Destiny Descending

by Amy Sumida

  “Um.” I cleared my throat. “One dragon.”

  “What?” Arach stared at me and then his expression smoothed in comprehension. “Your star is broken so you can't take full dragon form.”

  “Exactly.”

  “You have other magic, Vervain,” Azrael reminded me. “You've gotten accustomed to fighting with your dragon, but you are powerful without her. Remember that Love is one of the Great Nine Magics.”

  “You want me to make Marduk love me?” I gaped at him.

  “You can do far more than that,” he insisted. “Love can make conquerors or slaves of men. It can crown or collar. And that is a formidable power.”

  I began to smile. “You're right; I have more than my dragon to fight with. More than love as well. I have the Moon and the Intare.” I smiled grimly at my lions. “And that's all I need. Now, let's get my alpha back. Intare!”

  “Intare!” The Lions repeated.

  “Um.” Odin cleared his throat, and we all looked at him in surprise. “You seem to have forgotten that I can shift into a dragon as well.”

  Arach laughed wickedly as he slapped Odin's shoulder. “We have two dragons after all. They don't stand a chance.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  My army and I streamed out of the Aether and onto sandy soil. A bone-dry landscape done in shades of tortoiseshell and wheat greeted us. A bleak battlefield of packed sand surrounded by more sand. Desert dunes rose in gentle undulations on all sides, their soft divots painted with an auburn blush. The air scoured at my face, stealing moisture and making me blink rapidly. No clouds offered comfort in the washed-out sky above, just a relentless sun. But I like heat and so do my lions.

  They shifted behind me then set to prowling and snarling like caged beasts. Just waiting for my signal; a command to kill. With them stood Sin and Ninkasi, just as eager to throw-down with our enemies, and Torrent, there for a chance at the action he'd missed earlier. To either side of me stood my men; all but one of them.

  Several yards before us, a mass of gods stretched out and back. Hundreds of them. At their head stood Marduk, the Tablet of Destinies strapped to his chest in its specially-made holder. He had a hand on Trevor's shoulder and a grin on his face. Trevor's wrists were bound in manacles before him, but he was otherwise unharmed. He stared across the expanse at me steadily.

  As I waited for Marduk to speak, I contemplated my choices. I could fill him with wild lust for one of the men or women around him. I could make the Mesopotamians desire each other so much that they'd fall to the ground right before us and start fornicating in the sand. I could simply break Marduk's heart and send him to his knees. Or I could use my Moon magic against him and turn him into a lunatic. I could even project an illusion before Marduk to make him believe that he still held Trevor while I rescued my mate. So many options but using magic against Gods can be tricky; there's always a chance it won't work.

  “You're outnumbered, Godhunter,” Marduk finally spoke. “And I have your husband... one of them at least.” He gave my other men a disdainful look. “Come any closer, and I will destroy his destiny. I'll send him far away from you along with your son. I'll make them hate you forever.”

  I swallowed past my dry throat before I responded. “But you don't want Trevor. So, what result did you envision for this scenario? What are you after, Marduk?”

  “Good question.” Marduk nodded. “Very simply, I want you. Come here, Godhunter. Submit to the Tablet of Destinies. Allow me to hobble your magic, and I will allow you and your brood to live.”

  Arach chuckled. “Shall I show him what else he's up against, A Thaisce?”

  “No, not yet. He'll start frothing at the mouth if he sees another dragon.” I looked from Arach to my other men. “I can do this on my own.”

  They stared at me for a long moment.

  “Well? What shall it be? Your magic or your man?” Marduk shouted.

  “Go,” Kirill said. “Kill him, Vervain.”

  I nodded and tried not to grin and give myself away. “You have a deal,” I called out to Marduk.

  Marduk's expression stuttered into surprise. Had he brought me here thinking that I'd refuse him? I suppose if I had, he'd simply destroy Trevor and then fight me; win-win.

  “Then come here and kneel before me!” Marduk yelled in an annoyingly arrogant tone.

  “First, you tell me not to come any closer. Now, you want me to come over,” I teased. “Are you sure this time?”

  “Get over here!” Marduk shouted and shook Trevor.

  Trevor angled his head and snarled at Marduk.

  “Send Trevor over at the same time,” I bargained.

  “Do you think I'm a fool?” Marduk huffed. “As soon as he's away from me, you'll all trace. No, he stays with me.”

  “I assume those are magic-dampening cuffs you have on him,” I pointed out. “Which means that he can't trace without help.”

  Marduk smirked mockingly. “Be that as it may be, I'm not letting go of him.”

  “Then both of you meet me in the middle.”

  Marduk's smirk turned into a grimace as he pushed Trevor forward. As soon as they started walking, so did I. We met halfway between our armies then stood staring at each other.

  “Are you all right?” I glanced at Trevor.

  “Fine,” Trevor said as he searched my eyes.

  I nodded in answer to his unspoken question. Yeah, I've got a plan, Honey-Eyes.

  “Release Trevor's manacles then push him away and take my hand,” I said to Marduk. “Trevor, trace as soon as you're free.”

  Trevor grimaced in frustration but nodded.

  Marduk watched both of us carefully, eyes darting back and forth, while he removed the manacles from Trevor's wrists. Then he pushed Trevor, sending him stumbling away from us as he grabbed me. The situation had crossed out a couple of my options. I couldn't use Lust or Illusion now. So, that left Lunacy or Love, but I really didn't want to make Marduk any crazier than he already was.

  I shoved heartbreak into Marduk as soon as he touched me. He cried out and fell to his knees as Trevor traced away. I got one glimpse of my husband's gleeful expression before he disappeared. Then I focused on Marduk, stripping away any chance of him finding love and making him feel it. Forcing him to experience the heartache of being eternally alone, without the one person who could warm his cold existence. Marduk screamed and clutched me tighter, pulling me down with him to the sand.

  I smiled into his face as his army wavered uncertainly. “You're not the only one who can change a person's destiny.”

  Marduk's head shot up and his eyes narrowed on me as he slapped a hand on the Tablet. “Maybe not, but I do it better than you, bitch!”

  Something wrapped around the magic I'd sent into Marduk. It clutched Love tightly then pulled. The butterflies of my Love magic burst inside me in a shower of blushing sparks. Those sparks tore through me like shrapnel, borrowing through my body and then out of it completely. I screamed and fell forward onto Marduk. A cord snapped inside me, and I heard the roar of the Great Wolf echoing into silence. Marduk clutched me to his chest like a lover and laughed softly in my ear.

  The pain drenched my mind. I couldn't think. All I could do was feel. And I felt so very much. My magic seeped out of me with an acid burn and flowed into Marduk. Was this what it was like when I took magic from a god? Did they feel this soul-shattering torment? I gasped as Marduk pressed my cheek against the stone of the Tablet; it was warming with my power. With the magic it was funneling from me into Marduk.

  Dragons roared and a pride of lions answered them. The pound of hundreds of feet shook the earth. An enormous shadow coasted over us and then another. Fire rained from the sky.

  “I will fucking kill her!” Marduk shouted. His grip loosened as he focused on the incoming army. “Stay back or I'll take everything! All she has and all she'll ever be!”

  I opened my eyes and saw Marduk's army rushing forward to meet mine.

  Do something! Alaric shouted in my
mind. Do it now, Vervain!

  Something tingled inside my chest and reached for Marduk. Of course! I'm the one who takes magic, not him. I reached into Marduk and grabbed Love with my mental claws. With a growl, I jerked it back into me. Marduk flinched and refocused on me with a shocked expression. A magical tug-of-war began between us. The butterflies fluttered until I could feel their vibration throughout my entire body. Just a little more.

  I wished that I'd worn the emerald Odin had given me; with it, I could have taken Marduk's magic too. I could have drained him. Why hadn't I taken the time to think past my rage? I always wore my emerald into battle just in case of moments like this one, but I'd been consumed with anger and fear for Trevor. I had raced off without considering all of my options. No matter. At least I had remembered who I was and what I could do just in time. The thought centered me and strengthened my grip. Every second made me stronger, and I was about to push away from Marduk when he began chanting.

  The Tablet of Destinies trembled. Magic gathered within it then burst forth. I felt something snap inside me, but I clutched Love even tighter. I pulled harder. My mental grip slipped like a bloody fist, and Love snapped away from me. I reeled through confusion as I tried to regain a hold on my magic. There was nothing to grab, or rather, no way for me to grab it. The Tablet had either destroyed my ability to take magic or taken that too.

  Marduk started to chortle.

  Vervain! Al shouted.

  The battle had weakened me, but I condensed what little strength I had left and shifted my right hand into a claw. When all is said and done, there's a reason why I rely heavily on my dragon. She never lets me down.

  With an enraged roar, I lurched up and stabbed upward. The blow glanced off Marduk's jaw, but I still sliced open the side of his face and one eye. He screamed and rolled away from me, clutching at his face. I wobbled to my feet, unable to even trace. I was about to fall right onto Marduk again when an enormous dragon claw closed around me and lifted me into the air.

  That's when it all went dark.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I floundered in darkness. Somewhere in the distance, the dim light of a star shone, but I couldn't reach it, and it refused to illuminate my path. Beasts prowled the inky-murk around me. I could feel the brush of their fur on my back and the heat of their breath on my cheek. They wanted blood but not mine. An enemy. They craved vengeance on my behalf. But why?

  I squinted into the gloom. Finally, the Moon rose, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She was still with me even if my star had abandoned me. Moonlight shone upon my lioness, setting her eyes to glittering with golden fury. I still had her too. And there was my wolf and my dragon, creeping forward on clicking claws with teeth bared in snarls. I knew them as I knew my own heart. They were pieces of me. And yet, there was a piece missing. Something big. What was it?

  My wolf howled, a lament and a demand for the hunt. A face appeared before me, one I knew well. Scarred but beautiful. With honey eyes like my husband's. Fenrir. I had once bound him to me with Love, but that cord had broken. Something had cut it. No; it had snapped when Love was taken from me. That's what was missing; Love. One of the Great Nine Magics. I had held it for years; cultivated and cherished it. Transformed it back into what it was meant to be. And now, it was gone.

  It felt as if a chunk of me had gone with it.

  I was too exhausted to even cry. I just laid back in the emptiness that used to hold Love and closed my eyes. My beasts crept in around me and laid down with me, offering their comfort. I nestled in between them, pressed within fur and scales, and tried to forget. I just needed a little peace. Some time to heal.

  But voices started to intrude on my oblivion. Masculine voices that made my skin tighten with awareness. They spoke gently but urgently, begging me to return. Return where? Where was I now? I dug my fingers into fur and slid them over glossy scales. No. I wouldn't leave. This was good. I'd just stay here awhile. Safe beneath the light of the Moon.

  “A Thaisce, wake up. Please, wake up.”

  I murmured into the fur. Made grumbling noises. Squeezed my eyes tightly shut.

  “She's alive; that's all that matters,” Trevor said softly. “Let her rest.”

  “We need to know what he did to her,” Odin argued. “The sooner the better.”

  “Tima, I need you to vake up.” Kirill's hand swept over my brow, smoothing my frown.

  I sighed and pressed into his touch. That felt good too. Maybe if I were quiet enough, he'd lie down with me and my beasts.

  “Just vake up and tell us vhat happened. Zen you can sleep again,” he bargained.

  “Damn lions,” I muttered as I opened my eyes. My eyelids felt heavy, weighted by exhaustion and sorrow.

  “Thank the flames,” Arach whispered fervently.

  “Minn Elska,” Trevor murmured but then the look in his eyes shifted. His voice lowered into a rumble, “Mate. You are well?”

  “Hello, Wolf,” I said with a smile. “I'm not well, but I'll live.”

  Wolf grunted. “I will kill that god for you.”

  “Thank you, honey, but I think it will take more than wolf claws to defeat that bastard.” I groaned and tried to sit up.

  “Easy now.” Kirill helped me, propping pillows behind me and then sliding into bed to hold me up himself.

  “Carus, what happened?” Azrael asked urgently. “What did Marduk do to you?”

  “I tried to use Love against him, and the Tablet took it from me; latched onto it and just pulled it out like I do when I take magic,” I whispered. “I tried to pull it back into me, and the Tablet destroyed my ability to take magic. I couldn't hold onto it; my love magic is gone. Maybe it's karma.”

  The men stared at each other in horror.

  “It did all that?” Viper asked. “How? I thought the Tablet only altered destinies?”

  “Marduk changed my destiny and made me surrender the magic. When I tried to fight it, he took my ability to do so.” I yawned and snuggled back against Kirill. “At least, I think that's what happened. I'm not sure anymore. Everything is so hazy. I feel as if I had just gotten to my feet when he knocked me down again.”

  “I'm texting Teharon.” Odin pulled out his phone and started typing. “He can't heal your star but maybe he can give you some of your strength back.”

  “I just need to sleep.” I laid my cheek against Kirill's chest and closed my eyes.

  “Zen you sleep,” Kirill said gently as he slid us down the mattress into a prone position.

  “We'll watch over you,” the Wolf promised as he climbed onto the bed on my other side.

  Pressed between the two men, I felt warm, loved, and safe. I could sense the others nearby, and I knew they'd stay as well. No one would hurt me here; no one would take pieces of me away. I fell back into slumber in seconds.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I sank into my dreams once more. At first, it was the emptiness again. But then the nothing brightened and my beasts lifted their heads as if to the Sun. Cool energy infused my essence, filling every cell with vitality. I got to my feet within the circle of my beasts and stretched.

  “Teharon,” I whispered with a smile. “Only his magic could make the cold feel good.”

  The cool touch eased back as if it sensed my awareness. In its place, heat surged in and with the heat came flames. Columns of fire danced around me, burning clean without even a whiff of smoke. Like a gas fire but golden-red instead of blue. My lioness and wolf got up and flanked me, staring warily at the leaping flames, but my dragon only cocked her head curiously. She could never fear fire, even if it didn't carry the scent of burning things. Fire is fire, and it's in my very essence. We are kin.

  As I had that last thought, the flames swirled into shapes and took form. A fiery army came into focus around me. One man separated from the ranks and stepped forward, orange ribbons trailing behind him and embers lifting from his shoulders to spark in the air. As he moved, his features sharpened while his skin darkened and dimmed. The f
ire shifted into golden-brown flesh, deep-walnut eyes, and ebony hair; shades of the desert. But he didn't look Arabic or Ethiopian or even African. I couldn't place his ancestry at all. His cheekbones were too high, his nose too narrow, and there was a sense of other about him. A sense confirmed when magic gleamed across his ebony eyes. Eyes that I suddenly remembered.

  I had seen those eyes before in a souq in Bahrain. They'd been bordered by swaths of dark cloth, the rest of his face hidden. This man had given me a ring then and told me some strange things. I glanced down at my hand and there it was; crimson metal swirling around a matching jewel. The facets of the jewel sparked as if it held fire within. How had I forgotten about it? Again. All through my time as the Dark Star, I had worn this ring but never remembered it was on my hand. Then I came home and showed it to my husbands. I told them the story of the man in the souq, the child of Tiamat who had given me a ring and a promise to help me fight a war. A different war than the one I'd been planning when I met him. He said he could see the future, and he promised to come to my aid when I needed it. All I had to do was smash the ring's jewel.