Tesser: A Dragon Among Us (A Reemergence Novel)

by Philbrook, Chris

  Abe was almost shaking now. "What?"

  Spoon leaned his head towards Tesser. "That guy is on our side and he's a motherfucking dragon."

  Abe stopped shaking and smiled.

  "Yeah, I thought so." Hope that gives him some balls. Guess we'll find out whether or not this is the real deal real quick.

  The back office door opened and Mr. Doyle strode out. He had transformed from doddering old eccentric into a warrior straight from a bizarre history book. Under a leather duster, the old man wore leather leggings and a chain shirt adorned with rings that formed a red templar's cross on his chest. A pocket watch hung on a chain around his neck. Dozens of waist pouches held God knew what. At Mr. Doyle’s right hip, he wore a leather holster that held an automatic pistol. On his left hip hung a longsword in a scabbard that looked expensive beyond belief. It was encrusted from top to bottom with ivory, gold, and silver inlays. Carvings of Latin and older languages ran alongside gems and scrollwork. I wonder what the sword looks like?

  On Mr. Doyle's forehead sat a pair of mad scientist goggles with thick, darkened, rounded lenses. He looked out of place, out of time, and out of his mind.

  "You look completely fucking crazy, old man," Spoon said.

  Mr. Doyle beamed. "That's not the first time I've been told that, and rightfully so. Abraham, don't forget your spell materials and don't leave until I give you a few potions. You as well Henry. Let's go kill some bloody daemons."

  Tesser cracked his knuckles and led them down the stairs.

  We are going to explode some daemons tonight, boys.

  Chapter Fifty

  Tesser

  Tesser flew low and fast, the cold autumn evening wind licking at his eyes and scales. Below him was Interstate 93, the north-south artery that ran from the base of Massachusetts towards the far tip of New Hampshire. It was a heavily traveled route normally, but right now, as the evening aged, there were fewer and fewer vehicles on the road. The dragon passed over numerous police cars and fire trucks on the way, with Spoon's Agency truck staying close behind.

  I could fly faster, but I want them to arrive near when I do. I can't protect them if they get there too early or too late.

  Mile after mile gave way as Tesser soared above the trees, but below the thick white clouds. His heart raced happily. He was thrilled to be flying again and to finally be on the hunt for something he wanted so desperately to destroy. He had no fear in his heart.

  Matty had better be safe. If that thing hurt her, I swear I'll cross the Veil myself and annihilate everything I find on the other side. Legion may not be able to die here, but I'd bet he'd burn for good over there.

  Tesser's miraculously powerful nose caught the tiniest hint of something familiar on the air. It was a taste of family. A memory of millennia eons ago. Kaula? Tesser inhaled deeply, swirling his head about to find the source of the scent, and immediately, he knew it was above the clouds. With a flap of his giant wings, he cut through the damp white puffs and ascended to the pure night sky above.

  It will be a good night tonight. Tesser saw his dragon brothers and sisters flying in the sky and moving in from miles around. To the west, Garamos was the first to catch his eye. He was gargantuan, even by Tesser's ample standard. His enormous red- and brown-scaled body flapped wings the size of a stadium up and down rhythmically, propelling him forward. He looked over at Tesser and snorted a ball of flame from a nostril the size of a sewer lid. It was a greeting and a threat. The two brothers often argued over how things were done.

  To the east, Tesser saw Kiarohn, the blue dragon of the sky. Beyond the need for a gender, Kiarohn was truly neither male nor female. Kiarohn existed to stir the winds and make Earth more habitable for Tesser's life. Kiarohn's glittering and glimmering wings moved almost hypnotically, and Tesser could feel that the wind in his face he'd felt so long that night had been from Kiarohn the whole time. The thought of that put a smile on his enormous face. Tesser looked up. High above, far, far above, a glimmering red comet slid downward.

  Sweet sister, Zeud. How is that you were able to focus on this for so long to travel here from wherever you came? The only thing that’s ever captivated you is fire, and the only thing burning right now is you. Zeud came down from the heavens like the mythical phoenix that was often confused for her.

  We are far from danger, but this will be much easier with them here.

  Tesser dropped down below the clouds and made sure Spoon's truck was still moving safely on the interstate. Its flashing blue lights kept the traffic ahead of it out of the way. Alexis kept the pedal to the floor. She was a good driver, as advertised.

  Tesser closed his eyes and reached out with all his senses. Like the flashes of storm clouds appearing in a darkened sky, Tesser could sense the minds and presence of the other dragons. Small sparks were below in the truck as well. That must be Mr. Doyle and Abe. Tesser looked into the darkness searching for more clues. He tried to attune all his senses into one: smell, hearing, taste, and the magic his sister had seen fit to trust to him. I don't expect to see Kaula, but I might be able to find the silver birches Ellen's leaf found. I'm glad Ellen let me eat the leaf. Now, I have a connection to it.

  Tesser pushed his senses out further than was safe, risking an intrusion by anything aware of his psychic vulnerability. It was dangerous, foolish really, but the dragon was desperate to find the woman who carried his baby. Then, suddenly, a scent came to him. It matched the scent of the leaf Ellen had given to him. It was only a few miles away.

  Tesser opened his eyes and skimmed the earth, just above the truck. He matched its speed, and they rolled down their windows. Spoon looked to him with an expression of childlike glee. Tesser tried to speak at a tone that would be suitable for humans. "It is near," he said a little too loudly. The words came out as a roar. Alexis swerved, frightened by the incredibly loud warning that came from above. Spoon responded with a wide grin and a thumbs-up out the window.

  Tesser titled his head back and let his wings lift him higher before he flapped powerfully. Too low and he'd flip the truck over with the downward air pressure. The stroke propelled him upward and nearly doubled his speed. Fuck this highway. I'm heading straight in.

  The span of a handful of heartbeats was all the time it took for the dragon of life to leave the road and find the entrance to the industrial park. Like its namesake, the gates and grounds of the complex were saturated with silver birch trees. They were leafless, unlike Ellen, but the bright white and silver bark was unmistakable. Tesser buffeted his wings and landed in the middle of the main road of the park, his front and rear claws digging in to the asphalt to stop his sliding decent.

  Seconds later, Garamos landed as well, but he took no care in what he destroyed on the way down. His body crashed into a three-story office building, utterly flattening it with his weight. The noise was ear splitting as steel girders folded like balsa sticks and concrete blocks simply vaporized under his immense bulk. The dust cloud reached high into the night sky, and would attract needless attention.

  I think that fucker is smiling. Tesser walked over towards his larger brother as Zeud, the bright red dragon, landed softly in the street like Tesser had. She was huge like all the dragons, but she was far smaller than her two present brothers. She was elegant, instead of brutal. She almost seemed to sway and dance like the fire over which she lorded.

  "Garamos, you've no right to just destroy the humans’ things like that. Now they'll need to rebuild that and people will be out of jobs. What if there were people inside there? Needless murder, brother," Tesser scolded in the draconic tongue. It was older than time and equally hard to understand.

  The giant earth dragon shrugged in a very human way. "Sorry, Tesser. I've been too busy doing my job for the last few thousand years to notice this building. Maybe if I had more time to nap and recover my patience, I would've landed there in the street. Maybe if you spent less time revealing our presence to the human race and more time trying to find Kaula, we wouldn’t argue so much."<
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  "You're testing my patience," Tesser stated plainly.

  Zeud, the red dragon of fire landed with a grace and form that soothed. After shaking her wings of moisture she folded them back and walked over, interjecting as Kiarohn circled above. "You two will never get along. What is it that makes you two wish to tear at each other's throats every time you're in each other's presence?"

  Tesser spoke first, "He's an insufferable asshole."

  Garamos chuckled and shrugged again. "I've no time to spare on his impulsive ways, Zeud, and you're just as bad. Humans are no more important in my opinion than the moths or the squirrels he's made. What's to say he won't bore of them like he has of so many of the things he's made before." Garamos scoffed, "The difference is I have use for fire in what I do. I can't think of a single good reason why anything is alive on this planet. Creatures just gum up the works. Life is an irritation."

  Zeud laughed herself this time. "Oh, Garamos. Spoken like the true hermit you are."

  "Enough about the ugly one. Why are you all here? It is no coincidence that four of us meet in the same place at the same time like this," Tesser said.

  "True words brother," Kiarohn said. "I was summoned by our missing sister."

  "As was I."

  "I as well."

  Tesser nodded, understanding that Kaula had been planning this for some time. For her to orchestrate our presence so accurately as to have us arrive nearly simultaneously? She had to be planning this for a good long while. Oh, Kaula. Ever the crafty one. "What of Ambryn? Or Fyelrath?"

  Kiarohn answered, "No sign yet, but Ambryn is subtle. It is likely that he is here already, watching. Waiting. Fyel must be late coming across the ocean if she is coming at all. Last I knew, she was halfway across the Atlantic, swimming with the sharks."

  "She is a fast swimmer. We are not far from the coast. If Kaula sent for her, she will come soon."

  "What are we here for, Tesser? Where is Kaula?" Garamos asked in a grumbling, impatient voice.

  "Kaula got word to me that she was imprisoned below ground under a building I believe is near here. There's a human woman here as well that I've mated with. She carries a child."

  "You will fuck anything…" Garamos said, shaking his head.

  "Well, we weren't all born to tear apart the continents and build mountains with the pieces, brother. To each their own," Tesser said.

  Garamos shrugged once more. He looks like the mountains he builds.

  "Imprisoned, Tesser? How does that happen? We are dragons," Kiarohn posed to the creator of life.

  "I believe the same way I was sent asleep. I cannot remember all the details, but I think I was poisoned by something from across the Veil. My memories are clouded still but I think Legion did it to me. Legion is here now, on Earth, and if I am right, he has kept her pumped full of something vile from the other side."

  The dragons were silent. To imagine the pain and suffering Kaula must be enduring if that were the truth was beyond thought.

  "I will head into the building and head below in the form of a human. We cannot risk damage to whatever it is that might be keeping her alive or sedated. If we set free something from beyond the Veil, there could be disastrous consequences for the whole world."

  "We could've been lured here by Legion for that exact purpose, you know," Kiarohn said.

  Tesser considered the possibility and couldn't help but agree, "Yes. But let's hope that's not the case. I will go below. Kiarohn, swirl the winds and keep the skies clear. Helicopters will come soon. Keep them away, but don't kill them. We need to be allied with the humans and we need them to trust us. Some things are best left unseen though. We don't want to let Legion have a public stage."

  Kiarohn seemed a bit worried. "There will be consequences. If I don't tend to my duties weather will be… erratic in many places."

  "I'm aware. The world will survive as it always has. Zeud, I ask of you to allow nothing to leave. Human, animal, or otherwise. Legion can take on a million faces, and I want you to immolate them all."

  "As you wish," Zeud said, licking her lips with a tongue of flame.

  "Garamos, as much as it pains you to take any instruction from me, I ask you to dig down and dig deep. Make us a moat so nothing can escape, but more importantly, I need you to find this burial hole where our sister is. There can be no underground escape for Legion. He must pay for what he did to Kaula and I."

  "I do this for our sister. Your plan is reasonable." Garamos stood up off his nest of broken building and started to walk towards the deeper portions of the industrial park.

  Above, Kiarohn flapped gossamer wings and the clouds blew apart as if they had been an illusion all along. The brilliant stars twinkled, and Tesser smiled. I missed my family. I'd forgotten how much.

  "What of Ambryn and Fyelrath?" Zeud asked, excited to hear what kind of destruction the two missing dragons would be tasked with.

  "I don't know. I made all that up just now."

  Zeud clapped Tesser on his massive back with an almost equally massive clawed hand. "That's my boy. I'm sure Fyelrath will find something to drown, and Ambryn something to kill. Let's hope he doesn't take it too far and annihilate everything. You remember the chimera incident? It took you almost five hundred years to save them from extinction. Did you know they all died out about two thousand years ago? Sad really."

  Tesser shook his gigantic head. "I've been asleep for a very long time. You'll have to fill me in later. Damn, I really liked the chimera." The dragon's shoulders slumped with sadness.

  Spoon's black SUV rounded the corner doing eighty behind them. The grill was smashed up from crashing through the park's front gate. Alexis stomped on the brakes and put the truck into a power slide, stopping a car's length from the tip of Tesser's tail. Zeud, not knowing who was in the car, spun around and bared her fangs, flames as thick as lava dripping out from the spaces between her teeth and melting the pavement like an acid. Far behind, Garamos grumbled, shrugged again, and kept walking. One car wasn't enough trouble for him to turn around for.

  Spoon got out of the passenger seat of the car with a look of awe. He saw all four dragons and when his mind drew a blank on what to do, or what to say, he started clapping. He looked silly.

  Tesser switched to English, and introduced his family. "Spoon, this is my sister Zeud. She made fire. Zeud, this is Spoon. He works for the government and is my friend. The grumpy fat one is Garamos, and flying up there is Kiarohn."

  Zeud's flames died out and she put on a congenial, almost silly smile. "Nice to meet you, Spoon. You're the first human I've met that's been named after cutlery." She spoke English as well.

  "That's fucking awesome," was all Spoon could manage. She grinned. I think she likes him. I like it when friends get along.

  Spoon backed up into the truck and got into the passenger seat. He was speechless. Tesser and his sister turned and started to follow Garamos. He seemed to want to lead.

  "Did you frigging see that? I love my fucking job," Tesser heard Spoon say inside the truck.

  I hope he can still say that tomorrow.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Abe

  They were in the right place. All the gunfire was a dead giveaway.

  Jesus H motherfucking holy crap in a handbag.

  Alexis drove the SUV at just under ten miles an hour. She kept the armored truck no more than twenty yards behind the end of Tesser's massive swaying tail. That was far too close to an avalanche of incoming gunfire and dragon-sized wrath.

  Garamos was the same distance ahead of Tesser, and he was in the locus of the onslaught. Fitzgerald Industries' building in the office park was set back and away from the other structures. It was a part of the park in name only, based on how far back it was set. The parking lot in the front was as Ellen had described: full of silver birch trees. Now, they were shot apart into mulch or cast aside like matchsticks by Garamos. Ellen would’ve been very unhappy. Standing outside the building in a completely exposed firing line were well
over a hundred security personnel. They were exact replicas of the men who'd attacked them at Mr. Doyle's house. Daemons in human form.

  That gives me the fucking creeps. I was nearly killed by ten of them. There's no way I'm getting out of this alive. I'm already limping and fucked up. Hell, so is Spoon.

  Garamos ignored their gunfire. All the high velocity bullets (tracers included) did no more damage than dust falling on a clean floor. They served as a nuisance at best. Garamos smashed a claw the size of a small swimming pool into the asphalt parking lot and ripped a piece of it up. He tossed it at the soldiers like an enormous baseball, causing ten of them or more to explode into their daemonic, bloodless, nothingness. Garamos grinned. With a roar that shattered every building window for miles around, he produced a narrow cone of flame that was hot enough to nearly liquefy the pavement it streamed over, never mind what it hit. Garamos swept his head back and forth along the line of daemon guardians, and as the flame touched their quasi-human bodies, they ceased to exist. There was no puff of smoke, no belch of brimstone. They were utterly and completely disintegrated by the dragon fire.

  That fire is like a reality eraser. Garamos isn't even the dragon of fire. What the fuck does Zeud's breath do?

  The siege was over in thirty seconds, and Alexis stopped the truck. The scene out the windshield was something apocalyptic and something altogether unreal. The smells of cooking pavement, burning trees and hell spawned brimstone were in the air, and it made for a surreal show. This is my life now. I can't believe this is really happening. Like a mad man, the limping Spooner got out of the truck, loaded up his agency issued firearms, and started walking towards the trio of walking dragons. Above, circling like a butterfly, was Kiarohn, the dragon of air.

  "Where the fuck is he going? He's hurt. I'm hurt," Abe said.

  Mr. Doyle chuckled, giddy at the events of the night, and amused by Abe's comments. "Abraham, my son, calm yourself. Please drink this." Mr. Doyle fetched a small glass bottle out of a satchel he'd brought at the last second. "This is a potent concoction that is very difficult to brew. It’s similar to the enchantment on the wine glass I use to slow my aging. It will mend some of your wounds, make your body slightly more resilient to injury, and most of all, clear your mind of pain for a few hours without dulling your senses. A taste from the fountain of youth. Drink deep."