Conryu raised his hand to disintegrate the gun, but the big man stepped into his path.
“Go, Agent,” the giant said. “I will deal with the wizard.”
“Good luck, Victor.” The kidnapper shoved Anya onto the train ahead of him and followed her.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Conryu said. “Just move aside so I can go help my friend.”
“I can’t do that.” A faint glow surrounded Victor and scales appeared on his arms and neck. His eyes glowed yellow. “I offer you the chance to withdraw. You are not my target.”
Conryu grimaced. What sort of creature did he face? He guessed this was one of the dragon-blood warriors mentioned in the report Mr. Kane showed him. Conryu never fought one before, but it couldn’t be stronger than a demon, right?
He thrust a hand out. “All things burn to ash, Inferno Blast!”
Searing flames washed over Victor. Conryu snapped his fist shut. He’d expected the dragon-blood to dive out of the way so he could chase after Anya.
When the flames vanished Victor stood unharmed. His shirt was burned away, revealing a scale-covered chest.
“Careful, Master. Dragon-bloods are resistant to magic.”
“Thank you, oh master of the obvious.”
Victor drew a breath and exhaled a pale-blue cloud.
“Break!” Conryu’s dark magic negated the attack.
“Our magic seems evenly matched,” Victor said.
The dragon-blood roared and charged, scale-covered fists raised. Conryu sidestepped and deflected a right cross. Only his protective spell kept the heavy blow from breaking his arm. The dragon-blood punched harder than the zombie thing he fought in the sewer last summer.
The left came next. Conryu stepped in and countered with a straight-fingered thrust to his opponent’s elbow joint.
The scales were so strong his fingers didn’t penetrate.
Victor tried to bite him. Conryu ducked to avoid it.
A back flip to create space.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the train moving.
That distraction proved costly as Victor stepped in and caught him on the cheek with a right cross.
Conryu went flying, bounced, and popped to his feet. Bright spots swam in his vision. Even Diamond Skin didn’t fully absorb the blow.
You know how to stop him, a chill voice whispered in the back of his mind.
He ignored the Reaper and ducked another powerful blow. He needed space to cast.
Conryu slipped a straight right, danced behind Victor, and kicked him with everything he had in the back of the knee.
The joint gave and Conryu sprinted twenty yards clear of his opponent.
Diamond Skin wasn’t the only earth spell his teacher had shown him. “Fists of stone, bind and hold, Stone Grasp!”
Conryu slammed his palm on the ground and pictured two massive hands rising out of the cement and grasping his opponent’s ankles.
The earth spirits obliged and as Victor climbed to his feet stone hands grabbed him, locking him in place.
“Clever, Master. His magic resistance only weakens spells targeting him directly.”
Conryu ignored Prime and focused on his spell. Two more hands shot out of the ground, wrapping around Victor’s wrists and leaving the dragon-blood thoroughly trapped.
“We have to catch up to Anya. Father of winds, carry me into your domain. Air Rider.” The spell lifted Conryu a foot off the ground, spun him around and flipped him upside down.
“Your mind is too muddled to concentrate, Master. You need to rest.”
Conryu tried to focus, but the dancing lights and pain in his cheek were too much. He got turned right side up and ended the spell.
“She’s getting further away every moment, Prime. I was supposed to protect her.”
“So you will.” Prime flew down so their eyes were level. “Do you imagine it will be difficult for a school full of wizards to track Anya down?”
“No, I expect not. I just don’t like to lose.”
“How do you think he feels?” Prime asked.
They turned as one to look at the bound and snarling dragon-blood. Didn’t look like he enjoyed losing either. Too bad.
Struggle as he might, Victor didn’t have strength enough to break free of the stone. Should be safe to leave him there for now. Maybe Dean Blane could drag something out of the creature.
Conryu turned toward the school and began the long trudge back. The grounds were silent, so he assumed the teachers had dealt with the remaining dragon manes. That meant Maria and Kelsie were safe. Thank goodness for small favors.
At the top of the little hill that led to the campus Conryu stopped and stared at the ruins of Club Day. Two giant corpses littered the grass between smoldering tents. Deep furrows marred the ground. The combined stench of char and torn flesh filled the air. It resembled some movie director’s vision of Hell.
Giving a tired shake of his head, Conryu started down. However big the mess, it wouldn’t take a few hundred wizards long to set it all right. The hardest part would be dealing with the corpses. Where did you bury something that big? Maybe they could just disintegrate them.
He pushed through the doors and found the lobby still empty. No one had called the other students up from the basement. Everything seemed calm enough now, but that wasn’t his decision to make.
Up in the administrative area he found Maria on her feet, which took a weight off his chest. Dean Blane stood staring at the dragon mane corpse with her hands on her hips.
She spun, spotted him, and frowned. “Did you leave this rotting corpse in front of my office?”
Conryu stared at her for a moment then laughed. He kept laughing as Maria hugged him and Kelsie hugged him and even Dean Blane hugged him.
When he got himself under control, he wiped his eyes and said, “An Imperial agent escaped with Anya. He had a dragon-blood with him. I captured the monster, but he held me off long enough for his master to escape on the train. They fled toward the city.”
“Is she okay?” Maria asked.
“For the moment.” Conryu sighed. “I’m pretty sure they want her alive, so I doubt they’ll do anything to her.”
“I’ll alert Central.” Dean Blane looked over the ruined desks then inched around the dead monster and went into her office.
Conryu hoped they sent a large force to meet the train. If there were more dragon-bloods, whoever showed up would have their hands full.
When Conryu came flying out of the sky Anya imagined herself saved, but the dragon-blood warrior moved to intercept him and the agent dragged her into the train. Now they were rushing away from the school at a terrifying speed. She’d never been in a vehicle like this back home. The train moved so smoothly it was like they were motionless. Only the trees whizzing by out the window revealed the truth. Even though it was her second trip the magic of it astounded her.
The agent dragged her to the front of the train where a second giant man stood beside a trembling woman who held her hands on a complex control panel. She wore a gray uniform and a faint glow surrounded her hands. A wizard then, which made sense if the train ran on magic.
“How long to reach the city?” the agent asked.
“At this speed, fifteen minutes.” Despite her shaking the wizard’s voice held firm.
“Good. Do as you’re told and you’ll live through this.”
“Where’s Victor?” the giant man asked.
“He stayed behind to hold off the wizard that came to her rescue. I fear he’s either dead or captured by now. I’m sorry, Hedon. It was an unfortunate, but necessary, sacrifice.”
“No matter, Agent. To complete the czar’s mission, no sacrifice is too great.”
“Keep an eye on things up here,” the agent said. “I have to find something to tie her up with.”
“I could just break both her arms,” Hedon offered.
Anya’s head spun. How had it come to this?
“I’m not sure the czar would a
ppreciate us delivering his new White Witch in less than ideal condition.”
“As you think best, Agent.”
The agent dragged Anya out of the control room and back into a cargo area filled with bins and crates of food, mostly fruits and vegetables.
“Why are you doing this?” Anya asked. “If you intended to bring me to the czar, why let me go in the first place? You seem like a decent person, or so I thought. What’s your name?”
“Yarik.” He blew out a sigh. “I had no wish to come here and bring you back. I believed, foolishly it turns out, that the czar might accept your escape, especially once you reached the Kingdom of the Isles. I have a wife, you see, and the czar made it very clear that if you escaped again it wouldn’t just be my neck in the noose.”
Anya stared. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“Don’t pity me. My own mistakes brought me here.” He rummaged through the bins and came up with a bungee cord. “I’ve served in the security services for over twenty years. It didn’t take a genius to see how the Empire used people, ground them up and spit them out. I accepted it, hell, I worked to stop those trying to make a difference even knowing how screwed up the system was. I did it because they didn’t have a chance. They still don’t.”
“So what changed?” Anya asked.
He barked a humorless laugh. “I got to know a witch. Just a kid, maybe two or three years older than you. She put on a brave face, but underneath she was scared more than anything.”
“What was her name?” Anya held out her hands for Yarik to tie.
“Irmina. She was killed by the rebels helping you escape. That’s what I tried to tell myself, but the truth is the Empire killed her. I wanted to spare you that fate. I still want to spare you, but I can’t save you and my wife.” He shrugged.
“You could turn yourself in and ask for the Alliance’s help. I’ve met some good people here. It’s not like back home.”
“Perhaps not, but I promise you no one in this government will risk a conflict with the Empire to save one person. The only way to protect her is to bring you back. I hate it, but that’s the way it is.”
The train slowed and Yarik dragged her back to the control room. Ahead of them waited the largest building Anya had ever seen. Standing in front of it was a group of men in armor carrying machine guns. They’d gathered behind a pair of black vehicles with golden scales painted on them.
“A welcoming committee,” Yarik said. “Terrific.”
“She must have warned them.” Hedon squeezed the conductor’s neck and Anya heard the spine snap. Her stomach twisted and she swallowed hard. “I will deal with them.”
“Leave one of the vehicles intact,” Yarik said. “They look a lot better than our piece-of-shit pickup.”
“We escape in their own car.” Hedon flashed a toothy smile. “I like that.”
The dragon-blood brushed past her, his scales appearing as he went. Anya shuddered. Those poor people didn’t stand a chance.
6
Success and Failure
Conryu flew along above the highway, a small tracking device in his hand. Below him hundreds of cars zoomed along on their way to and from Central. Dean Blane’s warning had arrived in time, but the team sent in to capture the Imperials was woefully inadequate to deal with a dragon-blood warrior. Fourteen elite soldiers died in the attempt, all of them torn to pieces. Conryu didn’t see the pictures and he didn’t want to; he could imagine them well enough, having felt the monster’s strength himself.
What he didn’t understand was why they’d steal one of the Department’s cars. Did they not know about tracking software? Maybe it wasn’t something available in their empire. Either way, it worked out for Conryu. The dean provided him a portable tracking unit and programed it to locate the stolen car.
He didn’t ask for any backup and frankly doubted any of the teachers would have been able to join him anyway given the state of the school. Instead, everyone warned him to be careful, especially Maria since she’d insisted on healing his minor concussion herself. They didn’t need to worry. No way would he underestimate the dragon-blood a second time.
The tracker beeped, focusing him on the matter at hand. According to the tiny screen the stolen car was a little ways ahead of him. He flew lower and scanned the lanes.
Bingo! A black SUV in the center lane. That was his target. Now, how to get it to pull over without hurting Anya?
“Perhaps you could target a tire,” Prime said.
“Blowing out a tire might cause them to lose control and flip over. If she isn’t buckled in it might kill Anya. No, I think I’ll take out the engine.”
He flew above them for a while, watching for a rest area. Hopefully the kidnappers would be smart enough to pull off rather than try to fight in the middle of a three-lane highway.
Five miles up the road he spotted it, a nice, quiet little rest area. A pair of cars were already there, but no big crowds. That suited him perfectly.
Conryu focused his will on the hood of the stolen car and pictured the engine disintegrating. “Shatter!”
Dark magic crashed into the metal and reduced it to rust. The stolen car slowed at once and the driver pulled off, exactly as Conryu had hoped he would. The SUV rolled to a stop and Conryu landed in front of it, renewing his defensive spell.
A big, bald man sat in the passenger seat so the man behind the steering wheel had to be the kidnapper. They stared at him and he stared back. After half a minute of waiting Conryu crooked his finger, beckoning them out.
The dragon-blood obliged him. This one could have been a brother to the one he captured back at the train platform. Having learned from his earlier encounter, Conryu didn’t waste time with any of his weaker spells.
“Fists of stone, bind and hold, Stone Grasp!” He slapped the ground and willed the magic to activate.
Stone hands formed in an instant. The dragon-blood leapt clear before they could grasp his ankles.
Conryu grinned and kept pouring magic into the ground. The stone hands shot up and snatched his opponent out of the air and yanked him to the dirt. Arms of rock wrapped around the dragon-blood, binding him in place.
“That’s quite enough.” The kidnaper had Anya in front of him and the barrel of his pistol at her temple. A black bungee cord bound her hands in front of her. She looked scared, but unharmed. “Back away or she dies.”
Conryu focused on the weapon. Shatter!
The gun exploded in a burst of metal filings. Anya elbowed the man in the gut, breaking his grip. She ran to Conryu and ducked behind him.
“I think we’re done here,” Conryu said. “Surrender and I promise I won’t hurt you.”
The kidnapper slumped and hung his head. “You may as well kill me.”
Conryu looked at Anya. “You okay?”
She nodded and held out her hands. A burst of dark magic removed the bindings. Anya took a step around him and towards the kidnapper.
Conryu jumped in front of her. “Whoa, what are you doing?”
“It’s okay. Yarik didn’t really want to capture me. In fact, he let me escape back in France. The only reason he came after me now is because his wife is still back in the Empire. If he fails, she dies.”
“Traitor!” The dragon-blood roared and thrashed against the stone arms holding him down.
Yarik looked up. “I suppose I am a traitor. But what I mostly am is tired. Tired of running down enemies the Empire created themselves, tired of always being afraid, and more than anything, tired of seeing innocent people suffer for the czar’s arrogance. Perhaps if you kill me, kill us both, the czar will spare Iliana.”
Conryu had no intention of killing anyone now that Anya was safe. He also didn’t intend to let an innocent woman die. “Would you be willing to defect and tell the government everything you know if your wife wasn’t in danger?”
“Conryu?” Anya said.
He ignored her and focused on Yarik. The Imperial agent met his gaze. “The Empire is rotten. I’ve
seen it myself far too many times to count. If Iliana is safe, I will help you tear it down any way I can.”
“I’m not sure this is a good idea, Master.”
“Of course it’s a good idea. Saving an innocent life is always a good idea. Kai.”
The ninja faded into view. “Yes, Chosen.”
Anya grabbed his arm in a death grip. He patted her hand. “Relax, Kai’s on my team. Stay with Anya and keep an eye on the prisoner. When they saw the car stop the Department should have dispatched reinforcements. As soon as you see them approaching vanish. I’m not ready to explain you to anyone.”
Kai bowed. “As you wish.”
Conryu eased his arm out of Anya’s grip. “This won’t take long. I may even return before the cavalry arrives. Kai will keep you safe. You can trust her.”
“Be careful.” Anya gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “And thanks for coming after me.”
“If I were any kind of bodyguard, you wouldn’t have gotten captured in the first place.” He gave Anya’s hand one last squeeze and turned to Yarik. “Ready?”
“For what?”
“To go get your wife.”
Roman sat on his throne and stared as General Ivan related the details of his miserable defeat. His entire detachment killed, the fort lost, and him the only survivor. He tried to make it sound heroic, a courageous stand against impossible odds, but the fear stink rolling off him told Roman all he needed to know. Talon spared Ivan and returned him as a messenger boy. It wasn’t an act of kindness either. The vampire had to know what Roman would do to the useless fool.
Only a handful of advisors stood beside the throne today. No need for the entire court to hear the details of Ivan’s failure. A subordinate’s failure made him look weak and that was one thing Roman couldn’t allow. If he looked vulnerable it gave people ideas, the sort of ideas that made his life complicated. Roman hated complications. Though he now ruled one of the largest empires ever, at heart he remained a simple soldier. When presented with a problem his instinct was to attack.
General Ivan was his current problem.
When the general fell silent Roman asked, “So how did the vampires get into the fort to disable the wards?”
Wrath of the Dragon Czar Page 9
