Tales of the Pearly Kingdom (Pearly Tales Vol. 2)

62. Achilles and the Trickster

"Then our Alliance is sealed." Lady Azuras nodded with a slight smile.

Cal had to admit that she really was rough around the edges. They finished with some sake and victa berry tea. Achilles wasn't happy about the whole arrangement and insisted that she come along to the Kingdom of Calphian.

As soon as the hard feelings were smoothed over, the Dragons asked Cal and Shayley a dozen questions about the outside world. Cal's mother insisted that she and Selene switch places in honor of the occasion so that Cal could sit by both of his fiancés. And giggled as they both blushed furiously.

Then Lady Azuras spoke up after her fourth cup of Victa Berry tea which she loved almost as much as Cal did. "Cal, there is one more thing that I require of thee this night."

"In honor of our new alliance, I don't see why I shouldn't hear you out." Cal said with his mouth full while chewing some non-poisoned food.

She slapped Cal's table. "I demand that you properly propose to Selene!" She yelled as she wobbled a bit. "As we agreed, your engagement and marriage to her is a symbol of your alliance with the Divine dragon clan. But you need to do it right!" Apparently, Lady Azuras had gotten drunk off the Victa Berry tea, since this was the fourth time she'd brought it up since their commemorative sip when they finished negotiations while the elite guard and raid pirates got plastered.

"Damn master Peril, your what chu call 'em 'Raiders'? They are damn scary! And dem Ghosties WHOOEE they just about made me dirty ma' trousers!" Another of the dragons drunk off of Victa Berry's. The red dragon had the teapot in his hand and his free arm swung gracelessly around Cal's shoulders.

Cal laughed nervously, "Just call me Cal. And I call them the Nightmares, so I hope they are scary."

"You're a scary man, Cal. You even have our Lady Azuras shaking in her boots, you should have seen her begging for our help when she thought you was stealing little Selene!" He pointed at the drunk and stuttering dragoness.

"W-w-what are ye talking about!" Azuras was blushing and it wasn't from the pseudo-alcoholic tea from the mainland.

"You know, not only did you go crawling to Raijin and Fand after you saw his avatars, you came and got us to take down one Dravenkin! At first, I thought you were paranoid, but now I know I wouldn't fight this guy on my own either. Cally Coo is a force to be reckoned wit'." The red dragon teased.

"Shut up!" Azuras grabbed him by the head and flung him over her shoulder. "thou art sitting between my high priestess and her new lover!"

Cal laughed at the absurdity of Lady Azuras's goofy side.

Achilles however, was not amused. She quietly sat off to the side while the gods of her people were fawning over their mortal enemy. How could they not see it? this man was evil incarnated. The Dread Pirate, the boogeyman of their island nation, the person who cut them off from the rest of the world was this man here.

She couldn't understand her mother. How could she and the gods be so easily taken in by this force of evil. What spell was he using on them? What was his angle? Was he a phony? Who was he really? Was there really a war?

She looked at his "fiancé" the Dravenkin girl. She was unlike any Elf she had ever seen before. On the outside she wasn't classically beautiful like her mother Selene. But that didn't mean that she was lacking anywhere. Instead she was ferociously gorgeous. She didn't have a hint of body fat anywhere on her heavily tattooed body. But that also didn't detract from her beauty. In fact, the sharp curving marks that traced her curves only gave tribute to her finely crafted feminine body. Even more surprising were her freckles and how they added a subtle cuteness to her sharp feral features.

She had beautiful smile with her full pouty lips, but it was offset by her overly keen and scary feline eyes. They were sharp like they could pick out a black cat on a moonless night from a mile away. And if her genealogy said anything, she could. The Dravenkin were the Profane hunters. They killed their own gods, and she had killed her god of war from the sound of it. They hunted dragons for thousands of years and even worshiped certain dragon gods. But something had happened between the elves and their gods and they went to war with each other.

She was the literal mortal enemy of the Divine dragons and she was here drinking with them. And she was hanging off the arm of THAT man.

Calloway Calphius, the honored prodigal son had returned. The way her mother had talked about him she had imagined a knight. One who had been fighting the Segaro sea curse as long as her mother. But that couldn't have been further from the truth. After 250 years of goofing around he was the reason for the cursed sea, and then strolled right back into their lives like nothing had happened. Now with another woman swooning over him he was sweeping her mother off her feet.

He was pure evil. He was the charming devil stealing away people's hearts with lies and false deals. Who knew how he was going to betray them later on. It was sickening. She needed to find out more about him. Even if it meant following them back to the mainland and playing nice. Either way she hated him. with every fiber of her being she couldn't stand him, and she would never get caught up in his shallow charms.

She would find a way to show them just how wrong they were. He wasn't a noble hero he was a trickster, a wolf in sheep's clothing. The ultimate deceiver, no matter how noble he seemed, it does not erase his many many sins. She was the only one who could see him for what he was. The enemy. And only she could protect her nation and her mother.

You've won this round Cal, but I will win the war. I will save my mother from you and from herself.

"Calloway Calphius, I will defeat you." Achilles committed.

"That's not going to happen." Cal said and Achilles paled wondering if Cal heard her, she wasn't ready to be on the wrong side of Cal's temper with all the Nightmares in the room.

But that wasn't it.

"No sparring for us tonight." Cal said as he picked up his sleeping daughter.

"But I wanna-" Shayley argued. But a swift chop on the back of the head and she was out cold. The chop sent a vibration through her to the ground and felt like a small earthquake.

Everyone in the room paled at his subtle use of extreme power to K.O. the most feared person in the room with a single strike.

"Not tonight Shay. It's way past Ophelia's bed time and I am not letting you tear apart my parent's house." With Shayley in a princess carry and a sleepy child in her lap Cal excused himself and left the party.

Achilles was right. She had seen Shayley defeat her mother who was the strongest person she had seen fight. And he just one-shot her and carried her away. Cal really was a monster. 

*

A/N 

Hey crew, just a small note. 

I've been updating my Instagram with the Characters from my stories. I find artwork that either inspires the creation of characters or look like them. I then stick on a character quote and give a little snippet of information on them. 

I've uploaded all of the main characters for the most part and just finished putting up the Sylvan Knights. I'll be updating the Council of elements next along with some random quotes and some of the characters from Foxtails. 

That is all check them out on Instagram @Nathaniel_Wilhelm.

-The Captain