The universe screamed.
The universe died.
And I sat up alone, in flames. Dragon Fire burns hotter than normal flame; it clings like napalm. It covered my body, my real body. I was awake, on the slope in Bella’s old cave. The surrounding walls were painted red by my fire. I looked at myself and noticed that the necklace I’d taken in the dream from my father hung at my throat, undamaged by the inferno I wore. The black-enameled chainmail wasn’t so lucky. It had melted and flowed like water onto the hill under me. My skin was unmarked, healthy, but then I’d never been burned by my own spell.
Before my Dragon Fire consumed all the oxygen, I banished the spell with a thought. The fire vanished, but my body still glowed gold as in my dream. I rolled, got my hands and knees under me, and stood.
And there, just above me, driven point-first into the ground, was the sword my father had given me, only not the size of an eighteen-wheeler. It was of a normal length, a black wrapped hilt and a titanium blade.
I asked my inner dragon, “So, was that a dream, or did I just meet my long-lost father?”
That was a dream. He was in it with us, while also out here, with your body.
“Then that message I gave him for my mother…?”
I’m sure he’ll give it to her, word for word.
“Well…good! It’s not like I didn’t mean it.”
THIRTY-EIGHT
“Coolness, like magic, is an art
demanding discipline and devotion.”
—Caine Deathwalker
While drawing the complex lines of a spell pattern from a grimoire would have required a great deal of time and focus, duplicating my tatts with shadow magic, or my own golden lifeforce, required only a moment. If there’s one thing a man knows, it’s the tatts he takes onto his body through hours of pain. Every line needled on skin is engraved in the mind. Limiting my spells to those I’d once worn promised to make me more effective. In theory.
Unfortunately, none of my previous tattoos had allowed me to teleport, and I could easily be thousands of miles below the surface. The closest I had was my bi-location spell. It would have to do. I concentrated, seeing the tattoo image in my mind, drawn in lines of flaming gold. I opened my eyes and there it was, hanging in space. I poured more of my power into it, and pulled it over me like a blanket. Hitting my body, the golden spell activated and faded in the same moment.
Cool.
My body stood there beside the titanium katana sticking up out of the hill, but a translucent copy of me had been knocked free. All the old tatts were on my golden spirit form, each one a patch of shadow. I saw from both bodies, one image overlapping the other. The perspective I gave the most attention to became clearest. I flew upwards, the desire becoming reality.
A ghost, I reached the ceiling with its glowworms and plunged through. Despite being a creature of golden light, that didn’t help me see anything. I flew blind, encased in rock, observing nothing but changes in the strata, cracks, and occasional veins of ore. On I flew, demanding ever greater speed from myself, not really sure if I was getting it.
There had to be time. I had to reach Bella before she forced my troops off Tartarus, and shifted her world’s temporal axis out of tune with the rest of the time-space continuum. Though before that confrontation, I needed someone to rescue my material body for me. That meant Selene or Cole. Izumi or the Old Man could pull off portals, but they didn’t know how to find the right cavern.
I waited for the surface to appear, forcing myself to the patience of the hunter. That patience was rewarded when I soared out of the ground, into a sky of unrelenting black. Higher and higher I flew. Nowhere did I see any indication of the purple-white light pollution of Villager cities. I expected the lights to be gone from the city I’d destroyed. I didn’t expect that they’d all be gone.
My inner dragon said: Bella’s been busy. Ravenous.
Probably Selene’s monsters have, too. What do you want to bet that they don’t need rest or sleep, just something to eat or rape?
I sent out a mental shout.
In minutes, Zig and Zag streaked through the air to greet me. Zag’s yellow glow and Zig’s teal green light colored the air between them blue, until they parted, one moving to my right, the other to my left. Zag said: Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you everywhere.
Zig echoed: Everywhere!
A lie of course. Once I’d left them, having no instructions to follow, they’d gone romping, chasing every whim that occurred to them. It was the nature of Will-of-the-Wisps. The fey creatures were nearly witless, but could be useful.
I sent them a thought: I need you to tune into Selene’s energy, or Colt’s if he’s functional. Either will do, though Colt will be easier to influence.
Zag shouted: On it, boss!
Zig said: You got it.
They curved in flight, seeming to know where they were going, but I added: Not the scenic route. If you delay too long, we’ll get stuck here and you won’t see Fairy again for a thousand years.
Zig said: Bummer.
Zag said: Double bummer.
They corrected their course by five degrees.
Eventually, they angled down, passing over the city I’d invaded. Beyond, I spotted the multi-colored glows of open portals. More Will-of-the-Wisps floated about, adding extra light. Our vampires, wolves, and fey allies were in full retreat, a business being handled by Imari, her demon skin limned by orange flames, and by Selene and Gloria. The vampire princess brandished her broadsword at anyone she thought might be moving too slow. Selene fried a couple stragglers with red lightning, and looked disappointed when no one else gave her problems.
Seeing Selene tossing crimson lightning around, Zig and Zag wisely veered away from her and led me to a red portal where wolves were heading home. Just outside the portal, supervising, Angie and Det. Winter sat on a rock. They had Colt with them. His eyes were open, but he didn’t look too energetic. Someone had thrown a blanket over him, and had magically conjured him a pepperoni pizza. He chewed diligently, as if it were a duty that had been thrust on him.
The wolves looked up at Zig and Zag as they slowed to a bobbing hover. Neither Winter’s or Angie’s eyes turned my way. Not too many paranaturals can see astral forms. Colt’s face snapped up, brightening with excitement. He dropped a slice of pizza, leaping to his feet. “Dad!”
Angie stared at him. “What?”
Colt said, “Dad’s here, in spirit form.”
Winter said, “His ghost? He’s dead?”
Colt frowned at the detective. “No, he just got separated from his body”
Both Angie and Winter stared around uncertainly.
I said, “Colt. Come with me. I’ve got a job for you to do.”
He looked at his werewolf babysitters, then back to me. “I’ll get in trouble again. I’m not supposed to go off without permission.” Colt’s bringing it up caused Angie to glower in a very wolf-like way. He turned pleading eyes to her. “Honest, I’m not making it up.”
She relaxed. “I know. Your heartbeat tells me you’re being truthful. If it’s Caine, you better go.”
Winter said, “I’m not telling his mother we lost him.”
I told Colt, “Tell them to blame it on me.”
He repeated my words.
“Works for me.” Angie saw where Colt stared. She spoke in my direction. “Caine, whatever you’re doing, do it fast. Evacuation will be completed soon, and there’s just so long we can hold the portals open for you guys if this Bella Donna creature attacks.”
“She will,” Colt said. “I can feel the rise of something blacker than black, a stirring of goddess level magic.”
Damn. Gotta hurry. Zig, Zag, lead us back to where you first found me.
Zig lobbed himself higher, wasting no time. A second behind, Zag followed.
Making an instantaneous change, Colt shed human form for that of a baby dragon, the size of a VW van. He was gold, a golden dragon, but had red coloration from his Mo
m. He’d integrated the difference by manipulating his skin so the red formed flames down his side. Beating his wings furiously, he shot after Zig and Zag, with me at his side.
My inner dragon stared.
I asked: What’s wrong? Never seen a custom paintjob before?
That’s just wrong!
Get over it, I told him. It makes him happy.
Are you going to say that when he starts dating zombie cheerleaders?
We’ll burn that bridge when he tries to cross it.
Colt’s thoughts touched mine: Dad, why would I date a zombie?
I said, “Cheerleaders are hot.”
He asked: Then why don’t you have one in your harem?
I said, “Hot tubs rot them too fast. They fall apart. No one wants to soak in zombie soup.”
Oh.
“Colt?”
Yeah?
“Do you breathe lightning or fire? It might make a difference later.”
His dragon face showed embarrassment; he didn’t quite meet my eyes. Smoke rings, but they are ionized.
My inner dragon was back to staring again. He said: Ionized?
I said, “So both. You probably just need to grow into that ability a little more.”
Colt said: That’s what Mom says.
We flew on into the darkness, following Zig and Zag until they reached a point where they simply circled like a dog chasing its tail.
I told them, “That’s all I need. Get out of this dimension while you still can.”
They zoomed off without a word, obeying me promptly for once.
I pointed down. “Colt, deep underground is a cavern. I need you follow me there.”
Okay. Sounds interesting.
Shining gold, my spirit body dropped like an anchor. I didn’t hit the ground, just flashed into it without pause. I repeated my earlier journey, but in reverse, breaking into the cavern where my body waited. The descent seemed faster than the earlier ascent, but probably wasn’t. A shining phantom, I drifted to my body and sank inside. The double vision in my thoughts ended, along with the bi-location spell. I turned my body, feeling awkward a moment to be clothed in flesh again.
I reached out and took the sword by the hilt. I pulled it free and slashed the air, getting a feel for its balance as I waited for Colt—in dragon form—to find me and fly me free. Being a demi-god, he didn’t have to depend on his dragon powers alone to make a tunnel, but it would still take him time.
My dragon asked: Why do you even need another sword? You’ve got the demon sword, and there’s the blade of magic you made to take out DeSilver’s girlfriend.
“This new sword looks like it will be the best of both worlds. The titanium will give it more strength for hacking and slashing, always a good thing. And it won’t try to kill me when my back is turned. Also, if I were to need to funnel dragon and shadow magic together—the demon sword wouldn’t be able to handle it. This sword should do just fine.”
Oh, that makes sense.
It seemed like Colt was taking a lot of time, especially for him. I knew why; the cavern was shielded to hide its original prisoner from anyone seeking her. She’s put me here so Selene couldn’t detect my presence and find me. Colt couldn’t sense me, that might throw him off, but he didn’t have to sense anything to dig straight down through the crust I’d vanished into. Once he burst into the cavern, I didn’t think its cloaking power could fool his senses anymore.
The roof of the cavern cracked. Huge chunks of it dropped into the water gathered below, splashing water everywhere. A moment later, a red and yellow dragon fell into the airspace, fluttered wings to right himself, and managed to swoop down and land beside me. Heat rolled off his scales as if the red flames on him were real. Little winding jags of red lightning slithered down his body, grounding out into the slope. He huffed, fighting for breath. There was a shimmer over him of red-copper light and Colt was back to being a nine-year-old boy again. Bent over, his hands were on his knees. After a moment, he straightened.
His stare took in my new sword. His eyes widened. “Cool!”
The whole cavern shook. More of the ceiling caved in. Alarm chased away the excitement in his expression. He looked at me and whispered, as if there were a chance we might be overheard by the wrong person. “Uh-oh. She knows. She’s coming!”
I pointed up at the passage Colt had come through. “Get us out of here, now!”
He grabbed my arm. There was red-copper explosion of light around him. A portal formed with us both standing on its threshold. The portal’s center went dark, an opening eye of blackness. Fresh air flowed in. Colt tugged me through the portal. It closed behind us, sealing off the cavern.
To the side, I saw Angie and Winter. The rest of the wolves were gone. These two had waited. It wasn’t an intelligent thing to have done, but I appreciate loyalty.
Just don’t ask me for any.
I stared across the staging area. The other portals were gone. Everyone was gone except for Selene who approached with a smile on her face. She stopped by the portal, its red light showing that it drew from her power.
“Let’s go,” I said. Clearly, recovering had taken Bella longer than she’d anticipated. We were going to get away without a fight—if we left in the next few seconds.
“No,” Selene said. “The wolves should go, but we need to face Bella down here and now, otherwise she’ll never leave us alone. Sealing off this space may keep her people here, and everyone else out, but she’ll still be able to come and go when she wants. She’ll keep coming.”
“If you’re stay, so am I,” Angie said.
“Wolves don’t have the power to fight a dark goddess,” I said. If you stay, we’ll have to protect you. That will add to our danger.”
Angie looked ready to argue.
Winter simply pushed her through the portal and jumped after her. Cops are trained to face facts and make the right decision quickly. I really hoped he’d come to L.A. and work for me. And that Angie wasn’t going to be too mad at him.
Selene said, “Give Colt your sword.”
A look of effervescent joy lit his face.
I looked at the titanium katana in my hand. “I don’t think so.”
“Not that one,” Selene said. “The one you don’t need anymore. The demon sword.”
“You think the kid can handle it?”
She looked at Colt, then at me. “He is my son. Do it.”
I shrugged and called my demon sword to me across the dimensional ether with our soul-bond. The sword appeared, pointing down, the mask of Cronos still resting on its pommel.
Selene whooped like a crazy person—which she is—and snatched the mask off the sword. She danced away with the prize clutched to her chest. “Okay, now we can do this!”
Whatever.
I handed the demon sword to Colt. As his hand gripped the hilt along with mine, I willed the soul-tie to transfer from me to him, and jerked my hand away before the demon sword tried to slurp down my soul.
“Use it unsparingly,” I said, “but never trust it.”
The demon sword chuckled to itself. Fresh meat.
Colt gave the blade a cross, no-nonsense stare. “Behave.”
THIRTY-NINE
“Nothing like kicking ass
to bring people together.”
—Caine Deathwalker
Selene squatted, placing a long-nailed hand on the oily black rock. A red haze flowed outward from the contact point. The blush swept away until the whole world bled light. The air coldly ignited, carrying the glow high overhead.
“Lighting the battlefield,” I said.
“That too.” Selene stood. “This will inhibit shadow magic to an extent. Bella will have to stick to more direct attacks. Those shadow puddles of hers piss me off. And they’re dangerous.”
I smiled. “Tell me about it.”
“What’s a shadow puddle?” Colt asked.
I said, “A sort of liquid-shadow sea that can surface anywhere she needs a transfer point.”
“Like a portal.” Colt swished the demon sword through the air, then stabbed a few imaginary opponents.
“Yeah. You do know how to use a sword, right?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “Puh-lease! I’ve been watching you all my life.”
“Well, hang back anyway. Leave the heavy lifting to us. And when you do step in, make it count.”
I scanned the horizon toward the ruined city. Its broken towers and crumbling structures made a wall of ragged, bloody teeth.
Selene covered herself in heavier armor, red of course. A pair of short swords rode her hips. “Any time, now.”
I saw a walking shadow push into the red light above the shattered city. Roughly humanoid, it towered twice as high as any of the fallen towers had. The shambling shape looked flat, with no real depth. Its most distinguishing trait was a thick sheaf of shadow-flames for hair.
“No sweat,” Colt said. “We got this.”
“Wait for it,” I said. “One shoe drops, there’s usually a second, or third, or fourth—depending on how many people are in bed together.”
Selene smiled at our son. “What your father means is that when things go wrong for him, they go very wrong.”
Another shadow man pushed into the light. Then a third. A fourth. A fifth.” They came on across the city, a walking wedge of menace.
I glowered at them. “There are times being right doesn’t help you.” I shot Selene a glance. “My guess is that Bella’s hiding inside one of those. Question is, which one? Can you tell?”
Selene sighed. “No. Shadow magic is the hardest to keep track of and trace. If she were a sorceress instead of a goddess, this would be easy.”
“But she is what she is.” I held my new titanium sword, both hands on the hilt, point lifted toward the center shadow man’s head. “Our best advantage is that she’s been sitting on her ass for a thousand years while we’ve been fighting our battles. We need to hit hard and keep pressure on to exploit her inexperience.”
07- Black Blood Brother Page 29
