Penthos: The Guardian Sea

Chapter Nineteen: Betrayal

It had been a week since Jarissein’s visit to the Dream Shores. Arielle couldn’t believe how quickly he had recovered. She was still vaguely tired.

     She noticed, though, that he had become strangely distant. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye when he thought she wasn’t looking. He seemed consumed in his thoughts and had to ask for her to repeat questions when she asked some of him. She was worried for him. She had no idea what he had seen in the visions of the Sirens, but she knew they weren’t good.

     But soon he shrugged off the visions. Or so it seemed. He was less distracted and poked fun at her more.

     She and Jarissein had made a habit of running in their animal forms every couple of days. Today was one of those days. She waltzed out of the palace shedding her clothing and shifted mid-run.

The trees were still, their leaves shiny with humidity in the warm summer glare. The grove was quiet, except for the occasional calling bird. Quieter than it used to be only a few weeks ago. There was no breeze, nothing to relieve the trees of their stillness.

     A dark shape flew above at a pace the White Dragon would be proud of. He landed in the largest tree he could find, the black and purple behemoth near the center of the grove. The dragon’s scales were deep black as midnight, with a tongue and crest and spines of dark violet. His eyes swept the trees, and he blended with the dark bark, hoping to keep hidden.

     It had been only a few weeks since he’d left, and Germaine had been allowed to return to Arielle for a short time. He’d come face-to-face with the greatest evil of the Infinity, sworn to serve it in the name of his love, and lived to tell the tale.

     So he sat back in the tree, his long tail curling around the limb as he waited for his love.

     A shape nearly as dark as his own, but much smaller, flitted into view on the ground below him. In contrast, a wolf with the whitest pelt Germaine had ever seen burst through the bushes behind her. They panted and circled one another. A fight, possibly? It didn’t smell like one to him, but he watched without a sound to confirm. He would intervene if this wolf had come to hurt his beloved.

     The wolf lunged and nipped at Arielle’s flank, retreating with a wolfish grin. Germaine was seething with hatred. Kill him, Ari, kill him, he thought at her.

     But instead of attacking the wolf, she leapt forward, tackling him to the ground, purring loudly. They rolled around, play-fighting like pups. Germaine was shocked. Who was this strange wolf? His smell was familiar . . .

     The pair shifted forms, rolling away from one another. Arielle stood up to give the wolf a hand. That was when Germaine saw his face.

     The Guard! That conniving son of a bitch! He should have known! Germaine hissed quietly, hoping that their laughter would mask his noise. They seemed not to hear him.

     “I’ll give you that one, Penthoseren,” the Guard said, “you fight tough.”

     Arielle curtsied, which was strange-looking, as she was naked, her back to him. Germaine’s heart skipped around in his chest at her movement. He remembered her body against his not so long ago, and the memory reminded him of why he was oathed to the enemy.

     “Another round, Banviete?” she asked. Banviete? Germaine thought. That was the name of the family that detested Narientels almost as much as the Penthoserens did. The Banvietes were crossbreeds like the Penthoseren, but were canine instead of feline. It was said that beside the Narientels, the Banvietes were the only other family known to wield fire as one of their elemental powers. The Penthoseren family was a peace-loving family, whose ancestors swore only to wield peaceful elements.

     The Banviete mongrel shook his head, stalking toward Germaine’s beloved. He smoothed down her hair for her, picking leaves out as he went. “Perhaps another time. We should return to your family. They’ll be waiting for you.”

     Arielle smiled at him, and turned to run. Germaine watched the pair leave. Once they were out of earshot (he waited for at least five minutes), he let go a cry of anger and sadness, pain and betrayal. It was a loud and long and pitiful sound. Then, he vanished, returning to his dark masters.