Chapter 61: Blue Tang is Hurt!
Amber was taking a peaceful nap with her newborn cubs, Eli and Nick. She was startled awake when she felt her ankle start to heat up. She jolted up and looked at her merman mate mark.
It was glowing red and felt warm to the touch. She thought of Blue Tang who had been gone for almost a week. She wondered where he was and if he was in trouble.
Nick woke up as soon as Amber did. The cubs stayed asleep and snuggled closer to Eli and into the fur rug that was still warm from Amber's body heat.
Nick noticed Amber looking at her ankle and her mate mark. He asked, "Are you ok? What happened?" Amber replied, "I was sleeping and all of a sudden my ankle felt hot. I wonder if Blue Tang is ok."
Nick was about to respond not to worry about it when Blue Tang suddenly appeared in front of them. He was still wet with seawater and cut with bruises all over his body.
He was in his mermaid form so he fell to the ground, but quickly transformed into his two-legged form. Amber sucked in a breath in shock. Blue Tang looked like he was almost beaten to death. Amber called Oliver over to look at Blue Tang.
Oliver was cooking in the kitchen when he heard his mate calling for him. He came in quickly since he heard the urgency in her voice.
He saw Blue Tang and was surprised and confused. "What happened?" Amber explained how she summoned him after she noticed her mate mark felt hot.
"Oliver, can you please check his wounds?" Oliver was a little apathetic towards beast men. They tend to heal quicker than females unless it was a life-threatening injury.
Oliver knew his mate would worry if he didn't check on Blue Tang's injuries, so he went over and checked him.
"He's fine, he didn't get any critical injuries. He will heal in a day or two. He just needs rest."
Amber sighed in relief and asked, "Is there anything we can do to help heal him quicker?" Nick knew how Amber cared about her mates and offered, "I can give him a crystal. It will heal him instantly."
Amber nodded and agreed to give him a crystal. They had many due to all the behemoths that Nick and the others hunted while they were leveling up.
Nick left to get a crystal and fed it to Blue Tang. Amber watched in amazement as his cuts and bruises healed almost instantly. Blue Tang woke up and looked confused about his surroundings. "How did I get here?"
Amber told him how she summoned him. He looked relieved and told them what happened.
"I went back to my old tribe and found the former King and Queen had returned. The Queen became jealous when she learned that I had a new mate and ordered the King and the other mermen to kill us. I was overwhelmed and King Gold almost killed me if you hadn't summoned me back."
Nick heard that the mermaid Queen wanted to kill Amber and became enraged. How dare she want to kill his mate? This means war!
Blue Tang continued, "He is most likely on his way here now. It will take him at least 3 days to reach us."
Nick replied with a deep growl, "They can try to storm the castle. I will kill them all! No one will harm my mate!"
Blue Tang was conflicted when he heard Nick's war declaration. He was ready to die for his tribe earlier, but he didn't want them to kill his mate. He would have to fight them to the death this time.
Amber was worried, "The previous Merman King is coming to kill us! Oh my God! We need to inform the other Kings in the Beast City so we can protect the other people."
Nick hugged Amber to console her. "Don't worry. I won't let them hurt you. I will go talk to the other Kings. We will fight against the Merfolk together!"
Amber nodded into Nick's chest. She didn't want him to fight, but if they were united against a common enemy they had a better chance to win.
She didn't want to die in the beast world or lose anyone she cared about. Eli and the cubs woke up from Nick's loud voice and growl.
Eli looked confused and sad when he heard mermen were coming to kill his mother. The cubs howled in their baby voices. Amber bent down to hug them and comfort them. "It's ok, your daddy and uncles won't let anyone hurt us. We will be safe inside the castle."
Oliver came and helped Amber with the cubs. Nick went to inform the other Kings in the Beast City. Blue Tang went to recover in the hot tub.
Barry and Fred were out in the fields. Tom and Tyler were hunting birds and eggs for dinner. They came home when they noticed Nick leave in a hurry.
Nick went to the Lion King's castle first. They were allies, so he thought to inform him first. He passed by Larry and a few other guards on his way. Larry went to stop him, but Nick was too strong.
He roared and called the Lion King out. After a few minutes, he came out to meet Nick. Nick explained the situation and informed him about the mermen coming to kill his mate.
At first, the Lion King was hesitant to fight the former Merman King. They relied on salt trading every year. Without salt, many females would die. He couldn't afford to make an enemy of the Mermen Tribe.
"We rely on the salt trade every year with the Mermen Tribe. I can't afford to offend the Merman King."
Nick responded, "You can trade for salt with me. I know the secret to harvesting salt from the sea. One of Amber's mates is a merman."
Nick didn't want anyone to suspect Amber's salt-making technique. He knew it was a precious commodity and beast men would fight for it if they knew half of the secrets she possessed.
The Lion King agreed after that. He would rather trade with Nick than go all the way to the sea every year. It was a long and dangerous journey. His mate also liked Amber. She would want him to help defend against the Mermen.
Nick went to each of the other Kings and explained the situation. He also offered to trade salt with them so they didn't worry about offending the Merman King.
The Wolf King was reluctant to agree because his mate didn't like Amber. After Amber rejected her favorite son, the Wolf Queen held a grudge. He agreed to be neutral and only interfere if necessary.
Nick was fine with that decision. He only informed the other Kings because Amber asked him to. He was confident that he could defeat the Merman King. The other Kings could handle the rest of the Mermen.
He returned to the castle and Amber had a few ideas for him to help win the war. As a human from Earth, she knew about wars from her history books. She had plenty of military men in her family. She knew about battle strategies.
"If they come by water, we can build a blockade to slow them down. We can also set up some traps. If they come by land, the flying beast men can drop things from the sky."
Tom and Tyler perked up. They were happy to help and would recruit other flying beast men to help protect their mate.
Amber spent the rest of the day telling them about war strategy and making a plan. Nick was impressed by her knowledge. He thought beast men were ferocious, but men from Earth had more ways to kill each other than he had ever imagined.
Amber informed them of her plan to wait in the tallest tower of the castle with the cubs and Eli. "Tom and Tyler can fly us away quickly if the Mermen make it to the top. I can also summon Blue Tang and Nick if I need them."
Berry, Fred, and Oliver looked disappointed that they were not high enough level yet for Amber to summon them. They made a silent promise to level up quickly so they could help protect Amber.
Fred was interested in the traps Amber mentioned and offered to dig some holes for the traps.
Oliver and Barry started to sharpen sticks. Tom and Tyler rallied the flying beast men. Tyler was now a King after he leveled up to four stripes. He controlled all the Eagle flying beast men.
They would all fight to protect their Queen. Most of the flying beast men knew each other in the Beast City. They even went back to their original tribes to recruit more beast men.
They had gathered a large army within 3 days. Now all they could do was wait.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone