by Sam Cheever
Okay. Be careful, Astra.
Careful is my middle name. Spelled with a Q.
Slayer chuckled. Okay, Qareful. Talk to you soon.
I looked at Darma. “You ready?”
As usual my sister was scowling. She seemed uncomfortable with our plans but she nodded.
My gaze slid to Emo. “Glynus and I will blast the glass out for the greens. Then we’ll get out of the way and let them go in first.”
“Can Spencer hold the cloak by himself?” Emo asked.
I looked at my dragon, lifting an eyebrow in question.
Of course, she responded haughtily.
“Glynus says he can. As soon as I grab Dialle I’m going to secure him with an angel chain and take him to Olympus. See you on the other side?”
“May His grace guide and protect you, Astra.”
I held Emo’s gaze for a moment and then smiled. “Right back atcha, partner. And, no more hanging out with angels for you, bud. You’re starting to sound like them.”
I turned away, a smile trembling on my lips as he chuckled. Give the greens the signal, Tadpole.
Yes, mother halfling.
A moment later the sound of massive wings could be heard pounding the air and the first ancient green emerged from the roost at the top of the castle. I watched in wonder as they flew across the sky, each one falling in behind the one before it until they formed a massive green arrow in the sky.
They flew out a couple of klicks and then slowly started to turn. What they lacked in speed they more than made up for in accuracy. They held their perfect shape through the entire turn, and headed back toward us with determined elegance.
Despite their age and size, the elderly dragons presented a fine picture as their powerful wings throbbed against the sulfur-rich air. Glynus shot out in front of them as they came near and we flew directly toward the glass barrier that formed the outside wall of Dialle’s throne room. I tried to find my devil in the mass of dark-world creatures beyond the glass, but it was a hopeless task. There were just too many of them.
My fingers twitched with power as we approached. Glynus had slowed until the first green in the formation was close behind us. So close in fact that I could smell the rancid fish he’d eaten for breakfast. It was making me queasy.
Or maybe it was the task ahead of me that was making me sick. That was probably more likely. I didn’t know what I’d find when I faced off with Dialle again. I was pretty sure it would be ugly. My greatest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to reach him. If I couldn’t get through to him he’d be lost to me forever.
My heart hurt at the thought. My stomach twisted. I couldn’t lose Dialle. I just couldn’t. Stars of panic burst before my eyes.
Mother halfling?
I blinked and realized the window was mere feet away from Glynus. If I didn’t do my thing fast we’d be the first ones through the window, and it wouldn’t be fun. My hand flashed out and power exploded against the pane , creating a spidery circle of fractured glass at its center.
Hold on, mother halfling. At the last possible moment, Glynus bunched her powerful body and shot skyward, her wings tapping the glass as she exploded up the side of the castle.
I grabbed hold of the nearest spike on her spine and tightened my legs, leaning forward to decrease wind resistance as we went completely vertical. I started to slide backward and, if it weren’t for my power-enhanced hold on Glynus’ spike, I’d have been dumped into the furnace-like atmosphere of Hell like yesterday’s garbage.
Beneath us, the sound of glass shattering and the roar of the greens created instant chaos within the castle. Beyond the deafening roar of wind shooting past my ears I could hear the angry shouts and terrified screams.
“Now, Tadpole!”
She curved her body away from the castle wall and did a one-hundred-eighty-degree change of direction, until we plummeted downward, toward the shattered window far below.
I swore silently as my feet started to lift away from her body and held on with everything I had. Just as I thought I was going to lose my grip and go spiraling off into the sulfur fires beneath us, Glynus leveled out and skimmed neatly through the window.
The throne room, designed under the massive ego of Dialle’s father, was the size of an ancient human football stadium. Even so, it felt small with a dozen massive greens flying around beneath its ceiling and the crowds of Hell’s inhabitants spinning and dodging claws and wings at its base.
It was easy to slide in undetected with that kind of chaos. What wasn’t easy was finding Dialle. We flew toward his throne, dodging massive green bodies and jolts of temper-induced fire from the crowds.
Dialle wasn’t there.
I assumed his guards had surrounded him and started walking him toward the door at the first sign of trouble. The problem with that plan was that it would be like trying to push a dagger through steel mesh. You wouldn’t get far before the weave grabbed hold of you and brought you to a stop.
I found the group of guards a few yards away from Dialle’s throne, but Dialle wasn’t with them. He’d apparently space-shifted away. Shit! The good news was that, wherever he was, he most likely didn’t have guards with him.
He’s gone. I think I know where he went. Let’s get out of here.
Glynus headed for the window and we flew out over Hades again, leaving chaos behind. I shuffled my mental drawers and reached out to Slayer. He debunked from the throne room. Do you see him in his rooms?
I’ll have to drop down a few levels to see.
Like the throne room, Dialle’s quarters sported a wall of windows that looked out over Hell’s environs. The royals seemed strangely fascinated by the ugliness of the place. If it were my castle I’d only have narrow windows set just below the ceiling to let in the light. The last thing I’d want to do was look out on the death and devastation that was Hell.
But then I wasn’t born to the flame. My dark side was tempered by my light. And, on the current occasion at least, their love of windows would work to my advantage. Glynus climbed high enough to fly over the castle to the opposite side, where I knew Dialle’s quarters were. As we climbed, Spence and Darma joined us. My sister looked disheveled and pale but seemed all right. Spence had a long scratch down one side of his glistening white body.
I see movement within, but I can’t see if it’s the king without dropping down in front of the windows.
Don’t do that. If he sees you he’ll be gone again. I’ll go in first, distract and hopefully disarm him, then I’ll give you the signal and you and Darma come in and help me chain him. Okay?
Got it.
I looked at my sister and she nodded, a determined light in her blue eyes.
Where’s Emo? I asked her.
He’s taking the greens to the breach.
I nodded. My partner wasn’t happy about it, but I hadn’t wanted him involved in Dialle’s capture. His psyche was still too tender and his feelings for me too volatile. I was afraid his natural animus for Dialle would cause him to regress.
As we dropped down from the top of the castle I asked Glynus to engage cloaking once more. The air around me shimmered and suddenly Darma and I were enclosed in a bubble. We dropped toward Dialle’s rooms, encompassing most of the fourth floor of the castle, and Glynus stopped before the wall of glass, hovering gently on the air.
Do you want me to blast out the glass, mother halfling?
No. Thanks. I’m going to shift into the room. Once I have him Slayer and Darma are going to shift in too and we need to work fast before his guards show up.
Snoopy and I will wait for your return.
Thanks, Tadpole.
Be careful, mother halfling.
I patted her sleek neck and took a deep breath, sliding my sister a look.
She frowned. “Don’t screw this up, Astra.”
Tears stung my eyes and I found it suddenly hard to breathe. What I was about to do could be the final tear in the fabric of Dialle’s and my relationship. He might never forgiv
e me for entrapping him. My betrayal would eviscerate the bond of trust we'd formed over the years. It might take us years to rebuild that trust, if it even could be rebuilt.
I knew all that. Had known it since we’d started planning his capture. But I also knew I had no choice. So, rather than scream at my sister, or fall sobbing onto Glynus’ neck as I wanted to do, I simply nodded. I wouldn’t screw it up. I knew that with a certainty I rarely felt. Because I couldn’t. Dialle’s life was on the line. Our lives. If he spiraled down into darkness, I would go with him.
I had no doubt of that.
I closed my eyes and pictured the spot within his rooms where I wanted to land. For a beat nothing happened and I started to worry that my magic battery had run out of juice, but then my skin tingled and the world went silent. A heartbeat later my feet touched the firmness of the floor in Dialle’s rooms and a long, stone wall shimmered into view before me.
I took a deep, relieved breath, gathered power in my hands, and stepped out.
I gasped. Dialle stood beside his bed, his black eyes swirling with the colors of rage. He had a bloody gash across one lean, golden cheek and blood seeped between his fingers from a wound beneath his ribs.
A distance away, a bloody sword that I recognized all too well lay on the yellowed carpet, apparently flung away in a fit of temper.
My gaze lifted to a familiar red face, whose beady eyes were filled with such pain it nearly brought me to my knees. “Gerch?”
He lifted the angel chain he held between his thick, red fingers and his jaw tightened under a wave of fresh pain. “I couldn’t let you do it to him, my queen. I feared you’d never recover from it.”
“Good Him, Gerch.” Tears slipped from my eyes, flowing freely down my cheeks. I knew what it had cost the loyal soldier to betray his king and centuries-long friend. His bond to Dialle was older than mine, and every bit as strong. “I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head, his gaze slipping from mine as it started to roil with the reds and purples of strong emotion. “It had to be done.”
I walked toward them, my gaze locked on Dialle as I approached. He looked murderous, so angry I wasn’t sure we’d ever get him to see reason.
Taking the chain from Gerch’s firm grip, I touched his hand, clasping it. “I’ll bring him back to us, Gerch. You have my word on that.”
He nodded, turning away as if he couldn’t bear to look at me. “You’d better go. The guards will have figured out where I brought him by now. They’ll show up soon. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.”
“Stay safe,” I told him. “That’s an order from your queen.”
He sucked in a breath, his massive chest deepening under it, and then walked out of the room. I watched him leave and then turned to Dialle.
His sexy mouth was hard, thinned with anger and cruelty. “This is a day I’ll never forget, Astra. Betrayed by my queen and my most loyal friend.”
I shook my head, swiping at tears. They were the last I would shed for him, for us. Weakness was no longer an option. If I was going to bring Dialle back it would be through strength and perseverance. “Yeah. It totally sucks. But that’s where we are and there’s nothing we can do about it.” I tugged gently on the chain. “Come on, let’s go.”
He stepped forward, though I could tell he tried to brace his muscles against the movement. With the angel chain around his throat he had no choice but to do the will of the one holding it. “Where are you taking me?” The words seemed bitten off between grinding teeth.
“Home, Dialle. To a place where we can heal. Together.”
CHAPTER NINE
Dark Prison
The king is locked within a cell, made more of thought than walls,
The only way to make him well, is to catch him as he falls.
I stood in the open doorway, feeling as if my heart had been twisted and wrung into an irreparable condition. The man raging against the chains in the room beyond the door was almost unrecognizable.
His wrists and ankles, chained to the wall by necessity, were bloodied with his efforts to gain freedom. His once silky black hair hung in lank ropes over his face, giving him the appearance of a wild creature, beyond reason. It wasn’t far from the truth. The madness that had begun to take his mind soon after I lost my magic had all but taken him over.
We’d been at my father’s castle for a month. Dialle had grown worse with every passing day. He hadn’t eaten in days, he’d only taken water when I all but forced it on him. What I was doing wasn’t working. I was going to have to try something else.
“It’s too dangerous, Astra.”
I glanced at Emo. “I have to do it.”
“He’s not the man who loved you. He’s driven by the madness. He’ll kill you.”
I blinked hard, fighting back tears. I was done with tears. I needed to move forward with strength if I was going to have any chance of saving Dialle. “I have to take that chance.”
“I’m not going to let you do it.”
I swung around, fists clenched at my sides. He blinked as I focused a hard, unrelenting gaze on him. I knew my eyes burned with some portion of the same fever taking Dialle. I knew because I’d seen it in the mirror. For whatever reason...whatever quirk of prophecy...Dialle and I were connected. We’d been linked in the light, and now that he was charging toward darkness, we were joined in that too. “I’m doing this. If I need to fight you too I’ll do it. But I’m asking you, as a friend, not to go there. I need every bit of strength I have to fight him.”
Emo held my gaze for a long moment and then pulled me into a hug. “I can’t watch, Astra. I’m sorry, I love you too much to watch you die.”
Blinking back the hated tears, I hugged him hard. Inhaling his familiar, beloved scent, I relished the strong feel of his arms, wishing I could stay right there. Despite my tough words to Emo, I was terrified of what I was about to do.
Emo held me for a few minutes and then stepped back, placing his hand on my face. “Take care, Astra. I-I’ll really miss you if I don’t get to see you again.”
I shook my head, laughing. Despite my best efforts tears slid down my cheeks. I brushed angrily at the moisture, determined to stay strong. “You should know by now that I’m just not that easy to get rid of, partner.”
“You’re full up on energy?”
“Light and dark, Gerch managed to talk one of the royals into contributing to the cause.” I smiled at the thought. I’d have given almost anything to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.
Gerch: Excuse me, I know you hate our queen and want to take out the king so you can make a try for his throne, but would you mind charging the queen’s battery so she can try to save the king and they can retake the court?
Royal: Have you lost your frunkin’ mind?
Gerch: Nope, I still have my frunkin’ mind.
Royal: Why on the Serpent’s forked tail would I do that?
Gerch: Because the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t?
Royal: You’re an idiot.
Gerch: Okay, then how about this, the celestial army is waiting to hear your response from me and, if it isn’t good, then they’re going to decimate the court.
Royal: Blink, blink. Okay, where’s the damn queen? Let’s get this over with.
Footsteps pounded down the hall and Emo and I turned. A massive, red-skinned guard ran toward us.
Speak of the devil.
Gerch skidded to a stop before us, his broad chest heaving from his all-out sprint. “I’m going in with you.”
I opened my mouth to argue.
He held up a massive, red hand. “Don’t bother arguing. I’m going with you or you’re not going in.”
“As your queen—”
He snorted. “Don’t try that crap with me, Astra. You aren’t currently my queen.”
I frowned. “I will be once I’m done with this.”
“Correct. However, you currently aren’t my queen so you can’t command me.”
“If you don’t back down I’ll get my revenge on you once I am queen again.”
He glowered down at me, his wide brow throwing a shadow over his beady black eyes. “I’ll take my chances.”
Sighing, I looked from Emo to Gerch. “God save me from my friends.”
Gerch crossed thick arms over his chest, looking belligerent. Emo looked hopeful. I could tell he was hoping I’d take Gerch up on his offer.
I was about to surprise them both. “Okay. You can come in with me.”
Emo smiled, his dark eyes sparking. Gerch’s mouth dropped open.
“Close your mouth, devil. That’s very unattractive.” I looked at Emo. “Remember, as soon as I’m inside seal the room with both light and dark energy. Nobody comes in until I’m done. Understood?”
“You mean we, right, Astra?” Gerch was back to glaring at me.
I sighed. “Of course.”
I looked at Emo. “Ready?”
“I’m not the one who needs to be ready. Are you sure I can’t talk you out of this?”
“Not if I leave really quickly.” I smiled at him and, on an impulse, leaned in and kissed his lips. Emo’s hand came up and clasped my throat, holding me in the kiss a few beats longer than I’d intended. I allowed it because I knew he thought he was saying goodbye for the last time.
I wasn’t all that sure he wasn’t.
Then I looked at Gerch. “Ready?”
He nodded. I prayed he was distracted enough not to notice what I was about to do. I’d been practicing some new tricks and I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like the one I was getting ready to use.
A single, glistening tear slid down Emo’s lean, golden cheek. “Goodbye, Astra.”
“See you in a couple of days, partner.”
He sniffed and nodded, looking away as pain slid through his black gaze.
I reached out and quickly touched Gerch’s hand. His eyes widened but he didn’t have time to stop me. As he started to shimmer away, I heard his shriek of rage in my mind.
