to torment me, Princess.”

“Kirby Nash, if you do
not agree to marry me
right
this instant, I will kill you!”

His blue eyes twinkled
playfully.
“Well, then I guess the answer is yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes,
I will marry you, Kenley Atlan.”
He reached up and tucked a black curl behind her ear.
“Don’t
you realize
by now that there is nothing I want more in this entire world than to have you as my wife?”

She began to laugh through her tears.
“I guess I do.”

“Kiss me, my love.”

She
dutifully
responded and lost herself in the
intense pleasure
of being back in Kirby’s arms. “I cannot wait to tell mother,” she said softly. “She will be thrilled for us.”

Kirby’s
playfulness vanished. “I hope so. But,
in interest of my personal safety,
can you wrap
your father
in a
shield of air when we tell
him
?”

C
HAPTER
35

R
ELEASE
F
ROM
D
ARKNESS

Since Kenley could not shift to save her life, she and Kirby made their way back to the gates on foot. Many of the Ellvinians cheered for her
as she passed by and offered shouted words of gratitude for saving their lives. She accepted the praise
graciously, but the attention slowed her
progress
and
she
was anxious to
see
the children.

At last, they made it
through the vast throng
of Elves and entered the city square.
Kellan saw her first and rushed to her side only to swallow her in
his
enormous
embrace.
“So glad you made it, sister.”

She hugged him back fiercely, but before she could reply,
she was
ripped from Kellan’s
arms
and flung
against
Kane.
This brother
did not say anything, just held her close, and that was perfectly fine with her.

She enjoyed
enthusiastic
reunions with
Izzy, Jala and Reilly, who was a
bit
sore at her use of force.
Fortunately, she was able to smooth things over with the watershifter,
and was soon engrossed in a concerted
tale of the mayor’s gala when Kellan interrupted.

“Hate to break this up, but
we have more work to do.”

Kenley
grabbed her brother’s arm.
“What now?”

“We have to track and kill the
Vypir.”

“What
in demon’s breath
is a Vypir?”

“Oh, just a
beastly Ellvinian
creation that wants nothing more than to siphon the blood of magic users.”

“Lovely.
Where is it?”

“Outside the walls. We have to find it before it causes
any
more harm
than it already has.”

She sighed heavily.
“What are we waiting for?
Lead the way.”

Kellan
hurried
across the square and she followed him along with the others.

“Prince! Prince!”

Kenley stopped
when a
tall Ellvinian intercepted their progress.

“Emile! What is it?” Kellan asked.

“Are you going after Tolah…I mean the Vypir?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head
in remorse. “I had hoped that we could save him, but I now know that is no longer an option. Not after the…the girl.”

Kenley did not know what he was talking about, but Kane made a tortured sound
in his throat.

“How can we kill it?” Kellan asked.

“You will have to behead it.
It is the only way.” Emile visibly swallowed and continued. “It is—or once was—a
talented
wizard. While it is true that every year more of the man is lost to the beast, he will sometimes remember an old incantation and is able to utter the words
necessary
to cast
a
spell.
After his
recent
intake of magical blood, I fear he is even stronger now.
It will take your
most powerful
shifters working together to take him down.”

“He could be halfway to Bardot by now,” Reilly complained.

Emile shook his head. “No, he will not go far.
He will not leave me.”

Kellan thanked the obviously distraught Emile and they
sprinted for the gates once again.
Feeling stronger after her long walk
from the pier,
Kenley
decided not to wait for the gates to be opened and
took to the air. She thought she heard Kirby curse, but could not be sure.

She
plunged into the
low-hanging,
cold mist and
soared over
the wall and
the milling Draca Cats
to
scan
the open land between Northfort’s wall and the Grayan Forest.
The first pink rays of dawn gave her plenty of light by which to see, but nothing moved on the plains below her.