Seven Wardens: Books 1-4

Chapter 8-1

CHAPTER 8

“What the f**k are those?” she half-screamed, staring at the blue man-shaped things that seemed to be staring at the four of them.

“They’re na fir ghorma,” Cam replied, his voice shaking ever so slightly. So that wasn’t good. Not in the slightest.

“Storm kelpies? I’m telling you, those aren’t kelpies.” She took an involuntary step backwards, colliding with someone’s chest. Jared’s she guessed, he wasn’t as warm as Flint was, and Cam was stood to her right.

“I don’t think the na fir ghorma are actual kelpies, Macey,” Jared added.

“No shit.” She looked the blue men up and down. They were certainly odd looking, and they did appear as if they came from the water. They even had webbed hands which would’ve made swimming easy. But then, what the heck were they doing here?

“So what do they do?” Flint asked, and she whipped her head around to look at him, shocked that he didn’t know. Even in the short time she’d known him, he’d been the most knowledgeable of the three of them.

“Erm, call storms, I think,” Cam stuttered. If storms were all they had to worry about, she didn’t know why he was so shaken.

“And?” she prompted.

“No one is really sure, they’re supposedly descended from fallen angels.”

Macey snorted. “Angels don’t exist.”

“You sound very certain about that for someone who’s something that shouldn’t exist too,” Jared pointed out.

“Not true. Kelpies are obviously real. Gods, heaven, and angels are not.” She pulled away from him.

“How do you really know that though?” Jared questioned.

“I just do,” she snapped, the magic already bubbling up inside her.

“Question is, what are they doing here?” Cam asked quietly, almost as if talking to himself.

“Walking towards us,” Macey deadpanned, trying not to sound too concerned, despite the hoard of blueness coming their way with gormless expressions on their faces. They kind of reminded her of the zombies in the stupid horror films her brothers had made her watch.

“I don’t mean that, I mean why are they away from the Minch.” He tapped his chin as if lost in thought. She did have to question why he thought now was a good time to start thinking about these things. Maybe later, once they’d decided what to do about them, and had done it, he could muse on the reasons behind it.

“The Minch being...”

“Oh you’re such a loch kelpie,” Cam teased, his expression lightening for a moment. Macey growled. All kelpies lived in lochs, there was no need for him to make it sound like he was some kind of lesser being because of it. Seeming to sense her anger, Cam held up his hands. “Meant nothing by it, Mace. The Minch is a straight of sea between the Hebrides and the Highlands.” She nodded, remembering where he meant from the map of Scotland she’d studied shortly after coming to land.

“Which answers none of the pressing questions. Like where are we? Why the f**k are there blue men making their way towards us? Or, you know, what are we going to do about it?” Flint sounded half-amused, half-serious, for which Macey was glad, and not just because it seemed to relax Cam a bit. He definitely seemed less on edge than before.

“Well I suspect we’re in the Staran above the Minch,” Cam suggested.

“So they’re supposed to be here then?” Jared asked.

“Erm...I’m going to go with no,” Cam said, looking towards the men again. Macey followed his gaze before sucking in a worried breath. That didn’t bode well at all. Several of the na fir ghorma had opened their mouths about three times as wide as they should be able to, which was freaky to say the least, a little terrifying at worst. Even from afar she could see sharp teeth protruding from their extended jaws. Scary. Especially given the clouds that seemed to be swirling above them. Which was odd in itself. Why were there clouds above the mists? That wasn’t normal she was sure.

“What do they want from us?” Macey stammered slightly, inwardly hating that she was showing such weakness in front of the three of them.

“How should I know, I haven’t exactly gone up and had a chat with them.” She was a little taken aback by Cam’s sarcasm. He’d never come across like that before. Her initial instinct was to snap at him, but really, that wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

“Can Flint burn them away?”

“Burn them?” the man in question asked.

“Yes, burn them. You can create flames, right?” He nodded in response to her question and lifted a hand, a small ball of orange flames hovering above it.

“I can, but that’s not exactly how attacking a water being works.”

“Oh.” Well, that was her out of ideas. Or was it? “What about another water being?” she asked cautiously.

“I honestly don’t know,” Cam answered. “But considering they’re getting closer by the second, I’d suggest we stop talking about it and actually do something.” Despite knowing that now really wasn’t the time, she found herself admiring this side of Cam. This Cam was a leader, which was an interesting switch considering it had been Flint who took the lead the most in the house.

“Okay,” she admitted, and widened her stance, noting that the three men joined her in a line, Flint to her left, Jared to her right, and Cam next to him. She wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to do, but just standing there as a united front was enough for her.

“Can you even use magic again?” Jared asked.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “But I guess we’re about to find out.” She concentrated on the water that bubbled in her blood and began to draw it to the surface. As she did, a chill wind began to whip around her, and one glance to her right and Cam’s outstretched hands confirmed her suspicions that it was him calling it.

Strands of green hair flickered in front of her eyes. By the waves, she really should have thought to tie her hair back. Rule 101 of getting into a fight: make sure hair was tied back. It was a rookie error really.

We are not here to fight.

A voice suddenly whispered in Macey’s head, faint as the wind. She looked at her companions and their startled expressions confirmed that they had heard it too.

“They certainly look like they’re about to attack,” she mumbled under her breath. “Do you think it’s a ploy to lower our guard?”

“No idea, but it would be wrong to attack them now. Let’s stay vigilant, but we won’t be the ones to start a fight,” Cam whispered back.

Macey nodded and waved at the blue men. One of them - a large guy with a massive sapphire mane - stepped forward and imitated her gesture.

“What do you want?” she shouted, hoping they could hear her through the mist. It had become a little less foggy now, and she was able to make out more and more detail of their strange surroundings. They seemed to be standing on a frozen loch, or river, or... some frozen body of water. A thin layer of frost covered the ice, forming strange patterns that looked like they weren’t just random.

We need help.

“Join the club,” Flint sighed.

“Maybe they can help us get waffles if we help them in return?” Jared asked hopefully and Macey had to hide a grin. This maybe wasn’t the best time for Jared’s sense of humour.

“How can we help?” she shouted, having taken on the role of negotiator. She was used to it; letting her help in resolving arguments had been one of her father’s strategies. People were more likely to give an innocent looking girl what she wanted than a king.

The Storms are in uproar. They told us to find the Seven Wardens. We asked the Staran to take us to them. Now we’re here. But there are only four of you.

Macey grimaced. Yes, they were working on that. Not that she fully believed in the whole Warden thingy. It was a little too far-fetched, even for a kelpie.

“How can the Wardens help you?” she asked.

The blue men’s leader did something like a shrug, but it didn’t quite work. It was clear they weren’t used to being out of the water.

The Storms will know. You need to come with us.

“Sorry, we’re kind of busy right now!” Flint shouted before she could reply. “I don’t trust them,” he whispered. “It’s all too much of a coincidence that they found us here. We need to get to Malan, he will have some answers. I hope.”

“What if he doesn’t?” Macey asked.

“Then we can visit the na fir ghorma?” He smiled sheepishly, seeing the flaw in his argument. They had no idea how to get to the blue men, nor where exactly they lived. The Minch was a large area.

“We will come with you!” Macey called to the groan of the guys.

“Who put you in charge?” Jared complained. “I wanted waffles.”

“Are there any other princesses amongst us? No? See, I’m the only one. I outrank you.”

“I’m not a kelpie,” he began to argue, but she cut him off by walking towards the blue men.

“Do you promise us safe passage?” she asked, feeling very important. This was like something that happened in books.

Of course. You will each have to hold hands with us. The Staran won’t let you enter our kingdom otherwise.

“Oh, you’ve got a monarchy as well?” She was beginning to see similarities between the two kelpie kinds.

Yes. I am Muahwa, the Crown Prince. Take my hand.

She looked at his outstretched, webbed, slightly slimy hand. By the waves, she hadn’t expected to touch a merman when she woke up this morning. Although he might eat her if he knew she was calling him that. What else were those giant mouths for if not to eat people? They seemed to talk with their minds only; none of them had uttered a single word since they’d appeared.

Nodding at her companions to do the same, she put her hand in his, surprised at the warmth of his skin. They each chose a blue man to touch... okay, that sounded strange. Creepy.

Ready?

Before she could nod, they were pulled into the nothingness of the Staran once more.