The Clash of Land and Sea.

Chapter Fourteen, part B

"Enough!" She looked at Shane and waited for the blood red color to leave his face and the veins to stop bulging out of his neck. When he calmed down he slammed his sword back into its sheath and stepped back away from Valace as the elf struggled to his feet.

"You dare..." Valace began to yell at Cass.

"I said enough." Kirin spoke quietly but with such a firm tone that no one dare speak.

"We have a war about to start out there and I will not have one started in here." This time she looked from Cass and Shane to Valace. "We are going to need every little bit of help we can get, including both the few Metallic Riders we have befriended and any Sea Serpents that will join us." As Kirin spoke the room fell deathly silent and she stared hard at Valace to see how he would respond to the news of the Sea Serpents.

"You are asking help from the Sea Serpents?" Valace asked, stunned and confused by her statement.

"We are." She nodded.

"We will never fight alongside the villains of the sea, they cannot be trusted and are not even worth our arrows but you would have us stand side by side in battle? How can you possibly know that they won't kill us the first chance they get?" Valace looked disgusted at Kirin and made like he wanted to spit at the base of the throne but instead thought better of it. Instead he turned to leave and he motioned for his fellow elves to join him.

"There are many things that I do not know: what will happen in the upcoming battles and what the future of the elf nation holds. But there are a few things I do know. I do know we cannot hope to win this fight without help from the Sea Serpents." Kirin stood up in front of her throne as Valace ignored her statements and was about to walk out of the throne room.

"And hear me once and for all Valace, rider of Nithogg. If you leave this room without kneeling to me, if you leave this room without swearing fealty to me and joining your warriors to my army, then I will be forced to expel your clan from our nation and ban your people from Eytherka." Valace stopped as his right foot stepped out of the room. He slowly turned around with his mouth slightly open in shock.

"You wouldn't dare." He began but once again Kirin cut him off before he could finish speaking.

"Not only would I dare, but I will do it. Your entire clan, all your people, men, women and children will be hunted as long as the stay within our forest. Your people will never find help from the elf nation and we will burn your city to the ground. You and your clan will be erased from Arvain." Kirin slammed the words down Valace's throat as she slowly took steps closer to him until she was mere feet from him.

Valace opened his mouth and tried to speak but Kirin shook her head before a sound could come out.

 "No. no deals. No more talking and playing this game you think you are so good at. You either kneel before me or you turn around and leave forever. If you choose the latter I would recommend you run, and run fast." Valace looked around for help from the painted elves who all slowly fell to their knees to bow before Kirin.

Valace lowered his head and dropped to his knees with a thud. "We are yours, my queen."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hayden and Draek tried to think of any way to get out of the storm. Draek seemed more worried about the looming storm than Hayden was but Draek claimed it was because he could see it better.

Well do you think we could fly around it? Hayden asked, looking at the dark horizon.

No, it's too wide and if we did we tried there is no telling where we would end up. Draek's head looked from side to side as he tried to see the ends of the storm.

Well then let's just go over it. Hayden said, watching Draek's head raise up to see the top of the storm.

We could but you would freeze to death and then I would die so let's not. Draek replied.

Hayden saw no other way around it so he tightened up the blanket around him. Well then let's go through the storm. How bad could it be?

The rain pounded Hayden and forced him to close his eyes, wiping them just made things worse. The wind ripped at them and was finally able to pull the soaked blanket free of Hayden's numb fingers.

How can this get any worse? Hayden asked as he did his best to tighten up against the saddle. Draek was having a hard time flying in the constant shifting winds so they were being thrown everywhere. Hayden thought they had fallen back into the water because he was breathing in water instead of air. It turned out they had flipped upside down and all the water off Draek flooded Hayden.

Draek we have to do something. Hayden pulled together all his will just to get his thought out.

We are doing something; we are flying through the air. Draek shouted back. Draek righted himself and dove back into the storm.

Hayden did his best to hold on to the saddle as Draek struggled to read the storm. The constant wind change and ever present rain made it all but impossible.

Lightning struck all around them, blinding and disorienting them. As the sky to Hayden's right began to sparkle and light up Hayden felt his hair stand up on end.

Dive left. Hayden shouted with all his might.

What, why? Draek asked to late. Lightning struck so close that Hayden felt the heat from it. Draek folded in his wings and fell like a stone, trying his best to avoid the lightning.

For a few seconds Hayden didn't feel the constant rain as they fell through the storm. Draek snapped open his wings and they continued their fight against nature. As Draek flew higher into the storm Hayden felt the same tingling sensation from his left side but this time Draek listened to him.

Right! Draek pulled his right wing in and quickly rolled to his right. The streak of lightning shot right above them.

There was no escaping the lightning but soon Draek could feel the same sensations that Hayden was and although the lightning was still a threat they were able to dive away from the blasts.

Draek pulled both wings in for what seemed like the sixth time. Hayden was freezing cold and soaked all the way through his clothes. Hayden couldn't imagine the storm getting worse until he heard a sound that broke through the raging storm.

Hayden looked towards the source of the sound and had one thought in his mind. Draek, fly faster Draek. We need to get out of here. Hayden turned away from the fear that was behind him. A tornado was forming and reaching down to the water just a few hundred feet behind them.

Draek looked over his back and redoubled his efforts to get away from the storm. The tornado screamed and roared behind them as Draek slammed his wings up and down with all the ferocity he could manage.

Draek roared in his anger, in his pain and muscle fatigue, he roared in his fear. Hayden looked behind him again and saw the tornado, now more water then air, leaning towards them and tearing across the water's surface.

Draek, please faster, we need to go faster. Hayden begged as the air around him did all it could to pull him out of his saddle and into the spinning vortex.

The sound grew louder and louder until, with one last push of his wings, Draek and Hayden were pulled into the tornado and Hayden was ripped out of the saddle.