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

Chapter 2

Nira

Somewhere inside the Amateran Forest.

Present day

    “I suggest that the first subject to discuss in this meeting is the fact that I was always right,” I said to the group that was gathered around the dead fire. We had all woken up and sat down to discuss everything that happened to us. Which was a lot to discuss considering everything that went down yesterday.

    Everyone looked tired and haggard. It had been a long day and an even longer night. We had already been exhausted and worried out of our minds after Katala had gone into a weird period of slumber. Then we thought she had died. Then she revived and came back as the Queen of Spirits bringing with her Teran. Then I’ve really died but Katala brought me back. It was a miracle we were all sane after the ordeal we had gone through.

    Didoka looked as if he had lost about half of his weight since he started to travel with us. He was thin and small like a growing boy, with a pretty face that had no business belonging to a man. Over the last weeks his hair had started to grow and it looked as if it was going to be pretty, like that of a woman, with thick brown curls that even now shined at the light of the fire. 

    At his side was Kun, who to me had always been the most charming Alpha of the three brothers seated at the fire. He was as tall as Aros, even if he was a year younger, and like his brothers he was ripped in muscles over muscles after training in the Maccana army for his entire life. His grey eyes were focused on Aros with a worried intensity in them. 

    I looked to my right and found Aros already staring at me. How could I describe Aros? He was ugly. But he really wasn’t. Not that I would ever be caught admitting that publicly. Between Noctis, Kun and Aros I had to admit Aros was the best looking one. He just had that boyish charm going on for him. His hair was brown and short at the sides but longer to the front. Sometimes when he was focused on something his bangs would cover his eyes and he would curse and get irritated at it. Aros didn’t like to be still and his hands were always fidgeting with something. Right then he was playing with a dagger, flipping it in the air, catching it with two fingers and repeating the motion elegantly while he looked at me, lost in his thoughts.

    And against any logic I really liked his eyes. They were the deepest blue and had a specific way to look at me. It almost felt as if every time he searched for me there was a secret challenge waiting in those blue irises to push my limits. He had been quiet since I’ve returned from the dead and I wasn’t liking it. I needed his constant bickering to feel like I was really alive again. 

    “What do you mean Nira?” asked Katala, who was engulfed between Noctis’s heavy arms. Noctis was silent like always, looking at his mate with those feral black eyes of his that had always given me the creeps. Him and Katala make the weirdest couple ever, with Katala being so tiny and smiley, and Noctis being quite the opposite. But hey, they loved each other fiercely, and I would be lucky if I ever got an Alpha that looked at me like Noctis looked at Katala.

    I smiled and crossed my arms over my chest, “I was right calling Aros on having an ugly face all these years. Man, I wished all those girls that were always around you would have seen you when you get all red and covered in flames.”

    Through my peripherals I saw a nerve ticking on Aros’s jaw. I tensed, readying myself and one moment after… “Do you realize I just saved your life, female? How hard can it be to be grateful at least once? Just once? Know what? Next time that dragon inside of you starts spitting fire, you would have to beg me to make me help you.”

    I scoffed at that, loving the way my stomach warmed and grew all light at sharing another fight with Aros. Ahh, this was life. I stared at him with a scowl and Aros stared back, his jaw clenched and the dagger in his hands now moving fast in the air. I narrowed my eyes at him, “I would never beg you for anything mongrel.”

    “Do you want to bet on that?” he challenged me and there was a promise in his eyes. I grew fidgety at that. Why? Why was he looking at me like that? Did he know something I didn’t? For a moment I wondered what he could be possibly talking about. Could he be talking about my upcoming Heat? Pff. Nah, he couldn’t know for sure. My scent hadn’t changed yet and I was still weeks away from it. And I needed to remember, the mongrel was a mongrel for a reason. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him.

    “I will beg you the day you beg me first,” I challenged him back and Aros seemed to grow curious about that. He even stopped flipping the dagger and arched an eyebrow at me. I sighed, “what now mongrel?”

    “You didn’t deny the possibility of begging me in the future,” he said and I groaned.

    “Only if you beg me for something first,” Aros’s blue eyes shined with malevolent intentions making me frown. Right before I could say anything or Aros could refute me I heard Didoka yawn and then shake his head at us.

    “I never thought I would say this,” said the little boy, screwing up his tired face,  “but I’m relieved Nira and Aros are fighting again. I guess that if they are fighting then everything is fine in this world.”

    “I agree,” murmured Kun, “they are like a constant of the universe.”

    “Like the sky is blue,” quipped Katala with a smile.

    “They make too much noise,” added Noctis and then he stared at me, focusing those intense black orbs on Aros one last time before looking back at his mate, “but that’s alright.”

    “I think you are all missing the point here,” I said, pushing my hands up and clearing my throat for dramatic emphasis, “I think I’m speaking for everyone when I say we should all get out in the open here. My name is Valnira, you can all call me Nira if you like...except for Aros, and I have a dragon inside of me. His name is Teran. Kun, go ahead, what do you want to share with the group?”

    “Nothing?” rebuked Kun, a line forming between his eyebrows. 

    I sighed again, “It’s clear that Noctis and Aros are hiding their true identities to us, but we already know how they look when they get all angry and mad. What about you? Do you also grow horns?”

    Katala interrupted me, giving me a serious look, “Nira, you need to understand. They don’t just change forms. They are those forms. The old Gods are dying in their world so they picked strong human vessels to live in. They are a part of them. Noctis, Aros and Kun are gods.”

    “Yeah well,” I shrugged, “ nothing can beat the fact there’s a dragon inside of me.”

     “A dragon that I” said Aros pointing at himself with his thumb and then pointing at me with his index finger,  “helped you control.” 

    Since I couldn’t fight him back on that I limited myself to stick out my tongue at him. Aros tensed and his blue eyes focused on my mouth. The air seemed to charge and grow heavy between us but Didoka’s interruption managed to put me out of that strange trance. I looked away from Aros feeling weird sensations in my lower belly. I hoped I wasn’t getting sick or anything like it. I had enough with Teran’s roars giving me a constant headache.

    “This is quite fascinating,” said Didoka, studying Kun’s profile and then Noctis, before staring at Aros, “Your bodies have to be extremely powerful to contain the core power of a God. I never thought it could be possible to do such a thing. I read some stories about how the old Gods could assume multiple forms but they were too proud to get rid of their original vessels. They had to be scared of really disappearing to transfer their powers inside of you.”

    “I thought you two would have a harder time dealing with the truth,” said Kun referring to Didoka and me. He shrugged apologetically and then ruffled Didoka’s hair. The boy seemed to brighten up at the attention and smiled goofily at Kun. 

    I pursed my lips, watching those two closely. Kun was like Didoka’s hero or something. I mean, Didoka was always following Kun everywhere and asking his opinion about pretty much everything. Kun had adopted Didoka like his younger brother and everything seemed...just weird to me. Alphas didn’t just act welcoming to Betas. They didn’t. They were mean and territorial but Kun, Noctis and Aros didn’t seem to mind Didoka. I couldn’t help but to think that Didoka was hiding something. Nothing bad like being a spy of the Yellow Islands or anything like that. But definitely something. 

    And then I realized what Kun had said and hurt I turned to my cousin, “you knew about these three being Gods and you didn’t say anything to me?”

    Katala looked genuinely sorry when she gave me that look that was all eyes and pout, “I’m sorry Nira, but it wasn’t my secret to tell, and besides I just knew for sure that Noctis was the God of Night. I had my suspicions about Aros and Kun but I wasn’t sure until yesterday.”

    “You promised to tell me everything!” I fought back and Katala shrugged. I scoffed, “and to think I told you about what happened with Mr. Legs!”

    “What happened with Mr. Legs?” asked Didoka curiously at the same time that Aros scowled and asked, “Who is Mr. Legs?”

    “Oh you can ask Katala, she doesn’t say anything to anyone nowadays either way,” I said and Katala just shook her head at me while softly caressing Noctis’s beard. I think she wasn’t even conscious about what she was doing, but Noctis seemed happy in her hands...even if his face looked as stern and severe as always. I rolled my eyes at them and faced the group again, “So, there are three gods, the Queen of Spirits and an Omega linked to a dragon in this group. Didoka if you have any surprises to share with us, this is your moment to shine.”

    “I think I’m fine,” murmured Didoka, looking down at his feet and making no further additions to the list of paranormal identities of the group. 

    “Good, so what should we do next?” I asked and everyone looked between us, not sure of what to say. Katala seemed a little paler when she rubbed her arms as if fighting a shiver. She then looked at us and gave me a grave look.

    “When I ascended as the Queen of Spirits I received the knowledge of the past Queens that lived before me. That’s how I knew how to connect Teran with Nira. I knew that in theory it could be done but honestly I don’t know what consequences could bring connecting two spirits like I did. I’m afraid that two spirits can’t live in war inside the same body. They need to find balance and...camaraderie,” she scowled and looked at me pointedly, “I think we should prioritize training Nira on how to befriend Teran.”

    “And how do we do that?” asked Kun. Everyone just looked back at me and studied me in silence. Didoka started biting his nails, a nervous telltale of his. 

    “How does it feel to have the spirit of a dragon inside of you?” asked me Didoka and I folded my arms trying hard to find the right answer. 

    I closed my eyes and saw Teran right away, still fighting and pulling at the chains that tied him to my consciousness. The moment he felt me paying attention to him Teran started roaring and spitting fire in my direction. I hissed and opened my eyes. His fire was already burning my insides again. In silence Aros moved and crouched by my side, closing a hand around my right arm. He didn’t say a word and didn’t look at me but efficiently transferred the fire roaring inside my veins to the surface. He extended an arm up and fire emerged from the palm of his hand. 

    I sighed in relief and looked back at Didoka, “It feels like a lot of work.”

    “Where did Teran come from? Why did he appear now? ” asked Noctis to Katala and my cousin seemed to tense.

    “The previous Queen before me had to banish Teran from the Spiritual World. He was insane, killing humans in the most terrible ways.  She sent him far, to a distant world that doesn’t belong to gods, nor humans, nor spirits. There are only demons there, terrible creatures that are hungry for souls. Mourna found Teran there and brought him here to hurt me. He knew I hated to exile Teran and made me choose again. To kill Teran or protect my loved ones, that was the choice I had to face,” when Katala finished speaking there were heavy shadows twirling around us and Noctis’s eyes had blackened out.

    “I swear I will kill Mourna. I will find a way to kill him,” promised Noctis obscurely. I shivered at his words. Man, he was scary. Then Didoka jumped from his seat by Kun’s side. His face had brightened again and he was hopping excitedly.

    “There’s a place we can go to find more information about the old Gods! Maybe we could even learn how to kill a God.”

    Aros narrowed his eyes, staring down at the monk while still transferring Teran’s fire to the sky, “ Do you realize you are speaking with three Gods right now, right?”

    “And we like the fact we are immortal and would prefer to stay that way,” added Kun and Didoka paled a little afraid of the tension his words had generated. Thankfully Noctis came in his rescue.

    “I would risk my own immortality if that means defending my Omega,” said Noctis to the group and we all went quiet at that. He focused his black eyes on Didoka and gave him a nod, “If you know of a place that can guide us on finding a way to kill Mourna then I’m in.”

    “It will be hard to reach this place,” murmured Didoka, looking at least a couple of shades paler after his initial outburst, “There’s an old temple at Algonala Island with a library dedicated to the Old Gods. I only visited this island once and it took us months to reach it. Not even the most skilled sailors of the Yellow Island like to go there. There are sea monsters surrounding the beaches and more often than not horrible storms push all ships away from the shores. But if we can get there we might find a way to kill Mourna.”

    “He kind of declared war on us either way. I guess we should be ready to kill him before he kills us,” I said and everyone looked back at me in surprise. 

    Katala paled, “How do you know he declared war on us?”

    “I was kind of dead, you know?” I shrugged, “I saw him and he might have said something about hating you and all that.” 

    Noctis frowned, looking back at his Omega, “You knew about this?”

    “He came to visit me during my ascension and gave me... an ultimatum,” she said carefully and Noctis’s shadows started to spiral out of control.

    “He threatened you?” he growled and Katala shook her head, hugging Noctis and caressing his chest until the growl inside of it started to calm down. 

    “It’s alright, he is not harming us Noctis. Shh, don’t get mad,” little by little Noctis managed to control himself and when he was able to talk and not growl he turned to us and gave us a severe look.

    “I’m going to Algonala to find a way to kill that bastard,” he said and Aros and Kun nodded right away. There were no words needed between those three. I could already feel them, growing all excited about the idea of warring. It almost felt like they shared the same mind at times. That made me shudder before I turned to Didoka.

    “Maybe in this place we can also find more information about how to deal with dragons?” I asked and Didoka smiled at me.

    “I sure will look for all the information I can find about it.”

    “Count me in,” I said right away.

    “This won’t be easy though,” murmured Aros by my side, “ Talon and Mako are most likely on their way to find Nira and Katala. We might have gained some advantage on them because of the cold weather but it’s just a matter of time before they find us. Not to mention that all the harbors of Naccanash are controlled by Valnis’s army. We will have a hard time finding a ship willing to carry the crowned princess of Naccanash.”

    “Maybe we can disguise Nira,” offered Didoka and everyone just looked at him unconvinced. I believed it was probably easier to disguise a pig and call him a princess that made me look like anything else but who I was.

    “We will find a way to get out of Naccanash and travel to Algonala,” said Noctis, staring at every single one of us, “Mourna can’t win this war. We will not let him.”

    That was fine by me. And to everyone else. That was all we needed to hear before packing our things and making our journey to Naccara’s harbors.