Last Dragon Standing

by Rachel Aaron

  “Because I’m not her,” Ghost said irritably. “This entire city is DFZ’s domain. So long as Myron is inside her borders, it’s easy for her to pass his soul back and forth across the barrier, but I have no such physical domain. My realm is the Forgotten Dead. I had to cheat to get you through before since, though you were dead, you were not forgotten. Now you’re neither, and that means I cannot pull you through.”

  “What about that thing you did before?” Marci asked. “Remember back in Reclamation Land when you yanked me inside the black-and-white world where I was a spirit voice and you were real? That was inside your domain, right?”

  “I took you inside my magic,” Ghost corrected. “But while I was able to hide you as I hide myself on this side, you were still in your physical body, and physical objects cannot enter the Sea of Magic. To get you across safely, I have to separate your soul from your body. If I had a physical domain like the DFZ does, it wouldn’t be a problem, because we are gods within our own spheres. But the Forgotten Dead isn’t a place like a city. There’s nowhere your physical body can go that is totally within my purview, and without that absolute level of godly control, I don’t know how to separate your magic from your body without killing you.”

  Marci swore under her breath, squeezing the cat version of Ghost in her arms so hard he hissed. “Then we’ll just have to find another way,” she said stubbornly. “Because I’m not dying again. I’ve got a fantastic dragon boyfriend, a super-powered spirit, and Sir Myron Rollins as my Merlin understudy. I’ve never had so much to live for, and Raven already told me my return ticket wouldn’t be stamped again. There has to be some other way to get there. The Heart of the World is basically the Merlins’ central office. We’re clearly meant to work there, and I can’t be the first Merlin with a nonphysical concept as my spirit. There has to be another way in.”

  “I suppose you could become forgotten,” the Empty Wind suggested. “That would give you a foot inside my domain without ending your life, though I’m not sure how you’d manage it.”

  He glanced over her shoulder at Julius, and Marci sighed. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to work.” She frowned, biting her nails as she thought the problem through. “The living body is really what’s at issue here. If we could manifest your domain somehow, figure out a way for me to physically walk into the Forgotten Dead, then you could pull me over just like the DFZ does for Myron, right?”

  “I think so,” Ghost said. “But I’ve never done anything like that, and I have no idea how I would. The closest thing I can think of are the temples humans built for me back when I was worshiped as a god. But that was long before the drought, and those places are all dust now. I don’t think I could even find where they were anymore.”

  He finished with a helpless shrug, but Marci was staring at him in awe. “You were worshiped as a god? Like, with priests and stuff?”

  “Occasionally,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “They were not kind forms of worship. I reveled in the power at the time, but you would not have liked them.”

  “You are a face of death,” she said. “I can imagine things got kind of bloody. But that doesn’t bother me. I’ve always known what you are. I’m just impressed at how much you can remember now.”

  “I remember everything,” he said, his voice wondrous. “The more magic fills me, the more I can recall. I can remember events from thousands of years ago like they were yesterday, and I’m still uncovering more. It seems endless.”

  “You’re the manifestation of humanity’s fear of being forgotten,” Marci said, nodding. “I imagine you’re pretty old. But this is awesome! In all those memories, did you ever have another Merlin?”

  “No,” the Empty Wind said at once. “You are the first and only. That I know for certain.”

  “Crud,” Marci muttered. Not that she wasn’t flattered to be Ghost’s first, but she’d really been hoping he’d had a previous Merlin so she could pick his brain and discover how her predecessor had made the jump to the Sea of Magic. Unfortunately, it looked as though she was going to have to forge her own path, but Ghost’s comment about temples had gotten her thinking.

  “You might not have a physical aspect to your domain, but the Forgotten Dead do have places. The whole reason you rose in the DFZ is because this city was packed with forgotten corners where people have died unnoticed. If we went to one of them, do you think you could take it over long enough for me to step inside?”

  Ghost jerked back in horror. “You mean create Forgotten Dead?”

  “No, no, no!” Marci said quickly. “I’m just saying that if we went somewhere where there happened to be a lot of Forgotten Dead, and you did your job by bringing them peace, then the whole place would be filled with your magic. I’ve seen the wind you can whip up when you take souls into yourself to carry to the other side. If we both happened to be standing in the same place when you did that a lot, do you think you could just, I don’t know, scoop me up too?”

  Her spirit thought long and hard. “I suppose it’s possible,” he said at last. “But—”

  “Possible is good enough for me,” Marci said, turning around. “Let’s go! We’re on a hard timer, and we’ve got a lot of city to cross. I’m just going to go tell Julius what we’re up to real quick, and…”

  She trailed off, her sneakers crunching to a stop on the frozen, muddy ground. Should she tell Julius? It certainly felt like the right thing to do, but he was still jumpy from her last temporary bout of death. If she told him she was going to the Sea of Magic again, even if she made it clear that dying wasn’t part of the plan this time, he’d freak out, and Marci didn’t want to do that to him right now. The cavern was already half full of dragons, and Amelia and Svena were still going full tilt. Everyone had switched to their human forms to save room in the suddenly cramped underpass, but Marci could still feel the predatory menace like a knife in the air. Julius was already looking harried as he struggled to wrangle the constant stream of new, angry dragons. The last thing he needed was for her to throw a bomb like this at him. Maybe… maybe it would be better if she just snuck out and explained it to him later.

  That sounded like the kinder thing, but as Marci turned to slip around the back of the house, she ran face-first into something warm, solid, and smelling vaguely of smoke.

  “Ow,” she said, rubbing her nose. When she looked to see what she’d bumped into, though, confusion turned to anger. “Don’t do that!” she snapped, glaring at Bob, who’d appeared from nowhere to block her way. “Shouldn’t you be off groveling to all the family members you’ve wronged?”

  “No one has that kind of time,” Bob said flippantly. “And is that any way to talk to a wise dragon who’s come to give you some advice?”

  Marci had had more than enough of Bob’s “advice,” but it seemed stupid to ignore a seer, even a not-up-to-snuff one like Bob, so she waved for him to go ahead.

  When she gave him the go-ahead, Bob leaned down to her eye level. It was almost certainly her imagination, but Marci could have sworn his expression softened as he whispered, “Don’t leave without saying goodbye to Julius.”

  “Why?” Marci asked, breath stopping in her throat. “Is something going to happen to him?”

  “Lots of things,” Bob replied, straightening back up with a shrug. “But I’m not telling you this because I foresee disaster. To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to look down your future yet. I just happened to spot you hesitating just now, and as a loving brother, I felt compelled to intervene. Maybe it will matter, maybe it won’t, but you should say something to Julius in either case, because he’ll be insufferable if you don’t.”

  “It won’t be that bad,” Marci said, lowering her eyes. “He’s busy. I don’t want to put him off his game by making him worry.”

  “You didn’t see him while you were gone,” Bob said. “Trust me, there is nothing you could say to him right now that would upset him more than you vanishing without a word. Just go give him a hug or something. He’d l
ove it, and this cavern could use a little positive energy.”

  He looked over his shoulder at the tense clusters of waiting dragons, but Marci still wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure this is about Julius and not you?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “Because every other time you’ve told me to do something for Julius, it’s been for your plans.”

  “Julius is my plans,” Bob snapped, his voice surprisingly angry. “How many times do I have to spell this out? Julius. Is. My. Lynchpin. He’s the fixed point around which aaaaaaaaaaaall of this”—he waved his hand at the dragons, the spirits, the humans, and everything else that was packed into the cavern—“revolves. Without him, everything would fly apart, including me. You just saw that power in action with the Black Reach, so I don’t think my sticking up for Julius’s mental well-being is suspicious. I need him to be at his best now more than ever, and that doesn’t happen when he’s tearing out his hair in worry over you.” The seer looked away with a huff. “Honestly. I’m starting to wonder which of us is actually his significant other.”

  Given the hell Bob had put Julius through, the urge to call him on his concerned-brother act was almost undeniable. The only reason Marci didn’t was because he really did look upset. The seer was normally such a flake, it was hard to take anything he said seriously, but the anger in his eyes was real enough that Marci was willing to give him a pass, just this once. Also, it wasn’t as if she’d wanted to sneak off without her kiss.

  “All right,” she said. “But just so we’re clear, this butting-into-my-relationship thing is a one-off event. I’ve seen the damage your ‘help’ can do, and I’d rather take my chances with the blind future.”

  “A fair criticism,” Bob said, reaching up to pet the pigeon that was roosting in his long hair. “Just be careful not to die. I don’t know if I’ll be able to swing another resurrection.”

  Marci frowned. “Do you foresee me dying?”

  The seer turned away with a flippant wave. “Outlook hazy. Try again later.”

  Rolling her eyes, Marci hoisted her freezing cat—Ghost number two now that his normal-sized body had vanished back into the huge one holding up the barrier—and tromped out of the wreckage of their house toward Svena’s frost-fire circle, where Julius was still directing newcomers.

  ***

  Julius was starting to feel extremely overwhelmed.

  Once they got rolling, Amelia and Svena summoned dragons at whirlwind speed. In the past twenty minutes, hundreds had come through the icy portal, leaving the dirt yard around his wrecked house packed. At this point, the artificial cavern below the on-ramps was even more crowded than the Heartstriker throne room had been during the vote. Unlike the crowd back home, however, these dragons were not all from the same family, and tensions in the cramped space were running high.

  Those who could had separated themselves by clan. As promised, the Qilin’s dragons—at least the ones he’d brought with him to New Mexico—had flown in on their own, sheltered from the magical fallout by Lao, who was apparently no slouch sorcerer. Those who’d stayed behind in China came in via Svena’s portal, which meant the entire might of the Golden Empire was now on display, and taking up a good half of the available space. The only dragon missing was the Empress Mother, whom Julius had been informed was not welcome in this endeavor, which was perfectly fine with him. If he never saw the red-eyed old snake again, it would be too soon.

  The other clans were less impressive but still formidable, especially since some of the smaller clan heads had refused to put on their human shapes amid so many enemies. Julius was trying to convince a particularly stubborn old dragoness that she would be much more comfortable in her human form, or any shape that didn’t take up such a large amount of room, when he caught the beat of Marci’s quick footsteps coming up behind him.

  As always, the sound made his heart leap. He bowed out of his conversation as fast as he could and turned around just in time to smile at her as she came to a stop. “Everything okay?”

  “No,” she said, glancing at the blacked-out sky. “But nothing’s more on fire than it was half an hour ago, which is all we can ask right now.”

  Julius couldn’t argue with that. “Is your banishment plan still on track?”

  “I think so,” Marci said. “Myron’s already gone to the Heart of the World to start repairing the containment circle. I’m leaving to join him right now.”

  Those words were enough to stop his heart. The last time Marci had gone to the Heart of the World, she’d died.

  “Don’t worry,” she said before he could panic. “I’m taking a nonlethal route this time.”

  “Good,” he said with a relieved breath, though nothing could stop his hands from shaking. “I won’t keep you, then, but how long do you think it will take you and Myron to set up the banishment?” He looked over his shoulder at the packed cavern. “Everyone will be here soon, and I want to be able to tell them how long they’ll need to fight.”

  Marci bit her lip. “I’m not sure. Myron’s the only one of us who’s worked with the Heart of the World’s spellwork before, but we’re talking about fixing a blowout in the most complicated spellwork assembly ever constructed. Even if he’s just patching what’s already there, I don’t see how he could possibly manage it in less than four hours, and that’s being really optimistic.”

  Julius looked away to hide his wince. Four hours was a lot to ask, especially since they didn’t yet know what the Leviathan was capable of. For all he knew, they’d be lucky to last ten minutes.

  “I’m sorry,” Marci said, wringing her hands. “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, but—”

  “It’s fine,” he said, forcing a smile. “I told you we’d hold him back, and we will. Four hours or forty, we’ll buy you the time you need or die trying.” Because if they couldn’t, they were all dead anyway.

  “Please don’t say that,” she begged. “We’ll do this as fast as possible, I swear. Myron’s one of the best mages in the world, and ancient spellwork is his area of expertise. If anyone can patch that hole in record time, he can.”

  “You don’t have to reassure me,” Julius said, smiling at her. “If you say it’ll work, that’s all I need. In the meantime, we’ll do our part. We’ve got more firepower here than I’ve ever seen. We’ll keep the Leviathan high and dry for as long as you need to bring that hammer down.”

  That was a ludicrously optimistic statement, but it was worth it to see Marci smile. “They should call you the Flatterer Dragon,” she muttered, her cheeks flushing bright pink as she brushed her short hair behind her ear. “I just hope you’re right. Even with this many dragons, you’ve a lot of ground to cover.”

  Julius shrugged. “All we need to do is blast tentacles out of the sky before they reach Algonquin’s water, and if there’s anything dragons are good at, it’s blasting.” He grinned. “Justin’s going to have the time of his life.”

  “At least someone will be happy,” she said, looking down at Ghost, who was somehow both a cat in her arms and a giant figure holding up the barrier over their heads. “I’ve got to go. We’ve got work to do on the other side, and Ghost and I still have to figure out how to get me over there without dying.”

  Julius’s heart skipped several beats. “But you just said—”

  “I know,” Marci interrupted. “And I meant it. I am absolutely not dying again. I haven’t entirely figured out how to do that yet, but there has to be a way. What’s the point of being a Merlin if you can’t get to your special clubhouse?”

  “But—”

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, reaching out to take his hands. “I’ve already got a great idea, but I need to get going if I’m going to pull it off in time.”

  “I know you will,” Julius said, tightening his hands in hers. Then, because he could now, he pulled her into a hug. “You’re the cleverest, hardest-working person I’ve ever met,” he whispered into her hair. “You’ll make it work, I know it.”

  Marci didn�
�t reply. She did something much better. She hugged him back, squeezing his chest until his ribs creaked. Finally, after almost a full minute of holding him as tightly as she could, Marci let go reluctantly, looking up at him with the stubborn determination that had made him fall in love with her in the first place. “We’re going to beat this.”

  “We are,” he agreed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You’d better get going.”

  She nodded and turned to go. Then, suddenly, she darted back in again and rose up on her toes to kiss him on the lips. Julius was still reeling in surprise when she hurried off, waving over her shoulder as she jogged away. Dazed and happy, Julius waved back, watching her weave through the crowd of dragons with a painfully huge smile on his face. He was still grinning like an idiot when a wistful voice spoke right next to his ear.

  “I’m never stealing her away from you, am I?”

  Julius jumped and whirled around to see Amelia standing beside him, watching Marci’s back with open envy. “It’s so unfair,” she muttered. “The First Merlin of the new age, in love with a dragon who can’t even cast a spell.” She shook her head. “Such a waste.”

  “I don’t think it’s a waste at all,” Julius said, irritated. “What are you doing over here anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be helping Svena?”

  The Spirit of Dragons shrugged. “She said she didn’t need me anymore. We’ve gotten pretty much everyone. The only dragons left are the ones she already knows, her family and allies and whatnot. Once she pulls those in, we’re done.”

  “Done?” Julius looked around in confusion. “How can you be done? There are only a few hundred dragons here.”

  Amelia gave him a flat look. “Julius, how many dragons do you think there are?”

  He opened his mouth to say thousands but stopped because he realized he didn’t actually know. His mother had lectured them all their lives about the threat of the other clans, so he’d always assumed there must be a lot, but he’d never heard a hard number. To be fair, there were no hard numbers for the dragon population since most clans kept their true size secret to obscure the actual extent of their power, or lack thereof. He hadn’t even known exactly how many Heartstrikers there were until they’d held the vote, but still, there had to be more dragons in the world than this.