She shrugged, unconcerned. “Bring your toys. And your Second, if you require one. I’ll be prepared for either eventuality.” She took one step through the Gateway before she hesitated, turning to look at me over her shoulder. “Just know that by participating, you are agreeing to the consequences. Winner takes all. Loser and his… or her minions may not impede the winner for one week after the Duel.”
I nodded, gritting my teeth as the car blared Cold Hard Bitch one last time. “See you in a few hours.”
But she was already gone.
Chapter 48
I stood in the field, growling under my breath, glancing down at my watch repeatedly. It had taken me a few hours to get everything ready, but here we were. Punctual.
“I don’t actually have to do anything, do I? I’m kind of tired,” Raego said, idly extending his claws to inspect them in the fading sunlight. Only his arms were in dragon form, the rest human. His scales were an inky, glistening black. His dark hair blew in the wind, and his loose white shirt whipped back and forth revealing his well-muscled chest. He wore tight tan khakis tucked into his stupid mid-shin boots. He was much more pleasant when away from his dragons.
But he looked like a goddamned pirate.
“Don’t worry. I think it will just be me. But if she has a Second, you may have to entertain him. Or her…” I added, frowning.
He shrugged. “As long as they aren’t too much trouble,” he murmured.
“A little professionalism would be swell. I gave you a candy-painted lizard.”
He sighed, arching his back as he stretched. “It’s the Dueling Grounds. We can’t really die there. You die a horrible death, and wake up in your beautiful mansion,” he shrugged.
I scowled. “It’s not the dying that concerns me. It’s the fact that she wants to take St. Louis for the Academy. Maybe open a chapter here. Start bossing you guys around. Maybe even declare you a threat and hunt you.”
He growled, face partially shifting to that of a dragon, as dark puffs of vapor curled around his snout. Then he was back to human form. Still sporting his claws, though. “I’m not a fan of that part.”
“Then get your head out of your scaly sphincter.”
Out of nowhere, Asterion, the Minotaur, was standing before us. He wore a grave expression.
I smiled at him, glad to see his stupid bull face. “Hey, how have you—”
“We wait for the challenger. No speaking, please,” he said in a very clipped tone.
I blinked. “You’re not allowed to talk with me?”
His features cracked slightly. “It would be improper to fraternize with a contender.”
Raego burst out laughing.
I took a step towards the Minotaur, and he instantly drew one boot back into a better fighting position. I halted. “Whoa. I’m not going to attack you, Asterion. What’s going on here? It’s just two people duking it out.” I glanced at Raego. “Okay, maybe four if the JV Team gets involved.”
Asterion blinked in surprise, but he recovered quickly. “Your Second will definitely be involved,” he said curtly.
Raego’s ears perked up at that. “I thought I was the backup dancer if they chose to chicken out…” he said in a dark tone.
Asterion shook his head. “The challenger will bring a Second, making it two on two.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works. I’ve read about these things,” I began, but the Minotaur’s glare stopped me cold.
“You’ve read storybooks, old accounts.” He took a step forward, not aggressive, but full of authority. “This is my place. Midas and I make the rules. And this is how it will be.”
I held up my hands. “Okay. Calm down. If that’s how you want it, that’s how we’ll play it. I’ve just never heard of a Duel going down like that,” I said lightly, trying to calm him down. He seemed highly stressed. Anxious. Uneasy. “What’s really going on, Asteri—”
“I am here, Asterion,” a new voice said from behind me. I whirled to see G Ma standing mere paces away. She wore tan robes, without adornment, and she looked different. She felt different. I couldn’t really place it precisely, but something was off. I tacked it to her likely having a talisman or artifact of some kind on her person. Something to tip the scales in her favor.
But that was fine. Like a good Boy Scout, I had come prepared as well.
Then I saw the figure behind her and blinked.
But that was nothing compared to what Raego did.
He was suddenly a full-blown black dragon, baring his giant fangs at the newcomer, puffing black fog from his nostrils as he glared at…
A little old lady.
She shook her purse at Raego. “Don’t you dare take that tone with me, boy,” she warned.
His voice was more beast than man as his eyes locked onto G Ma, the Grand Master of the Academy, who was smiling broadly. “You asked my grandmother to be your Second?!” He roared, emitting an outraged burst of black fire-smoke at the sky.
But the little old lady answered instead. “When a dear friend tells me that my grandson is acting up, I tend to listen. I’ve got a few things to remind you about manners, it seems.” She scowled like every grandma could, and Raego suddenly shifted back into human form, muttering under his breath as he stood there, naked. The grandmother looked him up and down, appalled at his impropriety as she leaned closer to G Ma, whispering loud enough for all to hear. “He used to do that as a boy. Always running around with his wee little dangly flying free.”
“Grandma!” Raego hissed.
The old women chuckled knowingly before turning back to us.
Asterion cleared his throat, and pulled back an invisible curtain.
The roar of a very large crowd rolled over us, and I heard a very familiar voice urging them on with a megaphone.
“Wizard versus wizard! Dragon versus dragon! I know this wasn’t our previously scheduled fight, but let me assure you, this one will go down in the books… The matrons want to teach their progeny a lesson…”
“Fucking Achilles!” I snarled, rounding on Asterion, who looked guilty. “I didn’t know it was Fight Night!” I argued. “How many people are here?” I all but shouted. I had thought we would have some privacy, not an arena.
He shifted from foot to foot, motioning me further inside, where the crowd was shouting even louder now. “All of them,” he said honestly.
Grandma Dragon complained behind me. “Raego, be a good boy and help your grandmother across this shit-infested field. Honestly, you were raised better than this.” I turned in disbelief to see Raego with his arm around her shoulder, assisting her through the field, pointing out fresh patties for her to avoid. He even clutched her purse in one hand. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. I grumbled under my breath, and her beady little eyes locked on to me. “But perhaps it’s just the company you keep,” she added.
“Yes, grandmother,” Raego mumbled.
“Fucking great,” I snarled, shooting one last hateful look at G Ma before I strode past Asterion and into the Dueling Grounds. Her laughter followed me inside the ring, somehow overpowering the riot of cheers and shouts.
Chapter 49
We stood face-to-face in the center of the ring, stands of people surrounding us, hooting, hollering, and drinking. The bookie made his rounds, but I didn’t check to see the odds. I needed a clear head.
I had recognized many faces, even the gorillas, who nodded at me with big smiles of appreciation. Ganesh sat beside Achilles and Shiva, who was eagerly devouring a bag of grapes. Ganesh didn’t look pleased, and judging by his battle armor, I must have taken his moment of glory with this unasked-for duel.
With two little old ladies.
I saw Cain smirking at me – the Biblically-famous, world’s first murderer, of his brother, Abel – and remembered his promise to make me pay for a comment I’d once made – telling one of the Horsemen about not being able to part with my cane. He hadn’t found the joke funny.
After Cain’s look, I tuned out the crowd, focus
ing instead on the two old ladies before me. I addressed G Ma. “How did you know I would ask Raego to be my Second?”
Duelists were typically allowed to exchange words prior to the fight, and Asterion seemed open to allowing this, even though he had changed the rule about Seconds.
Then again, with the crowd present, and the fact that we had interrupted their scheduled Fight Night, I could understand why. These warriors wanted a show. And with theirs taken away from them, it was up to me to provide them with an alternative.
Which I was more than ready to do right about now. To use it as an outlet to unleash all my pent-up anger from the last few days in one nuclear explosion.
She shrugged at me. “Wasn’t that hard to anticipate. I didn’t think you would bring your dog, because he’s too busy guarding the violent horde of monsters in that school of yours. What better Second is there? A sovereign ruler of a supernatural nation.” She shrugged. “That being said, I would have asked Gertrude to help anyway. She’s quite… formidable,” G Ma laughed, glancing pointedly at Raego, who was idly kicking the dirt with his toes, not meeting his grandmother’s judging look.
“Stop that, you big baby,” I growled at him.
He looked up at me, face desperate. “She’s my grandmother, Nate. I can’t beat up my grandmother. She used to box my ears. And make me cookies.” His eyes flicked her way. “And she has a temper. She’s so controlling—”
I strode up to him and slapped him across the face with my open palm. “Get your shit together, man!” His eyes latched onto me, infinite pools of darkness as I awoke his anger. “No real harm can come to her here. Just pretend it’s a dream where you can finally stand up to her. You’re the king of the freaking dragons, man. Act like it. Technically, she’s your subject! I don’t have time to change diapers!” I hissed, turning my back on him.
He called over my shoulder softly. “Either way, we lose, Nate. We either beat up two old women, or we get beat up by two old women,” he muttered, sounding depressed.
I sighed. “My pride can take that. Just not the ultimate consequences. We have to win, so I can stop the Academy from—”
G Ma cleared her throat. I turned to her, frowning. “Point of clarity. I am no longer the Grand Master of the Academy. I swore-off my title prior to delivering you the invitation to our Duel.”
My heart stopped. And her smile grew. “You…”
She nodded. “Quite right. Did you really think the Academy would risk getting involved? Committing to possibly ignore your crimes. Based on the outcome of a silly duel?” She shook her head in amusement. “I am acting as a mere member of the Academy, trying to prevent a child from throwing a temper tantrum that could harm all of us. And thus, I have no minions.”
“But you said—”
“The loser of the duel must not interfere with the winner’s actions for a one-week period. I am not a title-holding member of the Academy. Just one very old, very strong, stubborn wizard.”
I took a deep breath, thinking. “You’re just a wizard right now. Who leads the Academy in your stead?”
“They don’t discuss issues like that with the rank-and-file wizards, but I think it’s safe to say they will vote on a new leader. Tonight. After the results of our duel are known.”
Which probably meant that she would be reinstated if she won, but not if she lost.
I was about to take her title away. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Sure, she was a big stinky asshole, but what about the next guy? Would he or she be a bigger, stinkier asshole?
She was the monster I knew.
“Opponents, prepare to face—” Asterion began.
“Wait! I have something to say,” I interjected, a sudden thought coming to mind.
Asterion frowned, shooting a quick glance at Achilles, who had leaned forward with interest. “That’s not part of the Duel…”
“Sure it is. The whole point of this,” and I lifted my voice for all to hear, “is to produce a show. An outlet for your bloodlust, right?” I shouted at the crowd. They roared in response. I glanced at Asterion and then Achilles, hoping they let me proceed. Achilles looked amused.
“I don’t see the harm in it,” he shouted out.
G Ma began to protest, but I held up a hand. “You can have a speech, too. But let me finish. I hate it when persistent, nagging old women try to tell me what to do, speak over me, think they know everything.” Again, I said this loud enough for all to hear, and the crowd loved me for it.
I took a few steps, holding up my hands as I spun in a slow circle. “You came here for your regular Fight Night,” I pointed a finger back at G Ma. “But she took that from you. Still, I can promise you a good show. Maybe even better than your regularly scheduled event.” I winked.
Their laughter and applause thundered across the clearing. I squinted at the perpetual sunset, glancing at the flickering torches ringing the Dueling Grounds behind the bleachers.
“Chaos, carnage, and blood, you will get,” I smiled broadly. “You’ve all fought in the ring. Earned your stripes, or your arrows for loose lips.” Many chuckled at that, because one wasn’t supposed to talk about Fight Club, and was used as target practice for one month if they broke this sacred oath. “You know me. I’ve earned my stripes, too. I helped set this place up with Midas and Asterion. Despite losing to that old man that one time,” I shrugged in embarrassment, “you know that I have the… gift to entertain, and typically bring more than asked for. Just look at my real-world hobbies…” Murmurs filled the crowd in a hushed, but persistent buzz as the audience briefly shared clipped tales about my life with each other. I let it build for a minute, and then die down, knowing I had their complete attention now. “That being said,” I began, “There is at least one person in the crowd who doesn’t belong.” I leaned forward. “Find them.”
The crowd went silent, and then they roared in outrage, overshadowing G Ma’s sudden arguments. I smiled over my shoulder at her. “Nice try,” I mouthed. For the Academy to vote on a new leader, they would have to immediately know the outcome of the fight. Because they were very strict about their rules. Waiting for her to appear back in her bed after she lost would make them seem weak. But making a decision on a new leader a moment before the outcome was known to the public would make their decision seem legitimate.
I had gambled, hoping to take that away from her.
Because for the Academy to know, someone had to be spying on our little party here.
It turned into a witch hunt, and in a clearing full of experienced, hardened killers, they were very efficient. Also, they all knew each other, because they had spent the last few months watching each other fight and die.
One white-haired, portly gentleman was soon shoved into the ring, face red as he panted. I took a few steps closer, shaking my head sadly, recognizing him from the Gala. “Tsk, tsk, tsk,” I murmured, circling him like a shark. The crowd began stomping their feet in unison, a slow, steady, thunderous drumbeat.
“I-I was only doing as told,” he argued, suddenly terrified. I wasn’t sure he knew the specifics of the place, but either way, this was going to be fun.
“You should know that when you bring a sword to the big boys’ table, they all have swords, too,” I grinned menacingly.
I turned my back on him, finding Achilles. He nodded at me, grinning like a wolf, and the look in his eyes was impressed, and thankful. Set an example. That was his thing.
I turned back to the fat, old wizard, shrugged, and then snapped my fingers at Raego. He instantly shifted to a huge black dragon, and roared, sending a cloud of black smoke straight at the wizard’s chest. He flung up his hands in defense, but as the smoke washed over him, he froze into an obsidian statue, still holding his hands out protectively, a mask of horror on his face.
I stepped closer and reached out a hand. I tapped his chest with a fingernail, loud enough for all to hear.
Once.
Twice.
Then I called Stone Skin around my fist, and gave
him a theatrical right cross to the chest.
He exploded into a billion tiny fragments of obsidian wizard.
“Nice,” Raego commented.
I dusted off my hands, bowed to the crowd, Achilles, Asterion, and then to G Ma.
“Oh. Did you have anything you wanted to say?” I asked gently. “I didn’t mean to take so much time with my little speech.”
The smile that split my cheeks was entirely genuine as fury overtook her.
She shook her head, lips tightening.
Asterion cleared his throat. “Duelists, prepare. Cage match. Whatever you have on your person is allowed. On the count of three. ONE… TWO… THREE!”
Chapter 50
G Ma shrieked, using her aged vocal chords to shatter my ear drums, and it was definitely magically enhanced. Because it made me stumble.
Which had been her point. She leveled a finger at me almost simultaneously.
But I’d already been reaching into my pocket, and quickly threw up the small glass bead right as a fiery spear flew my way, dripping liquid fire onto the ground as it screamed through the air. My small, tiny glass bead zipped over to the projectile as if magnetically attracted.
But it wasn’t magnetic. If anything, it was magic-etic, latching onto any significant power coming towards the last person who touched the bead – in this case, me.
One of my little defensive prototypes from Grimm Tech. To be honest, I didn’t even have to throw it. It would have worked just as well from my pocket, although it would have ripped through the fabric, or burned through it, catching my pants on fire and giving me third-degree burns. We hadn’t solved that little glitch yet.
Tiny Gods: A Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Book 6 (The Temple Chronicles) Page 24
