Found at Midnight

Chapter 17

Vic's POV

Tonight was the night. I'd finally have my sweet, darling mate back in my arms; he would never leave me again. I was bustling around, ensuring that everyone was set for our mission. Many times had Jenna and Justin told me to relax and reassured me that everything would be fine, but I couldn't help it. If we didn't leave with Kellin, I didn't know how I'd live with myself. I could only hope he was still safe and alive. It had been a long four days waiting for the night of the full moon, but tonight I could wreak havoc on the bastards that took my beloved from me. In a mere fifteen minutes we would storm the beach and dive into the sea. 

"Are you ready to fight?" I shouted at my gathered troops. There were men and women, the biggest and strongest wolves we had. I wasn't worried about them much because I knew they could handle themselves well and that they'd put a lot of effort into training specifically to fight the merpeople in their home territory. They responded to my shout with howls and war cries, seemingly eager for a fight. It wasn't often that we got to get violent, other than hunting for food in the forest. We may be civilized, but we still have much more primal instincts than your average person. 

After a short pep talk with my pack, it was time. I nodded at Justin and Jenna, who were also helping to lead the  pack in the fight. They returned the gesture, and we were off. Everyone bolted toward the beach, and footprints in the sand turned to paw prints as we all shifted to our wolves. Riven released a wild cry into the air and dove into the water. All of us were equipped with special designed oxygen tanks, altered by our pack engineer, Alysha, to fit onto our forms and work with our nostrils rather than our mouths. That way we could use our teeth in an attack, as well as communicate, without the mouthpiece being in the way.  

We used our strong hind legs to push ourselves deep into the ocean, just barely staying above the area in which the water pressure would cause us complications. We pushed on, searching the sea for signs of merlife. It was only about two minutes before the glint of the sun reflecting off of buildings began to shine. Right in front of us was a spread of gleaming white buildings of mother pearl, all of them standing proudly in the beautiful blue water. I almost felt concerned for the damage that will likely be done to the lovely architecture in our great battle. However, they brought this upon themselves, so they must deal with the aftermath. I turned towards my wolves, looked each of them in the eye, and charged onto the kingdom. The buildings seemed to shake with the sound of all of us howling as we entered the kingdom. Merpeople came running out of their homes and businesses in shock at the sound; once they caught a glimpse of us, they quickly returned to their area and took cover. I was glad they did, as I didn't want to intentionally hurt any civilians during the fighting. They likely had no idea what Kellin's father is doing or has done to Kellin, so they didn't need to get involved. 

It wasn't long after the citizens had seen us that the Royal Guard came to meet us, fully dress in battle uniform. Each Guard held a long, golden trident and was covered in head to tail with shining armour. We didn't have any time to forge our own armour, but Tony had developed an injection that helped to thicken our hides, so it wouldn't be penetrated easily. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would be enough. 

Wolves and Guards clashed, tridents meeting razor-sharp claws and teeth. War dolphins were released, but we had anticipated that move. I had given most of my wolves a small bag of fish, which were tossed as far as possible away from the fight. Even with their apparent training, the dolphins took off after the snack. The Guards shouted at them in dolphin chatter, but the creatures didn't care. Luckily, that distracted the Guards enough for the wolves to gain an advantage. I took out a couple Guards, but I was the one that would be searching for Kellin. It wasn't hard to find the castle, where Justin had suspected he was being held, seeing as how it was gigantic and towered above every other building in the kingdom. I nearly paused in awe at its utter beauty, but I was on a mission, so I couldn't hesitate for even a moment. I pushed on and found myself before the great entrance to the castle. It didn't appear that many Guards, if any at all, remained in the castle because they were out fighting my pack, but I was still cautious. I pushed open one large door and crept inside. I stayed in my wolf form for a while, navigating the castle. I followed the main corridor until I reached an intersection of halls. I sniffed for my mate's scent and almost immediately found it. I had been keeping my nose on par with his scent since he left by smelling the clothes he had borrowed from me while he was staying with me. Pitiful, maybe, but now it proved useful. 

I followed the scent down the hallway to my right, sniffing the air constantly to make sure I was going the right way. The smell was strongest at the very end of the hall, coming from a door on my left. I was surprised to find it wasn't guarded or locked in any way and easily pushed open the abalone door. I entered and shifted back to my human form. 

"Kellin? Darling, it's Vic. I'm here to finally get you out of here." I surveyed the room and saw nothing. I also received nothing in reply to my calls. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I had one of the sharpest noses in the entire pack, so how did I not find Kellin where his scent led me? I walked past a bedside table as I was leaving the empty room and noticed something that cleared up all my confusion. It was small, but it caught my attention by shimmering in the little sunlight that streamed in through the tiny window above the bed. I immediately recognized the colour from the beautiful tail Kellin grew when he was in the pool or the lake. The scale was bloody on the top, meaning it had been ripped out of his tail. I felt myself pale as I thought about someone hurting my beautiful boy like that. I clutched the bloody scale and growled, giving Riven control once more. 

As I tore out of the room, all I could hear in my head was mine and Riven's voice chanting together "Find our mate, find our mate" over and over. I drove me insane, which only motivated me more to find Kellin. I stopped back at the corridor I had been at before. This time I went in the opposite direction, deciding I would have to search the entire castle because I couldn't find his scent in any of the halls. I used my shoulder to shove open each door that I came across, which resulted in a lot of terrified butlers and scullery maids. I ignored them and continued on my crazy quest. There was no sign of Kellin in any of the three hallways, and I was being driven mad. He had to be here! I didn't understand why I couldn't find him! 

I collapsed at the intersection and howled in frustration and agony. He could already be dead, and I'd never even find him to give him a proper burial. His father would no doubt toss his body out like garbage. I ran my claws over the wallpaper and carpet lining the hall in anger and utter despair until a voice called out to me.

"Vic! You must be Vic!" A mermaid exclaimed as she ran up to me. She placed a worn hand on my back, somehow calming me from my rampage. I got my wolf under control and went back to being human. I nearly sneezed from the oxygen mask fitting oddly in my human nostrils, but I pushed back the feeling and focused on the girl. 

"How do you know me? Do you- do you know Kellin?" I asked helplessly. That was the only way she could know who I was. She nodded eagerly. 

"I brought him food while he was stuck here. He was being held in one of the guest rooms, but when the king found out you and your people had invaded, he took Kellin to the Hidden Room. I know where it is and how to get in, but I have no idea what's inside." 

"Just take me to it, quickly. I don't know how much time he has." She nodded and swam off at lightning speed, not waiting for me as I shifted back into wolf form and took off after her. Eventually I caught up, but almost as soon as I did so, she stopped at a large painting. It depicted a very regal-looking man, and his hair was the same colour as Kellin's, so I assumed it was his bastard father. 

"I just need to open the passage," she mumbled as she fiddled with what looked like a puzzle on the bottom left corner of the painting. A quiet rumbling sounded and was followed by the brick wall opening up to a staircase. I listened carefully, but not even my heightened hearing could pick up anything. I knew I had to venture down there anyway because there was no other place to look for Kellin. I thanked the maid and started down the steps, but she gripped my bicep. I turned back toward her and saw tears pricking at her eyes. 

"Please find him. I may not have known him long, but he does mean a lot to me. I know how much he loves you, and I hope you two make it out of there alive. If you find him and take him back to the land, please tell him that I said goodbye." She told me solemnly, with tears dripping down her face. I agreed, and much to both of our surprise, I gave her a quick hug. I let her go and ran down the stairs, claws scratching at the smooth stone. 

Things are happening! I'm so excited to finally get to the big rescue mission. I'm sorry if it seemed redundant in the beginning, but I'm awful at writing fight scenes. I was inspired to write this chapter by a bunch of awesome feedback I received from multiple people on my other stories in the last week, and it made me want to give you guys something really good to read. I know it's late, but maybe the content made up for that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you'll be back next week to see what Vic finds in the Hidden Room. See ya soon!