Her Mythical Warriors (Book One)
Chapter Thirty-Six: I Do Not Tell Lies

“There’s a ship there!” Darius called out, pointing to a large ship.

“Let’s see if the captain is up for an adventure,” Wolfric said with a grin.

He pulled Akira to his side and squeezed her shoulders.

Akira looked up at her Wolfie and smiled. They have been searching for hours now for a ship that will take them to her next Warrior. It was getting late, and she was getting tired.

“Maybe we should talk to them this time,” Jules said as she walked up to Akira and Wolfric.

Wolfric looked down at the small woman. He has not seen a Fairy in so long—he forgot how small they are. But she is still a beautiful woman, like his Psychi.

“You and Levi?” Wolfric asked.

Jules shook her head with a grin. “No. Me and Akira.”

“No,” Wolfric and his fellow Warriors said at the same time.

Akira and Jules chuckled.

“Come on, guys,” Jules said, crossing her arms over her chest. “The three of you are scary if you don’t know you. The last three ships turned us down because Vamp Boy over there threatened to rip off the head of one of the crew for looking at Akira.”

“I would have done the same,” Wolfric said with an agitated growl. “The man was lusting over our Psychi.”

Jules and Akira sighed.

“Men will lust after her. Look at her,” Jules said, pointing at Akira.

Wolfric and the other two Warriors looked at their Psychi with grins. They know how beautiful their Havent is.

“That’s my point,” Wolfric said, pulling Akira against him again. “We have the right to protect our Psychi. Even if it means ripping heads off men who look at her with lust in their eyes.”

“That’s my point,” Jules said with a roll of her eyes. “You three can’t be trusted to talk to men without seeing lust in every man’s eyes.”

Wolfric looked at Jules and sneered. Jules threw up her hands.

“Okay, yes, you have the right to protect her. But a look isn’t a touch….”

“He wanted to touch her,” Darius growled.

“He was looking at both of you,” Malique said, folding his arms over his chest.

Akira and Jules looked over at the Vampire. A growl behind them had them all turning. Levi stood behind them, a sneer on his face.

Akira smiled. She has a feeling there is more to their friendship than either of them will admit.

Jules rolled her eyes at her friend. “Men,” she said, then looked back at the Warriors. “Look, how about Levi goes with us, in Fairy form. He can hide, and if anything goes wrong, he can whistle, and the three of you can jump on board and kill anyone who touches us.”

“I don’t like this,” Darius grumbled.

“Let’s give the ladies a chance,” Malique said with a smile. “We all know they can handle themselves. And if Leviasen can be there but out of sight, then we have the advantage.”

Wolfric looked from his Psychi to his friend and back again. Akira had the same serious face as the Fairy.

“All right,” Wolfric said with a nod. “But the moment there’s any kind of trouble, Levi better be whistling the loudest whistle of his life.”

Akira grinned up at her Wolfie. “You guys worry too much.”

Wolfric growled playfully and pulled her against his chest. “It is our job to love and protect you, little one.”

Akira sighed, “and it is my job to make sure the three of you don’t get put in jail for killing someone. You can’t use the excuse of protecting your Psychi if all it was, was a look.”

“Fuck, I hate when she’s right,” Malique grumbled.

Akira chuckled, then quickly kissed Wolfric and turned to her other two Warriors. Wolfric let her go, and she gave Malique and Darius each a quick kiss.

Levi popped into his Fairy form, and Akira stared at his beautiful wings. They were blue and sparkled in the sunlight.

“I will go up the mast before you board,” Levi said, then disappeared.

Julianne took a deep breath and looked at Akira. “Ready?” she asked.

Akira nodded. “Sure am.”

They linked arms and headed toward the large ship.

“I don’t know about this,” Malique grumbled.

“That’s our job,” Wolfric said as he watched the two small women walk toward the ship. “Let’s get closer so we can jump on board if Levi whistles.”

Malique and Darius nodded.

~⚔~

“Are you sure about this?” Akira whispered to Jules as they walked up the plank to the ship.

“No,” Jules whispered with a nervous laugh. “But your Warriors are too protective. We will never replace a ship to take us out to sea to replace your fourth Warrior if they keep threatening everyone.”

Akira nodded. She was right, of course.

“Who goes there?!” a man bellowed when the ladies got to the top of the plank.

Akira and Jules froze when they saw ten men standing on the deck, their swords and guns drawn.

“What do we do now?” Akira whispered.

“We wish to speak to the captain!” Julianne called out.

The crew looked at each other, then at the two small women, and laughed as they placed their weapons away.

Akira snorted. Of course, they think they are safe. How could two small women be a threat? Boy, they do not know what they are getting themselves into if they think a Havent Warrior and a Fairy Warrior are not dangerous.

A tall man with a large hat walked onto the deck and looked the two women over. He smiled as he approached them.

Akira did not feel uncomfortable around this man. His smile was not menacing, perverted, or scary—it was a regular, friendly smile.

“I am the captain of this fine ship,” the man said with a bow. “How may I help, you lovely ladies?”

Akira and Jules smiled.

“We would like to hire your ship to take us out on the ocean to replace my friend’s Warrior,” Julianne said with a nod to the captain.

The crew looked at the two women, then burst into laughter.

“She has a Warrior?” one of the crew members asked, still laughing.

Akira scowled. Why is it so hard to believe that she has Warriors?

Jules placed her hand on Akira’s shoulder to keep her calm.

“Silence!” the captain ordered his crew.

Every man stopped laughing and watched their captain.

“The name is Captain Charles White,” the captain said, holding his hand out to the two small women.

Akira shook the captain’s hand first. “Akira,” she said with a nod to the captain.

“Julianne,” Jules said as she shook the captain’s hand.

The captain nodded. “Please excuse my men. We do not get many pretty women around here, and none that look like either of you. And none who claim to be a Havent.”

“She is a Havent,” Jules said with a nod. “A Havent Warrior, actually.”

Akira smiled at her new friend. Jules was the only one of their group, other than the Trolls, who thought of her as a Warrior.

The crew chuckled, and the captain raised his hand to silence them.

“I am sorry, ladies, but we don’t have room….”

“We won’t take up much room. We can even sleep on the deck,” Akira said as she looked around the deck of the large ship.

“I can sleep up there,” Jules said, pointing up at the luff.

The men laughed and looked up to where she was pointing.

“My men will stay with me,” Akira said with a nod.

“And mine will stay with me,” Jules said, looking at the captain.

Captain White studied the two women. If he does not have to give up a room for them, maybe it could work. But do they seriously believe that this small woman is a Havent? She does not even have a soul.

“We will pay you handsomely,” the taller of the two women said.

Captain White smiled. He and his crew could use the money.

“How many of you are there?”

Akira looked from the captain to Jules and back again. “Me, my three Warriors, Jules, and her friend.”

“And two Trolls,” Jules said.

Everyone on the ship stopped and stared at the two women.

“Trolls?” the captain asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“Don’t worry. They will not do anything suspicious. They’re our friends,” Akira said with a smile.

Captain White stared at the two women. Warriors, friends, and Trolls. What kind of fool do they think he is?

“Look, I would say yes, mostly for the money. But I don’t abide liars….”

“I, sir, am not a liar,” Akira screeched.

It is happening again. No one has ever believed that she is a Havent and has Warriors. Does not help that the Gods made it so only her Warriors could see her soul.

“No one disrespects the captain,” a man said with a growl.

Akira threw her hands in the air. “He disrespected me first by calling me a liar!”

“Then don’t tell lies,” a man said, pointing his sword at Akira. “We can see in your eyes you are not a Havent.”

Akira screeched with an angry growl.

’NO MORE!’ she screamed inside her head, anger radiating off her body.

“Ah shit,” Julianne mumbled with a roll of her eyes.

Jules looked up where Levi was hiding and nodded. Her friend is about to go ape shit on these assholes.

“Come on, little girl,” the same man taunted.

Akira snarled and pulled her sword from its sheath on her back, then jumped onto the ship and went after the taunter.

“Fuck,” the captain grumbled when his men started fighting the small woman.

“You should have better control of your men,” Jules snarled at the captain.

“They’re usually better behaved,” Captain White grumbled.

A loud whistle came from above, and everyone stopped and looked up, except for the two who were clashing swords.

Three large men jumped onto the deck of the ship, making it sway in the water.

Captain White’s face matched his name as he looked at the three men. They were definitely Warriors.

‘Had the girl been telling the truth?’

“I thought you could handle this!” the largest man bellowed at the small woman.

Jules shrugged. “Your Havent gets pissed at the drop of a hat. They told her there’s no way she could be a Havent, and she attacked.”

Wolfric growled. He knows why his little Havent had attacked. All her life, she has been told she is a nothing. And now that she has proven she is a Havent, only her Warriors can see her beautiful soul.

“Akira!” Wolfric shouted.

Akira was either ignoring him, or she did not hear him. Wolfric had a feeling it was both. She was so attuned with her swordplay that she did not hear him.

“Stop her!” Malique shouted.

They watched Akira strike at the man with her sword, again and again.

Wolfric rolled his eyes. He knows he is the only one who can convince her to let it go. He ran to his Psychi and the crew member she was fighting. Before he got to them, the man pulled out a gun and aimed it at Akira’s head.

Wolfric growled and swung his sword in front of the man, shoving the gun up as it went off. It hit the head of the sails and splintered the wood. The man looked at the anger in Wolfric’s eyes and swallowed.

“Enough!” the captain bellowed.

Malique and Darius pulled Akira away from Wolfric and the crew member who had almost killed her. It was one thing to sword fight a woman and another to blow her head off.

“Threatening the life of a Havent is punishable by death,” Wolfric growled as he lifted the man up by his throat.

“She’s not a…,” the man did not get to finish his sentence.

Wolfric snapped his neck, then dropped his body to the wooden deck. He looked around at the others, a sneer on his face.

“Anyone else want to challenge the fact that our Havent doesn’t have a soul and is not our Psychi?”

The others dropped their swords and guns onto the wooden deck.

Captain White took in a deep breath, then walked over to the three Warriors and their Havent. He looked down at the body of his crew member and shook his head. Charles did not like the guy anyway. He was about to strand the asshole on the next island they came across. And it is a law to not harm or kill a Havent.

Warriors have every right to kill those who threaten their Havent, and the law is on their side.

“Toss his sorry ass overboard,” Captain White ordered his men.

They obeyed without a word.

“I-I’m sorry,” Akira said with wide eyes. “I wanted to prove that I’m a Havent Warrior and not an Empty Vessel.”

Wolfric caught the tear on her cheek and looked into her bright amber eyes. “I think you proved yourself,” he said with a soft smile.

Akira leaned her head against Wolfric’s chest and cried. Wolfric sighed and wrapped his arms around her.

“What was that?” Jules asked, watching Akira.

“We will tell you about it later,” Malique whispered.

“So, do we have a ride or what?” Leviasen asked as he popped in beside Julianne.

The crew jumped back with a gasp.

Captain White chuckled. “That would explain the height,” he said, nodding toward Julianne.

Malique looked at the captain.

“We do apologize for our Havent. She didn’t have the life she deserved,” he said with a nod of his head.

Captain White nodded. “I was about to dump his sorry ass off anyway. How may my ship and I be of service?”

Malique and Darius grinned as they walked toward the captain. They explained to him what they needed and paid him the first half of the money. He will get the rest once they replace her fourth Warrior or dock before they travel to another realm if her Warrior is not in their reach.

“Anchor up!” the captain shouted.

Wolfric lifted Akira into his arms, and Captain White showed them to a room. The money was good enough to give up a room.

Akira and her Warriors settled in their room, while Jules and Levi settled in the lookout bucket. Their mounts slept on the leading edge of a sail. The trolls hid in a hole and watched the crew. No one will fight Akira again, not without them being there to protect her.

One of these days, her Warriors will not be there in time to save her.