I had to find Desmond.
With a roar, I unleashed all of my pent up rage and departed the carnage at the mill, reappearing back at Myrna’s cottage. The sonic dissonance of my yell coming through the portal was kind of cool, I had to admit. I filed that away as an intimidation factor for later.
“Desmond!” I shouted. “Show yourself!”
“I’m right here, Nai. Is there a problem?”
His bored tone was super disrespectful and I roared again in anger. How dare he? Did he truly think himself so great that he has the right to treat me as an inferior?
“Get on the wrong side of a blood hunter, did we?”
Oh, he did not just go there.
He was going to pay. I drew a weapon and charged. A blade. I didn’t know which one. I didn’t care. Des couldn’t die any more than I could but that wasn’t going to stop me.
“I challenge you, Desmond,” I called out, pleased that the low, menacing growl of my voice was drawing a crowd. I wanted an audience. I wanted everyone to see that I was better and more deserving. “I challenge you to the title of Warrior. The title that I and I alone deserve! Prepare to fight me!”
But instead of preparing to fight, the weakling stepped out of the Cycle and my knife sliced through nothing, which caused me to trip and look foolish.
“Coward!” I shouted as I got to my feet. “Come back here and face me like the Warrior you claim to be!”
“Ew! Nai, what happened to you?”
Ugh! The last thing I needed to deal with was my idiot brother, so I flipped him off and drew another weapon as Desmond reappeared, smirking like he was better than me.
“What are you doing? Why won’t you fight me, you coward?”
“Go to sleep, Nai.”
Before I could say anything, Desmond threw some sort of blue glitter in my face and the world disappeared completely.
* * *
A feather light touch tickled Nai’s nose, causing her to sneeze. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing a fuzzy expanse of green, white, and yellow. Daisies, she realized, as another soft breeze swished the offending petals against her face. Nai sat up, dizzy and somewhat disoriented, frowning at the idyllic pasture. To some, it might have looked like a serene setting, but Nai felt the metaphorical chains of her otherworldly prison. Desmond had done something, and Nai was determined to know what.
The scenery shifted abruptly and suddenly Nai found herself on a dark and desolate landscape. Rain poured down, turning the earth into a sticky mud. All around her, shadowed figures clashed in battle, their cries of victory and defeat melding with the sounds of thunder and distant explosions to create a discordant cacophony. Nai stood, disoriented and suddenly quite ill from the bombardment of chaotic light and sound. She tried to move, but with each step, her booted feet sank further into the muck made of rain, earth, and the blood of the fallen.
Though her initial nervousness was giving over to all out panic, Nai did not dare cry out. To do so would only bring unwanted attention. She wondered if this was Hell, forgetting temporarily all that she knew as part of her role as an agent of Order.
“This is but the between, Nai.”
A voice, both familiar and terrifying, seemed to come from everywhere. It was not a loud voice, yet despite the echoing dissonance of the battle, Nai heard it with crystal clarity.
From the smoke and shadow, a figure emerged. A feminine form, but towering almost twice Nai’s height, with lean, rangy muscles visible through a tunic of draped gossamer. Her face, both beautiful and violent, was impossible to look at straight on. As she came closer, Nai could see that she wore a helmet and breastplate emblazoned with a golden apple and dragged beside her a sword that was at least as long as Nai was tall.
“Eris?” Nai’s voice was but an awed breathy whisper as the figure leaned down close, bringing the damning vortex of its face so near that she had to turn away.
“A most curious and dare I say clever incarnation, yes, but not a visage I wear with pride, Nai.”
“Oh, it’s you.” Nai didn’t even bother to hide the disappointment in her discovery that the entity was the Creator.
“Indeed,” the Creator said with an infuriatingly neutral tone. Its form twisted, folding in on itself until it was once again a normal, human size. It still wore the appearance of Chaos, but now managed to emulate Hollywood’s most recent and wildly popular depiction of the Norse god, Loki. At this, Nai rolled her eyes.
“Ugh. I don’t even like those movies.”
“And I do not like assuming the appearance of that which is Discord, but I am afraid I am not the one in control here, Nai. I do, however, hope that someone is.” To add emphasis, the Creator raised its eyebrows and tilted its head at Nai, which she found infuriating.
“What?” she grumbled. “Are you saying I’m out of control or something?”
“You stand at the crossroads between Order and Chaos, Nai. You, yourself are a creature born of both. I’m unable to influence you, but neither can Discord, despite sending its most powerful abomination to attack your mind.”
“Most… powerful…” Nai looked up at the Creator with wide eyes. “A dragon? Is that why I’m here? Is there a dragon? I’ve got to kill that thing!”
As she spoke, the dark and stormy battlefield faded away, leaving a bright, yet featureless expanse. The Creator’s appearance changed as well, again becoming a tall, stately woman in ancient Greek styled armor. The face of Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom smiled down at Nai.
“Yours is a complex destiny, Nai. It pleases me that your inner nature craves Order and rejects Discord, but I will admit, you had me curious as to which path you would choose.”
Nai looked up into the face of the goddess and frowned.
“You’re the Creator. Of course you knew which path I would take.”
“Come now, Nai,” the Creator admonished. “Surliness I shall forgive, but ignorance I will not. You are well aware that the future is insubstantial by design.”
“But you are saying it is my destiny to fight for Order, right?”
“Among other things,” the Creator said with a cryptic smile. “However, fate is, as you are aware, simply a piece of the whole. Should Order prevail, I am confident there will be a fair many battles in your future, but like so many of your predecessors, you must first learn the dangers of hubris. The Warrior’s path is not one that should be walked alone.”
“The Warrior’s path?”
Nai’s eyes widened and she stood, stunned into silence for quite some time. Could it be? She did not dare to have such hopes, and yet, is that not what the Creator had just said?
“Are you saying that I am to become a Warrior after all?”
Unfortunately, by the time her voice returned, the Creator had already faded back into the void, leaving Nai nothing more than hopeful speculation.
***
“Dragon!”
I sat up suddenly, gasping for breath and coughing as a cloud of glittery blue stuff assaulted my face, but when I tried to swat it away, I flinched.
“What the hell?”
My hand was covered in a gross mix of blood, gore, and more blue glitter. In fact, every part of me that was visible seemed to be covered in a cold and slimy crust of blood and glitter. Worse, it was starting to itch.
“Well, that didn’t take long.”
“Huh?”
I looked up and found Seth, Desmond, and Jem standing over me. That’s when I realized I was back at Myrna’s. I didn’t know how I got there, but that didn’t matter. We had bigger issues. Dragon issues.
“Guys, there’s a freaking dragon in Blackbird,” I said a little louder, thinking maybe they hadn’t heard me before. Though how anyone could miss the dragon vibe that I could feel even out here, was anyone’s guess.
“Yes, there is,” Desmond said in a voice that was way too calm as he rummaged around in his stupid jacket pocket. Seth just nodded.
“And?” I huffed, rather annoyed that everyone was staring a
t me and not doing a damned thing about the dragon. “Is this some kind of a practical joke? Why are you so calm? Are we going after that thing or what?”
“We are doing no such thing.”
Desmond’s voice was clipped and distracted, but held enough smugness to piss me off.
“Oh come on! There’s a-”
“Yes, a dragon in Blackbird. We are quite aware,” Desmond said, still distracted as he pulled a vial out of his pocket and uncorked it. “Hold still.”
“Huh?” I began, but quickly shut my mouth and my eyes as Desmond tossed the contents of the vial on me. Even though it looked no bigger than a flask, I was doused, head to toe in some sort of a warm, silvery liquid that I’ll admit, felt kind of pleasant. A minute later, it disappeared, taking the blood and glitter with it.
“Thanks,” I said, happy to be clean again. “Now can we go after that thing?”
“Again, Nai,” Desmond’s tone held no anger, which was weird enough, but there was something else that I couldn’t quite figure out. “We, as in, you and me, are not going after the dragon and that’s final.”
“But why?”
“Because the dragon nearly succeeded in seducing you without your knowledge.”
“What?” I shrieked, causing both Desmond and Jem to flinch. “That’s impossible! I didn’t even get close enough to see it! I just felt its presence and came immediately here to let you know!”
“No Nai,” Seth informed me with his special (and totally creepy) brand of forced calm. “You came here already under the influence of the dragon’s Chaos and tried to provoke Desmond into dueling for the title of Warrior.”
Okay, so maybe Seth wasn’t as calm as he looked because clearly, the guy was on drugs.
“What? No I didn’t!”
“Nai.” Again, Desmond’s tone was a lot calmer than I would have expected under the circumstances. “Five seconds ago you were covered in blood, guts, and the residual powder from an erasure snare. I’m going to guess that as you passed out, you probably took a little trip to see our enigmatic leader. Step away from your enthusiasm for a moment and allow your head to clear.”
I had every intention of telling Desmond where he could shove his theory, but something in his expression stopped me. As soon as I tuned out everything around me, it all came back. Not just the visit to the Creator, but the attack and the invincible feeling that I could take on anyone, including Desmond.
“Okay, so maybe because it snuck up on me, I might have gone under the influence of a dragon for a little while,” I conceded with a shrug. “But do you think you’re going to do any better alone? You need my help. Not even you can take on a dragon by yourself, Desmond. You need me.”
“No, Nai,” Desmond replied with another cryptic look. I was kind of getting freaked out by weirdly calm Desmond. Didn’t any of these people feel the dragon’s influence? “Very few people are qualified to take on a dragon, either alone or with help. You are not and I sure as hell am not either. In fact, out of everyone here, you and I are the least qualified to go anywhere near a dragon. I’m afraid this is a job for Jem.”
“What?” Jem and I shouted at the same time.
“W-why would you send me after a d-d-dragon?”
“Yeah,” I snorted. “Jem can’t hurt a fly let alone a drag… oh you can’t be serious!” No sooner were the words out of my mouth, I realized the game Desmond was planning on playing. “You know we’re balancing, right?”
“You are indeed balancing, but nowhere near as fast as you think,” Desmond explained. “While your convictions may actually be your saving grace if we were to encounter an angel, I’m afraid that you are your own worst enemy when it comes to dealing with a dragon. And you know, now from firsthand experience, that you aren’t going to know you are looking at one until it is too late.”
“Yeah, but neither is Jem,” I reasoned. Seriously, of all the excuses Des could have come up with for sending my idiot brother after the most dangerous and deadly of the Discordant, this one was actually pretty dumb. Either he was trolling or he’d suffered some major head trauma when I wasn’t looking.
“That is exactly what I am counting on.”
Definitely head trauma. He was actually seriously going to send my brother after a dragon. We were all doomed.
“Okay, hang on!” Jem’s voice was full of panic and pitched an octave higher than usual. I almost felt sorry for him. “Are you seriously saying you want to sacrifice me to a dragon?”
“Jem,” Desmond said with a deep sigh of frustration. “Tell me, in all honesty, do not hold back, what is your deepest, darkest, and most evil desire?”
“Nyuh…um…eurgh…” Jem blanched and for a moment, I had to laugh. Especially from the way Seth was looking at Jem as if he actually thought my brother was harboring some hidden dark side or something. To me, it just looked like the idiot was having a seizure.
“Um, I don’t want to be eaten by a dragon,” he said at last. Whether he was just stating the obvious or if that really was his deepest, darkest secret, I don’t know, but apparently, it was enough for Desmond.
“See then? You’ll do fine,” he said, clapping Jem on the back. “We’ve already wasted enough time and the protection shield should be up soon. Let’s get moving.”
“I guess I’ll see you downtown,” I said and prepared to slip away. If I was lucky, I could probably slay at least a dozen Discordant before anyone noticed I wasn’t at the diner.
“Not so fast.”
I didn’t even have to look down to know that the hand on my shoulder was Desmond’s. I should have known he’d be keeping an eye on me.
“You know there’s nothing you can say that would convince me to get into a car when I can just travel, right?”
“I’m well aware that you would be impulsive enough to attempt trans-cyclical travel from a moving vehicle, yes. I’m not here to stop you, just to prepare you.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red gemstone pendant on a silver chain. The jewel had a deep orange glow at its center that I’m pretty sure wasn’t a trick of the light.
“Emberglass?” I asked, noticing a weird dampening of my own aura as I took the necklace from Desmond.
“With a few of Arkady’s enhancements,” he explained with a meaningful look. I’ve dealt with a few of Arkady’s inventions before, so I got his meaning. “It will go a long way in keeping the dragon out of your head, but Nai…” He gave me another meaningful look. One that I not only recognized, but knew it meant that I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “No spell or artifact is completely dragon-proof.”
“Ugh! Fine, I get it,” I said, slipping the necklace over my head. “I know what I’m supposed to do. I’ll play babysitter and send people to their homes, but I’m not going to go tuck them in and tell them bedtime stories,” I said with a snarky huff that made Desmond give me a dirty look. “But if I happen to see a Discordant,” I warned. “I’m going to exterminate them.”
“If you are forced to engage, I suppose you can,” Desmond began, but I cut him off.
“No, look. Nothing has changed except that Jem is about to be eaten by a dragon. The witches are busy and there are very few people qualified to kill a Discordant properly. I am. The Creator basically just told me it was my destiny, so don’t even-”
“It what?” Desmond asked and I cringed. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to say anything about that yet.
“I’m an anomaly. I’ve got the skillsets of all the agents. That’s all I’m saying,” I covered, hoping he would just move on. It’s not like we didn’t have the end of the world to deal with or anything.
“Nai,” Desmond said, losing patience with me now. “I am in no way dismissing your talents. I am merely reminding you that your current role is that of Guardian. Yes, there are likely thousands of Discordant down there, but there are just as many souls in need of protection.”
I was over this argument.
“I can protect lost souls and banis
h the Discordant. But you know what? Neither one of us can do anything while we’re standing here arguing.”
With an angry huff, I slipped out of the Cycle and headed back downtown. I was probably in trouble, but I’d deal with that later. What was Desmond going to do, ground me in the middle of the apocalypse?
I really wanted to go back to the mill site, but even I wasn’t stubborn enough to press my luck. Besides, my instincts were telling me to get back to the area around the Five Penny bar. I really had to wonder what it was about that place that brought out the crazy in people. Not that it mattered. I’d only just slipped back into the Cycle when I was attacked by a gang of wolves.
“I freaking told ‘em,” I muttered as I sliced and diced the wolves out of existence. I didn’t even have time to catch my breath before a vampire tried to attack, and then another, and then a group of pixies decided they wanted to die as well.
As much as I wanted to stick around and kill off everything hanging out by the bar, I knew I had to get to Louie’s or I’d be in even more trouble. There was no shaking all of the pixie glitter out of my clothes and hair, so I couldn’t pretend I went straight to the diner.
But before I could leave, I had to talk one of the idiot bar regulars into going home instead of running off to start a fight with his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. For the seven thousandth time since I died, I wondered why the hell I was given the job of Guardian. I had no patience for stupidity. I had even less patience when the stupidity was so stupid that it couldn’t even be blamed on Discordant influence.
“Hey! Nice troll costume. Oh! My bad, that’s just your face.”
And speaking of stupidity…
Dealing with Emma and her goons wouldn’t have been a big deal. They were nearly as rotten as I am, but without the excuse of being the bad half of a split soul. I turned around, ready to rip into them with a few choice insults, but even before I had a chance to open my mouth, I was knocked back by the waves of Discord. Emma, Gordon, and the entire posse of Chapman High’s A-list of A-holes were under the influence of the dragon.
Rise of the Discordant: The Complete Five Book Series Page 71
