by Bonnie Lamer
A grin breaks out on my face. “You both Fell?”
Adriel returns my grin a little shyly which is weird for her. “Let me guess, it was the lack of wings that gave it away?” she asks. There’s my sarcastic friend.
I laugh and go to her so I can give her a huge hug. Standing back, I look back and forth between them. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”
Raziel answers. I think that’s because Adriel doesn’t have the answer. She looks almost as confused as I am. “We have come to help.”
Mortain has moved to Raziel’s side and with his big nostrils flaring he smells him. Then he smells me. He’s a strange little Goblin. Stepping back he says in an accusing voice, “You once smelled of him but you do not anymore.”
I think we should keep that explanation on a need to know basis. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it another time.” Not really. I’m telling a big fat lie. “Right now, we have some Dragons to convince.” Turning to Gowarth, I say, “You’re on the same page as us, right?” He has the most to lose if this doesn’t go well.
He looks horrified. “Page. What page? Goblins do not read.” Well, at least he got the reference. I wonder how they wrote that ransom note then. I guess Tabitha must have written it for them.
I sigh. I guess I have to spell it out for him. “Maybe we can fix that someday but one thing at a time. Are you willing to go before the Dragons and tell them that you don’t want to breed your own kind anymore as their food?”
It takes a minute but he finally nods his head. “Yes.” He looks pretty scared about it so I’m impressed he agreed. He must have been feeling guilty for a long time to agree so quickly.
I look around at the others. “Unless someone has a better plan, I’m just going to do this like I usually do things.” I expect a resounding no from everyone. I’m hoping someone has a better plan.
“What does that mean?” Garren asks.
“She is going to charge in and confront the Dragons head on,” Isla explains. Is that pride in her voice I hear? She hates it when I do that.
Garren shakes his head. “Do you have a death wish?” he asks me.
“Xandra is not destined to die on this day,” Raziel assures him with a wink towards me. That’s good to know.
Kallen pulls me into a hug and gives me a light kiss. “Your way always seems to work out. I am ready when you are.” Wow, what happened to me having to be more cautious? I guess they all really want to get out of this realm as soon as possible.
I smile up into the love in Kallen’s eyes. I hope he can see mine just as clearly. “Is everyone ready?” I ask, not taking my eyes from Kallen.
“Why the hell not. Cannot live forever I suppose,” Garren grumbles. Everyone else says yes. Kallen drops his arms and moves to my side, tucking my hand in his.
“Okay, I need everyone to touch me.”
They gather around me. Raziel and Adriel put their hands on my back. Tabitha decides to stay in case a Dragon scout finds the camp. Isla and Garren both touch my arms. Mortain and Gowarth climb onto my feet and hold onto my calves. My toes want to protest. They’re a lot heavier than they look.
Despite massive misgivings and the fact that I haven’t really seen a Dragon up close yet, I use the picture in my mind that Raziel left and teleport us to the Royal Court. Wow. Their teeth are huge. And their fire? It’s a bit warm. Even with the wall of magic I put up to stop it. Obviously, they’re not happy to see us.
“You dare show your face again?” a humongous red and silver Dragon asks.
I look up at his giant lizard face and say, “Um, technically I’ve never been here before but yes, my face has. Ow!” I whirl my head around to Adriel. “That hurt.”
She tilts her head and raises her brows. “It was supposed to hurt. Quit antagonizing the pissed off Dragons.” Both Raziel and Kallen do a chuckle/cough thing.
I give her a sour look and then turn my attention back to the three Dragons, wait, there’s two more now. Where’d they come from? Sneaky bastards. Since they’re not spitting fire at us and they seem to want to talk, I let down my magic wall as a show of good faith.
“Tell us why we should not kill you instantly,” an ancient sounding Dragon says.
Okay, who forgot to tell me that Dragons have really bad breath? I guess that makes sense considering their diet. I should have left the magic up. “I have a proposition for you,” I say trying to inch away from the rancid breath of the old Dragon.
I’m guessing the Dragon who answers is in charge because they’re all flanking him. “Who are you of such an inferior race to offer a proposition of any kind?” he asks.
I’m actually impressed they’re talking this much. I expected a fight as soon as we got here. “I’ve been given the fantastic job of trying to bring peace to the supernatural world.” That wasn’t facetious at all. I love this job. Really.
Yes, even Dragon eyes can look at you as if you are stupid. “We have peace. It is you who is causing conflict.”
“Technically that’s true,” I say. “But you eat another race. That’s not exactly peaceful for them.”
The big Dragon laughs. “They are food. This is the nature of the universe. The powerful eat the weak.”
“Yeah, we don’t exactly live by that code. We’re more concerned with whether or not we’re eating a sentient being or not.”
The King sits back on his haunches. “We have a treaty with the sentient Goblins.” His eyes narrow as he stares at Gowarth. “Are you here to revoke that treaty?”
“N-n-n-no….” Gowarth stutters out.
“We are here to renegotiate the treaty,” Kallen says.
The Dragon swings his eyes to him. “You assured us you would leave when you found the one you came for yet you are here again speaking for the Goblins. You have already proven yourself untrustworthy. Why would we negotiate an unwanted change with the likes of you?” His nostrils are starting to emit a little bit of smoke. I hope we’re far enough away. If not, I hope my magic is strong enough to keep his fire at bay.
“Perhaps we could negotiate a new treaty,” Raziel says. “You have not seen our faces before.” He steps forward with Adriel in tow. She looks thrilled. I think Raziel needs to work on his first date material.
It hasn’t slipped my notice that the great hall is filling up with Dragons. Big ones, little ones, even baby ones. I say baby but they’re still a good two feet taller than me. I’m beginning to think they’re only talking to us until the room is full. Then we become dinner.
“What is your proposition, humanoid,” the King asks Raziel. He doesn’t sound like he really cares what it is. He’s just biding his time. Yup, we’re dinner.
“There is a way to get you the nourishment you need with the flavor you love.” Raziel would have made a great commercial spokesperson. He looks really good standing there and his voice could melt ice. Guess that’s why Adriel is busier checking him out than paying attention to the Dragons. I nudge her with my elbow and she blushes.
Okay, there are Dragons behind us now. This is not good. Probably should have come up with a different plan. One that didn’t end with us dying.
“Speak,” the King says but his eyes are more on the location of his Dragons than focusing on Raziel.
“You once roamed the Cowan world for their large game. That game could be introduced here, giving you a diet that is more fitting for your size and appetites.”
The King scoffs. “We have tried importing large game. They did not fare well in our lands.”
“That is because you did not have at your disposal a population who could truly care for the animals. The Goblins are willing to take on this responsibility if you can see it in your heart to forego the meat of Goblin in your diet.”
See it in your heart? Forego Goblin meat? Yeah, Raziel and I have very different negotiating styles. I’ll admit it. His is better.
The King actually seems to be considering it for real now. He looks around at the other Dragons to get a feel fro
m the room. I’m pretty sure one in the back licked his lips. Well, the scaly part around his mouth anyway. They don’t really have lips.
“How could a creature as small as a Goblin tend to a creature so large?” Mr. red and silver Dragon asks me.
I shrug. “Cows are pretty stupid. Pretty much anyone can lead them around.”
Isla gives a slight eye roll. “She is correct. Cattle can be tended by ones the size of Goblins. On behalf of the Fairy realm, I am able to offer you a herd of breeders to see this goal through.” Huh, I wonder what Dagda will say about that.
The King sits back on his haunches and crosses his arms. “No.”
I wait a minute to see if there’s more to his no, but there’s not. Just no. I guess he feels we don’t deserve a reason why not. Jerk.
“Are you really such an ignorant and cruel race that you will continue to force the Goblins to breed other Goblins because you’re too lazy or old to try something new? Ow!” I whirl around to Adriel. “Stop doing that!”
“Then stop acting like a reckless impetuous fool.”
I put my hands on my hips. “I don’t remember inviting you to this party.”
“I don’t remember waiting for your invitation,” Adriel retorts. “Now, behave like you actually want to find a solution instead of like a small, senseless humanoid child.”
I don’t know what’s worse – her calling me a child or the snortling sounds the laughing Dragons are making. I take a deep breath and let my mind absorb the fact that she’s right. The lip biting around me to hold back the smiles of the others in our party confirms that fact. “Fine.” I turn back to the Dragon King.
“You cannot even agree amongst yourselves how to best proceed,” the ancient Dragon chortles. She doesn’t look good. I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t have a stroke or something in the next few minutes.
This is really dragging on. All I’m asking is that they change their diet. It’s not like I’m threatening to blow up their realm. Hmm. I wonder if that would work.
“Enough talk,” the ancient one says. Good god, someone needs to give her a breath mint. “Ryu, proceed.”
Negotiations are over apparently. Ryu is the big Dragon. The house size Dragon. This is going to suck. A flame shoots out of his mouth at approximately the speed of light. I encase us in a bubble of magic and I feel the magic of everyone else bolstering it with me. His fire is hot, but it’s not getting through our combined magic.
That’s why the other Dragons join in. It’s getting really hot in here now. Why did everyone agree to this plan again?
I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around. Adriel is looking at me intently. “Xandra, the only way to end this is for you to do what you did earlier.”
I step back from her and give her my best ‘you’re crazy’ look. “No. I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”
“Xandra, if you have a way to end this you must do it,” Isla says. “Our magic will only hold so long against their flames.”
She’s right. The flames are slowly licking away our magical wall. I could teleport us all out of here again but that won’t do anything except postpone a showdown. But how do I do something that evil twice in one day. I’m pretty sure my soul is damned from the first time. I’ll probably have to come back as a slug when I die. “No.” I can’t. “Adriel, it was wrong of me to do it the first time. You saw what I did. I’m ashamed. Ashamed that I was capable of such evil. I won’t do it.”
Adriel stands closer to me and puts her hands on my shoulders. “Yes, I was there. I saw the courage it took, not evilness. You have nothing to be ashamed of, Xandra. Given the chance, Belial would have done the same to you and he would have done it just for fun.”
“Great, so we’re both evil.”
“But only one of you will be dead if we do not get on with it,” Kallen says. The strain on his face as the Dragons make more progress towards tearing down our magic is heart wrenching.
“Kallen, you don’t know what I did. You would hate me if you knew.”
He captures my chin with his fingers and stares into my eyes as he says, “There is nothing that could make me hate you. Anything that you had to do to come back to me is okay by me.”
“I believe I would like to taste the whiny one first,” the big Dragon says with a booming laugh. A few of the other Dragons chime in.
Hey, he’s looking at me. Okay, I guess I am being whiny but he doesn’t need to drool like that. The guy needs a bib or something.
I look around me at the faces who are counting on me to do this. I catch Raziel’s eyes and somehow I know that he brought Adriel here to convince me to do this. She’s the only witness from earlier and the fact that she is still my friend means a lot to me. Maybe evil is relative. I’m trying not to listen to the back of my mind that is assuring me that serial killers probably tell themselves that too.
I close my eyes for a second and take a deep breath. Opening them, I look at the drooling Dragon in front of me and I say the words that will haunt me forever. “In desperation I invoke, my blackest magic to evoke, sensations that are grizzly and grim, after my foe’s senses bedim. Death is a consequence too rich; bring destruction when this soul is bewitched.”
The magic of the spell shoots through our wall and it hits the Dragon before he even sees it coming. From the memories that Raziel left, I know that the spell needs to penetrate the Dragon’s skin where his back haunches sit against his torso. I feel the spell working immediately.
The flames around us begin to die down as Ryu falls to the ground. The other Dragons step back from him as if he has something contagious. Soon, I don’t think half of them even remember we’re here as it becomes more difficult to focus on anything other than the writhing Dragon whose bulk is being annihilated. The spell is taking a lot out of me. Ryu is much larger than Belial, making the spell have to work harder. I drop to my knees as I pull back my magic from our protective wall to focus more on the spell. It’s okay. There’s no more fire.
The King finally tears his eyes away from Ryu and rounds on me. Instantly, the magical wall is flushed with power again as my friends and family stand together to protect me. “Where did you learn to use such black magic?” he demands. Huh, I think ‘will you please stop’ would have been a better first question. “This is ancient, forbidden magic.”
I shrug as Kallen helps me to my feet and I lean against him for support. “I’m pretty book smart and I love forbidden things. I came across it one day while studying and I thought I’d try it out. It seems to be working pretty well.”
The King looks at Ryu again. “He is near death. Young Dragons like him do not die.” Good to know their infant mortality rate is so low. To me, he says, “Heal him. Heal him and we will once again hear your petition.”
I’m not sure I can heal a Dragon. I can heal people because I know what their insides look like. I have no idea what the inside of a Dragon looks like. What if they have six hearts and I only heal one?
Besides, the King is lying. He has no intention of hearing anything except the crack of our bones as he bites down on them. “Are you going to declare war against the Goblins or the Fairies?” I ask.
His lizard eyes become slits. “I consider it my right to declare war on anyone who brings violence against us.”
Ryu is nothing like the Dragon he was just a few minutes ago. His once bright scales are dull and gray. One of his eyes has rolled out onto the stone floor. I can’t look at him anymore.
“The only one who has brought violence against you is me. If you would like to take your revenge you would only be justified in taking it against me.”
“You are a naïve one,” the King hisses. “Those who stand with you are just as guilty.”
Yeah, I know. But I’m really tired so it was worth a shot to speed things along. Honestly, I’m surprised my magic is still going strong. Since it is, I reach out in front of me and fold back the fabric of the realms. Then I turn my eyes to a stunned bunch of Dragons. “Look,” I say to the
King. “I’ll admit that it was a pretty bold move for us to come and try to turn your world upside down. I’m sorry about that. But wrong is wrong. You can’t keep eating little people. So, I’ll offer you a deal. Either you negotiate a new treaty with the Goblins and a peace agreement with the Fairies, or we leave through this gateway I just opened. That leaves your biggest Dragon a heap on the floor. I’m not sure if you caught the part of the spell that says death is too good for him. That means that he will stay like this. He won’t die from his injuries. Ever. Do you have a poultice or something strong enough to heal that pain? I’m guessing not. But if you’re okay with that and still want to try to start a war, I’m going to do two things. First, I’ll seal the gateways that open between realms. Then, I will open my own and come back and save all of the Goblins, taking them back to our realm. You won’t know where I’ll be or when I’ll do it. What you will know is that your food supply is becoming extinct in this realm.” He better come up with the right answer because I want nothing more than to step through this gateway and get the hell out of here.
