He turned sideways and dropped to the floor in front of us, blocking the wave from destroying Monty’s sphere, and effectively creating a wall of Peaches. He growled as the shockwave buffeted his body.
Monty removed his hands from the floor and began gesturing. Around us, the sphere began to collapse.
“What are you doing?” I asked, looking around as the wave disintegrated Monty’s sphere. “Can’t you make it bigger? The sphere won’t hold up on its own.”
“Neither will your creature,” Monty answered, stepping close to Peaches. Golden runes flowed from his hands and into Peaches’ body. “Get your shield over here to block the wave from behind.”
“How long does this wave last?” I yelled over the intensity of the blast all around us. Peaches howled but didn’t move. “It’s hurting him, Monty.”
I made a move to reach for my mark.
“No, Simon!” Monty slapped my hand away. “Too many forces are at play. If you introduce another temporal component, we could be trapped.”
“It’s hurting him.” I pulled my hand away from my mark. “We need to stop this wave.”
“Not…much longer.” Monty put both hands together and bowed his head. I saw him take a breath and yell something I couldn’t understand. When he separated his hands, a lattice of orange energy covered Peaches. “There…that should protect him long enough.”
Monty stood still for a few seconds and then collapsed. The wave kept raging around us, destroying everything in its path. I dragged Monty with one arm and kept him sandwiched between Peaches and the mala shield.
After what felt like a lifetime, the energy around us suddenly stopped.
Peaches rolled over on his side with a loud rumble. I jumped back quickly, pulling Monty with me to avoid being crushed by my oversized hellhound. The collar around his neck had become dormant again while the lattice around him pulsed with latent energy.
He chuffed, closed his eyes, and shrank back to normal. I checked to make sure he and Monty were still breathing before I stood and looked across the Danger Room.
TWENTY-SEVEN
TK STOOD IN the center of the floor. All of the drakes were gone, along with most of the floor and sections of the walls.
A cloak of calm fury descended over me as I walked toward her.
“You almost killed them.” My voice was hard, full of jagged edges.
“No,” TK said, looking around the Danger Room. “I think I got them all. LD is going to have a fit when he sees this place. It’s a good thing he went on ahead.”
“You’re insane,” I said, staring at her. “You nearly wiped us all out.”
Something in my voice must have caught her attention. TK looked up and cocked her head to one side. A slight smile crossed her lips. “I never said I was sane. You’re angry? Good.”
“Good? How can you stand there saying good? Your dark phoenix almost erased—”
“Don’t think for one second I wasn’t aware of the danger,” TK interrupted and stared at me. The anger I felt quickly decided it was time to exit the premises. “Where do you think you are? Who do you think you’re dealing with? Someone or something powerful facilitated the removal of the neutralizer. From my home.”
“Salao and George,” I shot back. “They were the ones who took it.”
TK looked around the Danger Room floor again and shook her head. “No.”
“What do you mean no? You said they were the ones who took it.”
“They may have taken it, but something is directing their actions. With this many drakes I would swear a Kragzimik was part of the plan. Only they command that many drakes at once.”
“That’s what Ezra said, but he said it was only rumor.”
“Ezra?”
“Old Jewish scholar-looking guy? Has a deli downtown with amazing food?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You know Azrael?”
I nodded. TK headed over to where Peaches lay. Monty got to his feet slowly.
“She’s right, we’re not just dealing with Salao and George,” Monty said with a groan. “I’ve never experienced a dark phoenix firsthand. No wonder Nana never used it. How did you contain it?”
“You can’t,” TK said, gesturing. Golden runes cascaded onto Monty. “A dark phoenix has to run its course, or the effects can be fatal to the caster.”
“They’re certainly fatal to everything around the caster.” I examined the charred remains of the drakes around us.
“It’s designed to be that way. There was no way I was going to be able to deal with all those drakes before one hit me with a flame blast. I needed to be fast, efficient, and lethal.”
“It’s incredibly effective.” Monty pulled out one of his mage powerbars from a pocket. I think the flavor was ‘freshly tilled soil,’ judging from the color. “Excuse me.”
“You still haven’t recovered from the Reckoning.” TK pointed at the powerbar. “Those things taste horrendous.”
“They get the job done,” Monty said, finishing it off and producing another one from his pocket. “Would you like one?”
“No, thanks. If by ‘get the job done’ you mean taste like old dirt, then I agree.” TK scrunched her face at the mage powerbar. “How long have you known Azrael?”
“For some time now.” Monty pocketed the powerbar. “Ezra did mention the possibility of a Kragzimik, but we haven’t encountered one.”
“You two never cease to amaze. A Kragzimik would never work with a human. They, and all dragons, consider themselves to be a superior species.”
“How about a demigod?” I wondered aloud.
“Yes.” TK nodded. “They would still consider them inferior, but dragons and demigods have been known to work together, at least for a short time, before turning on one another.”
TK crouched and placed her hands on Peaches’ side. Golden runes flowed down into his body for several seconds.
“Why would a Kragzimik want the neutralizer?” I asked and rubbed Peaches’ head when he stirred. TK gestured again and made a huge sausage for my ever-hungry hellhound, who pounced on it and began chewing.
“My hellhound approves of your magic sausage creating.”
TK rubbed Peaches’ flanks as he ate. He was going positively soft.
“Dragons only ever want one thing.” TK looked at Monty. “You don’t remember?”
“Remember what?” I asked as we left the Danger Room. “What is she talking about?”
“Do you remember when we faced Slif?” Monty pulled on his sleeve. “Do you remember her plan?”
“Before or after she skewered and tried to barbecue me?”
Slif’s words came back to me: “We’re wiping the slate clean. The Werewolves were just the start. But we will eliminate them all.”
“Before we brought her down.”
“She wanted to eliminate all supernaturals and magic-users, leaving just the dragons to wield magic. She was very particular about you mages not being worthy.”
“Do you think this has something to do with William?” Monty turned to TK. “Do you think he found the source?”
“The source of what? What was William looking for?”
“The source of magic,” TK replied, her voice pensive. “Directly or indirectly, this has something to do with that. I need to get to the Black Heart.”
“The Corridors of Chaos are doing their MC Escher thing. We couldn’t get past them without Peaches bringing us here.”
TK gestured and opened a rift. “We aren’t using the corridors,” she said and stepped through. Monty followed. Peaches, sausage in mouth, padded next
to me as we entered after them.
TWENTY-EIGHT
THE BLACK HEART room was at full migraine mode. Runes covered every surface of the room. TK gestured, and the power vibrating around us subsided from ‘squeeze my brains to a pulp’ to ‘punch me in the gut’ level as we stepped inside.
Pain squeezed the base of my neck, crawling up into my scalp as the dull throbbing of the room got worse. I rubbed my temples to try to alleviate some of the pain, but it didn’t help. TK and Monty looked unbothered.
“It’s shifted.” Monty looked around. TK stepped to the center of the room. “Temporal anomalies?”
TK nodded. “You need to bring the neutralizer back as soon as possible. By removing it from the configuration LD and I setup, the Black Heart will cause planar shifts. Small ones at first, but growing in size.”
“Can you anchor it? Prevent the time-skips?”
“For a short time, but it means I have to stay here. You three will need to go after the neutralizer.”
“We don’t even know where they are,” I managed through a haze of pain. “How are we going to find the neutralizer?”
“Tristan can find the neutralizer—it has a specific signature—but you have to act fast. Tristan, if a Kragzimik is involved, you know the outcome. If you can’t get the neutralizer back or it’s been compromised—”
“Destroy it,” Monty said, his voice hard. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” TK began gesturing around the Black Heart, and the ice pick in my brain caught flame, incinerating the inside of my head. “Go find the bastards who stole the neutralizer. Stop them and close the door.”
Monty nodded and, thankfully, stepped into the corridor. He looked into the artifact room one last time before TK nodded, and he closed the door.
“What happens if you have to destroy the neutralizer?” The searing pain in my skull had calmed down to mind-numbing agony as we moved down the corridor. “How bad would it be?”
“Think Carl Schurz Park—”
“That’s manageable if we can find somewhere deserted—”
“…multiplied by a factor of one million.”
I paused to make sure I’d heard him right. “Shit, if that happened, everywhere would be deserted. Nothing would be left.”
“Exactly.” He gestured and opened a rift. “Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen.”
We reappeared next to the Dark Goat.
“Can you feel where the neutralizer is?”
“Not exactly. I know it’s south from here.” Monty pointed. “That way.”
“What does it feel like?” I unlocked the Dark Goat to the familiar clanging sounds and orange glow of runes across its surface. “What does something neutralized feel like?”
I opened the door for Peaches, who executed a three-point sprawl in one impressive bound. I got behind the wheel and started the engine.
“It’s like a void tugging at me.” Monty strapped on the seatbelt. “They must have known they couldn’t hide it once they removed it from Fordey. If there’s a Kragzimik involved, this is when it would reveal itself.”
“We need help.”
“No.”
“Monty, what are you talking about?” I said, surprised. “We need the NYTF, The Dark Council, all of the Elders at the Sanctuary, Dahvina, and the Wordweavers, maybe even Hades if we can get him.”
“No. Don’t you understand?” Monty pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “If I have to destroy the neutralizer, everyone you just mentioned, with the exception of Hades, would be killed in the blast.”
“But it’s just us against Bad Luck Sal, George, and maybe a Kragzimik.”
“I’m reasonably certain that you and your creature could survive the blast. That just leaves—”
“You.”
“That’s an acceptable loss in the grand scheme of things,” Monty said quietly. “You know, the needs of—”
“Not to me, and I swear if you Spockify me with the whole ‘needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’ line, I’ll shoot you.”
“Very well, it’s just my fervent wish that you and your creature live long and prosper.”
I groaned as we sped downtown.
TWENTY-NINE
“WE NEED TO find a way to deal with Bad Luck Sal and his Murphy’s Law AOE.”
“Murphy’s Law AOE?”
“You know, everything that could go wrong does and he blasts it in an area of effect. Sounds better than ‘aura of misfortune,’ don’t you think?”
“Not really,” Monty said, rubbing his chin. “But you’re right. If we can’t stop Salao’s ability, we won’t have a chance against them.”
“What if there’s a Kragzimik?” I asked seriously. “What are we facing if one is there?”
“If it’s in human form he’ll be as strong as an Arch Mage, possibly stronger.”
“Wonderful,” I said, noticing the sun dropping behind the horizon. “And in dragon form?”
“From what I’ve studied, larger than Slif, and the usual—fireballs, impenetrable dragon-scale skin, oh, and I hear they can wield magic in either form.”
“Anything else to add to the list of destruction that makes up a Kragzimik?”
“Yes. Drakes. They can summon drakes. Hundreds upon hundreds of them.”
“Any weaknesses? Maybe an aversion to chocolate or muzak?”
“The eyes. If you can penetrate the eyes, both of them, any dragon, including a Kragzimik, can be defeated. They just happen to be the most protected part of its body.”
“Well, now I feel extra confident. Why did I ever think we might need help? Are you sure we don’t need help?”
“I’m certain,” he said, his voice hard. I knew better than to push it any further. “I have the utmost confidence in us. We can do this.”
“Or die in the process.”
He nodded slowly. “I’m fully prepared for that outcome, Simon.”
“Bullshit!” I slammed the wheel and almost caused the Dark Goat to sideswipe a taxicab in sweet revenge. “We are not racing to our deaths, Monty.”
He looked out the window.
“I’ve never faced a Kragzimik, but I’m not exposing my family and friends to this threat. The only reason you’re here is because of your curse. Your creature, because I honestly think nothing can kill a hellhound. But understand this, Simon. If I thought for a moment that you were at risk, I’d be doing this alone.”
“That’s it, Monty. Expose them to the threat.”
“What threat? They are the threat. How would I expose them to themselves?”
“Can you expose Salao and the Kragzimik to the runic neutralizer? Can it be activated somehow?”
“I’d have to get close enough to touch it. Somehow I don’t think they’ll just let me hold it.”
“Let me handle that part. If you can get it, can you activate it?”
“Yes, but it will neutralize all magic in the area, including your curse.”
I remained silent for a few seconds. “I’m fully prepared for what that means.”
“Whatever the outcome, it’s been an honor fighting by your side, Simon.”
“Any sappier and I will shoot you, Monty. Now, tell me how close we are.”
“Over there.” He closed his eyes and pointed as we drove by the South Street Seaport. “What’s over there?”
“That’s Peck Slip,” I said, craning my neck to look at where Monty was pointing. “There’s nothing there.”
Peck Slip was two blocks of empty real estate that had been converted to a plaza type of space, with planters, large stones, and rentable bicycles for the environmentally concerned city dweller. On either side of Peck Slip, developers had transformed the old shipping buildings into upscale lofts and condominiums, making the area a prime location for those working in the financial district.
“There’s something there. The Kragzimik.”
“Shit, are you certain?”
Monty nodded and began gesturing. “Yes. He knows we’re coming.”
I got off the FDR and drove north on South Street.
“Maybe we stay in the Dark Goat and run him over a few times?” I said, slowing down. “I mean, it survived your sphere, right?”
“I don’t think even Cecil anticipated a Kragzimik.” Monty shook his head. “Would you like to take the chance?”
“Not really.” I parked the Dark Goat at the entrance to Peck Slip and got out. I left the car unlocked as we walked up the old cobbled street. “Let’s go greet Kraggy.”
“Kraggy?”
“There’s no way I’m calling him Kragzimik. Are you kidding? Kraggy it is.”
“I’m still wondering how you intend to get the neutralizer.”
At the intersection of Front Street and Peck Slip stood a lone figure. Peaches rumbled beside me and entered ‘maim and obliterate’ mode. We approached the figure and I could sense the unnatural signature of drakes all around us.
“The Montague and Strong Detective Agency,” the man said in a deep voice. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You should really follow us on Facebook. We have an excellent group called the Mages of Badassery,” I said, keeping my gaze wide. I noticed Salao and George approaching from opposite sides of the street.
“Simon,” Monty said under his breath, “do we want to start with antagonizing the powerful dragon?”
“My associate just made a valid point. You aren’t a mage or a badass.” I turned to Monty. “Maybe we could create a new group? Dragon Assholes? It could have one member—Kraggy over here.”
“Simon,” Monty hissed, “this is a bad idea.”
“Who has the neutralizer? Can you sense it?”
“Who do you think has it?” Monty looked straight ahead at the Kragzimik. “They must have just given it to him.”
“Perfect,” I said under my voice, and then louder, “Bring it, Kraggy!”
“Kraggy?” the man said and looked at Salao. “Kill this impertinent human.”
Salao raced at us. George wasn’t too far behind. I ran at them and waved as I ran past them. They were moving too fast to stop and course correct before I got to Kraggy.
Dragons & Demigods: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 6) Page 15
