Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire (The Unconventional Heroes Series Book 3)

by L. G. Estrella

  Nevertheless, she went to sleep with a smile on her face and a stomach full of stew. Naturally, she woke up in the middle of the night to Gerald screaming about how they were all going to die.

  * * *

  Timmy woke up when the ground beneath him began to shake. That was not what worried him. Earthquakes were not unheard of in the Desert of Glass. They were most likely yet another complication caused by whatever mad scheme had created the desert in the first place. What worried him was the disturbance he felt with his magic and the way Gerald bodily dragged him to the edge of their camp to show him something. He hadn’t thought the bureaucrat was strong enough to manage that.

  “What is that?” Gerald shrieked. He jabbed his finger at something. “Timmy, what is that?”

  Timmy pried Gerald’s hands off – panic really had made the older man stronger – and peered into the darkness. The desert sand glowed in the moonlight. Odd. There were several ridges of rock in the distance that he couldn’t remember seeing before. His eyes narrowed. No. Those weren’t ridges of rock. They couldn’t be since ridges of rock didn’t move on their own. They were dealing with something truly dangerous.

  He called for his shovel. It flew through the air to his waiting hands. He flicked it out to one side and dumped sand on the others to wake them up. “That, Gerald, is a sand leviathan, and it shouldn’t be here. You rarely find them this far south in the Desert of Glass.”

  “What do we do?” Gerald wailed. He tried to grab Timmy again, but the necromancer ducked. “What do we do?”

  “If we’d noticed it sooner, I would have suggested we run. Sand leviathans aren’t particularly bright, so we might have been able to avoid it. It’s too close now. Since it’s headed straight toward us, I think it’s already noticed us.” He raised his shovel. “We’re going to have to fight.” He glanced back at the others. Good. They were all awake. “You can all yell at me for throwing sand at you later. Right now, we have a giant monster to deal with.”

  * * *

  Katie had never seen a sand leviathan before – but she’d heard stories, scary stories. The largest of them were said to be miles long – gigantic creatures that tunnelled through the desert sands and the rock beneath. They survived by gorging themselves on whatever they swallowed, along with consuming the magic that ran through the land. She shouldn’t have been so surprised to encounter one here. The Desert of Glass was one of several areas where the titanic creatures could be found. Yet it was hard to think rationally when she was staring right at one.

  By all the gods, it was gigantic. Calling it huge didn’t even begin to do it justice.

  The sand leviathan rumbling toward them was easily a mile long with a vast, gaping, circular maw that allowed it carve through solid rock like it was cheese. The way all those rows of teeth rotated around the creature’s mouth reminder her of a giant drill. That same mouth was at least a hundred yards wide, maybe more, but staring at it, Katie was convinced it was big enough to devour the world. How on earth were they supposed to fight something like this? It made Black Scales look small, and the dragon had been enormous.

  Her master shouted for Gerald to store the camels with his magic – there was no way that they could fight the sand leviathan and protect the camels – and ordered her to grab them and fly. Katie did as he asked. She wasn’t about to question him in a situation like this, but it was hard to fly with her master, Gerald, Old Man, and Avraniel all clinging onto her shadows. Her jaw clenched, and she channelled more of her magic. She could do this, and she wasn’t going to leave any of them behind. At least she didn’t have to worry about carrying Spot. The dragon could fly.

  “Don’t worry about getting us out of here,” Timmy shouted. “Just get us out of its path and then put us down. These things are big, but they’re not agile.” She dropped them onto a sand dune, and his gaze immediately went to the sand leviathan. The beast had already begun to change course toward their new location. “It can sense our magic, even with the charms. It won’t leave us alone without a fight. Spread out and keep on the move. Do not wait until it’s right on top of you to get out of the way. It can swallow a sand dune whole.”

  “Right.” Katie took to the air again and banked away before she angled up to get a better view of the creature. Its scales glittered in the moonlight like vast shields of copper and bronze. It would have been beautiful if it wasn’t trying to eat them.

  Avraniel had broken off from the others, and the sand leviathan seemed to be heading her way. If it was interested in magic, then Avraniel had more magic than any of them. As if to make sure that the beast went after her, the elf flared her magic. Katie winced. Avraniel was so strong. A cloak of blindingly bright flames exploded to life around the pyromaniac. The desert sands reflected the elf’s fire, and the whole landscape shimmered white.

  “You want my magic, you overgrown earth worm bastard?” Avraniel roared. “Fine! You can have some!”

  A blast of flame thundered toward the sand leviathan with all the weight and force of a molten avalanche. It slammed into the beast and obliterated the sand around it – but the sand leviathan simply continued to advance. Oh, it was hurt. It even made a sound like a mountain splitting in two, but it was gigantic. Avraniel’s attack hadn’t inflicted anything close to fatal damage. The elf’s eye twitched. The fire around her flared to mirror her irritation. It wasn’t often that she met something that she couldn’t burn to death on sight.

  “Now, you’re really starting to piss me off, you giant loser.” The elf glared. “Idiots, distract it.” She snorted. “I’m going to show this son of a bitch what I can do.”

  “We can do that.” Timmy thrust his shovel forward, and the sand in front of him rose up to form a giant hammer. It hung in the air for a moment, and Katie could have sworn she saw the sand harden, formed into something closer to rock by her master’s magic, before it smashed into the sand leviathan’s side. Again, however, the massive creature seemed more irritated than genuinely hurt.

  “Gerald,” Timmy shouted. “I don’t suppose you’ve got anything stored away that might work?” Katie wasn’t sure what sort of reply her master was expecting. Gerald had something for almost any situation stored away with his magic, but she doubted that he’d ever come across a situation like this before. The bureaucrat shrugged. “Well, did the demolition rats give you anything powerful enough to hurt this thing?”

  “Um… I have some chains?”

  “Chains?” Old Man chuckled softly. His hat had come loose during the flight, but he had settled it back onto his head. “I’m afraid that we’ll need something sturdier than chains.” His bonsai tree was in its sword form now. He took up a stance, and the air split and tore as his magic surged to life. He swung his sword, and the sand in front of him parted as though cut by some vast, invisible blade. There was a grating sound, and sparks flew as the scales of the sand leviathan closest to him cracked and shattered. Above him, Spot circled and spat fire. The young dragon looked extremely unhappy when his opponent didn’t simply roll over and die. He was probably thinking about how much food the sand leviathan would be if they managed to kill it. “Hmm… that strike would have cut a castle in half. This thing is truly formidable.”

  “Hey, twerp.” Avraniel jabbed one finger in Katie’s direction. “How about you help instead of flying around and doing nothing? Buy me some more time.”

  Katie dove toward the sand leviathan. Her shadows formed into a large, inky fist, and she used her added momentum to punch the creature as hard as she could in the same place that Old Man had struck. More of the sand leviathan’s scales broke, but it wasn’t nearly enough. It was so big that she might as well have given it a paper cut. She swerved away and formed a spear. She threw the weapon as hard as she could, but the beast didn’t even flinch. If only she and her master could make a zombie out of this thing. The possibilities would be endless. And then there was no more time to think. The build up of magical energy from Avraniel had reached a fever pitch, and Katie did not
want to be anywhere near the sand leviathan when the elf finally unleashed her attack.

  There was a flash of light so bright that it seemed as though a dozen suns had risen, and the leviathan let loose a hideous, wailing shriek that all but deafened them. Katie tumbled out of the air. She would have crashed, but her master used his magic to catch her with a geyser of sand. She stumbled back onto her feet and looked back. A huge hole had been burnt through the sand leviathan’s side. White flames licked at the edges of the hole, and the sand dunes on the other side of the beast were just gone, completely obliterated by the attack. The beast heaved back and forth, and thick ichor poured from the wound.

  “Hah!” Avraniel dance around like a complete fool as she gesticulated crudely at the wounded creature. “Not so tough now, are you? Thought I couldn’t burn you, right? Well, you were wrong! Burn, you bastard! Burn!”

  Katie clutched at her face. They’d managed to slip their goggles on after her master had woken them up, but Avraniel’s attack had illuminated the sand around them so brightly that it was painful to look at, even with the goggles on. Katie turned away and closed her eyes. She counted to ten before turning back around and opening her eyes. Much better.

  “Watch what you’re doing?” Timmy barked. “You could have hit us with your attack!” Katie blinked as she noticed the walls of sand her master had thrown up to protect them from the backlash of the attack.

  “Oh, stop whining, idiot. It wasn’t like I missed.” Avraniel threw her head back and laughed as the sand leviathan turned and fled. “Hah! You better run! If you ever come back, we’ll be eating you for dinner, you overgrown bastard. You can tell all of your friends that too!” She held up one hand and sheathed it in flame. “I’ve got plenty more where that came from.”

  With the sand leviathan leaving with its proverbial tale between its legs, Avraniel turned to the others with a jaunty smile on her face. “Well, that was fun. I wonder if it’ll be back tomorrow night.”

  Katie gaped. The urge to grab her master’s shovel and whack the elf over the head was overwhelming. Only the knowledge of what Avraniel would do in response stopped her from lashing out. But one day – yes, when she was stronger – she would definitely whack Avraniel over the head with a shovel.

  “I would rather it didn’t,” her master drawled. “I would really, really, really rather it didn’t.”

  Gerald’s response was even simpler. He flopped onto his back. Katie was worried that he’d fainted again, but he was very much conscious if still fairly terrified. Spot landed and nudged the bureaucrat with his head before digging through one of Gerald’s pockets and emerging with a treat.

  “We should get going. Dawn isn’t far away, and someone is bound to have noticed Avraniel’s attack.” Timmy walked over and helped Gerald back to his feet. “You have the camels, remember? Bring them back, so we can get going.”

  Gerald took a deep breath. “I don’t think the Council pays me enough for this.”

  Timmy gave him a sympathetic smile. “No, Gerald. I don’t think they do.”

  Chapter Ten

  Timmy handed the spyglass to Gerald with a quiet murmur of thanks. Unlike a certain elf, he could not see ridiculously far without some form of assistance. Then again, they weren’t too far from what he was looking at. He just wanted to be extra certain. “There it is. I was beginning to wonder if we’d missed it, but it’s right there.”

  Katie asked Gerald for the spyglass and lifted it to her face. Like their goggles, it had been modified to cut back on the glare. Otherwise, using it in the Desert of Glass would have been like staring into the sun. She gasped. “How come we couldn’t see it before? We should have been able to see it hours ago.”

  It had taken them almost a week of travel through the desert to get here. They’d been fortunate enough to avoid any other giant things that wanted to kill them except for a pair of sand hydras that had been promptly killed in the span of about ten seconds and given to Spot for food. The dragon had been very pleased indeed. Apparently, sand hydras tasted nicer than the ones back in Everton.

  “You mentioned something about the Nameless Citadel being concealed by magic, didn’t you, master?”

  Timmy ruffled his apprentice’s hair. “My master and I never did work out how the concealment worked. What I do know is that it’s built into the system of runes and seals that control the barrier that protects the Nameless Citadel. And it’s those runes and seals that we’ll have to break if we want to get inside.” He tugged Katie back behind the top of the sand dune they were on. “Try to keep out of sight. They don’t normally bother with patrols this far out since they have the barrier, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

  “How complex is the seal system?” Old Man whispered. Timmy glanced at him with a hint of surprise. Old Man was a genius with a sword, but he hadn’t shown any proficiency in seals so far. “All swordsmen in my country learned something about seals, if only to help keep our weapons in good repair. I was never skilled in that area, but I have some understanding of the subject.”

  Gerald nodded eagerly. “Yes, I’m curious to know as well. I’ve dealt with runes and seals in the past – the Council makes extensive use of them, as does your castle, Timmy.”

  Timmy knew all about the Council’s use of runes and seals. His master had ranted about it frequently since the old fool had made multiple attempts to assassinate members of the Council before his untimely demise. One particularly insane attempt that Timmy had thankfully been too young to participate in had ended with his master barely escaping after triggering dozens of seals designed to attack and imprison intruders. His master’s escape was a testament to his freakish prowess, but he’d promptly ruined any respect Timmy might have built up for him by ordering Timmy, who’d only been a boy at the time, to begin intensive research into runes and seals. In the end, it had worked out for the best. That research had come in handy when Timmy realised the limitations of his earth magic and how his shovels could help.

  “I’ll need to get closer to be sure, but I don’t think they’ve changed anything significantly since the last time I was here. Such elaborate things aren’t changed unless they have to be, and I had plenty of time to get a feel for the barrier the last time I was here.” Timmy shook himself. There was no point in dwelling on the past. “If I remember correctly, the barrier here is produced by a ten-layer seal system.” Katie hissed, and Timmy chuckled. “Which basically means that breaking the barrier will be a lot like solving a ten-dimensional puzzle, only we’ll all die if I screw up.” Timmy shrugged. “Which, needless to say, would be quite bad.”

  “You know, idiot, I think you should be the first one to try going through the barrier once you’re done doing whatever it is you’re going to do.” Avraniel scowled. “Because what you’re planning sounds crazy. How are you going to take down a ten-layer seal system? I could try blasting it, but I’m not sure if even I could break it.”

  Timmy couldn’t stop himself from giving a small cackle. This was the sort of challenge that got his blood flowing. Oh, he enjoyed an easy victory as much as the next necromancer, but there was something so satisfying about beating a truly worthy opponent. “I’m glad you asked.” It wasn’t often that he got to show off this side of his skills, so he was looking forward to it. “I won’t bore you with all the details, but I think you’ll like the general idea. I’m going to turn the barrier against itself and blow it sky high.”

  The elf smiled toothily. “Tell me more, idiot. It sounds like fun.”

  “A multi-layer seal system is like a finely forged piece of glass – everything fits together perfectly. But you’ve seen what happens when you expose glass to exactly the right sound, haven’t you? It starts to vibrate, and the vibration gets bigger and bigger until it shatters. A seal system as powerful and complex as the one around the Nameless Citadel isn’t something a single mage can power on their own unless they’re someone with a truly monstrous amount of magic like you or Vicky. Even then, it’s not some
thing a single mage could do continuously, day in and day out, for years without help. Now, given that my master and I didn’t encounter anyone like that when we escaped, I think it’s safe to say that’s not how they’re doing it.” Timmy heard a few squeaks and looked over to find that the demolition rats had borrowed paper from Gerald and were busy taking notes. He chuckled. He’d forgotten that they still had a lot to learn, and they weren’t the least bit shy about learning from whomever they could.

  “They have to be getting the power to operate the barrier from the magic flowing through the land, which isn’t hard considering how much magic flows through the Desert of Glass.” Timmy gestured in the direction of the Nameless Citadel. Through the spyglass, it had appeared as a collection of black stone buildings arranged in seemingly haphazard fashion. “I have earth magic, so I can feel the magic flowing through the land quite well. There is a lot of it, which is probably why the ancients built their empire here in the first place. I’m going to bottleneck a few of the main flows of magic feeding the barrier with my own seals. Think of it like blocking a pipe. If you block a pipe and water keeps flowing into it, then the pressure will build and build. If you don’t release the pressure, the pipe bursts. Since we actually want to live through this, I’ll be doing something different.”

  “What will you be doing?” Katie asked.

  “If you have a blocked pipe and you let the pressure build up enough and then remove the blockage suddenly, you get a spray of water out of the other end of the pipe. I’m going to let the pressure of all the blocked off magic build up and up before letting it all out in one go. With the help of some other seals I’ll be using, it should, hopefully, flood into the seal system and blow the barrier apart.”