Shadow Revealed (The Enlightened Species Book Two) Read Free

same Morsdente that had been on the Aquaties wanted and warning lists for multiple attacks against his people. How close had Tabby come to calling herself to the attention of such a prolific killer?
    Dorn was not a warrior. He was a healer. He wouldn’t stand a chance against an Elven Morsdente on the hunt. He needed to warn the school of Aquaties that called this lake their home that there was a Morsdente in their territory. After that he’d alert the SOSC, then get his daughter back downstream to the ocean, where she would be safe.
    “They were not human, Tabby,” he began. “They were Volaticus, Elven, at least the male was. The female was half human and half Elven, a Hulven, I think. Either way they were both Volaticus.” He sped toward the underwater caves along the mountain at the opposite side of the lake.
    “But Volaticus are enlightened, daddy. Civilized … like us. The female was trying to wrap her foot around a rotten fish … to eat. She was starving. Enlightened folks don’t starve. Are you sure they weren’t humans?” She was shaking her head, eyes wide.
    “Tabby, why would you throw a human a fish, anyways? Rule number one: Don’t expose your existence to humanity,” Dorn barked at her. She still didn’t realize the danger she had placed herself in, placed them all in.
    “She didn’t see me. I was fast,” Tabby whined, defending herself as only a child’s logic can.
    “She saw you; she even shook her head to warn you. Maybe she saw you because she is Volaticus; maybe a human wouldn’t have seen you, but that’s beside the point here. Do you think a human is so stupid that they would fail to realize that fish normally do not leap out of the water at them?” He was scolding his only daughter harsher than he ever had.
    Her shoulder sagged slightly as she tried to swim behind him in shame, and Dorn had to slow his pace not to get ahead of her. “You’re right daddy, I didn’t think of that.”
    Dorn didn’t soften his tone. “That Elven male was far more dangerous than any human you could ever have come across.” Much as he wanted to sooth her and reassure her, he needed to scare her further. “Evil is found in all species. Humans have not yet enlightened; they still use a very small portion of their mental capabilities, so they might seem uncivilized to us. We see them exploiting themselves, each other, and the planet. The truth is there was a time long, long ago when the Aquaties were much the same way, if not worse. We hunted each other, cannibalized and subjugated our brothers and sisters. Just because we enlightened and breached into the part of our minds that enables us to use our psychic energy and abilities doesn’t make us civilized. There are those amongst the Aquaties who, though enlightened … remain evil, uncivilized. Those who still seek to hunt, cannibalize, and subjugate. There are those kinds of people peppered throughout every species.” It broke his heart looking into to her wide, horror-filled eyes. “Do you understand?”
    Her shattered image of a perfect world hung on his conscious. Her chin quivered when she answered his question. “So you mean that no matter how powerful and psychically enlightened a species becomes, there will always be some that are mean?”
    Nodding, Dorn continued with a softer tone. “Humans will arrive at their enlightenment at some point. Even when they do, there will be those amongst them who will be evil, who will kill and exploit. That Elven male holding the slave was a Morsdente. He represents the most evil type of killer within the Volaticus species. You see, Tabby, Elven require the iron found in blood to survive, and historically, the highest iron could be found in human blood. They don’t need to kill to obtain enough blood to sustain them, though evil ones still kill when feeding on humans. Some kill because they like to kill; often they are the ones that eventually become Morsdente. It has always been against their laws to