Page 121 of Taming the Kraken

Alexa smiled, but her mind was spinning. The Unblessed were still fairies. Did they really want to wage war with Elysia? She wondered if they could come to an agreement. She was still their princess, and she didn’t want to kill them. And why were they with the nycrops? What was Erebus planning now? She glanced up at Ken, whose brows were furrowed as he read her thoughts.

Erebus. Everything always led back to Erebus. A problem that they needed to deal with. The sooner the better.

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

Mikah shifted Ryker on his back as he carried him out of the cave. Brian was going to carry him back, but he told him he had him. Mikah didn’t voice anything, but something still wasn’t sitting right about the whole situation. Why keep him sedated? Was it really to keep him quiet? Whose idea was it to sedate him? It didn’t make much sense to him. He stepped into the clearing and watched as everyone gathered around. Ken was going to teleport them back to Elysia so they could strategize about the dark army heading toward Elysia.

“Put me down.”

The muffled sound came from Mikah’s back, and everyone stopped to look at him. Mikah turned his head. “Are you sure? Can you stand?” The guy was completely out of it a minute ago, and now he wanted to get down?

Ryker snorted. “Yes.” He sounded a bit groggy, but he was quickly coming to.

Mikah helped Ryker down from his back, and he stood there, rubbing his head. “Damn those drugs.”

“Ryker.” Brian walked up to Ryker and grabbed the back of his head. He leaned his forehead against his and closed his eyes. “I was worried about you.” The two men stayed like that, not speaking. Brian finally lifted his head and looked at Ryker. “You look like shit, man.” He chuckled as a crooked smile curled on Ryker’s lips. He patted the back of his head and then straightened up.

“I feel like it. They’ve been keeping me drugged up this whole time, ever since I refused to renounce my mate. Like how could I ever leave Raine? I need her.” Ryker smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I understand their concern. But drugging me like that …” He looked over at Brian. I have my memories back now. Everything. But there’s a problem. Let’s walk farther away so I can talk.

Brian stared at him, nodding. There was a reason he was mindlinking him now. And there was a reason he never told the Thunders he’d fully regained his memories.

“We were going to head back to Elysia.” Brian watched as Ryker shook his head.

Not yet.

Brian turned and looked at the others. “Let’s walk for a bit first.” He met Alexa’s gaze, then Mikah’s, who he knew would immediately understand.

When Ryker felt like they were far enough away, he stopped. “Alright, this here is okay.” He looked up at the others and glanced behind him.

“First, what happened? Why did they allow me to leave?” Ryker asked, trying to put all the details together. There was no way they would just let him leave. Especially if his hunch was right.

“They didn’t have a choice. Either they let you go or we were going to take you by force. I told Wendy you swore to serve me upon your flame. They knew they couldn’t do anything about that. They claim the Thunders are loyal to the royal family … if that’s the case, they wouldn’t oppose me. And of course, even if they did, what could they do about it?” Brian shrugged and chuckled.

“Wendy would not have liked it.” Ryker glanced back again with a perplexed look on his face. But there was someone else there who he was certain didn’t like it.

“Is Wendy the leader there?” Mikah asked.

“She’s much older than she looks. She’s actually a few hundred years old. When the old leader was killed, he passed the torch of the Thunders to her. She is very strict and takes the organization very seriously.” Ryker paused. “But something slipped under her nose.” He looked up at the others. “Let me tell you about the night I lost my memories.

“I had infiltrated a group of dragons that were supposedly leading an uprising against the king. I was part of their group for several months, and what I found out was shocking. They were working with demons. In fact, some of them were even part demon. I discovered they were working on a plan. The demons were planning to make a puppet army in the future using nembrant glass. But not just any army. They were summoning fierce creatures and were beginning to create a pool of power to attract them. They weren’t from this world. This was as much as I discovered. I went to relay the information to another member of the Thunders, and shortly after, I was attacked by a half-demon half-dragon. I defeated him but ended up losing my memory after being severely wounded myself.” Ryker squeezed his hands into fists. “I think that particular member of the Thunders was actually a double agent for the demons. He should have told the Thunders everything. They would have found me then. Instead, I was left for dead.

“I think this is why I was drugged. I think this other member was trying to figure out what to do if I got my memories back.” Ryker sighed and Mikah snorted.

“I knew it! I knew that whole situation seemed shady.” Mikah turned and looked back. “Let’s go break some bones.”

“Wait. I have to check to see if this pool of power still exists. I need to check on it. If it has grown, I need to speak with Wendy. I will need to let her know that Fisher is a traitor, and it might not just be him. This is bad.” Ryker needed to find the pool of power again and make certain it still existed. If it did, it would prove Fisher was a traitor.

A sudden realization hit Alexa and she gasped. She thought back to her premonition. The powerful creatures she had never seen before. And then the man with the red eye … just like the red eye she had with the nembrant glass. Her breathing grew ragged as Ken’s arms wrapped around her. He put the puzzle pieces together with her. The premonition was indeed connected to this.

Alexa leaned into Ken. Was there no way to prevent the vision she had seen? She was shown a vision that she was powerless to stop. Why show it to her? How could she even prepare for that? Maybe that wasn’t the point. What if it wasn’t to prepare for it but to know what was coming?

Ken rubbed her shoulders and looked up at the others. “Do you think you can find this pool of power?”

“If they didn’t change the location, then yes.” Ryker looked up at Ken and Alexa, who were looking at each other.

“It’s probably dangerous. I should go with you, but first I need to get Alexa back to Elysia—” Ken could already hear Alexa’s objections. She was determined to stay by Ken’s side.

“I’ll go with him. With the Unblessed army heading this way, you shouldn’t leave Alexa’s side. You can wipe out the whole army instantly if necessary. I can go with Ryker to check on this energy pool.” Mikah inhaled deeply and smiled. Going in a different direction than Alexa was hard. But this was one of those situations where he knew it was better for Ken to not be away from her.