by Eric Asher
“Can ghosts puke?” Vicky asked. “I never puked when I was a ghost. Is that a thing?”
“Really not helpful,” Terrence groaned out. “Really.” Something echoed out of the ghost that sounded very much like a dry heave before he finally straightened and ran his hands down his cheeks. “That was horrible. That. Was. Horrible.”
“I’m with Terrence,” Luna muttered, leaning against Zola for a brief time before stretching her back.
“It’s quiet,” Zola said.
“Where are we?” Vicky asked.
Zola squinted down the hall. “We’re near the entrance to the Obsidian Inn. That’s the guard shack where the Utukku turn everything into a kebab.” She frowned. “Come on. If Drake’s not here, he may be in the training grounds. But if he’s not there, we don’t have time to waste. We need to find Sam, and to do that we might have to get behind enemy lines.”
Vicky stuffed the hand of Gaia into the backpack while Terrence held it open for her. She zipped it up and took it from the ghost, keeping the makeshift strap slung crossways over her shoulder. “Let’s go.”
It didn’t take long to reach the doors hidden in the stone. Behind them was the corridor that led to the intricately carved doors of the training hall. Vicky remembered the raucous sounds of the drilling Fae, and the fights in the circle, and the coordinated dance of the owl knights. But as the inner doors swung open, the Hall felt more like a tomb.
“Emptied out,” Zola said, and there was a heaviness to her voice as it echoed around them.
“Did they retreat?” Terrence asked. “Did they all deploy to the battle?”
“Could be a mix.”
“Some of them could’ve defected,” Vicky said. “I ran into more than one owl knight.”
Terrence looked around the Hall. “I saw them too.”
They walked a little deeper into the cavern. A small armory off to the left caught Vicky’s eye. She headed over to it and grabbed a thick rope off a shelf that only held a few small knives. She fed it through the fasteners on the backpack, and tied it as tight as she could before cutting the excess off with the knife. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable thing in the world, but at least she could slide it over both arms again. The pack was heavy with all the ammunition, and Damian was going to need a new one when they got him out of this. If they got out of this. But Vicky didn’t hold onto that thought. They’d either fix this, or it would be someone else’s problem.
Footsteps echoed behind them, and a small knot of dread loosened just a bit when Vicky saw Drake stalking toward her.
The feeling didn’t last.
“It’s worse than we thought,” Drake said. “The battle hasn’t stopped. The Inn deployed in waves at Morrigan’s order. They’re holding Nudd’s forces back, but it’s just a matter of time.”
“Time until what?” Zola asked.
“Until Damian kills them all. He already engaged one of the companies, and they didn’t fare well. What I don’t understand is why he’s off to the northwest. Nudd clearly knows at this point that the Inn is here. Unless he knows something we don’t. Or has some plan besides simply wiping out the Inn.
“If the battle hasn’t stopped,” Vicky said, “where did the reporters get that footage on TV?”
“Every battle has lulls,” Drake said. “Nudd’s not stupid. He knows those reporters are out there. He’s going to keep them safe to broadcast his glory.” Disgust dripped from Drake’s words.
“Then we move,” Zola said. “Now.”
Drake studied Terrence. “Are you sure you want to bring the ghost into this?”
“Am Ah sure?” Zola asked. “You’d be mad not to. At the very least, Terrence is a barometer of Damian’s powers.”
Drake shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. We have no way to tell if the power Damian imbued him with needs the necromancer’s consciousness or not.”
Zola narrowed her eyes. “You worry about lighting things up with your dragon. Let me worry about the hard stuff.”
Drake stiffened at the snap in Zola’s voice, but he didn’t respond. Perhaps he had enough experience over the millennia to realize getting into an argument a few minutes before going to battle wasn’t the best idea.
“I’m a damn good shot,” Terrence said. “I can make use of my gun, much more than being a thermometer.”
“Barometer,” Zola said.
Luna snorted.
Drake nodded slowly. “That gun does seem to be channeling some of the necromancer’s power.”
“It blew apart one of those gravemakers well enough. Although the things always seem to come back together.”
Zola rubbed at her chin. “That is unusually powerful for any magic. Keep it at the ready. Vicky, let me see that backpack.” Zola muttered to herself as she unzipped the pack. Vicky felt a jerk, and Zola almost pulled her off her feet as the old Cajun lifted something out of the pack. When the backpack zipped closed, Vicky turned around and eyed the pepperbox in Zola’s hand.
“Take it,” she said, holding the old fairy-worked gun out to Terrence.
The ghost hesitated, then wrapped his hand around the butt of the gun. Runes lit up along the side of the barrel and down the trigger guard until the wood of the grips began to smoke. The runes glowed through Terrence’s pale hand. “What is this?”
“A very unpleasant surprise for anything that gets in your way.” Zola held out a few of the speed loaders to Terrence.
“I don’t understand,” Terrence said. “Even if I can shoot this thing, what are these for?” As he asked the question, he started dropping the speed loaders into an old satchel at his side. He hit the button on one of them, and the shells fell away, clattering down into the pouch. Terrence frowned at the empty speed loader and then dropped the mechanism in too.
“It doesn’t load from the muzzle,” Zola said. “It’s modified. Load it from the breach.”
Terrence fumbled with it and cracked the pepperbox open. His eyebrows rose slightly at the insanely intricate gear work that waited inside. “That’s impossible.”
“An old friend worked that gun over. It’s precious to Damian. Don’t break it.”
Terrence pursed his lips and gave her a nod before he snapped the breach closed and fed the pepperbox through the belt at his waist. Vicky hadn’t noticed the buckle before. Her dad had one like it, and she knew it was a Union buckle. But unlike the bent and decayed one her father had found, this had a bright sheen to it even in its semi-translucent state.
“I don’t have anything in here for you,” Vicky said, looking at Luna.
The death bat snapped her arm out, and the razor-like edge of her wing almost sang with the motion. “I’m good.”
“It would be best if we can reach the front lines without being seen,” Drake said.
“Oh, of course,” Zola said. “It would also be best if Ah’d won the lottery ten years ago and retired to the Caribbean before any of this shit happened.”
Drake blinked at the old Cajun. He couldn’t see her face when she turned away. Couldn’t see the small smile she gave Vicky, and the quick wink of her eye.
“Regardless, we have two reapers.”
“Nudd has the Beast of Gorias,” Drake said. “Her rider is skilled, and the cruel treatment of that reaper has turned it into an unpredictable enemy.”
“At least we won’t be bored today.” Zola strode forward, her cane cracking on the stone of the cavern and echoing all around them. Two furry balls rolled across the ground at her heels, and Drake bowed his head briefly before following Zola into battle.
CHAPTER TWENTY
They walked a short distance before both dragons took their larger forms. They’d almost reached the courtyard with the basilisk bones before they could hear the far-off sounds of battle.
Vicky thought it was surreal, knowing fairies and friends were fighting to the death, but all they heard were booms and the occasional whisper of a dying scream. Closer to the horizon, where the new day’s sun offered enough light,
she could see small dots circling in the air, some falling to the earth, others rocketing into the heavens.
“There are far more forces in the sky now,” Drake said. “The only other way to get close without being seen would be to take to the underground. But the reapers aren’t as effective in enclosed space.”
“Unless you just need to light up the hallway,” Vicky said. “They’re pretty damn good at that.”
“That they are,” Drake said, mounting his dragon and sliding between two curved spines on her back that acted as a saddle.
“Ah’ll stay with Vicky,” Zola said. “Whatever you can do to keep them off us, do it.”
Drake inclined his head. “I will. You keep her safe. Keep her alive. Or we’ll have words.”
“No you won’t,” Vicky said, eyeing both of them in turn. “If I die, the only person you should be having words with is Gwynn Ap Nudd. And the only words should be a knife in his face.”
Terrence cocked his head at Vicky as he followed her up onto Jasper’s back. Zola was the last to join them, staying closer to Jasper’s tail, though Vicky worried the ride might be a little less stable toward the rear of the dragon.
Zola saw her looking and said, “Ah’ll be fine. Worry about your own ass.”
“Best advice I’ve heard all day,” Drake said. “Jasper.” Drake waited for the dragon to look at him. “Anything gets near you, burn it out of the sky.”
With that, Drake took to the air. The great dragon bore down with its wings and vanished into a low cloud bank.
“Let’s follow them,” Zola said.
Vicky patted Jasper on the neck, giving the signal. The dragon hunched down and launched himself into the air on powerful legs before his wings did the rest. It was an odd sensation, and one that Vicky didn’t know if she’d ever get used to. The feeling of her heart falling into her stomach, like a small dip on a roller coaster. That made her think of Terrence’s trip through the Abyss, and she couldn’t stop a wicked grin.
Luna squinted against the wind, her ears flat against her head as Jasper picked up speed.
“How are we going to find her?” Terrence asked.
“Samantha?” Zola asked. “That’s why Ah’m here. You might be a barometer of Damian’s powers. But Ah could recognize that boy’s soul anywhere.”
Vicky looked back at the old Cajun. “What are you going to do?”
“You two are both tied to Damian. Even now, Ah can see the faint lines of power that tie you to him being stretched to the northwest. Though Ah can’t see the boy, Ah can tell you exactly where he is. But what Ah expect will happen is that your tie to Samantha is going to pull you in a different direction. Two directions, to be exact. Whichever one Terrence isn’t tied to will be where we’ll find Sam.”
Something unraveled in Vicky’s chest. An uncertainty, even dread, that she hadn’t fully realized the scope of. She hadn’t really believed they’d find Sam, and that doubt had been so firm in her mind it churned her stomach. She hadn’t believed they really had a chance to get out of this. But with Zola, maybe they did. The clouds closed around them, and a chill settled into her bones.
* * *
Vicky’s vision dimmed as Jasper flew deeper into the cloud bank, and she could feel the coming storm. She had faith Jasper was following Drake and his dragon, but she couldn’t see more than a foot in front of her face. The cloud seemed to go on forever, until they finally broke through the wall on the other side.
Not far ahead of them were the grayish brown wings of Drake’s mount. Wind whipped the fairy’s hair back, causing his plaited platinum braid to snap. The sun rose in earnest now, and it sent the wall of clouds behind them into a fiery cascade of light. In the distance, as they flew high above the walls and spires of Falias, fire of a different sort burned.
“By the gods,” Zola said.
Even as the old Cajun spoke, Drake pointed to the distant carnage. It was hard to make out any details, but it wasn’t hard to imagine what was happening. Bursts of fire and towering explosions of blue lightning followed a shadow around the edge of the city. As far out as they were, Vicky wasn’t sure just how big what she was watching actually was. But those bolts, and that fire, had to be massive. How many people had died in each one of those eruptions? How many people had Damian killed?
Drake’s dragon pulled up until the beast and her rider hovered just over Jasper. It was a maneuver Vicky had seen them do many times when they’d flown together. It gave them the perfect angle to shout down, so they could speak above the wind and occasional roar of their mounts.
“No doubt that is Damian,” Drake said. “I haven’t seen any flyers yet, but it’s just a matter of time.”
“There!” Luna shouted.
Something shifted in the corner of Vicky’s eye. When she glanced back, she saw Terrence leveling his rifle. Aiming at Drake. “No!”
The report thundered around them. Drake pulled his dragon away, but he would have been far too slow if Terrence had been aiming for him. Instead, a tiny scream echoed out around them and wings with no body fluttered through the air past Vicky. Jasper opened his jaws and a blue fireball sent another charred corpse to follow the fairy into hell.
“A little warning next time,” Drake shouted. He hesitated and added, “Much thanks for the well-placed shot.”
Terrence ran his fingers along the barrel. “I always did have good eyes. I guess they haven’t failed me yet. I appreciate the tip, kid.”
Luna grinned at the ghost.
“We’ll definitely have to get you some chicken guts after this,” Zola said. She reached up and grasped Terrence’s shoulder. The ghost smiled as Drake’s dragon swooped back in and hovered above them.
“If they have knights up here without their owls, they’re going to be hard to spot. If Jasper gets spooked, follow his instincts. We’ll probably see whatever’s coming before you do. Unless it’s coming from above and behind us.” Drake said the last with a frown, no doubt reflecting on how much trouble he’d just avoided.
“I’m going higher,” Drake said. “I see anything trying to ambush you, I’ll take it out of the sky. Watch your backs regardless.”
“You too.” Vicky watched them rise, the pale gray underbelly of his dragon almost vanishing against the gray sky. She looked back at Zola and asked, “Which way?”
Zola pulled her hood back, her braids catching the wind as Jasper propelled them forward. Her eyes lost focus and Vicky could sense the change. Something shifted in the air around her, brushed against her aura, and called to her from the shadows she’d grown to be so familiar with.
Being able to feel someone else’s aura was an unnerving thing. And even though Vicky knew it was Zola, knew the old Cajun would do anything she could to protect her, Damian, and Sam, it still felt like walking through a massive cobweb.
“Just like a damn compass,” Zola said, showing Vicky a toothy grin. “They’re moving fast, which is good. Nothing’s attacked them. But I’m afraid that means nothing is slowing them down either.”
“You don’t think she’s alone?” Vicky asked.
Zola shook her head. “Vik keeps closer tabs on that girl than she knows. Sam went looking for a trip through the Warded Ways, he would’ve known about it.”
Vicky frowned. She wasn’t sure Zola was right about that. Sam was resourceful, cunning, and if anyone was going to outwit a centuries-old vampire, Vicky wouldn’t put it past Sam.
Jasper bent his head backward until he was upside down and eyed the riders on his back.
“Can you see it?” Zola asked.
The dragon chuffed, a small puff of smoke rising from the edges of his mouth before straightening his neck out again.
“Follow the short one,” Zola said, gesturing to something Vicky couldn’t see but which Jasper apparently could.
The dragon dove.
Vicky and Terrence grabbed the spines of Jasper’s back and held on for dear life. Zola laughed, clearly exhilarated, and Vicky worried the sound was a little
unhinged. But when Vicky glanced back, she saw the wind and rain turning the death bat into something that looked like a wet chihuahua in a wind tunnel. She barely choked back a laugh of her own.
“What’s Jasper following?” Vicky asked, focusing on the view in front of them once more.
“It’s like a pale soulsword,” Zola said. “I’d be surprised if you couldn’t see it too. But you have to open your aura, and that’s not something I’m going to be teaching you right now.”
“Like the hands of a compass?” Vicky asked.
“A bit. But a bigger circle in the middle, and that’s you and Terrence. But from that circle, light reaches out toward Damian and trails off. But there’s another line coming from you, a dimmer line, and that is reaching for Sam.”
At the mention of her name, Jasper accelerated. It was one of the times Vicky was reminded that Sam and Damian had grown up with Jasper. He’d been their friend in the shadows, their guardian. And she wondered what kind of things he’d had to protect them from. Other than Barbies, of course.
They were close enough to the buildings of Falias now that Jasper had to dive and veer around the taller spires. As another massive form came into view on the ground, running beside a goliath clad in black shadow, the Beast of Gorias found them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Vicky had been hit hard before, but the impact between the horned dragon and Jasper was like the collision of two small planets. Scales were scraped away from Jasper’s hide, and horns along the beast’s flank broke off as they dug into Jasper’s flesh. Terrence fired at the helmeted rider. One of the shots glanced off the fairy’s shoulder, another pierced his wing, but the rider barely flinched. Dragons roared and barked as they circled each other in vicious arcs, intertwining in a graceful but deadly dance. Jasper unleashed a hellish fireball that finally forced the Beast of Gorias to turn away and regroup.
“Get us to the ground!” Zola shouted.
Jasper dove, but the beast was already on their tail again. Literally. The other dragon chomped down, causing Jasper to screech in pain as teeth dug into his flesh. But the defensive spines along his back had done their job; one of them had impaled the Beast of Gorias in the roof of its mouth. The dragon pulled away again, and this time its rider unleashed a hail of three quick shots from his bow.
