Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

carried billions of facts, some so strange and outrageous, at first it was
     difficult to believe, but when he looked into Riley’s memories of airplanes and trips
     to the moon, those facts had been confirmed. There was so much he had missed while
     imprisoned in the volcano. He had knowledge of those things, but he hadn’t experienced
     them.
    Evidently the college student Mitro had found was a walking data bank as well. Jubal
     recognized a form of the creatures waiting for him there in that river. Goliath tigerfish,
     although as always, Mitro had manipulated the species and enhanced their natural aggression
     and savagery. The tigerfish weren’t native to these waters, so the student had to
     have traveled elsewhere for them to have been in his mind. Surprisingly, it was Jubal’s
     memories that gave him the most data on the dangerous species. Clearly he was just
     as well traveled.
    Riley’s memories had not contained any information on the fish. Riley . His Riley. She was such a miracle to him. He could feel her fear beating at him,
     but then she would shore up her defenses, set her shoulders and get the job done.
     There was so much about her to love. The moment she recognized what he intended to
     do, she no longer feared for herself—it was all for him. He couldn’t remember anyone
     ever worrying about him, and it was a strange, two-edged sword. His heart swelled
     with joy at that thought of a woman caring so much, but on the other hand, he really
     didn’t like to cause her anxiety.
    Dax dropped deeper in the water until he felt the first stirrings of evil. The sensation
     seeped slowly into him rather than poured in. He expanded his vision as well as his
     senses, shifting into a tiny, nondescript leaf as he neared the gigantic fish. They
     were formed loosely in a pack, pacing slowly with the humans above them. As the water
     rose, so did they, gaining ground. So if the water table dropped, how could these
     fish possibly escape and do harm to those aboveground? What did Mitro have in mind?
    Mitro was cunning. Dax would expect fish. Something nasty and brutally savage, but
     if he stopped the water rising, how would that trigger an attack from monster fish?
     He was missing something important. The water would rise, and if Dax or Riley didn’t
     stop it, the fish would attack. But if they did succeed in stopping it, then the fish
     would be useless to Mitro.
    Waves of evil assailed him as he hovered over the pack of fish. The feeling emanated
     not from the hungry pack of tigerfish, although certainly he felt the taint of the
     vampire on them, but it was something more, lurking below them, held back like a leashed
     tiger.
    Without warning, a tigerfish lunged at him, mouth open wide, swallowing Dax. He reacted
     immediately, poisonous spines covering the leaf as it shifted into a very large lionfish,
     the terrible spines lodging into the tigerfish’s throat and mouth, paralyzing it.
     He burst through the jaw of the monster fish only to be surrounded by the pack. He
     shifted again, diving down, leaving behind a trail of the tigerfish’s blood. The pack
     tore into the goliath fish.
    Beneath him, the real threat exploded toward the surface, a monstrous streak of scales,
     wedge-shaped head and streamlined wings. Front legs were tucked under, just as the
     wings stayed tight against the sides of the beast as it rose like a locomotive toward
     the surface. Dax caught the blue-green sheen to the scales as it rushed by. The force
     of the backwash sent him tumbling backward.
    The Old One roared a challenge, the sound bursting through Dax’s skull. Although the
     dragon had lost his mate long ago, the deep pain and sorrow would forever be etched
     into his soul. He would not lose Riley. Riley was part of him now, just as Dax was.
     No water dragon would take her from them.
    No, not in your form . Dax took charge, knowing the water dragon would have the advantage over a fire dragon
     in their circumstances. My form, but we both work together.
    Dax streaked after the dragon, pouring on speed, cutting through the blood-soaked
     water, his hands outstretched for that spiked tail. The long tail swept back and forth
     in the water like a rudder as the water dragon cut easily through the water. Dax allowed
     the red and gold scales to pour over his body as he caught that wedged spike on the
     tail and instantly reversed direction. The Old One rose just enough to lend his strength
     as well.
    The