“And fighting an arcane dragon is that much smarter,” he quips.
“If you can talk him into it, fine by me, but do you really think he’s going to deem you worthy of the item he’s been guarding for who knows how long? Not to mention others might’ve asked him for it too. Who knows if they were allowed to walk away from the conversation.”
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?” he asks sourly.
“No. I just pretend that I do.” I grin recklessly.
“You’re crazy.”
“I’ve never said otherwise.”
We arrive an hour later. I wave to Mike. He can stay for a few days, but hopefully, we’ll be back much earlier than that. It might take a bit to find the cave, plus the fight…
“Colorado,” I say as Darius and I climb off the plane.
“I’ve never been before,” he says.
“Skiing here is amazing.”
“You’ve skied here?”
“No, but I heard about it. It’s all anyone talks about here.”
He rolls his eyes. “Let’s get this done and over with.”
There are five routes up to the summit of Mount Elbert, and we start to climb, avoiding tourists as best as we can. After all, people don’t know about the arcane dragon living here, so he must not be on the beaten path.
After an hour of climbing, I pause to drink some water. “Can’t you sense arcane magic and just find him?”
“Don’t you think I’ve been trying to sense him this entire time?” he retorts.
“Maybe he’s not here during the day,” I muse. “After all, this place has a bunch of hikers.”
"You want to wait until nightfall, then?"
“Yes.”
“Hiking in the dark isn’t the brightest of ideas.”
“You already pointed out that going after the dragon at all isn’t so…” Grinning, I shrug and hold out my hands. “What do you say to a late lunch? My treat.”
“You really are crazy.”
“Guilty as charged.”
After lunch, we relax a bit and then hit the slopes for two hours before eating dinner. To kill more time, we watch a movie. I can’t even concentrate on what it’s about. All I’m thinking about is if I brought along enough stakes. I’m going to need ranged weapons for this. Spears and javelins might be a good investment. A rifle too. My pistols only have a limited range with high accuracy.
As the credits roll, I glance at Darius. He nods, and we head out of the ski lodge we had been crashing at and enter the grand outdoors.
It seems so peaceful here, quiet too as we reach the base of Mount Elbert. The higher we climb with the light of the almost full moon and the thousands of stars studding the night sky, the less nocturnal insects I hear. That has to be a good sign.
Abruptly, Darius halts so quickly that I plow into his backside.
Wordlessly, he points to a large cave. “He’s in there.”
“Are you sure?”
He glowers at me.
I hold up my hands. “Just checking.”
Darius grumbles under his breath. “I’ll go first.”
“You really want to talk to him?”
The witch is silent.
With a shrug, I follow Darius inside. I have my crossbow loaded already and my gun in hand. If the dragon's in the cave, I'll be able to hit him. Whether or not the bullet will penetrate is another story, but if his mouth is open or maybe his eye…
We have to walk deep into the cave before we see any signs of a dragon—claw marks on the floor. If they’re any indication, the dragon is massive.
Abruptly, the cave widens into a massive circular room. For me to see the ceiling, I have to tip my head all the way back. It must go all the way to the summit! Or pretty close to it at least.
And there, resting on a pile of rocks instead of treasure, is the arcane dragon. He's a dark blue, almost black color. His eyes are wholly white, and his wings are mostly purple. His chest seems to be mostly exposed, white scales. Long spikes line the center of his back. Best of all, his head is pointed away from us as he rests there, his barbed tail curled around him.
If I can just find the scepter!
I take a step forward, as silent as all of my other ones, but the dragon whips his head up and stares us down. Twin horns curl toward his back on the top of his head.
“Hi there,” Darius says. “We don’t mean to bother you.”
The dragon lifts his head but doesn’t react otherwise.
“We are looking for the scepter because we want to kill the cainians who are hellbent on destroying the world,” I say in a rush.
Darius gapes at me.
I shrug. If we’re trying the talking route, might as well go ahead and wag our tongues. And, yes, maybe I overexaggerated things a little, but the cainians are agents of evil so I don’t feel as if my words are completely irrational.
The dragon roars. The noise is deafening, and I automatically cover my ears with my hands. The handle of the gun is cool against my skin, and I take aim right as the dragon opens his mouth. Purple swirls above his tongue, and he lets out a massive blast of arcane energy in the form of a ball so large that it takes up almost the entire area in the room.
Darius struggles to contain the blast, and I fire at the dragon’s eyes. He keeps moving, though, and with each smaller blast of arcane energy, his white chest and his eyes glow purple.
“Stay behind me!” Darius yells.
He doesn’t have to tell me twice, but he’s not going to be able to absorb all of this energy. Is he trying to divert it back toward the dragon? I can’t be sure.
Bullets fly, and I shoot the dragon clear through an eye. He wails and starts to fly.
Time for my crossbow. I shoot at its underbelly, but each time, the stake bounces off the hardened scales.
Time to try elsewhere.
A few more stakes bounce off, and I’m starting to run low when one not only pierces through the dragon’s wing, but the stake burrows its tip into the cave wall, effectively pinning the dragon in place.
Swiftly, I race around to the other side of Darius. The dragon’s arcane balls are heading straight for us, but I take careful aim and fire. Yes! The dragon’s other wing is pinned!
But only for a second. With a roar, the dragon beats his wings so hard that he tears them free from the walls. Both wings have a long gash, and I fire the last two stakes into each wing.
The dragon tries to fly, but he can’t lift up that high. Finally on the offensive side of the battle, Darius attacks the dragon with his own arcane blasts. When one strikes the dragon right in the forehead, he falls to the ground with a heavy thud. His head bangs into the wall, and he lays there, still.
After a few minutes, we cautiously approach.
“Do you think he’s dead?” I whisper to Darius.
He doesn’t say anything until two more minutes pass. Now, he nods. “I can’t sense his arcane energy anymore.”
“The scepter has to be here.”
“You’re lucky he didn’t land on his horde because we never would’ve been able to move him.”
“It’s about time I have some luck,” I grumble.
We get to work, shifting through the rocks.
“Don’t dragons prefer—Oh my God.”
“What? Did you find it?” Darius crosses over to me. “Bones.”
“I guess we know what happened to the ones who came before us.” I shudder.
We find a lot more bones and the weapons those fallen men and women left behind, but there’s no sign of the scepter anywhere.
And that’s when I notice it. The dragon’s claws. His right hand. They’re closed.
“Was this always closed?” I ask, hurrying over to the dragon.
“I think so.”
I pry it open. Inside is a single gemstone.
We literally leave no stone unturned, but there’s nothing else at all in the dragon’s horde that can account for the rest of the scepter.
“Gre
at. What now?” I kick a rock, thankfully not stubbing a toe in the process.
“Rebel.”
“I guess it’s a good thing he didn’t horde gemstones because I wouldn’t have realized this stone is important compared to the others, but—”
“Rebel!”
“Yeah!”
Darius grabs my hand and yanks. His expression is one of terror, and I glance at the dragon.
Whose chest is beginning to rise.
I mutter a curse, and we race out of the cave and all the way back to Mike’s tiny plane. He’s sleeping there. That werewolf can sleep anywhere. As soon as we scream for him to wake, he starts the engine immediately, and we’re in the air. Thankfully, the dragon isn’t following us. I’m not sure that he could even if he wanted to because of the conditions of his wings. I just hope he doesn’t retaliate against the people here, but at least I have something. It’s better than nothing.
Progress. I’m making progress even if it feels like I’m limping along toward the finish line.
Chapter 14
“I’m not even going to ask,” Mike says once we’re decently far away and the Rockies have faded in the distance.
I can breathe easier now, and I grin. “You don’t want to know.”
“We aren’t going to be attacked, are we?”
“We should be fine,” I assure him.”
“I should start charging you,” Mike grumbles.
“Me too,” Darius pipes up.
“I would’ve given you both some of the horde, but… well…” I remove a few of the short swords I managed to hide on my body before the dragon woke. “You two are welcome to have any of these.”
“I don’t need weapons,” Mike says. “I am a weapon.”
“Even in human form.”
“Especially in human form. I’m a beast 24/7.” He winks.
Darius groans, and I laugh.
“He’s telling the truth,” I tell Darius. “I’m sure his wife can attest to that, and if not, well, he has seven kids.”
“Seven kids?” Darius gapes. “Man, how are you able to get away?”
“Give and take,” Mike says. “My wife and I co-parent, and we’re always there for each other, but we do take time away to spend with friends or just the two of us.”
Mike keeps on talking for the rest of the ride, and I just let them talk. I’m busy texting away to Mirella.
I found out about a weapon that could give the wielder magic. A scepter. All that I can find of the scepter, though, is a gemstone. Am I completely screwed, or is there anything that can be done with the gemstone?
Send me a pic of it.
I comply.
I can’t tell anything from the pic. Not that I thought I would, but… wow. That’s incredible. I never would’ve thought that anything could grant a person magical abilities, but there was that potion and now this scepter…
From what Vinca said, the scepter had magic. The person could use magic from the scepter, so it's not really that the person has magic since, without the scepter, there's no magic.
Man, that text is crappy, but I already hit send.
Gotcha. Okay. Certain witches can fuse the gemstone into a new weapon. That would be your best shot, but I don’t know if there were other gemstones or components to the scepter that made it grant magic.
You studied the potion. Do you have any ideas?
I would love to take a look at the gemstone and see what I could learn, but honestly, this magic isn’t something I’ve ever seen before.
I doubt many witches ever have. My hope is starting to dim. She’s not going to be able to help. I just know it.
How long do you have until you need the scepter?
The sooner, the better.
I had a feeling you would say that. Right now, I’m tied up in a case. There’s a vampire mob operating in a city, and they’re starting to drop a lot of bodies. If they aren’t stopped, they’re going to out themselves.
Oh wow.
Yeah. You’ll be surprised how many times we have to take out paranormal creatures who don’t care about the consequences of their actions. I guess that makes them no better than human criminals.
I roll my eyes. I still think they should have a legit system, but who am I to judge? After all, my clients sometimes act as judge and jury, and I'm the executioner.
I start to type if she knows any witches when another text comes.
I have to go. We have a possible location for some of the vampires. Be careful who you trust with that gemstone, and good luck!
Good luck yourself.
I shut my phone and grimace. Great. Just great. I’m not annoyed that Mirella can’t help because of her job. I’m more annoyed that I don’t trust many witches at all.
I eye Darius. “Can you imbue this—”
“I don’t have that ability,” he says patiently, almost as if he told me that before. Did he? I can’t remember. My mind is racing, and I can’t think clearly. I’m close, so close. I know I am.
Oh. Duh. He did tell me back when I asked if weapons could be magically enhanced since I teased him by asking what was in it for me if I let him sleep in my car.
“Right,” I murmur. “Sorry.”
“You have a lot on your mind.”
“I do.” I side-eye him. “When am I going to get that dagger anyway?”
Maybe I can ask that witch to enhance a scepter with the gemstone!
“As soon as Mirella has time to.”
Of course he would ask our mutual friend. There goes that theory.
Hmm. There’s Wren, but I already owe her a favor, and I’m not about to ask her for anything else on top of that.
The witches among my past clients aren’t trustworthy. One hired me to kill her twin sister after all. That… That had turned into a big mess because the twin also wanted to hire me to kill the other. In the end, they ended up killing each other and saving me the trouble, although that did mean I didn’t get paid… A less scrupulous bounty hunter would’ve taken payment afterward, but I’m a Rebel. I’m not a thief, and I have respect for the dead even if they’re foolish witches.
Ah, yes, which didn’t I think of her before! Luna Ash. I can’t help but wonder what an ordinary woman would think of the name because I am anything but ordinary.
Luna is a pharmacist. I’ve traded with her before, sometimes on a client’s behalf and the rest of the time for myself. She’s always been fair to me before. Yes, I’ll go and see her.
Maybe because I have a game plan, I’m able to settle, and I fall asleep, only waking when we land. Darius nudges me awake, and like always, I offer to pay Mike, but like always, he refuses.
“I might need you again,” he says.
“You’re more than capable of handling anyone and anything.”
“Yes, but imps…”
“Why couldn’t you have sniffed him out yourself?” I ask curiously. It’s a question I always wanted to pose to him but never did because of my no ask policy that’s basically become a guideline that I ignore far too much lately.
"I was so upset that I was liable to kill any imp I came across, including the guilty one."
“Isn’t that what you did?”
“Oh, no.” Mike chuckles. “I let Gianna prank him back.”
I blink a few times. “Not all werewolves tear those who harm us from limb to limb. I wanted to teach her how to stand up for herself. Yes, I could have had her track him down, but I didn’t want her to be pranked again by those mischievous little—”
“There’s a fairy outside,” Darius interrupts.
I wave goodbye to Mike, thank him again, and head off. It’s Vinca, and for once, she looks a bit put out.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her, my thoughts turning to her parents or her fiancé.
“You ditched me!” she wails.
“I ditched you?”
“I never would’ve told you about that stupid scepter if I knew you would pick it over me.”
“Your dress.”
/>
“Yes, well, don’t worry. I have plenty of other friends who came out and showed me support.”
"So, you picked your dress?"
"No," she wailed. "There are three I like, but I don't love any of them."
“I’m sure there are plenty of brides who don’t find their dress on the first day,” I say.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“No, I’m pretty sure that’s the truth.”
Vinca hung her head. “It’s not that important, is it? Not in the grand scheme of things. Did you find it?”
“Not entirely.”
“Did you see the arcane dragon? Did you steal the scepter like a thief in the night?”
I laugh. “My life isn’t that glamorous.”
“You’ll have to tell me all about—Hi, hot witch.”
I close my eyes and wish the earth would swallow me whole.
“Hi, fairy,” Darius says, amused.
"I'm gonna go now," I announce. I take two steps and then pause. "Vinca, how did you know where I am?"
“Oh, that’s simple. You keep a vial of my dust on you at all times.”
“You can track it,” I guess.
She nods.
“That’s not stalkerish at all,” I say flatly.
“It only works within a certain range. You were too far away for a while, so I figured you headed to the Rockies. You could’ve just used the dust.”
“I’m nearly out.”
“I know, and you aren’t getting more unless you help me pick out my dress.”
“Back to that again? I thought it wasn’t important.”
“I said not that important. I didn’t say it wasn’t important.” She tilts her head to the side. “Maybe it’s revenge that isn’t important.”
Darius chuckles.
“I hate you,” I say. “Both of you.”
“Hate, love. Same diff.” Vinca waves her hand.
“What’s the deal about the dress?” Darius asks.
“I’m getting married.”
“Hmm. If you ask me—”
“No one is,” I cut in.
He ignores me. “A wedding and love are more important than revenge.”
"There doesn't have to be one more important than the other. Can't all three be important?" I ask.
Hunter's Revenge: A Mayhem of Magic World Story (Rebel, Supernatural Bounty Hunter Book 2) Page 9
