Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) Page 8

  “How can you expect me to stay away from my family during this?” she said as she cut him off.

  “It will be safer if you stay here.”

  “You didn’t give me a choice when you decided to join their war, and I’m not giving you one now. I’ve made up my mind.”

  Chapter Six

  The night after Hektor’s arrival, Crehon met with him as requested and gave him his final decision. It wasn’t a choice he wanted to make, but one he had to.

  They were headed for war.

  As the days passed, he had numerous strategy meetings with the leaders of both his Army and his Naval Fleet. And in turn, they were strategizing daily with Atargatis and his warriors.

  Crehon knew his forces were strong and would be more than prepared for battle.

  But today he wasn’t about to tempt fate. With only one day left before the expected arrival of King Ethos, Crehon took this morning to meet with Chrysis, Priestess of the Temple of Poseidon. He wanted to arrange a sacrifice to the Gods later that day. All his warriors would attend the sunset ceremony.

  As he was leaving the temple on the other side of the island, he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. He halted, curious to see who was scurrying along in such a rush. But as soon as he glanced toward the buildings to his left, the person had already disappeared behind it. He changed his direction and headed briskly towards the building. As he turned the corner, he saw Carnaxa sprinting across the grass, straight to the shore side barracks where Hektor had been staying. After receiving his answer, Hektor had returned to his ship to await his Emperor’s arrival. Carnaxa disappeared from his sight again as she ran towards the back entrance of the building. Crehon decided to surprise her from the front and catch her and Hektor’s secret tryst.

  Crehon ran up to the doorway, crouching along the way so that he wouldn’t be seen through the windows. Quietly, he put his hand on the wooden door and slowly pushed it open so as not to make a sound. To his surprise, the room filled with cots and bare walls was completely empty. Where did they go?

  He weaved his way through the beds and walked toward the back door, pushing it open. Nothing. He stepped outside to see if he could find Carnaxa, but he only saw the empty sea side.

  He ran his hand through his hair, perplexed at where they could have possibly gone so fast. As soon as he got back to the Temple of Poseidon, he would alert a couple of the Hoplites to search the island for the two of them right away.

  ***

  Mixtures of orange and pink splattered across the canvas of the sky. It was nearing sunset.

  Once inside the temple, Crehon entered the main room. It was grand in scale but the décor on the walls was dismal at best. The focus of the room was placed in the very center. It was a prodigious statue of six seahorses pulling a chariot with their god Poseidon sitting atop a crashing wave.

  As always, Crehon paid homage to his god. Then he headed to the room in the back area of the temple to retrieve Chrysis and let her know that he and his men were ready outside the temple to perform the ritual.

  This was going to be Crehon’s first ceremony of its kind since becoming Atlantis’s emperor. It was traditional to give Poseidon a sacrificial offering before going to war. The offering was in exchange for asking for the safety of his men.

  Chrysis followed Crehon outside to the multiple rows of chiseled rock slabs that served as seating. At the front was a large altar.

  Chrysis took a few moments to prepare, hurrying along to beat the sunset. Once they started, she asked Crehon to come kneel before her. He did so and she took his hands in hers. She closed her eyes and said a prayer in their native Atlan language. Afterward she took a red cloth and draped it around his neck. Then she asked him to stand up and told him to follow her to the front of the altar.

  Now that he was standing closer, he saw the shiny reflection from the blade that was to be used in the sacrifice.

  Chrysis then asked one of the Hoplites to assist her in retrieving one of the oxen from the stables located on the other side of the temple.

  The ox struggled a little but ultimately followed behind the Hoplite to its final destination next to Crehon.

  She told Crehon to take the animal’s lead and then explained how to loop it around the animal’s neck and tie it around a hook that was attached to the side of the table.

  As the animal started to panic and shift around, Crehon rubbed the ox along its back to calm him.

  After the ox relaxed and stopped trying to get away, Chrysis picked the knife up and placed it in Crehon’s hands.

  “You must now slice the animal’s throat. Afterward you must offer a prayer to the Gods and burn the entrails.”

  Crehon took a deep breath, tightened his grip around the blade with one hand, and grabbed the top of the ox’s head with the other. He pulled the animal’s head straight up revealing the neck and in one clean sweep he cut its throat from one side to the other.

  It took a few minutes for the flow of blood to stop before he let go of the ox’s head. He blessed it for giving its life so that his men would remain strong.

  Not wasting any time, he had a couple of his men carry the ox to where he would skin and gut the large beast, preparing it to feed his warriors. They burned the entrails of the ox, sending plumes of smoke and prayers to the Gods.

  Now that the sacrifice was done, Crehon and his men would eat all of the edible parts of the ox.

  The crackling of the fire and the scent of the meat cooking filled the night air. This was going to be a feast.

  Chapter Seven

  The sun rose just as it did any other morning in Atlantis. There was a soft breeze pushing its way across the island. The warm air brought with it the scent of the ocean and a light hint of gardenias.

  It was hard to believe in mere hours war would be upon them and the magnificent shores of Atlantis would be soaked in blood.

  Crehon spent the day before and into the early evening with his men preparing them for what lay ahead. He knew his warriors would not fail Atlantis when she needed them most. He was confident that they would come out of this the victor.

  The Gods will favor us.

  After the feast, the remainder of the evening was for his men to rest before battle and he left to spend it with his wife.

  As mid-morning arrived so did the armada carrying Emperor Straton Ethos and his troops. By the time the ships were in view, Crehon and Atargatis had their men in place for the first wave of battle.

  The ships lined up and anchored along the shore.

  ***

  Baneth, the Admiral of the Imperial Navy had previously ordered his sailors to position their triremes alongside the Cytheran fleet in preparation for boarding.

  “Attack!” Baneth ordered.

  With planks lowered and the ships moored together, the warriors of the Imperial naval force began their assault on the Cytheran invaders.

  Battle cries from the warriors carried in the clear morning breeze.

  As the boarding parties pressed forward, the sound of metal scraping against metal and the screams from the injured and dying filled the air.

  Once clean decks ran red with blood which flowed over the sides of the ship, turning the water into a sea of crimson.

  ***

  With the blood in the water the sharks began to swirl; however, Atargatis relayed his orders to a portion of his guard to keep the sharks at bay.

  The rest of the guard was to create a perimeter to prevent a Cytheran ship from escaping the battle or maneuver into the flanking position.

  The mers caught the Cytherans by surprise and attacked the sailors from the surface with their spears. The Cytheran fleet was astonished once they realized there was an unknown threat upon them. They had to quickly change their strategy.

  Through the chaos, a couple of the Cytheran biremes made their way to the Atlantean shore where they debarked the ship and were now loose on the island.

  ***

  As Straton watched the sun
rise and the naval battle ensue, the biremes landed on the pristine Atlantean beaches. They seemed to extend to the ends of the earth. The treasures that lay beyond the beaches were well worth the campaign that was underway. Riding high on the tide, the helmsmen were able to beach the biremes with half the hull resting on the shore. This was critical to the battle plan of the Cytherans.

  The Emperor knew that the Gods favored their cause and that his soldiers would be victorious. For added measure however, Straton ordered the ships to be burned once all of the soldiers had exited the biremes. In doing so, he would send a clear message to his warriors and those of the awaiting Atlantean Empire. Cythera would not retreat.

  With the easterly breeze at his back, the Emperor also knew that the burning of the ships would act as a smoke screen and allow his army to advance without fear of immediate attack from the Atlantean archers.

  As the Cytherans approached the first line of Atlantean defenders on the beach, the sound of sea horns began to fill the air. In a sea of bodies, blood was shed with precise and deliberate violence. Men fell but the battle continued and the Cytherans pressed forward. Each army maneuvered to outflank another, each equally unsuccessful. The resolve of the attacking force was met in kind with that of those defending their homeland, their families, their customs, their traditions, their everything.

  ***

  Leading his soldiers, Crehon was advancing his most trusted men into the heart of the attacking force. He knew that if successful in reaching the center of the main wave of attacking Cytherans, he and his men would disrupt the advance and be one step closer to victory.

  Moments from achieving his desired tactical position, Crehon heard a female call out, a voice he recognized immediately. As he turned, he saw Magna and Carnaxa racing towards the surf, a small group of Cytheran soldiers chasing them. He froze. As his mind raced to find the options he had to keep them from getting hurt, or even worse— killed, the soldiers caught them.

  ***

  Atargatis and the third wave of mers approached the surface to continue the fight.

  The water separated around him as he broke the surface. With his Narwhal tusk spear in hand he quickly assessed the situation around him.

  While his lower ranking guardians were below keeping the sharks at bay, Hekili and the rest of his guard had the Cytheran ships surrounded.

  Blurred waves were rolling across the top of the water and slamming into the ships’ hulls. The mers that had the ability to use their sonar waves were efficiently attacking the fleet.

  Large chunks of wood planks were crashing into the ocean depths. The hulls were beginning to cave and crumble under the pressure of the obscure waves being omitted from his guards’ chests.

  He heard a woman cry out and his attention snapped to the beach.

  Across the waves, he was able to see the panic on Crehon’s face. He stood frozen with sword in hand while men from both sides fought around him. But what truly caught his attention was the women. They were there on the beach being held by four of Straton’s warriors. They were crying and struggling to get loose. He heard Crehon pleading with the soldiers to let them go and take him instead.

  The men pushed the women to their knees. Crehon charged forward, his sword raised to kill. As he did so, one of the Cytherans rushed towards Crehon, his sword aimed directly at his back.

  Atargatis pulled his spear out of the water and positioned it to slay the Cytheran warrior.

  As Atargatis released the spear, he felt a razor sharp heated pain in his left side. He writhed in agony and the spear’s trajectory veered off course of its intended target.

  His vision greyed and everything went black.

  ***

  Crehon flew forward, intent on murder. In that moment, he could think of nothing else but saving the lives of his wife and unborn child.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the Cytheran warriors bearing down on him. Crehon lunged around to face him, swinging his sword to block the warrior from impaling him. He continued his swing up and around, cleanly severing the attacker’s head.

  As the head fell to the ground and the body collapsed upon itself, Crehon turned back to his wife.

  Burning rage overtook him. With speed born of fury, he raced the last paces to his wife and swung his sword into the side of one of the warriors. Then in a sweeping motion, he pushed the sword forward and impaled the other warrior. Blood splattered across his wife’s lifeless body.

  He dropped to his knees next to her in the sand. He heard Carnaxa crying, as if from a great distance, but all he could see was Magna as she lay there with blood pooled beneath her. Tears formed and ran down his face as he stared into her blank eyes. His gaze slid slowly down to her belly and the spear protruding from her stomach.

  He recognized the helical tusked weapon in an instant and knew who it belonged to.

  ATARGATIS!

  In a single act of fate both his wife and his child were gone forever…

  Epilogue

  Atlantis was the victor that bloody day. It would never be forgotten. That day changed the course of life as everyone knew it.

  When the mers attacking his ship left to aid Atargatis, Straton and Hektor retreated back to Cythera with the only ship and the few remaining men he had left. Straton pledged to have his vengeance.

  Crehon was left a shell of himself. Unhinged by Magna’s death, his rage took over and he annihilated everyone in his path, Cytheran soldiers and mers alike.

  Carnaxa disappeared while Crehon was slumped over his wife’s body. He swore to find her and seek revenge for her betrayal with Hektor. In his wrath, he vowed the destruction of Oceania and to kill Atargatis for taking away his life.

  Atlantis and Oceania were no longer allies and all contact with each other ceased.

  When Atargatis recovered, Naia told him that he had killed Magna and that Crehon had slayed some of his men in retaliation. Because of Oceanic law, Atargatis had no choice but to seek punishment against Crehon for what he had done.

  The war between Atlantis and Oceania had begun...

  Glossary

  amora: Atlantean word for love

  bireme: smaller, faster, and more agile ship consisting of a

  hundred man crew

  eiar: ancient Greek word for spring

  Hoplite Warriors: at age 25, boys officially became

  hoplite warriors. While in training, they lived in the

  barracks. They were a heavily armed foot soldier or

  infantry soldier of ancient Greece. Wore bronze or leather

  helmets, breast plates, and greaves or shin-guards.

  Carried round shields, short swords, and a long spear,

  about nine feet in length

  trireme: large warship

  Coming Soon

  Talin’s Echo

  (Warriors of the Atlantean Empire)

  Book One

  C. L. Pardington

  Chapter One

  “Father, you can’t force me to marry him!”

  King Atargatis watched his oldest daughter, Echo, float before him, her arms crossed in defiance. Her flowing white hair swayed across her pale face and down along her arm, hiding her markings. She had always been strong-willed and he usually let her get her way. Not this time.

  “You will marry Aramis and that’s final! Do you hear me?” he shouted back, harsher than he intended.

  Echo balled her hands into fists, fury burning at her insides. “Why would you make me marry him when I don’t love him?”

  “Your mother and I’d like for you to have an heir or two, to take over the throne someday. And at the rate you’re going—”

  She cut her father off before he could finish. “If you think for one minute I’d ever let him touch me, then you have clearly lost your mind!” A chill ran down her spine. What a disgusting thought, to have Aramis’s hands touching her.

  “I will not have you speak to me like that!” Whether or not he was her father, he was also the Ruler of Oceani
a. He couldn’t allow someone to swim in on their heated exchange and overhear her speak to him in that manner.

  “If you’re going to force me to marry Aramis against my will, then I’ll speak to you however I choose!” She gave him one last look through narrowed brown eyes before she flicked her tailfin and swam as fast as she could out of the royal cavern and far away from her father.

  Streaks of sunlight from the surface beamed through the holes in the coral rocks which made up the palace walls, casting a beautiful reflection of waves throughout the entire room as Naia entered. Frowning, she watched from the doorway as her husband held his forehead against the palm of his hand. He sat on his gold throne across the vast room which was filled with ornate items that had been collected throughout their kingdom’s history. The coral walls were filled with life. Small groupings of anemone lodged themselves sporadically throughout the room, and protecting themselves within the security of the anemone’s venomous tentacles, were small percula clownfish.

  At that moment her attention was drawn to a small school of yellow tangs passing through. She loved watching the surrounding sea life thrive. It meant all was well in the kingdom, even if all was not well at home.

  Naia turned her attention back to her husband and gave out a long sigh while looking at him. The passing years had been very good to him. He was still as ruggedly handsome as the day he made her his queen. She loved the way his gold crown complimented his dark tan complexion. The way the sunlight shimmered on the golden brown scales of his tailfin sent shivers down her flowing pink fin.