by E. J. Krause
The lich threw up a hand, and sickly green energy extinguished Ben's spell. Before the undead monster could either regain his feet or launch a counterattack, Ben shot forward and slashed with his sword, severing the lich's head from his body. Instead of the euphoric sense of victory, however, Ben's heart sunk into his stomach. Like when he'd chopped Derian's head off minutes after he and Andi had been fully bound, the lich's disembodied head let out a gale of laughter, while a thick black cloud of something seeped out of the body's now-empty neck hole. Ben tried to shield himself from it, but the cloud oozed through his spell as if it were a mix of smoke and oil. It burned and threatened to eat through his flesh. He willed his healing powers to kick into overdrive to keep repairing his flesh before the liquid smoke devoured him, but it didn't work that way, at least not for long. A few other banishing spells proved equally as ineffective. He couldn't give up, but he needed something now.
Andi.
He hadn't thought she could help since she wasn't here, but if he could get her to concentrate for a power boost, he could end this. He could send a dark energy bomb big enough to blow the entire place up. Sure, he'd be caught in the blast, too, but as long as he also wiped out the lich, that wouldn't matter. He didn't know what a tie would do to this contest, but at least he wouldn't lose.
She stood next to him in the real world, but her emotions, while not muted, were turned down low, so low he could hardly make them out. For that reason, this might not work, but as the lich's evil energy soaked into him, eating away at his flesh, it was his last hope.
As the headache engulfed him, he said, "Andi, concentrate for a power boost," and then let go. He had no idea if she got the message, but he had to trust she did. He waited two or three painful, intolerable seconds, but then felt the connecting snap. He didn't waste any more time in destroying this landscape in his mind.
Chapter 43
Andi stood by helplessly as Ben and the lich were locked in their mental combat, their bodies as solid as statues. To make matters worse, she could hardly sense Ben's emotions. It was like he was down an impossibly long hallway. She considered killing the lich right here – she could go full dragon and coat him with acid – but would that even work? If it were that easy, wouldn't Ben have chosen to fight here instead of in his mind or wherever? Plus, with its body gone, would the thing stay inside Ben? That was probably worse-case scenario, but since she had no idea, it was definitely possible. No, it was best to wait. And hope. No, not hope, but believe. Ben was strong enough to win. He had to win.
A headache surprised her, almost knocked her to her knees. Ben's voice, weak but clear, said, "Andi, concentrate for a power boost," and then was gone. She didn't think, didn't hesitate, but concentrated and felt her mind click with his. She continued until both Ben and the evil lich stirred.
Both slumped over, falling to their hands and knees. She wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to rush to Ben's side to make sure he was okay, but what if she wasn't supposed to yet? And his emotions, they felt…weird. Muted, enhanced, haywire, and normal, all at once. How could that be? She'd never felt anything like that. Truth be told, she couldn't even wrap her head around it.
The lich stood first, and when he saw Ben, he laughed.
"What?" she asked, trying her best to keep the hysterics out of her voice.
"I've won, young one. You two are now under my control."
"I don't feel any different."
His wrinkled and bony face twisted into the most evil smile she'd ever seen. "I must need to wrest control from you personally. No matter. As soon as your mate recovers, which should be any second, I'll command him to stand passively to the side while I convert you to my faithful servant."
Andi hissed in a breath. If Ben couldn't beat him, what chance did she have? She glanced over and saw Ben now convulsing on the ground. His mind, his emotions, felt the same – way messed up. It took a second, but the answer came to her. She needed to heal him like she'd done to Mila. Something was wrong with him above and beyond losing to the lich. Or maybe she should kill him, killing her. At least that way they'd be together in the afterlife, and not stuck doing the evil bidding of a crazed undead monster. But what if Ben wouldn't make it to the afterlife with her? What if the lich already had too much control?
She quit thinking and acted. She could do this, as was already proven with Mila. Good thing Ben had explained she didn't need to make any sort of gesture, because she didn't want to let on to the lich that she'd done anything. That seemed important.
Ben's emotions stabilized almost instantly. He was confused for a second, but then determined. She had no clue what was going on, so figured she'd follow his lead. No matter which road it led down.
Ben stood and looked at the lich, who watched impassively, and then bent down onto one knee in a subservient bow. He motioned for Andi to do the same. She hesitated a second, and then mirrored his pose.
"What is thy bidding, my master?"
Andi gaped at him. Had he really done that as Darth Vader? Yes, he'd even inflected his voice to go deeper. Surely this lich wasn't a Star Wars enthusiast, so it meant Ben still had some free will. That was good, right? At least they'd still be them. Some of the time, anyway.
"Stand by and watch while I capture your mate's mind for my own."
Ben stood. "Yes, master. But may I make a request?"
The lich did a double take, and then said, "What?"
"Actually, it's a command. Crumple into a ball of dust and die for a final time."
The lich didn't even have time to let out a yell as he folded up on himself until he disappeared into nothing.
"What the…?" she started, but before she could get the full question out, he grabbed her in his arms, lifted, and spun.
"You were brilliant."
"I don't even know what happened."
"We won," he said, but instead of elaborating, he kissed her hard, deep, and she no longer cared about any explanation. For now.
Chapter 44
"So what happened?" Fillmore asked, his eyes wide and face pale. Mila sat next to him on the couch, her hands on his, with the same pale expression plastered on her face. Felix sat in a pillowy armchair, his posture much more relaxed, but just as much interest etched on his face. Andi sat next to Ben on a couch, enjoying his retelling of their adventure. He had a feeling she'd look a lot more like Fillmore and Mila than Felix if this had been her first time hearing it.
The five of them sat in a quiet, comfortable waiting room in the Stronghold, not far from the main council chamber. Jonas called a mandatory emergency meeting when Ben and Andi had returned with the newly-resurrected Fillmore and Mila. They'd been shuttled into the council meeting to explain, while Felix, Fillmore, and Mila had to wait. Now that the council conferred behind closed doors, Ben retold his tale.
"The only thing I could think to do, especially since his magic was eating me alive at the moment, was to blow us to kingdom come. I wasn't sure if that would mean I'd win, but it also meant he wouldn't."
"Of course, it also could mean you'd fry your own mind," Felix said, a hint of humor in his voice.
"Which is what happened, but that's why Andi's here."
"To think," she said, "when this all started a year and a half ago, I thought I was just the flying, acid-spewing muscle."
Everyone laughed, and then Ben continued. "After Andi patched up my brain, I could tell right away I had control of the lich, but the even better part was that he thought he did. So I went with that to make sure his guard was down, and then commanded him to die." He saw Felix about to protest, so he added, "Of course, I shot out all my inherent undead-killing Dragon Guard mojo, along with some necromantic power, too." Felix nodded, content with the full answer.
"After that, I explained everything to Andi, we fixed the hole in Mila's chest, and brought her and Fillmore back to life."
Mila rose her eyebrows. "So you're saying you took your sweet time bringing us back?" He didn't know Mila, and, for that matter, neith
er did he really know Fillmore, but he sensed right away she was teasing. He could tell he'd enjoy both of them.
"You two weren't going anywhere," he said with a shrug, bringing more laughter to the room.
Before anything else could be said, Jonas, Angus, Gretchen, Sarah, and, of course, their mates, filed into the room, smiles on their faces. "I assume everyone's caught up?" Jonas said.
"On this end," Felix said. "Do we get to hear what the almighty council discussed?"
"You can leave if you'd prefer to be a smart arse," Angus said.
Felix chuckled and said, "I'll be good."
"First off," Jonas said, "the council would like to offer our full condolences to you, Benjamin, for the loss of your parents, and to you, Alexandria. You never did get that officially from us when your parents died."
"It's okay," she said. "Timothy, Sasha, and, I guess, that evil lich had things pretty bungled up."
"They did at that. Things never should have progressed the way they did, and we have you two, again, to thank for cleaning it all up. No doubt, moving forward, the council shall be stronger for it."
"And speaking of the council being stronger," Gretchen said, prodding Jonas.
"I was getting to that. The council has decided unanimously that you two should take the spot vacated by Timothy and Sasha."
Ben gasped, and both felt and heard Andi do the same. Council members? Them? But weren't they too young? Like, too young by centuries?
Sarah spoke up. "We do it because, with everything you've gone through, with everything you've overcome, you've proven yourselves more than ready for the responsibility. Plus, if you are in such a high-profile position, the entire dragon world can watch to make sure you stay on the correct path."
"Yeah," Andi said. "I doubt any shenanigans by anyone on the council are going to be tolerated for the next few centuries."
"That, young lady," Jonas said, "may be the understatement of the millennium."
"So you'll accept?" Gretchen asked.
He looked at Andi and saw they didn't even need to discuss it. "Of course," they answered at the same time.
"Excellent," Jonas said. "We'll initiate you soon. Maybe as early as tomorrow. We need to get word to a certain group of information recorders." The twinkle in his eyes, as well as the guilty looks from Angus, Gretchen, and Sarah's faces, proved he knew all about the memory disc debacle.
After that, the talk turned to the immediate future in the real world, or as the Dragon Council called it, the Mortal Realm. It was decided Ben and Andi should move to another part of the country to avoid questions about their now-gone parents. The Dragon Council, of course, would help get them started in their new lives, as well as put everything from his parents into his and Andi's name, as they'd done with her parents' things. He knew Mom and Dad had a will already drawn up that left everything to him, so that should make everything easier.
"We need to finish high school," he said. "And Andi is going to graduate after a hundred years of different schools." She nodded vigorously at that.
"You realize there's no need, right?" Sarah said. "We can make it so you have any sort of degree you need, whenever you need it."
He nodded. "I know, but it was important to my parents, and even though I never thought it would be, it's important to me."
"I have to admit," Andi said, "I'd like to go through a graduation ceremony."
Fillmore spoke up. There was hesitancy in his voice, which was understandable with his history with most council members. "Mila and I can act as guardians. We've missed our window to sire offspring ourselves, so we would be delighted to be surrogate parents. I mean, if it's not a silly request. You'll need parents if you plan on pretending to be normal teenagers, right?"
"Of course it's not silly," Andi said, tears forming. She got up and went over to hug first Fillmore, and then Mila.
"We should only take one of you in, though," Mila said, and she threw Ben a wink over Andi's shoulder. "I doubt the two of you want to spend the next few years pretending to be siblings."
"No way," Ben said.
Andi exclaimed, "Yuck!"
Everyone laughed, and Felix said, "I've been looking for an excuse to settle down. I suppose I can be this knucklehead's pretend pop."
Everyone agreed this sounded great, and as the council members and their mates filed out, Jonas assured them they'd get started on setting everything up right away. When they'd gone, the five left in the room, the two future families, but, really, one big happy family, looked at each other and smiled.
Andi laid her head on Ben's shoulder and said, "Any wizard guesses on how it's all going to turn out, Felix?"
He raised his eyebrows and said, "Of course. But would you like first crack, Benjamin?"
Ben sat back, enjoyed how Andi, his sweet Alexandria, squished in next to him, and let the power wash over him. "The prophecy is still centuries from playing out, and, of course, there will be bumps in the road in getting there, but that's life. In the end, we'll look back and see the good far outweighs the bad, and we'll settle into the prophecy in the direction everyone wants."
Felix gave him a smile and a nod. "Spoken like a true master."
About the Author
E.J. Krause lives minutes from Disneyland, and he does his best to grab the spare creativity the place bleeds off. He writes speculative fiction for many different age groups. Please visit him in his stomping grounds on the World Wide Web:
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