Amy Sumida - Rain or Monkeyshine (Book 15 in The Godhunter Series)

by Unknown

  Evil. Anyone was capable of it, fey, god, or human but I was not evil and neither was my dragon. She was as enraged as I was over Hanuman's cruelty. It was purposeless and wasteful. There was no honor to it and no justice. He was evil. The word ripped through me again, shocking me even more that it had come from her. I didn't know she was capable of making such a distinction. Now she was showing me that not only was she capable of it, she was capable of compromise too. My fey nature hadn't destroyed my humanity. My humanity had tempered my feyness. That's what my dragon wanted me to know. That together, we were better... and we were nothing like Hanuman. I roared and sped toward him again.

  He saw me coming and jumped into the air, landing fifty feet further away from me, in the middle of a group of nagas. I began to pursue him but I knocked into Fallon and he steadied me with a shake of his large, lion head. He was right, I had to stay focused and be the leader my men needed. I couldn't desert them to chase Hanuman, no matter how much my dragon wanted to tear him to shreds. We were almost to the palace now and I needed to focus on getting in there and freeing the nagas.

  “To the palace!” I screamed as my claws sliced through the ankle of a low flying suparna. He fell in a tumbling mass of feathers and I beheaded him quickly before moving on.

  The Intare spread out behind and to the sides of me, working as a unit like they were taught, and I was so proud of them. They were close enough together that nothing got by them and far enough apart that there was still room for them to fight. Fighting in lion form was a lot different than human. The Intare needed a certain amount of space to be able to leap and pull up on their hind legs. So when I talk about having the right kind of space between ourselves, I want you to understand how very important it was and how impressive that they managed it so perfectly.

  My inner lioness was roaring for release and really, she should have been leading our men, but the dragon form had too many advantages over hers. So she'd have to satisfy herself with the monthly hunts we had in Pride territory. War was now the domain of my dragon.

  As I reached the palace, the war reached the point of chaos. Gods didn't fight well as a team, generally having powers that were hard to integrate with others. So the chaos point I mentioned earlier, when soldiers start fighting with only survival in mind, comes faster for gods. That being said, my friends have been fighting as a team for quite awhile and they knew each others strengths and weaknesses. They were able to split up into small groups that worked well together, instead of going completely independent, like our opponents.

  Teharon and his new family had stayed mostly together, though Naye had formed a team with Apollo since they both had sun magic. They were using their combined powers to turn their enemies to ash almost instantaneously. Damned impressive but then so was Toby's ability to drown a man without touching him.

  Brahma and Pan also seemed to be a good team. Pan used panic to confuse the enemy while Brahma mowed them down with his voice. Hekate had stayed with Horus but that was most likely since they were dating and had nothing to do with their magic working well together. The same went for Torrent and Artemis, who were actually a surprisingly deadly team. Torrent had been training with the Intare and that, combined with his ability to filter through vast amounts of knowledge on the Internet, had made him an astoundingly good fighter. Which happened to be perfect for our current needs since most of the vanara were hand-to-hand combatants, not the usual tossing about magic variety.

  Though I did wonder what Torr could do against such foes with his ability to unmake magic. Unfortunately, it wasn't something he could train for and in the end he had decided to wait until he had an opportunity to test it. There were too many things that could go wrong with it, like accidentally unmaking a friend who was standing too close. So he limited himself to his crazy, ninja-like skills and Artemis simply stood behind him and took out anyone he couldn't reach, with her bow and arrows.

  I was sure Hades was with Persephone but I couldn't see them. I didn't see Thor, Ull, Odin, or our sons either but I had a feeling they were together too. Family has its pull, especially in battle, and since my sons knew I was guarded by my Intare, I knew they would stay beside their father. War is about blood on so many levels.

  “Remember me?” The whooshing of wings accompanied the voice and I looked up to see another family tie that would need to be dealt with. Except it wasn't my family but Garuda's.

  Vinata landed in front of me with her wings spread wide, catching the sunlight in the beautiful golden feathers. She had on gold Atlantean armor, which looked strangely perfect over her rust red sari and harem pants. Golden sandals touched the earth lightly as she stepped forward, scaled hands curled in anger with deadly talons dripping blood. She swiped them at me and I fell back.

  “I'm sorry,” I frowned as if I were trying to recall her face, “I can't quite remember. Who are you again?”

  She screeched and launched herself at me. I angled to the side and as she passed by, I kicked my own taloned feet into her spine. Her screech of anger turned into pain and she twisted around quickly to come at me again. I saw my Intare forming a circle around us and edging in closer but I waved them off. I needed to do this alone.

  “You killed my son!” She leaped into the air and flew at me, hands and feet extended like a bird of prey.

  “In the arena!” I shouted as I caught her by the ankle and twirled her around before I pounded her into the ground. “It was an honorable kill!”

  The claws on her feet curled into my wrist and I hissed as she drew blood. Then her other foot kicked out, hitting me square in the stomach, and I flew back with a huff of expelled air. I laid on the stones of the courtyard a moment, clutching my belly as I searched for signs that my baby was unharmed. Had my men been right? Had I made a terrible mistake, bringing my unborn child into battle with me?

  The spark of life within me burned bright and pulsed once in response to my search and I smiled. No, my child was stronger than that and it would take more than a kick to the stomach to hurt it, especially when I was in my dragon-half form.

  Vinata's face appeared above me and my hand shot upward automatically, gripping her by the throat. Her eyes widened and I smiled into their dark depths. She'd thought I was down and had expected an easy kill. Obviously she didn't know dragons.

  “I'm sorry you lost you son,” I said to her as I stood and lifted her above me. “That's a horror no mother should have to experience. None of us should outlive our children. So I'm going to make things right.”

  I sunk my claws into her throat and twisted, pulling her head from her body with a sucking snap. Her wings dropped, curling around her lifeless body as it crumpled to the bloody stone. I bent over it and laid her head gently in line with her body, trying to give her some honor in death. She was only a mother trying to avenge her child.

  A growl on my right reminded me that I didn't have the time to stand over my enemy and pay her the respect she deserved. I nodded grimly and stepped over Vinata's corpse, heading for the palace once more. It loomed above me, an edifice that suddenly seemed ferocious. Carved faces sneered and gold gleamed too brightly. I defied it and headed up the main steps.

  The roar of battle muted as I made it to the entrance of the vanara palace. The temperature dropped too, which slowed our steps just a little as me and my Intare panted in the open space. A few vanara were inside but we quickly dispatched them and moved through the palace without impediment. I was twitchy, my eyes shooting everywhere, expecting some sort of surprise attack, but the vanaras and all their allies were out on the battlefield. No one had remained behind to guard the palace.

  So where were the nagas?

  I frowned as we stalked through room after room, completely devoid of any living thing. Where were all the naga slaves? Even if they were hiding from the battle, wouldn't a few of them have revealed themselves by now?

  “This is weird,” I observed and Fallon gave a low growl beside me. “Hold on,” I stopped the group with a lifted hand and c
losed my eyes as I scented the air. “There,” I headed down a hallway. “I smell a whole lot of snakes in that direction.”

  My men made sounds of agreement as we headed more quickly in the direction my nose was leading us. I'm sure they could smell it as well, now that I'd drawn their attention to the scent. It was a dry and musty smell, with a hint of cardamon and a whole lot of fear. Perhaps they were all in hiding together.

  We finally came to a simple looking door that was barred against us. Of course that didn't last very long. I pulled it off its hinges and tossed it away to reveal a large room filled with nagas. They were cringing before a group of vanaras and one delicate looking woman. She had long, straight, white hair and light brown eyes. Her body was curvy but lithe and although she was small, I could sense a large amount of power in her. She also reminded me of someone.

  “You related to Hanuman?” I asked as she and her monkey guards gaped at me.

  “I'm his mother,” she looked me over with narrowed eyes. “And I imagine you are the Godhunter. I wasn't here during your visit but I was told of your... talents,” she looked over my body like it disgusted her.

  “Seriously?” I laughed as my men slid into the room behind me, growling and snarling. “You gave birth to that asshat and you think I'm gross? That's rich, Mother of Monkeys.”

  “What did you just call me?” She sashayed over to me and I glanced around to see that her vanara guards didn't share her bravado. They were backing away as the imprisoned nagas were slowly coming forward.

  “Oh that was just off the top of my head,” I smirked. “Let me try again. Um, lemme see, how about, monkey fucker? Oh that was really crude,” I shook my head as her jaw dropped. “One more try... um..” I looked down at my lions and they all gave me matching looks of impatience. “Crap, I can't think of any other monkey joke. Just banana jokes that don't really apply,” I sighed. “I just know I'm going to come up with a good one later tonight and I'm going to be super pissed.”

  “What is wrong with you?” The woman cocked her head at me.

  “I don't have time to go over all that,” I shrugged. “So let's just get on with it. If you want to live, I suggest you run away right now,” I pointed out the door.

  “I am Anjana of the vanaras,” she lifted her chin. “I do not run.”

  “Then you're gonna die,” I looked over at her guards. “Do you all want to die with her?”

  A clatter of weapons shocked Anjana into spinning around on her golden heels. “What are you doing?” She shrieked. “We don't surrender to mutants and lions.”

  “Mutants?” I looked down at Aidan and he gave a wheezing lion laugh. “When did we become the X-Men?”

  “We're outnumbered,” one of the vanara said. “There's no point to fighting.”

  “Smart man,” I nodded. “I have no intention of killing anyone who doesn't put up a fight. So if you don't want to fight me, please go and stand over there quietly. My lions will guard you. Oh, and just so you know, there's a lot more of them waiting in the hallway.”

  All of the vanara went obediently to stand against a wall and a few of my lions broke off to guard them. Anjana was screaming in fury.

  “You will all die anyway!” She was saying. “Once my son hears of your disloyalty and cowardice, he will kill you himself.”

  “I don't think so,” I narrowed my eyes on her. “Because I don't think he's going to hear about this. I mean, who's going to tell him? You'll be dead and they sure as hell aren't going to say anything.”

  “What?” She turned to me, her bluster gone in a breath.

  “Unless you give up and go stand beside them,” I nodded in the direction of the vanara. “In which case, you'll be just as disloyal and cowardly as they are.”

  She stood very still for about five heartbeats and then slowly went to stand beside the vanara. I sighed in disappointment. I would have at least liked to have slapped the idiot.

  “My name is Vervain Lavine,” I said to the nagas who were coming forward with looks amazement and hope. “I've come along with your people to help free you.”

  The nagas cheered, several of them starting to cry and hug each other. I smiled, even my dragon was content to see them so happy. Goal reached, bloodshed warranted. This was what it had all been about and I couldn't wait to reunite these people with their families.

  “You really are a dragon,” a woman came forward to address me. “Some of us saw you in the arena but the rest of us didn't believe it. How is it possible?”

  “I'm a dragon-sidhe,” I explained. “Now come on, there's still a battle going on outside. Pick up those weapons and lend a hand.”

  They all just stood and stared at me.

  “What is it?”

  “We don't even remember how to fight,” a nagini whispered.

  “They're broken,” Anjana laughed. “They wouldn't know the first thing about defending themselves, much less joining a battle.”

  “You need to shut up before I hurt you,” I pointed a finger at her and she went silent, scrunching her face up in a grimace. “Now, all of you listen up,” I looked back at the nagas. “We're here for you and if you don't think you can fight, that's okay. We're still going to take you home and no one is going to think less of you for it.”

  A look of relief passed over their faces and I almost didn't continue but my dragon urged me on. These people were close enough to her lineage that I'd trust she knew what she was doing.

  “No one will think less of you, except yourselves,” I continued and their relief disappeared. “Are you really going to let these people win? Look at her,” I pointed at Anjana. “She thinks you're nothing, broken, but I know better. I know your blood. I know the strength within it and I know the regret you will have to live with if you don't pick up a weapon and join that fight. This is your chance to show them that you are not broken, that nagas cannot be broken... ever. You are snakes, your very nature is to bend. Now bend back into the warriors you were and join your brethren out on that battlefield!”

  The nagas gaped at me, then looked at each other. For a long moment, I thought they'd all remain inside, despite my heartfelt speech. Then one naga man stepped forward and picked up a sword. He lifted his eyes to me and slammed the flat edge of the sword against his chest to make a loud thud. The hood around his head curved in with the motion and scales flowed out from it to cover his whole body. He opened his mouth, raised his sword, and let a startling hiss.

  Behind him, the nagas hissed in response and rushed forward to arm themselves with the discarded vanara weapons. There weren't enough for all of them but they assured me that they'd find whatever they needed on their way out of the palace. They had been held down too long, a small detail like a lack of weaponry wasn't about to stop them.

  “Vikira can't fight,” a naga man came forward carrying the nagini who I'd seen beaten by Garuda. She was bruised everywhere and was holding her stomach like it was hurting her.

  “No one healed her?” I went toward them and looked her over.

  “We aren't allowed healers,” the man said grimly.

  “They're snakes,” Anjana snarled. “Scum that crawl on their bellies. They don't deserve healers. Either they heal on their own or they die.”

  “Oh, thank you,” I turned to her with a smile.

  “For what?” She frowned at me in confusion.

  “For giving me an excuse to do this,” I slapped her so hard that she fell back into the wall and then slid down it. She sat there, stunned, holding a hand to her face. “Now stay down, bitch or I'll make you crawl on your belly.”

  The nagas cheered and even a few of my Intare let out some lion laughter. I went back to the man who held Vikira.

  “It's alright, I have a healer who can help her. Give her to me,” I held out my arms and the naga hesitantly put her in them. The nagini's eyes fluttered open and she stared up at me weakly.

  “I know you,” she whispered. “You were there.”

  “I was,” I sighed, “and I'm so
rry I couldn't help you then but I returned and I'm going to help you now.”

  “I know,” she smiled, her bruised lips starting to bleed. “Thank you.”

  “Don't thank me yet,” I looked around at the waiting nagas. “We still have to win this war and I still have two more people to find.”

  “The horse and the goddess,” one of the nagas offered and I nodded. “I know where they are. I'll take you to them.”

  “Alright,” I looked over at Fallon. “Can you change back and keep Vikira safe until you can take her to Teharon?”

  Fallon nodded his huge lion head and then the glow of magic slid over him. His coat darkened and then disappeared altogether as his limbs altered, all of him shifting back into human. He stood naked in all his African glory and the nagas inhaled sharply as they drew back a little.

  “Yeah, I know,” I smirked. “It scares me too. I don't know how his wife handles it.”

  “Tima,” Fallon groaned.

  “What?” I chuckled. “Hey, you,” I called to one of the vanara guards. “Give him your cloak, will ya? There's no need for all that to be on display. The temptation to start making snake jokes is killing me.”

  The vanara pulled his cloak off immediately and tossed it to Fallon, who shook his head as he tied it around his waist. He'd gone from looking like he belonged in a porno to... looking like he belonged in a porno. Basically, the swath of fabric didn't help all that much. At least the thing between his legs was covered.

  “Gently now,” I handed Vikira to him carefully. “Perhaps you should just remain here with a few Intare to guard these guys while we finish this.”