by E. J. Krause
"Let's do it." She zipped off away from the defenders. The room was so big that even with Andi flying at a fast clip, they had a few seconds to do this. They could always abort the plan and continue dodging if they ran out of room.
Their minds clicked in a way they never had before. It was like two puzzle pieces connecting, two Lego bricks snapping together. He had access to her mind, but knew not to take it, and that knowledge made it inaccessible anyway. This was why the trust issue was needed. He wasn't sure if a full mind control would be possible, but a nudge or two in either direction wouldn't be out of the question.
"That's it?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Let's see what it does."
Andi reached the corner, bounded off almost straight down, and landed on the ground. Ben took aim at the closest defender and let go a blast. Whoa! It was like moving from a dollar store squirt gun to a fire hose. The ray knocked the defender back and out of commission.
"Excellent!" shouted Felix as he vaulted over one defender and flashed a burst of dark energy into the eyes of another. "Can you put down more than one?"
If he couldn't this was going to be a long process. Plus, he didn't have an endless supply of energy to draw upon, even with Andi, unlike when he cast lesser spells.
Ben pointed each arm at a different defender and let loose. While the two blasts knocked them both back and down, neither was out. That wasn't good. It proved he'd have to target them one at a time, and he had no clue how long the stun would keep them down.
"Look out!" Felix shouted. One of the defenders snuck up on them, and Andi's quick reflexes saved them. She corkscrewed out of the way and maneuvered to temporary safety. That, however, broke their concentration. The forty or fifty defenders surrounded them, and he realized there would be no way for them to reattach, let alone get off enough new blasts without being nailed.
Felix saw it, too. "We may have to abandon this humane approach. You both see that, right?"
Yeah, and judging by her emotions, Andi did, too, though she wasn't yet ready to voice it.
"One more minute, Felix," he said. "Let's see what we can make happen. If nothing, then we'll nuke 'em, okay?"
"I can stay out of their grasp for another minute if you can," Felix said.
"Thank you," Andi said into his mind as she rocketed to the ceiling. They both scanned their surroundings to find their next plan of attack.
Chapter 32
Trent glanced over and saw Heidi was okay. Like him, she had some sort of magical binding which kept her from moving, but other than that, neither of them had been mistreated. Unless they counted being abducted and tricked into thinking Fillmore, Sasha, and Timothy were their friends. But why? Obviously it had something to do with Ben and Andi, but what? Were he and Heidi to be used as bait to lure the kids into some sort of deadly trap?
"Why are you doing this?" Heidi asked. Sasha did nothing but flash a sinister grin, but Timothy proved eager to share.
"By all means we'll tell you everything. We have a few minutes to kill, and it won't matter one way or the other. We've set the servants of the Stronghold on your son and his mate. No worries, though, as they're well-equipped to blast the defenders to kingdom come. When the rest of the council discovers Benjamin and Alexandria's handiwork, you can bet they'll be none too pleased. But, you see, it doesn't matter. It's a ruse to gather the entire council together so you two," Timothy motioned at he and Heidi, "can enter and use mystical bombs to eradicate the council, leaving me and Sasha as the sole survivors."
"We, of course," Sasha spat out, "will make sure the dragon world knows this act of war was perpetrated by your meddlesome son and his unbearable mate."
"Yes," Timothy said. "They'll be public enemy number one, but we'll step in to calm everything down and smooth it all over. For a price, of course."
"We will force them to sign a magically-binding contract that will give us full control of their free will."
"And, if they won't," Timothy said, "we'll refuse to help them."
"Ben and Andi will never fall for your tricks," Heidi said.
Sasha sneered, while Timothy chuckled. "What choice will they have? If they don't sign over their souls, they die. Even with their incredible power, they can't take on everyone in the dragon world."
"This will show who the prophecy is truly about," Sasha said. "Not those two snot-nosed little brats, that's for sure."
"Yes," Timothy said. "When our…we're controlling them, the world may think they're the ones for whom the prophecy was written, but we'll know the truth. And if they refuse to join us, we'll still be the last of the council left, ready to forge a new world out of the ashes. That would also prove the prophecy pointed to us and not them."
"This is all because of that prophecy?" Heidi asked.
"What else could be more important?" Timothy said, spreading his arms.
Trent looked over to the side of the room and saw Fillmore watching. "You can't honestly believe these two are better for you and your mate than Ben and Andi. Seems to me they're more worried about killing and conquering than saving anyone."
"Been burdening them with your problems, Fillmore?" Sasha asked.
"We've discussed it many times, chum," Timothy said. Trent didn't like the way Timothy emphasized "chum." He made it sound much more like shark food than the synonym for friend. "If we stop feeding her our power, or attempt to transfer it, she, and therefore you, die. That's not what anyone wants, is it, Fillmore?"
Fillmore's eyes grew wide, as he first looked at Timothy and Sasha, and then over to Trent and Heidi. His mouth trembled to say something, but then he turned back to Timothy and Sasha and said, "My loyalty always remains with you."
"Glad to hear it," Timothy said.
"You overlooked something else," Trent said. "You said Ben and Andi were already here, and they'll have no trouble knocking out the defenders. That means they'll be able to deal with you two before the council arrives."
"It's a good thought," Timothy said. "Except we've already contacted the council and explained the need for an emergency session. They're on their way, and most, if not all, should show up in time to witness firsthand Benjamin and Alexandria exterminating the last of the defenders."
"That will send them on the run, and our plan will be in motion," Sasha said. "As a bonus, that meddling record keeper and his prophecy scholar mate, who never had the foresight to see we were the true subjects, will assist their departure. It should be enough to get them ostracized from the Stronghold. Serves the two fools right."
"Of course, that means they'll be safe from the blast in the council chamber," Timothy said.
Sasha sneered. "We can always seek them out later to end their miserable existence."
"Yes," Timothy said, a smile dancing on his lips. "Those two will indeed need to be silenced."
"What makes you think we'll carry any sort of bomb for you?" Trent said. "We'll die before we betray anyone."
"That's the beauty of it," Timothy said. "You'll betray the council and die. It's the best of both worlds, as far as we're concerned."
"Remember our little meeting in front of the ice cream shop?" Sasha said. "I was there for one purpose alone." She snapped her fingers, and Trent's mind went blank.
Chapter 33
Two defenders lunged at Ben. Andi dove out of the way, keeping him safe, and then back-flipped away from another attack. He drew his sword, hoping not to have to use it, but preparing to parry away attacks if need be. His shield had already come in handy on a few occasions as the defenders were growing more and more dangerous as the battle moved along.
Felix laughed, drawing Ben's attention. He'd entangled three in a web of dark energy. They were already busting loose, but it had bought him a few more precious seconds.
"Having fun, Master?" Ben called.
"Yes, actually. Not being able to use lethal, or even harmful, magic is proving to be an excellent training session." He did a front flip over another defender and blasted a stun spe
ll into its back. It didn't stun the defender, but knocked it off balance. "As fun as this is, though, you two do realize we can't keep it up much longer. It's getting to that kill or be killed phase. Or at least maim."
"He's right, Andi. I don't want to do it anymore than you, but we're going to have to end this."
She sighed, but her emotions proved she knew he was right. "Can't we at least try a turbo-charged sleep spell or something?"
"I don't think it'll work, but it's worth a shot. It'll probably just make them all a little bit groggy." It took a big stun spell to put the one down, so what chance did they have to nail all of them? But they should at least try.
As he was about to call out to Felix to tell him the plan, one of the defenders came out of nowhere towards Ben. Without thinking, he slashed its chest. Too hard, it turned out, as he drew blood, though luckily not enough to hurt the guy. The blood coated the tip of his sword, and his magic caught something right away. Maybe a game-changer.
"Andi, get closer to the one I hacked."
"What? Why?"
"I can see Sasha's mojo in its blood. If I can heal the blood itself, we have a way to win without killing them."
"Good, but how are you going to get them all to bleed?"
"Don't worry about that yet. Let's make sure this works first."
"Should I concentrate?"
"Not magically. I need to be in eyesight of that one."
"Done." She spun away from a half-dozen that were converging, and then dove into a tailspin, which brought them face to face with the target. Ben already had the healing spell on his lips, and aimed for the wound. Once the burst was off, the effect was instantaneous. The defender slipped back to the ground, already back in servant mode. It didn't move to help either side.
"What did you do?" Felix called.
"Sasha's curse went to their blood, so a healing spell directly to the wound cures them."
"How are you possibly going to draw blood from them all?" Andi asked. "They'll catch us and kill us before then."
At the same time, Felix shouted, "You see what to do, right?"
"Yeah, we got this," he said to Felix, but also for Andi's benefit.
"So what do we do?" she asked.
"We concentrate. We need two power boosts."
"Power boosts? Is that your name for it? Seems a bit too on the nose."
"You can rename it later, but, for now, no matter what, keep concentrating. Promise me."
She dodged three defenders and said, "Okay, I promise. Ready."
Their minds clicked together almost before he started thinking about it. He expected the connection to get faster since they'd already done it, but was this speed because they were so powerful, or because of their intense love and trust? Something to ponder later. He drew his sword up to his left bicep, whispered a spell, and cut.
He felt Andi's desire to break concentration to ask him why in the heck he'd done that, to scold him even, but she kept her word. Maybe the fact that all of the defenders gained identical slashes to their upper left arms eased her mind. He paused a second or two to give every defender a chance to bleed, and then shot a massive healing spell around the room, targeting the exposed blood. As soon as it happened, they each dropped gently out of the air and converted back to their docile servant mode.
"What in the world?" Andi asked.
Felix shouted, "Bravo! Couldn't have done it better myself. Literally."
The servants milled around, each looking confused. None of them approached him, Andi, or Felix, so they let them be for the moment. With the danger gone, Andi transformed back to her human shape. "So do either of you want to explain what happened?"
"There's a spell where I can target someone, hurt myself in some way, and pass it on to that person," Ben said. "I figured I could use our power boost to change it from one to all."
"You couldn't imagine ever needing to use that spell," Felix said. "Told me it was a waste to even teach it to you."
"Yeah, yeah," Ben said. "So I was wrong. Anyway, once that worked, the amped-up healing spell was a cinch. Since they're magically resistant, the blood wanted to be cleansed of Sasha's hex."
At that moment, members of the Dragon Council entered the grand entry hall. Murmurs rose, as it was unusual to see so many servants milling about in one place, to say nothing of the two main players in the prophecy standing in the middle of them, with their magical master by their side. He saw Max and Nix talking with Angus and Ingrid. In all the excitement, he'd forgotten they were here, though he supposed that was a good thing. Neither was a fighter, and they'd have been crushed by the defenders early on.
The last to enter was Jonas, flanked by Abigail. They surveyed the room, and then he said, in a calm voice, "What is the meaning of this?" Ben glanced over to Andi, figuring she should answer, since she was the dragon, but before she could, the servants all pointed at Ben and Andi and said, as one, "They saved us."
Chapter 34
Ben, Andi, Angus, Ingrid, and Victor zipped through the oversized corridors of the Stronghold, looking for any sign of Timothy and Sasha, and, of course, his parents. Victor was there to act as their communication with the rest of the council in the main meeting hall. If Sarah's emotions went too far one way or another, Victor would tell the group to return.
When they first started out, Ben asked, "Why don't we use cell phones?"
"That'd be ideal," Victor said. "But there are no cell towers in this realm. Doesn't matter who your provider is."
Ben pulled out his phone and saw he had no service at all. "Okay, so how about walkie-talkies?"
"Also ideal," Angus said. "But there's never call for them, so we don't keep any in stock."
"I'm beginning to think you don't want me around, young Benjamin."
"No, it's not that. Actually, I was thinking of you. I know I wouldn't want to be split up from Andi in a potentially dangerous situation."
Victor gave him a hearty smile and slap on the back. "There's a reason Sarah and I have aligned ourselves with you two. From everything we've witnessed, there's no possible way the prophecy can turn out any way other than to the side of good. Alexandria was under a possession so powerful that no one knew what was wrong, and yet you still broke it rather than turn evil. So, yes, Sarah and I would very much like to stand side by side during this potential crisis, but we feel much better about ourselves in lending whatever support we can. Besides, we don't know what Timothy and Sasha have planned, so there may be no danger involved. Anyway, you two will make excellent leaders of the world of dragons when that day finally arrives."
"Aye," Angus and Ingrid said.
Andi reached over and grabbed his hand. He could feel the intense gratitude rolling off her, and he guessed she felt the same from him. "Thank you," they said simultaneously, and Ben hoped they could live up to that compliment.
As they ran through the Stronghold, Victor proved more useful than either a cell phone or walkie-talkie. He read Sarah's emotions as though she were talking directly to him, keeping them up to date on what transpired in the council session. Ben could read Andi quite well, and they had occasional silent conversations, but nothing like this. Would centuries together give him such insight into her, and vice versa? Probably. Actually, he had no doubt. He was already better at it after only a year and a half.
The group checked both Timothy and Sasha's private and public chambers, but came up empty. "What do you think they want with my parents?" he asked, meaning it for everyone and no one.
"Nothing good, that's for sure," Angus said.
"They can get away with anything now that they have their own recording disc," Ingrid said.
"Which is why we need to get to them soon," Victor said. "Though I'm beginning to think they may no longer be here."
"Does anyone know where they might go?" Andi asked.
"I'm sure there's a spell," Ben said. "Felix has mentioned it's possible to track people anywhere in the multiverse, but he hasn't taught it to me yet."
&nb
sp; "I won't pretend to say I know much about magic," Angus said, "but I'm guessing a spell like that is in the upper-echelon of difficulty. I'm sure he'll teach you when he knows you're ready."
"Sometimes spells of such power require more than a simple reserve of energy," Victor said. "Especially necromantic magic. I also won't pretend to have an immense knowledge on the subject, but I do know that sometimes the most powerful necromantic spells require a piece of one's soul."
"A piece of soul?" Andi shouted. "I guess you won't be casting any of those."
Ben shrugged. It wasn't something Felix had brought up so he filed it away in the back of his mind to ask. His master would give it to him straight.
"If Felix hasn't shared it with you yet, then…" Ingrid started, but Victor broke in.
"The council chamber. Something's happening."
Andi and Angus transformed to dragons. Ben jumped on her back, while Ingrid and Victor vaulted onto Angus's. In a blur of acceleration, they were at the council chamber door. The two dragons changed back to their human shapes, and the five entered the room to discover Timothy in the middle of a speech.
"…obvious evil the two are bringing upon the multiverse. We need to stop them right now. The Stronghold may not even be equipped to handle them, but if you'll hand them over to us, we have ways to bring them back into the fold."
Jonas stood up. "I think you can stop right there, Timothy. The servants informed us of what happened."
"They attacked and killed the servants," Sasha said with her familiar sneer firmly in place.
"Actually, none were even injured. Each suffered a minor cut on their upper arm, but those have already healed. They also had quite an interesting tale of brainwashing when Benjamin and Alexandria broke the curse."
"Who's to say they didn't brainwash the servants and make them believe we'd done it?" Sasha said.
