Tesser: A Dragon Among Us (A Reemergence Novel)

by Philbrook, Chris

  Abe took the bottle from Mr. Doyle as the dragons outside conferred about their plan. One of the daemons burst out of the front door of the building with his weapon streaming out a lethal hail of bullets. Tesser snapped a claw out and backhanded him so powerfully he exploded on the spot. Shit. I bet he could do that to an elephant. A real elephant.

  Abe looked down at the bottle and unscrewed the metal cap. A sniff told him the fluid inside was sweet. It smells like cream soda. Abe put the bottle to his lips and when the drink touched his tongue, it was as sweet as expected. Warm as well. Abe let the whole bottle go down in a few gulps, and when the warmth hit his belly, he began to itch all over. This feels like when I broke my arm in fifth grade. I itched like crazy while that bone was knitting up. Within a few more moments, he felt invigorated, repaired considerably. All of his aches and pains had set sail. Alexis watched as her man blossomed back into health in the backseat of the SUV.

  "This is some GOOD shit, Mr. Doyle," Abe said as Garamos started to punch holes in the ground large enough to lose a car in. The truck they sat in shook with tremors with every dragon punch. He was digging his moat, one rip of the earth at a time.

  "Wait, Abraham. Try this on for size," Mr. Doyle said, handling him a second glass bottle. This one was filled with a blue fluid that looked like Gatorade, or Kool-Aid. The fluid shook as the dragon continued to rip the ground apart outside.

  "What does this one do?" Abe asked, looking at it.

  "It is distilled magical energy. All the spells you've struggled to cast the last year will be fueled by this potion for the next few hours. Perhaps when this Kaula dragon is free, it'll simply be the way you are from then on. I sincerely hope that is the case. Until then, use this as your font of power."

  Abe looked down at the blue bottle and laughed. "Are you shitting me? This is a fucking mana potion."

  Mr. Doyle smiled. "A mere coincidence. Drink it and let us join our dragon leader. He's in a bit of a hurry to find his sister and lady friend, and I fear he shall leave us behind."

  Abe already had the cap off and the bottle tipped up. Unlike the first drink, this was cool and refreshing. It felt like finding an oasis in the center of an ocean of desert. Abe could feel a queer tingling running up and down his arms and legs as the drink settled in his stomach. It felt like when Tesser was around during a spell. It felt like…

  Magic.

  Abe jumped out of the car and drew one of the Enfield pistols. I feel like a fucking comic book hero right now. He looked over and up at Garamos as he tore further and further into the parking lot. The earthen dragon had already excavated a moat large enough for multiple semi trailers to fit in, and he wasn't even working hard yet. Tesser's winged body was shrinking down to match Spoon's at his feet. They would be heading into the building shortly.

  Mr. Doyle got out of the truck as well and shut the door. The two sorcerers—one the master, the other the apprentice—met at the hood. The four dragons nearby worked at making the scene of disaster more controlled.

  "I haven't taught you enough yet, Abraham. This is more than I've ever been brave enough to tackle, and I've done many stupid things in my very long time here on Earth. I hope that this becomes one of the first of our shared conquests, my young friend."

  Friend? "I'd say I'm not scared, but that'd be a big fucking lie."

  "Must you with the profanity? We're having a moment. I'd appreciate it if you were to take it seriously and use the English language in a civil fashion, Abraham." Mr. Doyle chastised, a smile on his face.

  Abe tilted his head over towards the dragon creating a small scale Grand Canyon in the parking lot. "The last thing on my mind is language, Mr. Doyle. For what it's worth, one way or the other, I'm glad this is happening. I have always wanted this. I have always wanted to see dragons, and cast spells, and save the world. Dying now wouldn't be the worst thing. I've achieved my dream."

  Mr. Doyle put his hands on Abe's shoulders and embraced him. "All young wizards want the same, Abraham. Well, all that but the dying. That is why we trust our lives and souls to the magic we love. Now, kiss your woman passionately, tell her you love her, and let's go send some daemons back across the Veil."

  Abe nodded and walked around to the other side of the truck. Alexis rolled her window down and leaned out. She looks afraid. "We're gonna head in. Try and find Matty. Rescue the dragon. You know. Handsome guy hero stuff. No big deal." Abe blustered, trying to break the tension.

  "Yeah. I know. Be careful." Alexis' voice shook.

  "We're past being careful. I'll stick to being badass. I think that'll be my best chance." Shit that sounded GOOD. Movie quote right there if I ever heard one.

  A tear ran out of Alexis' face, and for a second, Garamos' smashing seemed quieter. "I think I love you, Abe. I don't want to lose you."

  Whoa. "Alexis I um. I'm not really mature enough for this. I like dick jokes. Fart jokes. I love the idea of being in love with you, and you know, I totally think I love you too, but right now my testosterone is flowing like the Mississippi River and I need to kick some ass. I got a magic potion inside me that's begging to get out."

  Alexis started to laugh and cry at the same time, and Abe leaned in and gave her a strong kiss on the lips. The kiss was hot and wet from the tears. It was strange, but it fit them perfectly.

  "I'll see you in a bit?" Alexis asked, her makeup ruined.

  "If I'm not back in a couple hours, you come looking for me. I'm more scared of you than those daemons." Alexis grinned, and Abe walked back to Mr. Doyle as Spoon came running back as well.

  "Need more guns, Henry?" Mr. Doyle teased.

  Spoon shook his head and went to the passenger side of the truck. "No. Tesser's naked again. I just came back to get him some pants and a shirt."

  "Oh modesty. Such a perfect time and place for that."

  This is gonna be fun. Until one of us dies.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Mr. Doyle

  Upon stepping into the building, Mr. Doyle realized this would be a strange encounter. The outside smells of gunfire with a faint odor of brimstone underneath. Truly, there are daemons here. But here, as we walk along these plastic and metal corridors, searching room to room for Matilde and Kaula… All I can feel is fakeness. This place is artificial in every way. The wood is plastic; the rug is synthetic. The lights are fluorescent, and the air is pumped in by machines. Nothing is real about this place. Not it's physical makeup or its purpose. This was a place of evil, for evil.

  Tesser strode at their lead. Spoon was just behind him, limping strongly but moving forward with his carbine up and at the ready. He looked professional and calm in this dangerous environment, especially with the horsehide jacket. Even his limp had disappeared but that was most likely due to the red potion Mr. Doyle had given him in the parking lot on the way in. Spoon's presence helped to steady both the spellcaster's nerves. Abe and Mr. Doyle were at the rear, keeping an eye on their backside and standing ready to support them if they were assaulted. Mr. Doyle held his longsword at the ready, and Abe gripped one of his Enfield pistols.

  They were walking down a broken-window-lined hall that followed the outside wall of the building. They were only thirty paces inside the building. To their right, through the frames filled with broken glass, they could see Garamos tearing up his enormous ditch around the building. It was already several hundred feet long and deep enough for the dragon's entire arm to disappear in. To their left in the hall was a smooth taupe colored wall with periodic office doors spaced out along the way. As they met each door, Tesser would boot it open effortlessly with a bare foot, and they would move in, ready to visit incredible violence on anything inside. Since entering, they'd met no resistance.

  Tesser launched another kick into another office door and erupted the entire thing off the hinges and frame. The door rocketed inward and smashed into a large desk, flipping over and going through another window on the other side. They'd discovered that this front face of the building was thin, and obs
cured a central garden in the middle. A piece of fake paradise surrounded by falsehoods.

  Inside the office stood three of the daemons, dressed like soldiers or guards and all frantically trying to pick up the contents of the room. The tumbling door decapitated one of them, exploding its body immediately.

  "Contact!" Spoon yelled as Tesser dove into the room recklessly. As soon as the dragon was out of the doorframe, Spoon squeezed his trigger finger and brought down a second daemon. The door had been open less than a second and two daemons were dead. The dragon and the agent were a pair to contend with.

  Tesser grabbed the daemon's weapon with his left hand as it tried to bring it up to fire at him. The gun went off on full auto and the clip emptied into the floor and wall as Tesser gripped the mundane looking monster by the throat and smashed it into the drywall of the office, its feet dangling.

  "Where is Matilde?!" Tesser screamed, his throat giving him a voice deep and terrible.

  "You'll never reach her in time, dragon. She's already dying. Just like your sister," the daemon said, his face melting and reforming into the man Mr. Doyle recognized as Mr. Host. That must be the face the thing has chosen to represent its true voice. Bastard.

  "You have crossed me before, Legion, and you know how it ends. I'll rip your blackened souls apart and cast you back. Spare yourself the pain, trouble, and embarrassment. You don't want the other daemons mocking you for being routed again. Tell me where they are and leave now," Tesser snarled.

  The Mr. Host clone laughed. "I DO know how this ends, dragon. The same as the last time we faced one another. You'll be buried under the earth, sleeping for twenty thousand years. Or more likely this time, until this world ends far sooner than that."

  Tesser screamed and tore the man-thing's head off. He tried to throw it through the window but it burst into smoke as he swung his arm.

  The three men stepped back, suddenly scared of his anger. Tesser hammer punched the corner of the desk and it collapsed to the floor, splintered and broken.

  "We keep looking Tesser. Time is of the essence," Mr. Doyle said urgently.

  Tesser stopped his fury with a deep breath. He inhaled through his nose, and out through his mouth. He nodded in agreement. "Yes. I'm just…"

  "Yeah, man. We get it," Spoon said.

  Tesser sniffed the air again. Something has caught his interest. Tesser pushed past the three men and back out into the hallway. He strode quickly to the next office door and grabbed the handle. He yanked the door free straight off the frame and threw it out the wall of broken windows. He leaned into the office to smell and caught a face full of automatic gunfire. Mr. Doyle watched as the bullets impacted his skin, pancaked flat, and fell to the floor. Well then. It appears as if though that room is occupied already.

  Tesser was unharmed by the gunfire, and he disappeared into the office as Spoon and the two wizards ran to catch up. By the time they reached the doorway, they could already smell the noxious fumes caused by the exploding daemons. Three weapons on the ground. Nice work.

  Tesser was practically snorting air into his nose recklessly. Despite the cordite, drywall particles, floating wood bits, and lingering black smoke in the air, he was ravenously inhaling the room. He turned and went around the back of the desk and sniffed the chair, his nose millimeters from the faux leather. "This is Matty's office."

  "How can you tell?" Spoon asked. The new minted agent leaned back and looked at the wall outside the office for a nameplate, but found none. He came back in.

  "Because he smells her, Henry. The hound dog behavior seems like a straight away clue," Mr. Doyle said sarcastically.

  "Fuck you, old man," Spoon said with a grin.

  "That's the spirit," Mr. Doyle said back.

  "If I can find her scent, maybe I can track her in the building."

  "Stop," Mr. Doyle said. Tesser stopped, confused. "They didn't snatch her from here, right? They took her from her flat. All you're apt to find in this room is the way to the cafeteria and the lady's loo. I happen to have a bit of a piece of wonder that might be able to help us."

  "Good. Go for it," Tesser said.

  "Are there any hairs or physical elements of her at the desk?" Mr. Doyle asked, slipping past Spoon and Abe. They moved back to the doorway, providing some cover.

  Tesser turned and snatched a dark hair from the back of her chair. He gave it a whiff, and handed it to the old wizard.

  Mr. Doyle looked at the hair carefully. "This will do." He reached up to his forehead and took off the thick goggles that had been resting above his eyes. He unscrewed a round lens from the right eye, revealing a small space between that and a second lens beneath. Carefully, he coiled the dark hair up in the tight space, and replaced the outer lens. "Oculus circumspicio. Velox bene facis," he whispered, turning the device on.

  A gentle flare of warm light ringed both lenses and gave off an electrical tingle. The British mage slid the goggles back over the top of his head and placed them carefully over his eyes. Ah, there we are. Inside the vision provided by the mad scientist goggles, Mr. Doyle could clearly see the presence of Matty in the office. Motes of warm yellow-orange lights appeared on the keys she typed the most, as well as the handset of her office phone. Her seat was glowing like the embers at the base of an old fire, and the edges of her desk where she rested her elbows were alit.

  "Yes. I can see her presence. Now, allow the magic to grow, and it'll lead us directly to where she is now."

  "Good. Make it work faster," Tesser said.

  "It would work faster if your sister wasn't imprisoned somewhere below us, her magic fading. I'm sorry, Tesser, but it's going as fast as it—"

  Gunfire from the hallway interrupted the old man. From the open doorway, Spoon and Abe started to return fire, shooting down both directions of the hall.

  "There's like, five of them in each direction!" Abe yelled, snapping off a third shot.

  "Make them count, young man! Those bullets are rather expensive!" Mr. Doyle said as the faintest of floating lights began to form in the air in front of him. I'll have the path in a moment. She must be very close.

  Abe took a deep breath as Spoon loudly emptied his magazine to the left. The younger man knelt, and leaned over, popping his head out. He squeezed the trigger smoothly and ducked back into the room. "Got one!" He was jubilant. "Keep firing, Spoon! We got this!"

  "I already shot all of mine already. You want help on your side?"

  "We're not all professionals, Spoon," Abe said, somewhat deflated. Another ripping tear of gunfire stitched up the wall near the doorframe, causing Abe to dive into the room. Spoon responded by popping out into the hall and letting off several short bursts of fire.

  "Two more down. One left. Wait. One's getting up." Spoon snapped another shot off. "He's down."

  Abe leaned out the door and fired his last shot, hitting one of the daemons square in the crotch. The enchanted bullet tore into the artificial person and wrenched it free from this reality, sending it back across the Veil in an explosion of blackness. Abe looked positively ecstatic.

  "Nice shot, Abe. Reload. More will come soon," Spoon said as he dropped a magazine and reloaded his weapon. He left the doorframe and picked up a few full magazines from the webbing of the dead and gone daemons. Fortunate that so many assault weapons use the same standardized ammunition magazine.

  "Why not take their gun too?" Abe asked him as he reloaded his revolvers.

  "I haven't sighted their guns. I don't trust them," Spoon said back.

  "Can you see where she is yet?" Tesser asked desperately.

  The orange path was now well lit in the goggles. It streaked out the doorway and down the windowed hall like a long exposure shot of a neon light being moved about. It was mystical, and it led the way to the woman they needed to save. "I have her. Follow me."

  "No. Follow me. Tell me where to go," Tesser said.

  "That's very intelligent. You are notably more bulletproof than I. Head out, turn left. She's a good distance belo
w us, but we need to find the stairs, or the lift first. I'll know it when I see it."

  The four men left Matty's office and started down the hallway, ready to find what they came for. Abe smiled enthusiastically at Mr. Doyle.

  Careful what you wish for, Abraham. We are one step closer to hell on earth, my boy. One step closer.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Alec

  "Alec, this will be a very dangerous night. As things stand, I cannot guarantee your safety. I may need more of your assistance," Mr. Host said calmly.

  Need my assistance? What the fuck can I do for you? Alec and his security team leader were walking surrounded by a diamond of Mr. Host's men. They were deep underground in the secure complex near the purple dragon's sedated body. The earth rumbled and shook every few seconds. Alec had no idea what was happening, but he envisioned Tesser ripping the earth apart just a few feet above the hardened concrete.

  "What do you need from me?" Alec asked.

  "Alec, you are sure to die tonight. I can guarantee you of it. I do not have enough power at the moment to defeat the dragons that are at our doorstep."

  I don't want to die. Not here, and not like this. "Dragons?" What the fuck is he talking about? And power? What does he mean? Jesus shit, I'm going to die right here in this fucking lab hole in the ground. Alec's hand was shaking as they passed through another set of vault doors into a different section of the lab complex.

  "Dragons, yes. Tesser has summoned more of his kind to combat us. To destroy your company and everything your family has worked to build. To kill you."