* * *
Julie supplied me directions as soon as we reached the Archives. Cassie stood quietly next to me in the elevator. Neither of us had spoken much since she came back to life. Again? Had she actually died before? Before I could ask her about it the elevator stopped. The doors opened to a dark and empty hallway.
“Oookaaay?” my voice echoed down the hall.
As if on cue, lights flickered to life halfway down the hall above a single door. I glanced at Cassie. She was looking around the hall with a suspicious glare. When she looked at me I nodded towards the door. With a shrug we both stepped out of the elevator into the dark hallway towards the light. As soon as we were past the doors, the elevator closed and left, abandoning us to our fate.
Why do I feel like this is a trap?
I took the lead with Cassie on my heels as we approached the door. We stood in front of the single lit door for a full minute before I had worked up enough courage to knock. I lifted my hand to the door.
It opened before I knocked, with the same eerily hissing movement of all the pressure doors in the archives. My hand had dropped, pulling my gun clear of the holster. Gun first, I started to inch my way into the room beyond. Our footsteps echoed loudly in the dark, cavernous room. The only light in the room came from our left just inside the door. Under the lights were a number of chairs and couches arranged around a coffee table. The chairs made a small waiting room inside the immense surroundings.
“We’re looking for a man called Arkon. . . . Yuric, the Head Master Vampire of the Region sent us to find him. . . . Hello? . . . Is anyone here?” I called into the darkness.
Cassie edged her way to the chairs, placing the chocolate on them to free her hands. She drew her guns and stood by my side waiting for anything. A deep, impossibly loud snorting noise filled the room. Seconds later a deep rustling of leather on leather began to move laboriously towards us from the dark.
“You will not need your weapons here. I will not harm you,” a profound bellowing voice filled the room and slammed against my skin with the force of a jet engine.
“Show yourself and we’ll decide if we need our guns or not.”
“Put the guns away and I will show you.”
AAARRRGGGGHH!!! Why does everyone have to be so damn difficult?
We stood there in the silent dark without moving. It was a stalemate. Neither of us wanted to budge. Cassie made the first move. She stepped past me without a word, holstering her guns with her hands spread wide from her body to show she was not an immediate threat. I groaned to myself and copied her. Guns away, I stepped closer with my hands open and empty away from my sides.
“I will now turn on the lights. Please do not be afraid. You are safe here,” the voice bellowed again.
Sh’right! Well, I will be my own judge of whether or not I’m safe, thank you very much!
Something large and faintly metallic scrapped against the floor. Then the lights flickered on illuminating the oversized cargo room that was almost the same size of the cafeteria, levels above where we were now. The reddish-orange blob in the middle of the room began to stretch out, filling the space quick enough I started to feel claustrophobic.
Suddenly my mind began to make sense of what I was seeing. The blob was covered in leathery scales, with oversized wings and claws. Then the head turned towards me. Between the horns and spikes set two large golden eyes, with slits down the middle like a cat’s eyes. The head split open at the mouth to bare fangs, each one larger than my legs.
The head leaned towards us with that mouth opening further. In a second that mouth was large enough to swallow us both whole with room to spare. It raised up to the ceiling. My knees were going weak, and my body was screaming at me to run as soon as I figured out what the giant shape was before me.
A DRAGON!?!? A REAL LIVE FUCKING TALKING DRAGON!?!
The dragon’s head towered above us as it looked down. The look in its eyes made me think I was going to be the next meal. It made a noise like it was clearing its throat. Hacking each time it snapped its gargantuan jaws at us. The head swooped down at us with those oversized fangs dripping ooze.
I threw my arms behind me and drew my guns as I ran. I brought them up to bear on the monster. The giant mouth parted, behind the fangs next to the sides of the throat two small slits split open, jetting fourth two streams of liquid. As soon as the liquids collided they ignited like napalm. The wall of fire slammed against my shields. The heat of the flames was enough to burn me a little even through my strongest shields.
An instant later the fire stopped. The dragon’s head was inches from me. Its lips pulled back from the fangs. I readied myself for the attack.
Suddenly. . . it hiccupped? It hiccupped and pulled the head back to hide the fang filled mouth behind one of those massively clawed hands. Twice more it hiccupped before turning back to us.
“Apologies. I have not spoken in some time again. It always gets caught in my throat. I lose more visitors that way.”
“WHAT!?! You just tried to barbeque me!”
“It was an accident Big Sister. He was just coughing and you ran into the flames.”
I glanced at Cassie. She was still crouched behind one of the chairs on the left side of the room. I had ran to the right, directly into the path of the fire.
Well now, I feel foolish. Wait, how did Cassie know it was just coughing?
“Cassie, this isn’t the first dragon you’ve met is it?” I asked her leerily, already knowing the answer.
She stood up and straightened her skirt, brushing the soot off her jacket. “No. Master Yuric took me to meet several Dragons in Europe. Haven’t you meet one before?” she asked me like it was an everyday occurrence to meet a dragon.
“Of course not!”
“Then I am honored to be your first,” the dragon boomed. “I am Arkon, last of the Bloodwing Clan. I am pleased to finally meet you both in person, officers Cassie and Kieran Grey. Or, do you still prefer to be called Kevin?”
“Kevin?” Cassie asked with a twisted look of confusion.
How in the hell am I gonna explain my past to her? Later! I’ll just deal with it later.
I ignored her question and gruffly replied to the dragon, “I don’t use that name anymore.”
“Of course. I apologize for my error.”
“How did you even know my old name?”
The look of confusion worsened on Cassie’s face.
“I am Arkon of the Archives. I know everything that goes on within these walls.”
“Great. Well, we have some questions for you–”
“Dragons don’t answer questions,” Cassie interrupted. She stepped up next to me and let the confused look on her face pass with a shake of her head.
“That is right young one. We dragons only tell stories.”
Just great! “Then we’re wasting our time here,” I huffed and started for the door. I had already had enough fun for the day, and had no patience left in me for playing word games with a dragon.
“Wait Big Sister! Lord Arkon, we need your help, would you please tell us a story. We are prepared for quid pro quo.”
I stopped in my tracks. “Quid pro quo?”
“It means something for something. What tale would you like me to entertain you with young Cassie?”
“If you please, we would like a story about the creatures of old called the arachnataur.”
The dragon rose up with a look of shock on its face, almost scaring me out of my skin. “Arachnataur? You can’t be serious. Now, why in the world would someone as young as yourself want to know about those horrors long gone?”
“Because we just got our asses kicked by one a few hours ago,” I answered grumpily.
“That is impossible. The arachnataur has been extinct for millennia. Perhaps it was something else. What did this thing you fought look like?”
“Body of a giant spider with a torso of a man where the head should’ve been. Four arms. Bald head with a dozen black eyes. And of cour
se there are the large fangs jutting out of the mouth that it tried to eat me with!”
“Hummmm. Could it be possible?” Arkon asked himself.
The dragon turned away from us reaching out a huge claw. The claw pressed against a panel in the wall. Whirring noises grew loud in the chamber as the upper half of the wall slid away to reveal a fifty-foot-wide computer screen. Under the screen an equally oversized standard qwerty keyboard glided out of the wall.
A talking, fire breathing dragon, with a computer? Am I on one of those tacky hidden camera shows?
The huge claws tapped against a number of keys. A moment later a picture of the arachnataur we had fought at the warehouse filled the giant screen surrounded by dozens of strange symbols I didn’t recognize. Arkon studied the symbols that surrounded the picture as if they were in a language he could read. Then he turned his gaze back to us.
“This was not what you saw, was it?” he asked hopefully.
We both nodded. “That’s it. What are they and how do you kill it?”
“What she means Lord Arkon is, could you please tell us the story of the arachnataur?” Cassie corrected me.
“They are an ancient immortal evil. All manners of man and dragon alike have tried in vain to destroy them throughout history. They would arrive in a village and slaughter everyone, only to go into hiding not to be seen again until they pick a new village at random to destroy. Over the years a war erupted between them and the gryphons. The gryphons were the only ones that could harm them, so they took up the fight against the arachnataurs in the name of man.
“In time the war ended, simply because the arachnataurs never appeared again. The gryphons could never kill an arachnataur, but they could wound them badly enough that they had to leave the battle to heal. It was believed that the arachnataurs ate their own in order to heal. Legend says that they ate themselves to extinction. When only one remained the gryphons injured it, and it had no others to feed on so it limped away never to be heard of again.
“I suppose that it is possible that the last arachnataur has been found, and that it recovered by eating something else. That is the only possible explanation I can give for its appearance. It is most disturbing though that it would be working for someone else. They were very proud creatures that never allowed themselves to be ruled by anyone.”
Gryphons? The half lion-half eagle things in mythology? Hell, why not? Sure, they could exist, after all I’m standing in front of a talking dragon that coughs fire and uses a computer.
I sighed to myself, pushing all the other silly questions out of my mind, “So how do we stop it?”
“I wish I knew. The gryphons talons are even sharper than a dragons, that is why they were able to cut them, but it took many extensive wounds before an arachnataur wasn’t able to fight anymore.”
“What about shooting it in the mouth? Yuric said that most things are weak inside the mouth.”
“That is indeed true about most creatures. However, no one ever reached inside an arachnataurs mouth to find out. You would lose your arm quicker than you could test your theory. And you must remember, this was back in the time before guns, or crossbows, or any sort of ranged weapons. All man had to defend itself with were sticks and stones along with a few spears and eventually, primitive swords.”
“Could they be stopped by decapitation?” Cassie asked with morbid curiosity.
“In theory all creatures die when the head is removed. Of course there are exceptions, like the hydra, or gorgon. Removing their heads only makes them angry. Both the body and head can live on and eventually rebuild the missing part, creating two where there had been one.”
Hydras and gorgons? Just great! Oh how my world has changed. A month ago this conversation would’ve been just silly. Now I wonder which I’ll be forced to kill first, the gorgon, or the hydra. “S’pose it could stand up against a missile? Maybe something with nuclear ordinance?”
“Again, no weapons like that ever existed in their day. I do fear that the collateral damage may be too high to justify the use of such methods. But, it could be an option of last resort. . . .”
“Alright.” I wonder who I have to talk to, to get a nuke? Hell, the vamps can get their hands on everything else, I’ll ask Yuric for one.
“Lord Arkon? What of the story of the gryphons?” Cassie had moved back to the chairs in the waiting area, kneeling in the chair with her chin resting on her crossed arms on the back of the chair with an intent look of wonder that most children had when fascinated.
“Gryphons still exist even today. Although their numbers have declined since man’s industrial age began. They have become reclusive creatures living only in the high mountains. Like dragons, the gryphons hoard gold and other treasures. Most of the gryphons left today never leave their cache except to eat. Convincing one to come here would be quite difficult, and very expensive.”
I’ve got cash on me, or do they take Visa? “So? They were enemies with the freaky spider-guys, wouldn’t knowing one was still alive bring out the gryphons?”
“Perhaps, but it would take several days to contact them.”
“Do it!” I ordered.
“What she means Lord Arkon is to–”
“Do it!” I interrupted Cassie’s attempt to smooth over my gruffness. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but if there is any chance at all that we can use the gryphons to stop that thing then I’m taking it. If you won’t talk to them, then tell me where to find them and I’ll do it.”
The dragon chuckled. “You are young. So young. I believe we will have several interesting meetings in the future. It will take time, but I will attempt to contact the gryphons to request their assistance. I will let you know when I have learned anything. What other stories can I relate to you?”
I glanced at Cassie. She was yawning with sleepy eyes as she leaned against the back of the chair she was kneeling in. Seeing her like that wiped my mind of any other questions.
“Thank you Arkon, but I think that’s all for now.”
“Feel free to stop by anytime. I have millions of stories you would be interested in.”
I helped Cassie to her feet and started for the door.
“Uh hum! Quid pro quo? Did you forget?”
I started to ask what he meant, when Cassie pointed at the chocolate.
The chocolate’s for the dragon?!?! Oh hell, I give up!
“The chocolate?” I asked the dragon.
“Oh yes! Please yes!” Arkon drooled.
I picked up a few bars. “You ah. . . you want me to unwrap it for you?”
“That would be most kind. I have some difficulty with the tiny wrappers on my own, and the tinfoil is murder on my fangs.”
I shrugged and unwrapped the chocolate. Holding the naked candy in my hand I wondered how to give it to him. I decided on tossing it to him. I hefted the chocolate into the air in the dragon’s direction. His head snapped up, jaws slamming shut around the candy. He made sounds of pleasure as his tongue rolled the chocolate around in his mouth. Cassie had woken up enough that she unwrapped another bar and tossed it in the air to him giggling.
She’s having the time of her life feeding a dragon chocolate? Just where in the hell did this kid grow up?
Chapter 19
Mary and Vicki were sound asleep in their rooms when we got home. I helped Cassie clean up and get to bed. It had been a while since I ate last and I was hungry. My digging in the kitchen woke up Mary.
“Oh, it’s just you. Welcome home. Would you like something to eat? I made a lasagna earlier. I could warm some up for you.” She entered the kitchen in her fuzzy bunny slippers, placing a pulse gun on the table.
“I can get it Mary.”
“Nonsense. Please sit down, I’ll only be a minute.”
I sat down at the table staring at the gun until its presence got the best of me. “Mary, why were you carrying that pulse gun with you?”
“Oh, well Miss Emmy had Mr. Tanaka train me how to use guns. We’ve been training sinc
e your fight with Targ. I guess I was just a little jumpy tonight for some reason, so I brought the gun with me just in case. Miss Emmy said it was a good gun for me to use, because it would cause less damage in case I accidentally shot someone I didn’t intend to. But, I really hope that never happens. I couldn’t live with myself if I shot someone I loved by accident.”
“Mary, I have learned lately that if it feels something is wrong, it generally is. Please trust your instincts. If you feel you need to carry the pulse gun at home please do so. I’m still trying to figure out a way to get you a license to carry it outside the apartment.”
“Thank you. I was afraid you’d think I was just being silly about needing extra protection with all the security here at home. So, I take it you had a rough night?”
I told her what all happened. Regardless of her low security level, I really needed someone outside the group to talk to, and Mary understood things better than Vicki for some reason.
“Are you sure that Cassie is alright?” she asked.
“Yes, she’s fine.”
“Poor girl. I wish we could give her a normal childhood.”
“So do I, but she isn’t exactly a normal girl though. I mean, she died in my arms, and came back to life an instant later. That’s not really normal. And besides, I have no idea how to give her a normal childhood anyway.”
“Well, we could start by getting her some more toys. That old vampire teddy bear of hers isn’t enough for a girl her age. And maybe even take her to see Santa too.”
“You think she even believes in Santa?”
“Maybe, I know they’ll have a Santa at the Galleria Mall tomorrow, or would that be today?” she asked looking up at the kitchen’s clock.
I laughed. “It’s so late that I don’t think it matters. Right now I don’t have any plans for the morning. Do you think we should take her to the mall then?”
“Why not? Besides, you still need to do your Christmas shopping.”
I’d been so busy lately that I hadn’t even thought about buying gifts for anyone.
Shit, I hate shopping at the last minute with all the holiday crowds. Besides I have no idea what to get for anyone. One real traitor, one possible vampire traitor, a master vampire, a maid, a mother I’ve never met that’s afraid of me, two sisters. . . . S’pose the mall gives discounts if you buy gift certificates in bulk?
Revenge's Web (Kieran Grey Psionic Hunter) Page 17
