The God of Storms and His Wife

Chapter 18: Shark Bite

I'm walking three steps ahead of the king through the woods we have not spoken since he brought me here. Dead leaves crunch beneath my feet as I trek through the woods around the green patch. I turn again to see if he is still following me. He is with his left hand still resting on his lean, washboard abs. I look down at his feet. They are bare but not dirty. He accelerates without moving and appears directly behind me. He breathes a warm breath onto the side of my neck. My hand instinctively shoots to the spot and covers it. Then he appears before me.

Dark clouds cry on us and he hugs me. He lifts me up just above the ground and disappears us to the precipice of a mountain. He allows my feet to touch the rocks beneath us. I step back and he nibbles on the corner of his mouth. I sit on the edge of the mountain top. My feet playing with the clouds hugging them. I look up at him while he eyes me like the forbidden prize that I am. He closes the distance and kneels next to me. I look beyond him at the storm clouds surrounding us. I smile while lightning dances in the clouds around. His finger brushes my cheek and the tail of a forming tornado whips out of a cloud and throws him off the cliff.

In a lightning flash, my husband appears in his place. "Why are you smiling?" He asks. "It is storming and I knew you would arrive. You are the God of Storms..." I say. My smile drops when I think about the satchel.

"Honey, he has a satchel that has something he took from me in it. I think-" Before I could finish the sentence the king hugs me from behind and disappears us back to the hut over the ocean. "Tsk, tsk; tsk!" The king tells me while wagging a finger before my face.

"You almost gave away the surprise. You can't do that. That's the best part of the story." He shakes his head and falls back onto the bed.

"Where are we?" I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him.

"You're cute when you're mad." He laughs and pats the spot beside him on the bed. I shake my head.

"Tell me about that thing in the satchel then."

"In due time, you'll see what it is." He rubs his hands down his lap and his wet, light pants are switched to black jogging pants.

"Don't ya' think you need a shirt?"

"Nah. I like to see your internal conflict play out in your eyes." I sigh.

"I don't have an internal conflict about you being half naked. That's the least of my worries."

"Your subconscious... Those dark, shiny eyes of yours? Say otherwise."

"Shut up!" I look away from him.

He pulls me onto the bed with him. "What's wrong with you?" I ask him. He leans over me and touches his forehead to the crown of mine.

I sit on a swing on the beachside with a tree supporting it. King Enkimdu runs past me from the tropical treeline. He is stark naked and his locs have been replaced with wavy, tawny strands. I focus on the edge of my vision and realize they are blurred. This is another memory. He jumps into the ocean water and turns into a sand tiger shark.

Keep swinging Ash. Keep swinging. Whatever you do... Don't follow him into that water. I stare at the water and I see his first dorsal fin peak through the water. I stand up. No! Sit down Ash. Sit down! I hesitantly walk to the ocean. The waves roll back near my feet. A warm breeze tickles my neck. Storm clouds form in the sky above. Rain and hail the size of golf balls fall from the sky. My husband appears beside me.

"Which one of us should go next? He's obsessed with you. He won't stop talking about you at every deity meeting. I just had to see what the hype was all about. I see it now. I see why he loves you so much." My husband says to me and jumps in the water. A water spout forms near the tail fin. I feel teeth lightly grip my shoulder. I think of the interior of the hut on the beach and my eyes flutter open. The king is lightly nibbling on my bare shoulder. He is still gripping the top half of the arm of my dress. "Stop!" I say and he opens his jaws. He looks at me with slit pupils. I dodge his gaze and pull away from his hold.

I leave the quaint beach hut readjusting my dress. I walk down some boardwalk steps to get to sit by the ocean and think. Another night has past and my husband still hasn't f-
A cool breeze makes the tips of my hair dance. My husband sits beside me. "What the heck is going on here? One minute your at one his mountains and now I find you on the beach of the primordial deities meeting island. And how does he get us to witness his memories live like that?" He asks.
"You saw his memories too?" I ask.

"Yes, I saw when he tried to replay that time he introduced us and you both... I tried to stop the live replay but the storm didn't stop it. I think he made a deal with the God of Time because he's getting this to play out like how he wants. Whatever you did the last time keep doing that every time he pulls us into one of his disgusting memories."

"If he's in control here and his memories can become an illusion at any time-" My husband's brow pops up.

"He can project his memories as illusions? They're illusions?"

"Yes, that memory he dragged us in just now was to distract me so he can sleep with me." Shock sits on his face.

"Did you sleep with him?"

"No, I got out before anything detrimental happened."

"Crap! I don't like this. I'm going to look around and try to find a way to get us out of this spherical force field he's put around the island."

"There's something he took from my stomach and put it in a satchel. It's in the hut. You have to destroy it."

"After I find a way out. I'll destroy it. Alright?" I nod and walk back up the boardwalk steps.