The Flesh of Titans

by Victoria Mercier

  ​Lotian laded next to Dramer. The hazel-haired demi-dragon squinted at his younger brother but didn’t comment. There was no time for that anyway. Geraldine appeared between them. Her punches and kicks were a blur, but so were the demi-dragons. They matched her speed and agility. Unfortunately, after a minute it has become apparent that their hits weren’t working on her. Being an elemental gave her tremendous advantage. She was invulnerable. And to think that the Titans were even stronger than her. How could they wound the flesh of Titan? Was there special magic or something?

  ​Geraldine broke off and said, “are they really demi-dragons, Atrax? They are weak—” Dramer’s fist for the first time connected with her face. It sent her flying though she quickly disappeared. There was something different about his punch this time. A different kind of magic used, still with a dragon’s flavor, but not quite like it.

  ​The elemental reappeared above them. She could levitate! Well, she had mastery over the air, so this should be expected. Demi-dragons’ answer was immediate. Their power levels reached critical mass, their bodies shone brightly and deadly waves rolled out of them crashing everything around. That was the true power of demi-dragons, two figures ablaze with rage.

  ​The chamber began shaking, they were tearing it down. Exactly, as Lotian predicted. The marble increase looked immaculate though. Demi-dragons’ power couldn’t reach it. Some kind of insanely strong shield protected it from sharing the fate of the rest of the Lincoln Room. A thought slammed me, the old man! There… he wasn’t on the bench anymore. Only Nix remained there, standing ready to engage Geraldine, though judging by the power differences between weaker Lotian, stronger Dramer and Geraldine, Nix’s wasn’t required.

  ​But the elemental didn’t seem worried by the incredible outburst of dragon’s rage. She looked at us with derision. It made me step back more than the power shooting out of demi-dragons.

  ​“Emptiness.” One word whispered across the room and just like that everything changed. I realized with a sudden spike of panic that I couldn’t breathe. My lungs burned, and that wasn’t all. I couldn’t hear anything! What did she do to the air?

  ​Lotian fell to one knee. His power burned bright but started weakening. Dramer stood stubbornly. His mouth sealed, his amber eyes shone with anger like two beacons amid the enraged but silent sea.

  ​Stay there, Flare, Nix said in my head. I’m coming…

  ​He conjured something around his head. As he set off toward me, bubbles of condensed air touched him and exploded destroying the high stands for the witnesses. The shockwave flattened everything. I tried to withstand it but my body protested without oxygen.

  ​Nix! I screamed knowing that he lived. Otherwise, I’d be dead.

  ​In the corner of my eye, I saw Geraldine floating down. She wasn’t hurrying up.

  ​Bitch! They’re dying. Now even Dramer was losing his power. It looked that the air was our weak spot. Edges of my vision blackened. I gripped my throat. She was going to choke us to death. Geraldine landed next to Lotian. I could barely see, but she and her intent engraved itself in my eyeballs. She raised her hand, its end translucent but strangely smoldering with the light-inverted white flames. She was about to strike Lotian who was on his four gasping for the air that was no more.

  ​As her hand slashed toward Lotian’s neck, I started, but something… something was faster than me. Darkness rolled all over us like a rushing river. Its tendrils shot out of its roiling surface. One of them was about to hit me, only it ceased in the mid-air. The bubble of dark particles expanded enclosing me. Other bubbles did the same with Lotian, Dramer and Nix.

  ​It stopped Geraldine.

  ​At first, I thought of Titans and that we just had been invaded, then the figure waded through the strange smoke. His black coat disappearing in the darkness that boiled around his knees. His slick black hair and handsome tanned face arrested my heart. Who was this man? He walked past me, without acknowledging my presence.

  ​“What is he doing here?” For some reason, I could hear the elemental. I could breathe too. The bubbles of dark particles returned the air. “Atrax! You broke the law by bringing him here!”

  ​The shadow man stopped in the middle of the room. Not far from raising Dramer and Lotian. Geraldine shot out into the air avoiding the black smoke.

  ​“Is sentencing your sons to death by the hand of the Titans’ offspring the new way of ruling the Light-sacred world?” The newcomer’s voice sounded smooth and without a grain of anger.

  ​Mirenne twisted gently getting a better look at Atrax.

  ​“Is this that new promised world?” The newcomer said when silence met his earlier words. “What are you going to say, Mirenne, Geraldine, Zane, father? Is this how the Council deals with its allies? Letting them kill each other. Did I miss something?”

  ​Did he say father? Was he the fifth demi-dragon? But his power didn’t smell of dragon’s magic. It was alien, strange, unique in every sense. What was going on?

  ​The bubbles dispelled as Geraldine’s spell stopped working.

  ​“Bastiel,” Dramer said as he raised. His rage flared anew. “I had this.”

  ​Bastiel.

  ​So this was the fifth demi-dragon. Still, everything was different about him. The physical pull I felt toward other demi-dragons with Bastiel wasn’t working.

  ​“You had nothing, brother. Geraldine is too smart to fight head-on. She’d choke you all,” Bastiel swept his gaze around. His dark violet eyes passed me without notice. Then he added. “To death.”

  ​The air elemental reappeared at her marble seat. “That’s what you get for disrespecting the Council of the Light, Bastiel.”

  ​“I’d like to know why did you summon him here, Atrax?” Mirenne asked faking a nonchalant expression. I betted she was extremely pissed off by the appearance of the man who singlehandedly stopped Geraldine.

  ​“I said a long time ago that dragons should be culled. There is more trouble than benefit from having them around,” Zane finally commented with his leg on the armrest. It only emphasized disrespect toward us, dragons.

  ​“Watch your mouth, Zane,” Atrax warned. One pulse of insane power came out of him. It chased away Bastiel’s smokes but didn’t harm us, dragons. On the other hand, Mirenne and Zane had to conjure powerful shields to protect themselves. Geraldine simply dissipated. “I suffered arrogance of other Prime Powers long enough. I agreed to your idea of dampening our rage. But remember this. Dragons can only be pushed so far. Keep that in mind and know that dragons were the first to come here to help earthlings in their battle with the Titans. Where were your kind, Zane?”

  ​The fairy’ bushy eyebrows rose. For a moment, Atrax’s words revealed Zane’s vulnerability, the smug and indifference gone from his face. What were we just witnessing here?

  ​“Speak more of my kind, Atrax, and your head will roll,” Zane snarled. “Now, there is no point to drag this farse. I vote to dismiss the meeting. I couldn’t care less about some girl from the Wastelands, even if she has a lot of dragon’s blood in her veins. But I don’t like this maneuver with Bastiel and words of yours, Atrax. This will be reported higher.” Zane stood up, murmured strange words, and then powerful fairy’s magic swirled around him.

  ​He disappeared. I thought that the teleporting out of the basilica was impossible? Unless he did it within the building.

  ​Mirenne remained on the seat, but Geraldine didn’t return after Atrax’s pulse.

  ​“I believe there is nothing else to say, Atrax. This Council meeting is a sham. I see what you tried to accomplish here, but you failed.”

  ​Mirenne collapsed in itself leaving only Atrax, his sons and me.

  ​“Dismissed,” he said, but he wasn’t finished. As he stood up, he added. “You can take her with you. And share between yourself as you please.”

  ​Dramer growled immediately switching to a fighting pose. His rage exploded. “Take your words back!”

  ​“Or what
?” Atrax asked.

  ​“Or—”

  ​Bastiel stopped his brother before this went too far.

  ​I had that terrible feeling that trouble just started.

  ​Atrax disappeared to in the outburst of flames leaving us alone.

  Chapter 4

  The Council departed. Dramer cursed, then spun.

  “Flare!” He set off toward me, but halfway there, Lotian blocked his way.

  ​“She is mine, now!” What the hell…

  ​Shit. I knew things were about to go south.

  ​“Get lost, pup,” Dramer growled. His naked torso steamed. He was ready for round two. “Go back to your master.”

  ​Lotian was not going to stand down. In his heart, I was his. He couldn’t accept that his brother appeared and wanted to take me just like that. Nix stood paralyzed by dilemma amongst the pieces of the ruined witness stand. Bastiel watched the empty thrones.

  ​I crossed the room and took the place between steaming Dramer and intense Lotian.

  ​“Stop, you two!” I snapped at them. We were almost killed by a mad air elemental and it seemed they didn’t have enough. “You can’t fight.”

  ​Lotian stood down, then turned away from me, “Flare, you have to tell him.”

  ​Dramer puffed his absurdly large chest. “Tell me what?”

  ​This was the moment I’ve dreaded for a long time now. How could I explain to Dramer all that had happened between me and his brothers? Strings of guilt pulled at my heart tearing it to pieces. My breath caught as if Geraldine’s spell has been still in place. When I thought of this moment, it seemed so distant and so unrealistic. And here I was. Alone with four powerful demi-dragons. Three of them craved me and I wanted them as much, but that was exactly why I was in trouble. I had gone overboard taking them all and now I had to suffer the consequences. I was not a coward and so I steeled my trembling body, raised my chin and faced hazel-haired demi-dragon.

  ​“Lotian, Nix and I are bonded.”

  ​Dramer spun on the heel and glared at Nix. “What the fuck, Nix? I asked you to keep an eye on her, not to bond!” His rage began boiling. Steam hissed out of him. I’ve never wondered how did he do this. Now, it didn’t matter.

  ​Suddenly, the temperature raised. I sensed a murderous intent from Dramer even without a bond. Both demi-dragons tensed, ready to strike. While Lotian was weaker than Dramer, Nix was on a similar level. If they clashed now, the basilica would be truly destroyed. Why Atrax wanted his sons dead? What was his aim in all of this?

  ​“Calm yourself, brother,” Nix said in his rich melodic voice. “You—”

  ​Dramer shot forth with a startling impetus. Nix braced for the impact which didn’t come because tendrils of black smoke exploded out of the ruined floor and gripped Dramer’s wrists. Dramer pulled at them with terrible strength, but they held.

  ​“Get them off me, Bastiel!”

  ​Bastiel’s violet eyes jumped between me, Dramer and Nix. The stream of black smoke beneath his feet turned to a trickle. As the tendrils thinned, Dramer snapped them. He whirled back to Nix, but his blonde brother was already next to him. He grabbed Dramer’s arms and smashed him against the floor. There he kept him under control.

  ​“Pull yourself together, Dramer! We aren’t your enemies!”

  ​“You stole her from me!” Dramer shoved Nix a few feet away. As Dramer rose the air quivered with his intensity and… was it arousal? It spread in air like pollen.

  ​Dramer’s hands turned white from the excess of dragon’s fire he summoned. He was ready to strike Nix.

  ​“Stop this…” I whispered but Dramer’s rage seized the control. The heat blasting out of him was unbelievable. It scorched wood and glassed the stone. Dramer’s massive legs tensed ready for the jump. The same went for Lotian who had to defend Nix. Our trio was bonded for life and death. If one of us failed the other two would follow the suit.

  ​Things that happened next, did so without my will. As Dramer lunged toward Nix, a powerful force tugged at the bond with Nix. I’ve never felt anything such as this. Then, my body moved on its own, before it happened, I’d known that my unicorn’s magic had activated, time stretched. Suddenly, I was next to Dramer, my fist connected with his face and muscular stomach. To me, he was a giant and still, my punches sent him flying. He crashed against the marble increase and dropped to the floor.

  ​He spat. My intervention snapped his attention.

  ​“Do you know what will happen when you kill him?” I asked holding his angry stare.

  ​Dramer’s jaw moved, but no words came out. He was pissed off to no end. I wished to embrace him and tell him how much I missed him, but I wasn’t going to make the first move. Yes, I could be a stubborn bitch, too, if someone hasn’t noticed yet.

  ​“So, is this how it’s going to be, Dramer? Anger and bad blood? Why are you doing this all over again? We have one idiot to deal with. Don’t make it two,” Nix said as he repaired his uniform. “Anyway, it’s good to see you, Bastiel. You have an impressive timing.”

  ​Bastiel’s smile reminded me of Sol. It radiated with sadness. This man, despite the appearance of a twenty-five-years-old, possessed the wisdom worth a thousand years.

  ​Dramer’s amber eyes met mine. My bond hurt him beyond my direst expectation. He still desired me, but something… his pride, I think, took the better of him.

  ​“We have nothing to talk about anymore.” He set off, passed me and continued toward the door. I looked at Nix who urged me to follow. We couldn’t leave at such terms. The blow to my heart hurt, the pain threatened to squash me. I was prideful too. Why should I bend for him?!

  ​Since when being wiser is bending? A mysterious voice said my head. It didn’t belong to Nix or Lotian, nor Bastiel seemed as if he was happy to talk to me. No, this voice belonged to a woman. Surely, no one I knew.

  ​“If he passes that door, Flare, he’ll be gone. He will become another Saaron.”

  ​I understood and agreed with Nix and the voice in my head. I knew what I should do. And yet, my feet couldn’t twitch. My body froze at the barest thought of going after Dramer. While, I looked unharmed and unhurt, internally I bled from a thousand wounds that were caused by each step Dramer made and I failed to make. As the distance between us increased, the first tears began to roll out of the corners of my eyes. Were these the unicorn’s tears, I wondered? Or just simple ones? Was there even a difference?

  ​As Dramer disappeared behind the corner, I wanted to howl like a wounded nightwolf. Nix sighed while Lotian looked satisfied. Perhaps, he feared his older brother more than he let out.

  ​My attention was drawn by Bastiel. The black-haired demi-dragon-demi-something looked at me briefly.

  ​“I see that the things haven’t changed much between you, brothers,” Bastiel said.

  ​Nix and Lotian flanked me from the two different sides.

  ​“You’re mistaken, Bastiel,” Nix said. “Everything is different.”

  ​“Maybe,” Bastiel murmured as he pulled at the collar of his coat. “Maybe it’s only your perception.” With that Bastiel set off toward the door. His failure to acknowledge me said something about him. His power level was veiled behind the curtains of alien flavors.

  ​“Yeah, it was nice to meet you too,” I said as Bastiel left the chamber.

  ​Lotian embraced me while Nix remained close but avoided physical contact. Dramer’s words stung him deeply.

  ​“Take Flare home, Lotian. I have to speak to Bastiel. He behaved strangely.”

  ​“Come,” Lotian’s hand slipped into mine. He was content with this.

  Chapter 5

  Nix

  Streets were empty after the celebration of the First Day of Light. Sometimes it extended to a week. In truth, nothing of the original motives remained today. People wanted to drink until they passed out and have a few days off work. The same thing happened with the factions that have started as religious movements. Before echoes of th
e first prayers quieted down, the founders lost their faith and turned their newfound power toward a different goal. No one cared about immaterial gods anymore. Riches and authority counted nowadays.

  ​From time to time cars passed me. The North Tooth spread north of the basilica. Unlike, the western Squares where people lived in blocks, this place here belonged to the rich strata of the Great York City. The only better place to live was Maran Del, where Lotian and Selene had their mansions. Before Saaron took the position as the Head of Dragon House he had lived there as well. Now, his home was the Academy. Dramer had a dozen apartments throughout the city, while Bastiel has never owned his four walls here. I lived in the garrison, but any moment now I expected my dismissal to come through. Having Bastiel around made me redundant.

  ​The car roared as I pressed the pedal lower. Finding Bastiel in this forty-million-people agglomeration was going to be a pain. The time beyond the walls made him an elusive man. I only could imagine what he had gone through living in the world devoided of light. Usually, Bastiel was easy to deal with, but his attitude toward Flare in the basilica showed worrisome omens. He barely acknowledged her, which was strange. Why did he do it? And there is our youngest brother. Lotian may think that getting rid of Dramer solves our problem. He’s too young to properly understand feelings. He wasn’t there in the medical unit where Dramer and Flare for the first time showed attraction to each other. He doesn’t understand that Flare is going to suffer a great deal.

  ​We needed to turn Dramer around. But the only person who could make it happen was Bastiel. Our father showed his true colors in the Lincoln Room. He sought discord amongst us. His motives were unclear though. What is you want, father? I asked in my head, knowing well he couldn’t hear my thoughts. The bond with Flare allowed me to speak directly into her head. While Lotian had months to get used to it, I had only two days of practice. It felt strange. It was different from telepathy. More personal.