Chapter 11 Brenton’s Revenge

Brenton knew what had happened. He saw the gills on my neck when he pulled me out of the water. Being that she did not have a tail yet, meant that the full transformation had not completed. There was only one way of stopping the spell. He would have to kill the merman who tried to change his wife. If he doesn't she will not survive the night.

Brenton was not a serpent. He was a land dragon. It was luck that he came up on the lake when he did. If the foul beast had mated with his wife again, she would have become a full mermaid. The beast had been chasing her too.

Brenton did feel some sympathy towards the beast. He did save his wife's life. That is the only reason he does not just have sushi. But if he is forced to chase this beast, especially in the water, he will be having a fish fry.

All the men in Bretons entire clan came to the lake except for his friend that took Joy home. He would protect her. Brenton's main focus right now was the battle to come. Hopefully it is only the one merman. He did not want to start a war with the Mer-people. But this had to be handled now!

All his clansmen were landing around the lake, Brenton was practicing his breathing. Deep breath in, slow breath out. Deep breath in and hold it as long as you can, okay my lungs hurt, breath out slowly. Deep breath in, slow breath out. Rinse and repeat. He kept doing this for several hours.

The other men began setting up snares and traps around the lake. Just in case the merman attempted to escape. They also built large pyre's. Brenton's father walked around and lit each pyre individually. Most of the men were so agitated by the situation, that after the pyres were built and lit, they turned back into dragons.

It was offered by man of the men, to boil the lake dry. Brenton did seriously consider this. But being that the beast did rescue his beloved wife. He refused to boil him to death to begin with. He was going to allow the beast the honor of fighting for his life. Plus, the forest around the area needed the water. He did not want to deprive the surrounding wildlife of water. No matter how tempting it was. With the knowledge of what that beast did to his wife, it was almost impossible to resist.

Brenton stepped up to the water. He was ready! He had stripped all of his clothing off. He did not want anything to get in his way. His father patted him on the pack to encourage him. Then his father told him, there would be two of the other men going with him. But they had not been training their lungs as long as he had. They would be staying close to the surface. If more back up was needed, all the men of the clan were willing to go for a swim.

Emmy, Brenton's cousin, walked up, "I know you do not want to talk to me Brenton. I hope you can help her. I am so sorry! I did not mean to lose her!" He began to cry.

Brenton looked at him, "I am not avoiding you Emmy. I just have more important things on my mind. You are young and do not understand. Joy is the love of my life. I have wanted her since I first laid eyes on her when we were children. She is my reason for being. If I do not go down there and take care of this soon, Joy can and will suffocate. That beast attempted to change her. By witch means that he raped her and only our maker knows what else. He has to pay for his crimes. The only way to end this spell is to kill the enchanter." Brenton took a really deep breath and breathed out extremely slowly. "I do not blame you for this. It was an accident. But if Joy should die, do not be here when I come back out of that water. Do not come back in my presence. Should you ever feel the urge to enter my domine again, we will have a go. You will not win. I will stand on top of your dismembered body and scream my victory and revenge for my wife." He took another really deep breath and breathed out slowly. "Should I come out of this lake as the victor, you are coming to stay in my dwelling. I will do all of your training personally. It will be grueling, pain staking work. But I will turn you into a lord of dragons." He did some more deep breathing as he looked out over the water. "Emmy, it would be a safe bet not to leave. I do not want to have to hunt you down either way."

Emmy cringed, "Yes Brenton!" Emmy went over and sat down next to a pyre.

Brenton began walking out into the water. He stopped when the water was ankle deep. The water had begun churning and foaming. Without any warning a large wave slowly began to form. Taking all the water from the shallow. You could see right where the drop off was going down into the depths of the water.

Brenton waited for the wave to finish growing. When the wave reached as high as it could go, the green merman popped out of the top of the wave. By then Brenton had begun to sink slightly. The mud on the shore that was left behind was not solid enough for anyone to be standing on.

That was partly why the merman tried his luck at controlling the water. Brenton showed no fear though. If anything, he looked excited for the fight to come. The merman pulled out a spear maid of coral. But Brenton stayed standing there sinking in the sand.

The merman waited until Brenton was knee deep. Then he began talking. "Dragon prince Brenton. I do not want to fight you. I know I would lose. I don't feel like losing today. There is another way of reversing my spell. If you would hear me out be grateful."

Brenton smiled, "Come down here and let us talk then. I would like to hear your cure. If I like what I hear, you will survive. If I don't, well, I do like sushi. If this is a trick, I will fry you alive first."

The merman let the waters recede down only to Brenton's feet Brenton never moved. Nor did his two companions behind him. They patiently waited as well. The merman swam up and propped himself up on his tail. He was still waist deep in the water.

The merman was still holding his spear too. "All you need is some of my scales as you know. But if I am still alive, you need my saliva and blood as well. I willingly give this to you." A little plank floated up to Brenton with several vials on it each with a different liquid or powder.

Brenton never took his eyes off of the merman. This was all to easy. The merman behind him took the plank up to the shore. The merman then continued talking, "You mix the ingredients together and make a paste. Put it in her gills and within one hour. She will be back to normal. All I ask, is if she was to give birth to my child, that I get to have the baby."

Brenton smiled again. He was not giving anything away. As soon as he was positive that all the men were out of his way, he spoke calmly and rationally. "Thank you for the ingredients. That will be very helpful. I saw that you even powdered the scales for us. That was very nice of you."

He let the nice words sink in slightly. Then he carefully lifted up one foot then the other. And stood on solid ground. He had been transferring his heat to his feet and dried the ground he had been standing on. Even with the water coming back in, he was to hot for the water to wet. When he stepped up, the merman jerked back into the water. He stayed simi standing with his spear still pointed at Brenton.

Brenton took a couple of steps towards him. "Now that we have the niceties taken care of, let me explain something to you." He took a couple more steps and the merman retreated further into the water.

Brenton still had his hands behind his back and kept a cool demeanor. "I do not think you quite understand the position we are both in here. On the one hand, I do have my beloved wife back. You are willing to give me a make shift cure that might cure her. Then on the other hand, you raped my wife. Kept her hostage. Intended on keeping her to yourself. Then from what I saw, you chased her when she tried to escape."

Now as Brenton was talking he was walking and slowly transforming into a dragon. "Now! Because you were caught, and you already know you are defeated. You dare to ask me for favors!" Brenton was gradually raising his voice as he talked now. "How dare you try to barter. I know of one sure fire way to save my beloved wife's life."

The merman was so scared he had forgotten he was safest in the water. Brenton reached in with one gigantic dragon claw and grabbed the merman. The merman let the water drop. All the pyres got drenched. But not one dragon was hurt.

Brenton leaned down so that the merman could see him in the eye. "I am a understanding and forgiving dragon. But this is not forgivable. Now, this may tickle slightly. But I promise to make it quick."

With that said Brenton quickly bit off the merman's head with one bite. He bit off his torso with the next. Then he handed the tail over to his father. Just in case they needed any more ingredients.

Brenton took the vials and the tail and quickly flew to Joy's side. They tried both ways that they knew of. First the way that the merman had told them. When that did not work, they did the old trick. Which included spinal fluid, blood and powdered scales from the merman who infected her. This had to be mixed in wine. Then Joy had to drink it.

It did not taste bad at all. In fact, it tasted like strawberry wine, or so Joy said later. It only took her drinking the wine. Once the cup was empty, her gills were gone. Joy could breathe just fine. They gave her ginger root, cinnamon and honey. Which is known as a birth control drink. Joy had requested it. This made Brenton feel ten times better.

Brenton was worried that Joy would be scared for life. When she finally was able to tell him her story, Brenton had wished he had not been so merciful. He would have rather fried that merman alive. Brenton did have the tail cut into sections and fried. Then he ate the rest himself. He did not want anyone else taking his revenge. He only wished he could have fried him twice.