The Final Calling

by Angela Colsin

  Reluctantly, she admitted, “Yes.”

  “And you saw what I did to those minotaurs for trying to hurt you?”

  At her nod, he stated pointedly, “That was nothing, Edith. I don't wanna scare you, but I'm not sure you really know how far I'd go to keep you safe, or how little remorse I'd feel for doing it, even if you didn't like my methods.”

  Pausing, he took a breath and finished, “So maybe I can't promise you won't get hurt again beyond a doubt. But I can say you've got a lot less to worry about than you think.”

  Edith held his gaze for several moments, fully aware that he was trying to waylay her fears—and it was working. She knew Isaac was remorseless when it came to her protection, though his statement did make her wonder if he'd do something she might find morally questionable.

  After all, he hadn't been kind to those minotaurs whatsoever. But he'd called it nothing, making her wonder about his offer to torture one of them, and what kinds of things he would've done.

  But the thought that he'd frighten her? That actually seemed ridiculous, and Edith decided to say so.

  “I know you'd protect me, Isaac, and maybe I don't fully comprehend everything you're capable of doing yet. But you're not gonna scare me.”

  “You sure about that?”

  His question almost sounded like a request for reassurance instead of a warning, and she gave an emphatic nod.

  “Absolutely. I trust you, and besides, magic itself can be frightening. You'd be surprised by some of the training techniques performed in Mystikkar.” As an afterthought, she mused, “Especially in the necromancy guild.”

  That seemed to amuse him. “Why the necromancers?”

  Edith thought for an example, then supplied, “Let's just say some of their spells require live subjects for practice, and inmates on death row make popular … test dummies.”

  “Damn,” Isaac drew out, but was interrupted from commenting further by a knock at the door and Charlotte's announcement that the Skyriders had sent word.

  “We're coming,” Edith called, then smiled at Isaac. “Well, here's hoping I'm not about to barf all over our drake.”

  Grinning, he qualified, “I'll hold your hair back,” then kissed her forehead before turning to go.

  On the way out, Edith considered their conversation. She couldn't say it'd fully relieved her of worrying, but she felt better about the impending trip to the temple, at least. The odds weren't entirely in her favor, and she wasn't going to delude herself that all would be well. But she had her friends to count on for help, and now, Isaac.

  So even if things went downhill like before, it wouldn't be from a lack of trying.

  • • •

  So Dra'Kai's not home, and we're being followed. Typical.

  Isaac scoffed at the thought. Edith said she was tired of all the setbacks, and he could easily agree when it seemed like they just kept coming.

  After arriving at the Skyrider Station, the captain informed them that Dra'Kai was spotted leaving his mountain lair earlier in the day, and there was no way to tell when he'd return. But that didn't stop their group from traveling to his temple to wait until that time—and thankfully, the flight went smoothly despite a storm that started not long after sundown.

  The Skyriders were accomplished aviators after all, and their blue drakes were perfectly at home amidst the clouds, even in rain. Like wyverns, the draconic beasts possessed vivid cobalt scales, razor-sharp talons, and long tails. But their wings were separate from their forearms, and drakes didn't grow to be as large.

  Still, their size made it possible for one mount to carry three or four people at a time if properly fitted, and they moved swiftly through the air on massive wings, taking less time to reach Dra'Kai's temple than sailing through the canyon.

  But regardless of their skill, Edith kept her eyes shut for the duration of the flight, squeezing Isaac's arms around her more tightly than he thought she was capable—and he didn't blame her. The teleportation wards set up around the canyon meant a fall could spell certain doom if one of the riders didn't intercept before hitting the ground.

  So Isaac tried to reassure Edith by strengthening his grip around her to wordlessly say you're not going anywhere.

  But despite the inconvenience of the wards preventing teleportation, he was relying on them to keep trouble at bay for a simple reason; Isaac knew they were being followed.

  In Nalona's market square, he'd noticed a woman standing amidst passersby several yards away. Dressed in black with a hood over her head and shades covering her eyes, she wasn't very noteworthy aside from the fact that she seemed to be looking in their direction.

  So Isaac hadn't taken much initial notice.

  But when he spotted the same female hiding amidst a few empty stables at the Skyrider's station only moments after they'd teleported, it was clear she was following them—and she wasn't alone. With her were two Dok'aal warriors, females that reminded Isaac of the sisters he and Edith freed.

  Apparently, he'd been right not to trust them. Asasha had acted strangely in response to seeing Isaac, and she'd probably alerted others of their presence. The only question that remained was whether the cloaked woman following them was an assassin looking for a chance to strike, or just spying for news to pass onto Rothario.

  Either way, Isaac decided not to say a word about their stalkers until they'd reached Dra'Kai's temple. Not only would the teleportation wards surrounding it prevent the woman from easily following, but he also didn't want to tip them off that he was aware of their presence by warning his friends aloud.

  So they'd moved on, arriving at Dra'Kai's temple in quick time.

  Settled close to the edge of Fog Canyon, the structure resembled a vast basilica with five towers reaching toward the sky that glinted in the rain as if constructed of precious materials. At the north wing was a landing site for the drakes, who swooped low, coming to an abrupt halt only moments after their feet hit the ground.

  Looking about the grassy area with the temple's gates not far away, Isaac wondered what it would look like when the weather was clear. But now, the storm roiling above had created a fog so thick it obscured most of the grounds, even from his vision.

  Still, he knew he could see further than Edith—who didn't look at all happy as she'd climbed off their mount. Her clothing was soaked, and she was shivering, prompting Isaac to remove his jacket and drape it over her shoulders for warmth.

  The leather exterior kept the inside mostly dry, and Edith clutched the garment more tightly around her body, thanking him with a quick kiss.

  Simultaneously, Ulric joined them with Charlotte by his side, and the fae asked, “How you doing, hooker?”

  “Cold and wet, a bit dizzy, but better than I thought I'd be,” she related, looking up when the Skyriders began turning their mounts to leave.

  With their jobs completed, the drakes took flight one by one, prompting Edith to ask, “Ulric, just to make sure, you said there's a travel sphere in the temple that teleports back to Nalona, so we won't need to fly again, right?”

  “Right,” he nodded.

  Edith sighed in relief.

  But Ulric's suspicious expression had Isaac curious enough to ask knowingly, “You saw her too, didn't you?”

  The draconian didn't hesitate to confirm, “You mean the cloaked woman in Nalona's market, and then hiding with two Dok'aal warriors at the Station? Yeah, I was just about to ask you the same question.”

  “What?” Edith asked, looking between them. “We were followed?”

  “To the Station at least,” Isaac answered. “I think those Dok'aal sisters we helped are informants, and they sent someone after us.”

  Edith stared in disbelief, then groaned wearily. “Wonderful. So what happens if they come here?”

  “Depends on what they want, but it'll take them … ,” he trailed, ready to suggest it would take anyone following them a while to make it to the temple when the sound of galloping horses in the distance cut him off. “Wait, you
hear that, Yules?”

  “Yep,” Ulric muttered, then asked Charlotte, “Got anything, sweetness?”

  She nodded, using her fae senses to distinguish the different lifeforms. “It's two horses, but there's three riders. One's a Perosian demon like Isaac, a female, and I'm assuming the other two are Dok'aal. Oh! And they're being followed by a hungry cockatrice.”

  Two Dok'aal and a female Perosian? It couldn't be the same ones spotted at the station as there was no way they could've reached the temple so quickly on horseback.

  Just as he had the thought, two horses emerged from the foggy night surrounding the outer temple walls, and it was just as Charlotte predicted. Both mounts carried a Dok'aal warrior, but they were men—and one of them had the mysterious woman from the station saddled behind him. What the fuck?

  How had she arrived so quickly? The only way Isaac knew it would be possible was if these warriors had been sent ahead, and possessed a summoning crystal with her blood inside.

  Such a scenario either meant she was under their control, or she trusted them explicitly.

  He also noticed the cockatrice Charlotte mentioned following the riders at a swift pace, and it wasn't surprising. Before they'd landed, Isaac had spotted a flock of the flightless, avian creatures roaming not far from the temple grounds. With reptilian bodies and the head of a rooster, cockatrices were dangerously aggressive, able to stun their victims with a single look, leaving them defenseless long enough to strike.

  And as soon as the riders slowed in their approach, it tried to attack.

  In response, one of the warriors unsheathed a long sword from his back almost too swiftly to keep track of, and swung the blade low, decapitating it with little effort.

  As the rooster head flew away from its body, the Dok'aal returned his blade to his back, then halted his horse not far from their group. Turning his attention on them, his glowing green eyes swept over each person to finally settle on Isaac.

  “Are you the one formerly called Alder Persias?” he asked on a deep voice.

  Without hesitation, Isaac returned, “How the fuck should I know? And who the hell's asking?”

  “My name is Aurik, and this is my brother, Vulen. You freed my mate and her sister from minotaurs, and have my profound thanks.”

  Edith exchanged a look with Isaac, who then pointed out, “I don't want your thanks, pal. I want you to turn that horse around and get the fuck away from my mate.”

  Aurik parted his lips to respond, but then paused and shared a questionable look of disgust with his brother just as a heavy gust of wind rushed by.

  Their exchange was perplexing—at least until the stench of decay hit Isaac's nose on the breeze.

  “Son of a bitch,” he growled.

  “Oh gross!” Charlotte exclaimed. “What's that smell?”

  “This just gets better and better,” Edith muttered.

  “Those fucks led him here!” Isaac accused, ready to shout for everyone to get inside.

  But the sound of air being cut by a blade then hit his ears, swiftly growing louder. Recognition dawned at the last second and, unable to teleport, Isaac quickly pushed Edith out of harm's way.

  She fell to safety as a result, leaving him in her place—and the blade of a thrown broadsword struck Isaac hard enough to knock him several feet backwards with a sharp pain erupting in his abdomen.

  “Isaac!”

  Slamming into the ground only seconds later, he barely registered Edith's cry, looking up to realize he'd been impaled through the stomach by the Brute's broadsword.

  Irate, Isaac let a menacing growl with only one thought in mind. This asshole's gonna pay.

  Twenty-Five

  • • •

  “You fucking prick!”

  Isaac's angry bellow sounded only moments after he'd been impaled, but his sharp tone did nothing to calm Edith's concern.

  Quickly, she pushed herself up and rushed toward him with the intent of pulling the blade free, only to be intercepted by Ulric.

  “Don't, Edith!” he warned, wasting no time grasping the glowing blade in his own hands while explaining, “It's enchanted to drain life. Immortals can withstand it for longer, but it could kill a mortal on contact.”

  So that was the source of the blade's strange, green glow. Edith scowled, watching Ulric quickly jerk the weapon from his best friend's stomach and immediately toss it aside.

  At the same time, the Dok'aal warriors yelled a warning, and she looked back to see the Brute emerging from the fog, barreling toward them much faster than he looked to be capable.

  Edith tried to think fast for some type of defensive magic that wouldn't cost much energy, but barely got her hands in the air before the mysterious, cloaked female on the back of Vulen's horse intervened.

  Swiftly, she hoisted herself up by grasping her companion's shoulders, then pushed her boots into their horse's saddle and sent herself somersaulting into the air. With what looked like little effort, her boots came down right on the Brute's shoulders, sending the monster face first into the grass on impact.

  Immediately, she flipped off of his back, tugging two short swords from beneath her cloak before landing in a crouch nearby.

  The Dok'aal warriors wasted no time joining her, successfully keeping the Brute busy.

  As Isaac grasped Ulric's and Edith's hands to stand again, she remarked, “I think we were wrong about them.”

  When he witnessed the trio attacking the Brute, he looked just as confused as Edith felt. But if they wanted to take that undead bastard down, she wasn't going to stand idly by and watch.

  Turning toward the broadsword still laying in the grass, she called a warning. “You guys need to clear a path!”

  Immediately, the cloaked woman and her companions took cover just as Edith used a little magic to lift the sword from the ground. Raising her hands, she turned and threw them in the Brute's direction, sending the blade spinning through the air with precision—and her aim proved true.

  But at the last second, the Brute spun to the side and caught the handle in his hand.

  “Oh that's fucking cheap!” Edith cussed.

  Still, the Brute didn't immediately charge them again, too busy fighting the Dok'aal and their Perosian companion—and the warriors hit him hard.

  But the Brute seemed unaffected, trading several blows before slamming a fist into Vulen's head hard enough to send him flying. Simultaneously, he shoved Auric back with a boot, then brought his sword down against the mysterious female's blades.

  Swish … swish… thud …

  The strange sound came from overhead, but Edith was too distracted to notice. Isaac had just announced that his wound was healed well enough to fight, and he moved in with Ulric to take advantage of the Brute's distraction.

  Thud … thud-thud …

  Amidst the heavy pounding in the earth, Aurik joined his fallen brother, who was still laying motionless in the grass after the Brute's powerful blow. Vulen must've been in bad shape because Aurik suddenly bellowed in anger.

  This prompted Charlotte to take off toward them with the obvious intent of providing a healing. So Edith stood on defense, casting a shield around her allies while calling, “It'll only last a few blows, so make it count!” Damn, I want my staff.

  Making the most of the shielding, Isaac called for Ulric to give him a lift when the Brute was drawn by the cloaked woman's next attack. As if the two had done so a million times, Ulric immediately lined up with his back facing the hard-hitting monster, and cupped his hands low.

  Running toward him, Isaac planted his boot in Ulric's hands, getting propelled up through the air when the draconian lifted his arms.

  Flipping over top of their enemy's head, he quickly grabbed the creature's shoulders. As the rest of his body came down, Isaac used that momentum to plant his boots into the Brute's stomach, pulling the monster over and launching him across the clearing.

  Thud-thud …

  The heavy pounding against the earth was getting louder
now, and Edith suddenly recalled their location—at a Great Dragon's temple. Dra'Kai.

  As soon as the thought struck, she looked up to see two glowing disks of cerulean shining through the stormy mist above—a pair of slitted eyes peering down over the scene.

  And they were poised directly above the spot where Isaac had just thrown the Brute.

  As the undead monster stood from his haphazard landing, Dra'Kai's large, horned head swiftly emerged from the fog, snapping down to clamp two rows of razor-sharp teeth into the Brute's body and lift him from the ground.

  Everyone below backed away, watching the scene unfold as a bright surge of electricity erupted from the Great Dragon's maul. With their enemy still clamped in his teeth, that energy wired through his body in a current so powerful the Brute exploded.

  Pieces of the undead monster went everywhere, and Dra'Kai swiftly flung his head to the side to expel what was left from his mouth. In the distance, several cockatrices screeched as their grazing was disturbed by the random rain of gore, and most of the group stared with slackened jaws.

  Except Isaac.

  “That was bad fucking ASS!” the demon exclaimed. “Yules, Dra'Kai is my new idol.”

  Ulric grinned just as Dra'Kai unleashed an angry roar that shook the ground, then fully emerged from the mist—a sight to behold. Rivaling his own temple on all fours, the Great Dragon was nearly fifty meters tall, his eyes glowing a fierce cerulean while his scales glinted a darker sea blue in the sphere lights.

  Like draconians who were born with markings on their bodies, Dra'Kai possessed the same types of intricate slashes. Some traveled from his horned snout across his long neck, while others trailed over his wings and under his golden belly to eventually wrap around his tail.

  What's more, pulses of electric blue light shot through them at random intervals—like lightning—standing out vividly in the darkness of the storm.

  Growling, the dragon lowered his head, asking a question in draconic that Edith couldn't decipher. But she refrained from using magic to decode the words, deciding to wait until it was absolutely necessary before expending anymore magic.