AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Please! Let me talk with Malachi!”
My gaze breaks the surface of the water, so I can witness the excitement in the harsh dry air. There at the docks, some distance away, is Penny. But she is not as calm or collected as she had been these last few days. No, humans are dragging her onto a boat.
It would be a lie to say it didn’t excite me a little.
But the way they’re handling her nearly sends me into a frenzy for their blood. Now more than ever, I have to be patient. They seem intent on sending her off on a boat and straight into my territory.
She is bawling, appealing, begging. “You don’t know what you’re doing! I can’t go out there!”
They’re barking back at her, telling her to shut up and sit down. Other weathered men force her to the bow. Three more of them urge the boat from the dock as she’s struggling against her captors. I lower myself into the water again, feeling the slight vibrations of Penny’s struggle as she tries to fight them off.
She is mine.
It’s inevitable now. Either mine or the ocean’s, and I am not one to share.
I have not let a single boat survive for longer than a day on these waters. They know they are going to their certain deaths, delivering my prize straight to me. Though I am familiar with patience, I nearly cannot contain myself with her so close.
My sight is blinded by the possibilities laid out in front of me. Of us. It is heartening to feel the ripples from the boat, to know that she is aware of what awaits her. I cannot fathom why the humans are offering her to me so enthusiastically.
I am eager to consider it an appeasement, but I know better than that.
The humans and their dark elf masters do not think beyond their own noses. Their losses in ships are mere collateral for their trade, and they cannot see a coordinated effort if it strikes them in the face. No. They don’t consider me a threat, but they should.
I swim behind the boat at a distance. Nothing I can’t cover with a little effort, but enough so that they don’t see my shadow trailing them if they bother to look back. They pass one of the planks of the boat I destroyed, oblivious to their dead allies below. This part of the ocean is a graveyard for their ships, and they don’t have the sense to know it. The destruction I’ve left behind is a testament to the lengths I will go to get what I want.
But Penny… she doesn’t seem like the rest of them.
In fact, from what I gathered, she has wit and sense abound, so it is all the more perplexing to imagine how she was ensnared by them and coerced onto the boat in the first place. I like to imagine her fighting them off just as spiritedly as she did me. But there are many of them and only one of me, andIdid not have the advantage of the water.
Now, she is within reach.
I let them trail off towards one of their usual fishing spots before anchoring themselves and pulling out their nets. Penny is looking around wildly for any sign of me. The others seem to be ignoring her completely, shaking her off when she begs to be brought back to the docks, or cursing at her. One particular dark elf has a cruel look about him and nearly strikes her. I snap at the water with excitement, anticipating the taste of his flesh when I finally sink my teeth into him.
I dare to pop my head above water again, keeping low in case the other fishermen spot me. I wantherto see me, and to know what is coming for her, but to alert the others would be folly before I am ready to drag them into the deep.
The drive to possess her is paramount, and I dive further down, casting wider circles around the boat to ward off other natural predators. I can sense them vacating the area, even as there’s fresh meat waiting to be consumed.
I am hunting, and they know it.
It is to the detriment of humans that they don’t also have that sense to know when a predator lies in wait. They must have lost it in the many years spent in servitude to the dark elves, who I’ve found are cruel beings of magic that fear nothing. Even Penny was oblivious to the markings of my territory and nearly strode into my embrace that first night.
My claws come out, and I swim closer to the bottom of the boat.
They’re talking amongst each other, and the words come muffled. “…better to drown her now and spare Malachi the trouble.”
“We have our orders,” the dark elf says before Penny speaks up.
“You’re notlisteningto me. He’ll kill us all!”
“Nonsense, he needs us,” one of the humans interrupts with a laugh. “Now sit down before you topple the boat. We’ve lost enough this week already.”
“You don’t understand –”
The sound of skin striking skin surprises even me, and all on the boat go silent for a brief moment. “You will sit andwait.” More silence. “Malachi made it very clear that you are to be helpful, or we can toss you overboard at our discretion. No one will ever find your body out here.”
I can taste her fear, reveling in it. But it is not me who she is afraid of this time, and that brings an unfamiliar rage burbling to the surface.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun first,” one of the humans suggests.
