"I can't believe you talked me into this." He hovered beside her over the ocean the next day.
"Put the earplugs in. We have to test them first." She glanced around at the small army of soldiers that Sleet and Lord Milori had brought to catch the Creatures.
Sleet groaned, but they all put in the earplugs that Tink had invented.
"Can you hear me?"
Everyone stared blankly.
Singing notes that gradually reached the pitch of a siren song, and they still didn't react. Then she did a small siren melody. No one fell into a trance.
So she sang. And kept singing, flying up through the clouds to get closer to Neverland.
There. Something black in the distance. It tore closer. She glanced at Sleet to the right.
His wings buzzed faster to be ready to lead it straight to the trap since Bright Fairies wouldn't couldn't see the Creatures. Every ounce of his attention honed in on the Creature. He gave a nod, the signal to turn and run.
She soared down with Sleet, close enough to rescue him from the Creature without being so close that they wouldn't chase him.
Three more Creatures appeared, one heading right for Sleet on his blind side with the eyepatch.
He couldn't hear a shout. By the time he glanced over to see her waving and pointing, the Creature was just lengths away from pummeling into his side. A sharp turn and she slammed into Sleet, struggling to not drop his massive weight.
But his reaction was to catch her. He held on tight as she dropped into a dive too fast for his wings to handle stopping without tearing.
"Too fast!" he yelled over the wind that whistled past. "They'll see you're leading them."
Wrapping her arms and legs around him tight, throwing her wings out jerked hard with Sleet's extra weight. Much harder than expected. Something slammed into her back. And Sleet ripped out of her arms into a freefall toward the ocean.
A black blur streaked past. Sleet was gone.
Panic shot through his glow around her heart as she spun trying to find him. Five Creatures turned back up to the sky, as if following something. They had to be taking Sleet back to the Mainland.
Fury exploded.
Ripping through the clouds, she shot past the three Creatures trailing at the rear of the pack. The one in the lead had Sleet tucked under his arms.
Darting from one monster to another as she climbed closer, the Creatures burst into dust, her wrath and love strong enough to extinguish them with a single touch.
The Creature that held Sleet spun around and stopped, grabbing the sword from Sleet's holster. It's red eyes watch, seeming to wait to feed on her terror.
Big. Neverland. Mistake.
It seemed confused when she simply catapulted at it. One touch and it burst into dust, sending Sleet into a freefall with his wings and hands bound.
Diving after him, she tried to wrap her arms around him. Holding onto his tunic, she opened her wings to slow the fall through the clouds. The knots were too tight.
She landed on the beach and eased Sleet onto the sand. Lord Milori and Spruce flew over.
"They got him—"
"Silvermist? Where are all the Creatures?" Lord Milori asked.
Whirling around, she scanned the skies. "Three are dead." There. Two Creatures rocketed forward, as if hungry for Sleet's screams. Four more Creatures appeared in the skies. Spreading her wings, she stood guard beside Sleet, her hands fisted.
"Silvermist? Your glow is red. Are there more?" Lord Milori looked around as he and Spruce tried to cut the ropes. But the more they cut, the tighter the ropes twisted and grew around Sleet.
"Six. They're coming across the ocean right at us. They want him. Get the cages ready!" she ordered the battalion of fifty soldiers.
"How do we capture what we can't see?"
"We give you sight." She raised her arms and it began to rain upwards from the ocean into the sky. As the water hit the Creatures, wet outlines took shape. Clouds rapidly formed in the sky, and rain pelted down.
"Neverland," Lord Milori whispered. "They move so fast. Without Sleet to lure them into the cages, how do we trap them?"
"Seduce the bastards," she growled.
Lord Milori did a double take.
"Ear plugs, now!" She dropped down and put them back in Sleet, who was unconscious.
"If we cut them more, he'll suffocate." Spruce looked up. "He can breathe just enough right now."
"Silvermist?" Lord Milori sounded anxious.
A glance behind showed the Creatures almost to the shore.
If the Creatures could be evaporated at her touch, perhaps the rope could, too. Closing her eyes to focus on Sleet, the need to protect him right now surged the love.
It popped.
Strong hands pushed her back. "That's enough." Sleet's eye focused on her as the rain poured down, soaking everyone. "Where are the Creatures?"
She looked up at Lord Milori and Spruce, the same concern reflected in their eyes that Sleet wouldn't survive another attack.
Getting up, she took his hands and led him to one of the cages. He seemed confused but went inside with her. It was too strong for even him to break out. "Stay here."
"What?"
As she backed up to the door, his eye widened in horror. "No!" He lunged forward, but not fast enough before she darted out and locked it.
"I promise the baby and I will be safe."
"No! Silvermist!" he screamed in a panic.
She stepped into the other cage, the Creatures so close that their red eyes were visible.
"No! Stop her! Silvermist, get out!" His screams seemed to feed the Creatures with renewed bursts of speed.
Then she sang, drawing their demon eyes away from Sleet and to herself.
"Noooooo!" Sleet threw himself against the bars.
She set a hand over her heart to try to calm his panic. The Creatures landed just outside the cage and slowly took a step in, completely spellbound.
"Nooo! Don't touch her!" Sleet reached through the bars and snatched sand, hurling it at the Creatures to get their attention.
But as long as she kept singing, they could only focus on and follow her.
The moment the last one entered the cage, she stopped. "Close it!"
"Noooo! Get her out!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spruce reach through the cage and pull Sleet back against the bars to slap a hand over his mouth. "Your screams make them stronger!"
Sleet silenced, but his fear still burned hot around her heart.
The Creatures shook their heads, the trance suddenly gone. Then they snarled and snapped, trying to swipe at her with their skelton-like claws.
Focusing on her love for the baby, the need to keep her son safe from these Creatures, her glow burned redder than it ever had. She reached a hand out from where she was cornered. One Creature screamed and tried to stumble back.
They were afraid.
Spruce kept him pinned against the cage bars with a hand over his mouth. Love. The Creatures were afraid of how deeply she loved. The moment she set a hand on her belly, her glow burned more fiercely than a forest fire. He set a hand over his heart to strengthen her glow and push more love into her.
His heart thundered with fear that was impossible to control—fear that would make the Creatures stronger.
She took a step forward, and the Creatures screamed and scrambled to back away.
There wasn't a single thread of fear in her glow around his heart as she walked in a cage amongst demons—she had faith in the power of love.
As she slowly took step after step through the long cage, the Creatures' screams of terror rang over the sound of the ocean waves crashing. Even the sea seemed angry that its mistress faced danger.
When she reached the entrance, one Creature suddenly lunged at her back.
His scream was muffled behind Spruce's hand.
She whirled, as if already knowing, and held out a hand just as the Creature swiped its long, hideous claws. The Creature burst into dust.
The other Creatures screamed and pressed to the back of the cage.
He sank to the ground in relief when she exited and the guards locked the cage.
Her attention focused on something in the distance.
Following her eyes, his stomach dropped. Nearly a dozen more Creatures fell from the sky and shot toward the beach.
He scrambled to the cage door as she calmly walked to the next cage. Grabbing the chain, he yanked and squeezed. But he'd been the one who tested these cages to be sure he couldn't escape to ensure the Creatures wouldn't be able to either. A glance over.
She started singing and backing into a cage.
Even kicking the door wasn't bending the metal.
"Captain, stop!" a guard mouthed, his voice silent behind the earplugs. Three guards ran over and helped to hold the door shut.
Lord Milori glanced and then darted over, reaching through the bars to grab his shirt collar. "Enough!" he silently shouted. "She's safer without you there to distract the Creatures!"
Neverland, Lord Milori was right.
"Let me out. I'll stay, but let me out in case she needs help," he begged.
Lord Milori searched his eye. "She could die if you distract from the control she has over them. Give me your word."
He nodded. "I'll stay, just unlock the cage."
With a long, hard look, the General unlocked it but didn't open the door.
The panic eased—a bit—and he turned to grip the bars and watch Silvermist walk through hell a second and third time.
The moment that all the Creatures were locked in the cages, he pulled out the earplugs, burst out of the cell, and ran through the rain to her.
She had a brilliant smile and ran into his arms. "Are you alright? I thought I could protect you—-"
"I'm fine. Are you and the baby?" He wanted to hold her so tight that it took conscious effort to be gentle.
"I think so. We can have Spruce check."
But he dropped down to one knee and set his ear against her belly. A tiny, rapid heartbeat. With a smile of relief, he looked up at her through the rain. "His heartbeat is strong."
Her hands flew to her belly. "You can hear him?"
He quickly stood and glanced around to be sure no one noticed, but he nodded with a smile. The last thing they needed right now was the Alamur to find out about the baby when they were this close to battle.
In bed that night, he laid with an ear to her belly. A smile pulled. "There's a tiny hint of a swoosh, like he's kicking or turning in the amniotic fluid."
She gave a lazy smile, completely tired from him showing how much he loved her. "Is your sense of touch more sensitive? Will you be able to feel him kick before I do?"
Cracking a smile, he shook his head. Then he pressed his lips to her belly. "You be a good boy for Mama. No more making her get morning sickness." He chuckled. "His heartbeat speeds up when one of us talks."
With a tired smile, she tugged him to lie down in bed with her. "I wish my wings weren't so big so you could spoon me." Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder and laid on her back, easing his hand over the baby. "It feels special when you touch my belly."
He closed his eyes and grinned like a fool. "I like touching your belly. After the battle when it's safe for everyone to know, I'm going to touch the baby all the time. You'll be yelling at me to leave you alone."
She was so silent that he opened his eyes. "Dewdrop?"
Resting her hand over his, a slight nervousness shot through her glow. "I, um, don't want you to get all excited. I noticed today that I'm starting to get a little bump, but Spruce said it's extra water weight because of the baby. So if you see me when I'm standing, don't talk about a baby bump because it's not."
She seemed so nervous and worried. "Sweetheart, that's good. You need extra water. Remember Spruce said your sugar volume will increase? I'm glad you're getting extra water weight."
"You are?"
A frown pulled as he rolled over to face her and cupped her belly. "Dewdrop, I don't want you to be self-conscious about anything that happens to your body. If you needed to gain a hundred pounds because it would mean you and the baby would be healthy, then I'd want you to gain a hundred pounds."
She burst out laughing. "That's almost as big as a human!"
He grinned. "I must love you very much to not care if you got as big as a human. I love you no matter what happens to your body, and I don't want you to be ashamed. You're beautiful and are growing me a beautiful son, and all I'm worried about is if you're both healthy. So, I'm not going to pretend that I don't see any water weight, which I haven't actually noticed, because we're going to be happy about each change that means we have a healthy pregnancy."
Another flash of nervousness through her glow around his heart. Then she slowly slid out of bed and turned to face him. She bit her lip.
There it was—her belly no longer flat but a small pooch in her lower abs. It turned his heart to mush. He slid across to the edge of the bed. "Oh, sweetheart, you look so beautiful." Tears burned and he cupped her belly that curved perfectly to fit his palm.
"I didn't think you'd be the one crying about water weight." She smiled, her nervousness fading.
"I get to watch you and the baby grow. How is that anything but perfect?" His voice cracked and he pressed a kiss to the small swell. "Never hide your body. You're so exquisite, and you'll be more beautiful the bigger the baby grows." A restless sigh escaped. "Silver," he panted as he sprinkled kisses over her belly, "seeing you with my baby...I need you right now." Tugging her down to straddle his lap, his head fell back in ecstacy.
She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Out of all the reactions I worried you'd have, you wanting me more wasn't one of them."
"This pregnancy is going to wear me out," he panted.
Her laugh rang through the air as she met his lips.