The Omega Fire (Book Three of the Omega Game Series)

Chapter 14

Nira

City of Naccara

Present Day

    Where is the egg?

    The question came out of nowhere, stilling me on my way up the ship. I frowned while I watched Aros and Kun carrying sack after sack of food and provisions inside The Dove for our long journey. At the end we had bought one of the best ships stationed at the Naccara’s harbors. The Dove was small but fast and its previous owners had barely used it over the winter. I liked our new ship. I liked even better the fact that everyone had their own personal chamber and that finally, after more than two months camping with Didoka I would be able to sleep by myself in an actual bed.

    Didoka still looked too pale and nervous about being in charge of a ship. I was sure that once his mind factured the fact that he would be sleeping in a bed all by himself he would look a lot happier. Katala and Noctis had all but disappeared inside their chamber and hadn’t gone out since then. Aros had been quiet since our conversation at the temple of the God of Fire. At moments I thought I felt his eyes on me but every time I looked back he seemed busy. Kun was genuinely happy to be close to the sea. His smile was frankly contagious and more than once Didoka had to smile at his blatant excitement.

    Little Red, where is the egg? 

    I focused on answering to the impatient dragon waiting in my mind. Trying to not drag any attention on me I walked to the cockpit of the ship and rested my elbows on the wooden balustrade, watching the movement of people around the port. I closed my eyes and retracted inside of my mind, moving to the darkness until I found Teran, sitting on his haunches while he looked at me attentively.

    “What egg?” I asked him, coming closer and closer, until we were facing each other. The dragon’s red eyes focused on me.

    The Griffin egg. The one you rightfully stole from those useless sacks of bones. 

    “I know, right?” I smiled at Teran, “I thought the same thing. They stole what wasn’t theirs to steal so I righted the scales and stole the egg back from them. It took me a while but I was able to track the nest from where the egg had been taken. I returned the egg personally and had some guards monitor the egg until it hatched. It was a boy, by the way.”

That was…

    Teran turned still. His ruby eyes turned upwards and then he looked back at me. His large wings extended in agitation and then he was roaring inside of my mind.

    Danger. You are all in danger.

    I opened my eyes fast and pushed half of my body outside the ship, inspecting the busy port. The night seemed deceitfully calm but I’ve learned long ago to recognize the signs of upcoming trouble. My eyes narrowed at a distant point where I could see a certain type of agitation. f**k me...those were royal guards coming for us! And not that far away, coming by the western harbors were Hashish and his men. The moment I saw them, Hashish’s grey eye focused on me and widened in recognition. He started screaming, calling the guards on him. s**t. s**t. s**t. 

    We needed to go. Like yesterday!

    “Aros!” I screamed from the top of my lungs, rushing to shake Didoka out of his seat and push him between screams of protest to the ship’s wheel, “Aros!”

    “I swear I thought my name was Mongrel until this very moment,” said Aros calmly, too calmly. He appeared by my side and pushed his large body over an arrangement of ropes, getting comfortable while polishing an apple on his clothes and taking a large bite out of it. I rolled my eyes and rounded the ship’s wheel.

    “We are surrounded, there are royal guards everywhere and Hashish and his men are closing up on us,” the moment I said that Didoka cursed under his breath and started moving the wheel around. Kun was busy lifting the anchor but at my tone of urgency he smirked, shaking his head at me. I started gesticulating wildly, “Am I the only person remotely concerned about being captured right now?”

    “I am too!” exclaimed Didoka between curses.

    “Listen to this Kun,” said Aros with a smirk, “the kids are scared.”

    “Why could they possibly be scared?” asked Kun with a fake gasp, covering his mouth with his fingers in a playful gesture.

    “Maybe because of those guards at our back,” said Aros with a shrug and then pointed with a thumb at his back. The moment he did this several barrels stationed by the east wing of the port exploded with a loud BANG that made me bounce back and cover my ears in fear. Just like that everyone started running in the opposite direction from us. There was fire and chaos, and people screaming everywhere. And then more fire. Although the fire was being neutralized fast which was a relief considering this place was kind of my city to protect and all that. 

    Aros stretched lazily, as if he hadn’t done anything. If I had to speculate I imagined this was just a minuscule show of what he could actually do. I still didn’t know if I should be scared about the fact the boy I’ve always hated could explode cities with a snap of his fingers. I was still pondering that thought when Teran spoke to me again.

    Danger. Real danger is coming for us.

    “It’s not over,” I murmured, turning in a circle while I tried to find what threat Teran was talking about. Aros got up by my side then, his dark blue eyes narrowing at the image of a tall Alpha that was running in our direction. 

    I couldn’t see his features properly in the dark night but he was an unmistakable Alpha. Tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and strong legs that carried him easily and fast. While I watched him I saw the stranger jump over boxes and hang from ropes while matching our ship speed. He was nearing us, using the harbor as a ramp to get to our ship. His legs pumped faster when the ship started to turn to the open sea. The harbor ended with a tall pier that was currently unoccupied. In horror I saw the Alpha pushing himself faster in that direction. For a moment there was only silence and then the stranger jumped. I’ve seen Aros and his brothers make jumps like those before. They have been the only Alphas I’ve seen that could have made it to the ship easily, nobody else...except for this stranger.

    As in a dream I saw the Alpha criss-crossing his legs in his jump while the cloak covering him floated in the air. He was almost on the ship when a large wave rose suddenly, swallowing him down and pushing him away from us. We all moved to the deck, watching the darkened waters go still and then he emerged, far away, too far away from The Dove to reach us.

    “Didoka al ke lum! Lo ma ren den!”

    I didn’t know much of the Yellow Islands language but I was pretty sure he had said something along the lines of I will get to you Didoka and you can’t run forever. I’ve learned enough of their tongue with ambassadors to know how a threat sounded. As if we had rehearsed our movements we all turned together to Didoka at the same time. Our expressions were clearly surprised because Didoka had one look at us and blanched. But then his yellow eyes turned back to the sea and his expression changed to one of worry. Not for himself, but for whoever that Alpha was. 

    “Who was that guy?” asked Kun, probably voicing everyone’s curiosity. Didoka looked worried and concerned out of his mind. We were moving fast now, entering the vast sea with full sails that were charged by a strong wind. At the end Didoka sighed and focused his yellow eyes on us. 

    “That one was my brother,” he said with a small voice and slowly we all moved closer to the boy. Aros’s arm bumped against me in the process and I hissed at him. He ignored me, passing by my side with his eyes purposely staring away from me. I felt a pang of anger in my chest at his indifference, but then Didoka was talking again and I focused on listening to the boy, “He wasn’t very happy with my decision to join the Order of Silence. I think he might follow us now to get me back. My brother can be...dangerous from time to time. I’m sorry for his behavior.”

    “Has he been…?” Kun paused in the middle of his question, his jaw hardening, “has he been cruel to you?”

    At that Didoka’s eyes widened and he shook his head adamantly.

    “No, never!” he said fast and it might have been my imagination but Didoka was apprehensive about this fact. He seemed to love this brother of his quite profoundly. I frowned. Why did Teran refer about Didoka’s brother as a real danger? And how the hell Didoka had ended a Beta when his brother was clearly a true Alpha? It just didn’t make sense. Didoka sighed, pushing his heavy chestnut colored locks away from his face, “He is blood of my blood. I would gladly give my life for him.”

    There was a tense silence and curious I looked up to the two Alphas standing by my sides. Kun and Aros were sharing a heavy look, almost as if they were communicating to each other a secret message that I couldn’t quite comprehend. Didoka looked too nervous and worried to concern himself with the Alphas but I knew differently. Aros and Kun didn’t ever look worried, the fact they looked worried now could only meant Didoka’s brother, whoever he was, had actually managed to surprise them. Hell, it had managed to surprise me and I’ve grown up surrounded by Aros, Kun and Noctis doing incredible, powerful things.

    “I just hope he is alright,” murmured Didoka with his eyes focused in a faraway point. He then sighed and started pushing the wheel to the right, taking us deeper into the sea.