“Abandoned,” he muttered. Despite the silence, he proceeded with caution and led her to a closed stairwell.
“Can you blame them? We annihilated the first wave of their security force.”
“All members of the Anti-Dragon Movement are advised to lay down your arms,” Percivale’s placid voice boomed over the internal system. “The Knights of Merlin are no longer under the leadership of Sir Kay and have formed an alliance with the dragons. Surrender and live. Continue to resist and die.”
Nate grinned.
“Come on. The door at the bottom of this stairwell leads to the training yard. We can cut across and meet up with Merlin and Lancelot.”
Glossy blue resin flooring and white walls gave the hallways the stark and sterile feel of a hospital corridor. Their footsteps echoed in the stairway as they made their way down two levels to the ground floor.
The barracks lay to the east of the immense facility, separated by a vast training yard. Four levels of open floor dormitories housed the support members of the movement with a fifth floor divided into apartments for its senior-ranking members: the knights. Nate had a place of his own there, though he never used it.
Nate pushed open a heavy metal door and led the way back out into the oppressive heat. The air shimmered above the concrete ground. They kept low and lingered against the wall while Nate scanned the area for hostiles. Five men stood on alert across the way beside a climbing wall.
“Merlin’s done,” Lancelot reported. The wards surrounding the training compound and the surrounding terrain dropped with a sensation reminiscent of a pressure change. Nate’s ears popped.
The sky above them filled with dragons, each a shining jewel in the sunlight. The sight was both beautiful and terrifying.
Tlaloc and Teo landed in the center yard, pitch black scales repelling the pelting barrage of gunfire turned on them by the militant extremists. Teo swept his tail and knocked them to the side while his father faced off against a single knight.
“Degore!” Nate yelled. He stepped out from the shadows and moved across the open space. “Stand down and listen to me. We don’t have to fight them.”
“You’re a traitor, bringing them here. You’ve destroyed everything we’ve worked for!”
Sir Degore, a short, balding man built of hard packed muscle, favored the battle-axe. His summoned weapon whistled through the air. Tlaloc avoided the first blow, and Nate intercepted the second with his blade. Degore stared at him over their crossed weapons.
“Why, Galahad?”
A strong voice brimming with ancient power spoke up behind them. “Because I asked this of him.”
Merlin stepped into the courtyard flanked by Lancelot. While Teo and Tlaloc kept the humans pinned down, three more knights rushed to aid Degore but drew up short at the sight of the wizard approaching them.
“What sort of trick is this?”
“No trick, Degore. That’s Merlin,” Nate replied. He stepped back, free hand raised with his palm out in a gesture of surrender, and lowered his sword to his side. “We don’t want to fight you, only show you the truth.”
“Knights, hear me and lay down your arms.” Merlin moved to Nate’s side.
“What’s to prove this is the true Merlin?” Bleoberis held his sword out toward the wizard. “We’ve tasted Loki’s shape-changing mischief in the past. This is a farce and nothing more, an act of treachery to divide us.”
“Foolish human, I stand right here,” Loki heckled from the edge of the cement helipad. The light from the setting sun behind him set his black hide ablaze, each scale glowing ember on the edges. “Do you dare imply I would imitate your wizard?”
“Anyone with eyes can see and hear Loki is among the dragons.” Merlin regarded them with calm eyes, standing at ease in the face of their weapons. Nate wished he had the same confidence.
“I have encountered the compelling illusions of the trickster in the past,” Bleoberis spat. “If you are Merlin, prove your identity with spells. Surely a dragon couldn’t mimic a wizard’s magic in all ways.”
Merlin swept a hand toward the three youngest knights. They flew across the yard like leaves in the wind, separating them from Bleoberis. As for the main knight, their mentor, the wizard tipped his cane forward, and a shockwave cut through the knight’s defenses. It thrust him against the wall, and for one ridiculous second, he resembled a ragdoll in glossy armor. The back of his head cracked against the cinderblocks, and like any man handed his ass by a wizard, he staggered afterward in a daze, his eyes squeezed tight from the pain. Blood ran down the corners of the knight’s mouth—he’d bit his tongue.
“Was that an illusion, Sir Bleoberis?” Merlin asked.
Degore, Tristram, and Lamorak hurried to their feet, and the hero worship blazed in their eyes.
“It’s him,” Lamorak breathed. “It must be him!”
“Of course it is, and I have no doubt Bleoberis believes my identity now as well.”
“My apologies, Merlin,” the man said, grimacing and evidently in pain.
The four knights lowered their weapons and dropped to their knees, heads bowed.
“Forgive us, Merlin,” Degore apologized. “We thought you an imposter.”
“Sir Kay is the one no longer himself,” Merlin replied. He stepped over and drew each knight to their feet in turn. “Where is he?”
“The armory—but wait! Bedivere has gone toward the dark vault,” Bleoberis said.
“I’ll go after Kay,” Nate said, turning to Astrid and Merlin. “The both of you need to stop Bedivere from retrieving another dangerous artifact.”
“What of us?” Tristram asked. “What can we do to help, Galahad?”
“Assist Lancelot, Bors, and Percivale with the troops. Get them locked in the barracks if you can, or let them retreat, just so long as they stop attacking. If they don’t, they’re going to get themselves killed against these dragons.”
“As you command.”
“What of these?” Tlaloc asked. He held a man pinned beneath his talons. The others sat against the wall under Teo’s watchful gaze.
“We’ll take them to the holding cells on our way to assist Sir Percivale.” Tristram stepped forward and approached the large black dragon. “Thank you for your restraint.”
Tlaloc grunted and released the man into the knight’s custody.
The situation could have gone worse. Nate gave a silent sigh of relief and relayed their situation over the radio to the rest of their dragon team.
“Fall back. We have them where we want them now. There’s no need for more bloodshed.”
Chapter 18
Astrid sensed the vault before she saw it. The room oozed power, sending out runners of slippery and cold malevolence to prickle her skin and make her heart race. Barely audible whispers intruded on the far reaches of her hearing. Promising. Tempting.
Save us.
Help us.
Release me.
“Do not listen,” Merlin told her in a quiet voice. He exchanged a knowing look. “Whatever happens, try to touch nothing within.”
“I won’t.”
The massive vault defied her expectations. She had imagined a bank with labeled shelves or a wall of secured drawers, but what she saw inside reminded her more of a museum.
Nine glass display cases lined the room’s perimeter, all but one shattered. Bedivere crouched beside a heavy duffel bag, a large tome tucked under his arm.
Astrid hung back and tightened the grip on the sword hilt in her sweating palm. An abundance of energy charged the room, crawling over her skin and thickening the air. She’d never before encountered darkness of such tangible force that it choked the air and made her eyes water.
In the center of the floor, a corpse in a tactical vest lay dead, struck down by a single sword strike through the chest. The body looked no different from the men she’d already killed during the initial siege on the security deck.
Bedivere had slaughtered one of their own before raiding their
vault.
“Bedivere, return the grimoire to its case. You know not what you risk by disturbing it.”
“I always figured you’d wake up one day, old man. I told Kay we should have buried you under a slab of cement, but we had to keep up appearances.”
The knight shoved the book in the bag and zipped it. He shouldered the heavy pack before rising to face them with a smarmy grin.
A glowing vermillion sphere coalesced between Merlin’s hands and shot out at the knight. Bedivere remained where he stood, motionless, with a cruel grin on his face. The spell never reached him, fizzling out against an unseen barrier into harmless sparks.
Astrid tensed and leaned forward to charge with her sword, but Merlin held out his arm and kept her back.
“No, child. He is too strong for even you.”
Her eyes turned to the wizard in question, but he faced forward to stare Bedivere down.
“Did you truly think you could stand against us, old man? When you betrayed our order to bargain with the dragons, Kay and I found a new leader. A power greater than you and all of the lizards combined.”
“You cannot trust them, you know that.”
“And we couldn’t trust you.”
Bedivere clutched a fist-sized emerald in his free hand, its faint pulse reminiscent of a heartbeat. He squeezed the stone and spoke in harsh, guttural tones that raised the hairs on Astrid’s nape and arms.
The concrete beneath them rumbled and shifted. Astrid stumbled into Merlin and grabbed him by the shoulder as the center of the floor imploded, showering them with debris. Thrashing vines and gnarled roots thrust upward through the breach and engulfed Bedivere in a spiral, barely concealed by the cloud of grit. They closed around him in a protective shell.
Merlin thrust with his cane, but the network of plantlife whisked the knight and the artifacts away.
When the dust cleared, Bedivere was nowhere to be seen.
“What just happened?’ Astrid asked. She coughed and brushed dirt from her hair, fingers coming away bloody.
“Bedivere has made a choice he will soon regret.” Merlin rose to his feet and groaned. “Are you badly injured?”
“A scratch,” she assured him. “I’ll be fine.”
“Then we should get to the others. Bedivere is lost to us, for now. The same must not happen for Kay.”
***
Their armory occupied a sublevel in the sprawling desert complex. Deep below the earth, there were no windows and few exits. Like all the knights, Nate knew the building layout by heart. If Kay planned to escape, he would have to enter the main corridor to access the elevator or the stairs at the end of the hall.
Heavy doors that should have been closed hung wide open to reveal shelves of ammo boxes and live grenades. Nate stepped through with care and swept his gaze around the weapons racks. A shadow moved at the far end by a wall.
“So, the son shows his true colors.” Kay turned around to face him. His heavy armor added bulk to his already imposing form.
But it was wrong, no longer bright and radiant, darkened to a cloudy gray like smoked glass.
“I’m doing what’s right. Kay, it’s not too late to end this. Hand yourself over to us. Give me Arthur. Maybe then Merlin and the dragons can help you.”
“Make me their slave, you mean.”
“You’re the one making us slaves. You trapped Merlin. You’ve lied to us for centuries. What made you betray Arthur? How could you murder your brother, a man you once called your friend?” Nate asked.
Kay chuckled. “A friend? That spineless churl knew nothing of strength and leadership. I watched as this brotherhood became weak and decadent. He wanted to talk peace. To cripple our order and make us the docile pets of these simple beasts.”
Another memory returned to Nate of Arthur’s last days—their final discussion—flying to him like an arrow piercing his thoughts. Arthur had spoken of sparing Fafnir and pardoning the other ancients for their previous crimes. He no longer wanted to live in the past and wanted to embrace a future of peace for all.
“Arthur made a truce with Watatsumi. That’s why you killed him. He succeeded in negotiating his truce, and then you murdered him to cover up the truth. Murdered both of them and slaughtered Fafnir to unravel their work.”
“I killed that water beast to teach you a lesson.” Kay sneered. “Falling in love with the enemy. An animal. She’ll turn out exactly like the monster that spawned her father. You saw him at Rainier.”
“You’re wrong, and you’re more of a threat than any of these dragons. How many people died needlessly in Japan when you three assassinated Watatsumi?”
Kay barked out a sharp laugh. “And how many humans have you murdered to reach me, Nathaniel? Did you forget those men on the roof and in this building have families and loved ones of their own? People to return to? Thanks to you and your little rebellion, I can take out your swarm of precious dragons all at once.”
Nate’s attention dropped to the launcher in Kay’s hands, a tool developed under the president’s nose by a covert laboratory and funded with government money. The initial phase of research began eight years prior when Kay realized Maximilian had a legitimate shot at entering the White House.
Only a single prototype existed. It came into their possession a year ago when Max investigated a trail of wasted money in the defense budget and tracked down its source. According to the scientists on the development team, one high-powered round would punch through a dragon’s tough hide on the first shot. It had never been tested.
“You’re not going to use that. I won’t let you hurt them.”
Kay set the weapon aside and summoned his great sword. The daunting blade stood nearly as tall as the man wielding it, with a serrated edge meant to intimidate.
“Try to stop me. I dare you.”
Kay charged forward and swung in a mighty, overhand blow. Nate gripped his sword with both hands and rose to block, bracing himself against the incoming strike. Sparks flew from their clashing blades. He staggered back, forced to give ground.
“I’ve grown more powerful in this life than any others,” Kay taunted. “Do you think you can stand up to me? You can’t even kill a dragon.”
Nate ducked to the side and knocked over an empty rack to gain himself a precious moment to breathe. Kay sliced through the obstacle with ease and kicked the tattered halves aside before advancing, each step heavy against the floor.
“Running won’t save you from this,” Kay called after him. “After I cut you down, your dragons will burn.” He drove the tip of his sword into the ground and split the concrete. It broke apart and rippled through the room, tossing Nate off balance.
I have to destroy that thing. Even if he takes me out now, I can’t let him get to the surface to hurt them.
Kay struck himself in the chest with his fist and muttered in a guttural, unfamiliar language to Nate. The senior knight’s veins bulged, pulsing green and black beneath his skin, and a foul-smelling, choking vapor arose from his body.
Nate stumbled back, aghast by the physical changes. “What did you do to yourself?” he demanded. It was no spell or magic they’d ever been granted as knights, but something dark and insidious sending coils of nausea into his stomach.
It was a boon from the ancient and wild foe of the dragons: the Titans.
“I took what I needed, what I deserved for years upon years of service. Bedivere and I found a new master to appreciate our devotion and service, one who will not embrace our enemies.”
Nate shuddered, but he didn’t lower his sword.
“Join me, Nathaniel. You were great once. Let me help you achieve greatness again. Together, you and I will lead the knights in a victory against the dragons. We can take back our world from the plague infesting it.”
“I’ll pass.”
An angry shadow darkened Kay’s features. “You can’t defeat me. You can only die.”
Giving himself over to his training, Nate fought for his life. Their swords clashed
together, steel against steel, magic against magic. Sparks flew in their deadly dance, Nate always on the defense. Kay’s greater strength gave him the advantage, but his berserker rage lacked focus.
Back and forth across the room, they battled. Sweat trickled down Nate’s brow and dampened his back beneath his armor.
Each step he took brought him one step further from the weapon he longed to destroy.
“Nate!”
Astrid skidded into the room, Merlin a step behind her. There was a fire burning in her eyes, and after a split second to assess the situation, his mate charged in with Ascalon. Kay shoved Nate back against the fallen racks, tripping him up, and spun toward Astrid. Ascalon flared white as their swords struck.
Scrambling to his feet, Nate returned to the fray. A perverse glee filled Kay’s cold eyes. He fended them off with ease, overwhelming their offense with effortless blocks. The black veins beneath his skin spidered across his face, and the whites of his eyes glowed green.
Merlin’s magic swirled through the air, but each attack seemed to absorb into Kay and strengthen him. Every blow Nate landed against his chest piece seemed like a single drop into an immense ocean.
Despite their combined effort, Kay held an advantage over them with his corrupted new gifts. Astrid’s limited experience with her magical sword and lack of armor placed her in a vulnerable position. Kay pressed in on her each time he threw Nate off balance, forcing the younger knight to stay on the defense.
“Little girls shouldn’t play with swords,” Kay taunted. He kicked out, causing Astrid to falter, and followed with a downward strike. The blow glanced off an arcane shield thrown between the blade and Astrid’s unarmed body.
Kay turned on the interfering wizard, snarling.
“You cannot protect them all, Merlin. I see the toll this magic has taken on your body. Did you enjoy the sweet dreams from the Sisters of Salem?”
“I will not allow you to harm Galahad or his family.”
“Abominations,” Kay hissed. “I’ll exterminate them both now while he watches. Then I’ll deal with you.”
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