by Erik Lynd
Lily nodded and took them down the passage. They were getting close so they moved slowly. Eventually, Lily stopped them again and whispered.
“That turn ahead is the last one. Around it is where the opening to the large cavern is.”
Silas could smell and hear it now, the smell of unwashed bodies and poor sanitation washed over them. And blood, the smell of lots and lots of blood. Sounds, animal and human, came from down the tunnel.
A lizard creature stepped around the corner, surprised to find them standing there. Abigail’s stilettos were a blur, but the punctures they made in the creature’s throat and chest were enough to kill it almost instantly. It tumbled forward onto the ground.
“Jesus,” Lily said. “That’s faster than the chefs at those Japanese steak houses.”
“Yep almost as fast as me,” Silas said with a wink.
Abigail raised an eyebrow at him. “It must have been a guard; we have to be ready for more. It seems we were lucky to get this far without encountering one.” Abigail put away her knives and they crept forward slowly until they could see into the cavern beyond.
It was just as Lily had described, several hundred of the lizard creatures roamed the floor below. They moved around snapping and biting and talking among themselves. They were arranged in groups with the strongest and most transformed at one end of the cavern near a raised dais while the back group was mostly human. Full humans did walk among them organizing-- talking and handing out makeshift equipment and a few weapons. It was a war party, and they were preparing for battle.
The raised dais had been constructed at one end against a large gray boulder. A table had been set up against the rock with various chalices, and what looked like a spigot had been driven into the side of the rock.
“That’s no rock,” said Silas as he pulled the others away from the opening. “That’s a goddamn dragon out there.”
He looked at Leonard and jabbed a finger at him. “Is that your Wyrm? A dragon?” Silas leaned back against the wall covering his eyes with hands.
“It must be, but I have never seen the Wyrm,” Leonard said.
“It looks like he is draining the blood from it,” Abigail said. “That must be the catalyst. The Blood of the Wyrm.”
“With that kind of catalyst he could transform most of the city. No wonder he had so many soldiers. Dammit! Why didn’t I see this before? Even the creatures he’s creating I thought were some sort of lizard monsters. But no, he’s transforming humans into some kind of dragon hybrids.”
“Is this bad? It looked like the dragon was still sleeping; what happens if it wakes?” Lily asked.
“You ever watch those old Godzilla movies?” Silas asked. “There’s a reason they were hunted to extinction years ago. If that things wakes, bye-bye city.”
“Hello Armageddon,” St. Abigail said.
Silas crawled back to the opening and looked again, this time knowing what he was actually seeing. The dragon was massive, not quite as big as Godzilla, that had been a little exaggeration, but it had much more destructive power. They were also almost impossible to kill, as the Lenape had discovered when they fought it. He could only see its back as it was curled away from him, but on the other side he could see a horn sticking up, most likely where its head was.
“Mort are you there?” Silas whispered.
No answer. Mort had faded away as they had gotten closer to this cavern. Silas suspected they were too deep for effective communication; so no information from the Vatican database on dragons, if they had any at all. They were one of the rarest of supernatural creatures, right up there with unicorns. The best they could hope for was that it did not wake. He heard the rest of the group come up behind him to get another look.
The crowd grew hushed and in a moment Silas saw why. Webb was making his way into the chamber followed by that draconian creature Coth. He walked through the crowd like a celebrity--no, like a prophet--touching his followers and pausing to talk to some. No smile on his face this time though; this was a war party. He had the same large aviator glasses on and constantly wiped at the blood trickling down his face. Silas wondered if that was for show, maybe make him seem more mysterious. Eventually, he made it to the dais and walked up with an entourage.
The fucker loves this, thought Silas.
He raised his hands and the crowd cheered; it came out more as growls and hoarse calls, but it was obvious they loved him. The cheering noise stopped.
“Brothers, my children thank you. I love you too. We have been through a lot, and tonight we will finally taste victory over the oppressors above,” Webb said, his voice ringing out across the throng without the need for a microphone.
His followers cheered again.
“Tonight we will end their rule with blood and claw, we will rend their pathetic little hearts, we will…” Webb drifted off as a commotion at the back of the cavern caught his attention.
The darkness at the back of the cavern exploded out as the demon army made their entrance. The screaming, churning mass of demonic creatures fell upon the rear of the chamber like a black shadow. It would have been impressive if Silas had not known the inevitable outcome. They were outnumbered, and the fight would be over soon. If Silas and his friends were going to take advantage of this diversion, they had to move now.
“Destroy them!” cried Webb from the dais and the loyal ranks of draconian warriors surged forward at the demonic force.
Silas turned to the others. “Now’s our chance. Let’s go down there and stop Webb.”
“What’s the plan?” Abigail asked.
Silas looked at her and spoke a little slower, “Let’s go down there and stop Webb. That’s the plan, baby.”
He turned and jumped through the opening, sliding down the sloped wall of the cavern to the floor. The opening through which they looked had been about thirty feet up so it only took moments. A few stragglers from the main force had not charged to the other end of the cavern yet and saw him. He headed straight for them, letting his demonic fury have full reign. It felt wondrous.
He laughed as he fell into them, fists swinging. One went down with a massive blow, another he grabbed and swung like a baseball bat into a third. He felt, rather than saw Abigail by his side with her stilettos snaking out and dispatching two more who came at them. There were only a handful between him and the dais. Webb and company were so engrossed with what was happening at the other end they did not even see the doom heading toward them.
From the corner of his eye he could see the demonic horde swarming into the cavern. They were hopelessly outnumbered, but they still had the advantage of surprise on their side. Silas dodged to the side as a dragon creature lunged at him and slammed a fist into its jaw. He was rewarded with a satisfying crunch and the creature went down.
The carapace of a large demonic spider slammed into him and knocked him a few feet off course. The main battle had spread quickly and demon horde fought dragon hybrids not more than twenty feet from them. A group of creatures charged toward Abigail. Silas turned to help when he saw that they had been spotted.
Coth leaped from the dais and landed in front of Silas. He was grinning.
“I’m glad you escaped. This is the way I wanted it,” he growled.
“Yeah, I always suspected you had the hots for me,” Silas said. Behind Coth, Silas could see that Webb had taken his eyes off the battle to watch them.
Coth swung a massive clawed fist at Silas. Silas dodged to the right and brought his arm up, but the force of the blow was enough to stagger him. Silas used his momentum and brought his foot up to kick Coth’s stomach. He connected with a nice thunk, and Coth took two steps back.
Coth charged with a roar, catching Silas in the torso and lifting him up and over the bony protrusion across his shoulders and back. Bone and scaly plates dug into him as Silas went over. It was like sliding down a rocky mountain face first. When he hit the ground he tried to roll to his feet, but Coth had turned and his clawed foot kicked into his side like a
bar of steel. Silas rolled a few feet and tried to regain his feet.
Damn this guy was tough! But then he was Silas-mother-fucking-Robb.
Silas jumped and kicked Coth in the face with his steel-toed boot. Coth brought his hands up to his face in surprise. Silas didn’t hesitate and rammed his fist into Coth’s solar plexus, one of the few unarmored places on his body. The breath went out of Coth’s lungs in a great whoosh and he double over. Silas’ knee was there to meet his face. There was a satisfying crunch, and Coth dropped to the ground.
Silas turned and ran for the dais as Webb, perhaps sensing a turn of fortune for himself, tried to flee in the other direction. Silas caught him and spun him back toward the center of the dais. He fell to his knees, glasses flying from his face. Silas grabbed him by the lapels and hoisted him up.
The whites of Webb’s eyes were stained pink with blood. It seeped out of his eyelids as though he had a permanent brain hemorrhage. It ran in rivulets down his face, giving his face a red, cracked look like broken marble.
“Please, please. It’s gone,” Webb whispered.
Even with his eyes filled with blood Silas could see the madness. His pupils were black pinpoints in the pink flesh of his eyeballs.
“Silas!”
Silas turned to see that the battle was all but over. There was still fighting at the rear of the chamber, but for the most part it had subsided. Now there was a very angry army of dragon creatures staring at him. Hundreds remained standing while the remnants of the demon army consisted of black rotting corpses spread throughout the room.
Coth stood at the front of them holding Abigail. They were surrounded by a pile of dead dragon men, so Silas was sure she had put up a good fight. But now Coth held her by both arms pinning them to her body, her stilettos were on the ground at her sides. Three of the other dragon creatures held Leonard and Lily, walking them to the front of the dais so Silas could see them.
“Let him go Silas,” Coth rumbled.
“Yes, yes that is what you should do. It’s gone now, it has abandoned me. I am a nobody,” Webb babbled.
Something was different. Gone was the confidence he had seen in Webb. He had been a religious leader, now he was a sniveling weakling. Silas saw nothing but fear and madness in him now. The blood in the eyes, the hemorrhage, the sudden shift in personality--he was beginning to get a picture of what was going on here.
“You cannot kill all of us Silas,” Coth said. “Let the Father go. The purification will continue tonight as planned.”
“But I don’t have to kill all of you, that ain’t how the magic works.”
And with that Silas snapped Webb’s neck, killing him instantly.
Coth roared in rage and bent Abigail’s arms back, her face contorted in pain; but then it was Coth’s eyes widening in pain, and he dropped her arms. Moans came from the dragon army as they began falling to their knees and writhing in pain. Coth remained standing, but only barely, wobbling across the floor to the dais. His skin began to pulsate and bubble.
As Silas watched, the soldiers’ draconian features softened, and they changed back into the human flesh and bone they once were. It was a painful process and not without its share of scarring. Some, those who were most draconian, did not survive the transformation back and fell to the ground in death throes.
In front of him Coth melted into a tall, well-built young man. He looked at his hands, seeing that they had returned to simple flesh and fingers. Tears were in his eyes.
“Gone, it’s all gone. What have you done? What of the new world?” He gasped.
“Welcome to the new world kid, same as the old one,” Silas said.
Coth looked up at him, and his eyes grew big in terror. They were human eyes so Silas could see it quite clearly. Lily and Leonard both stared at him, faces pale. Even Abigail, who had regained her knives, seemed unsteady and shocked.
“Let me guess,” Silas said calmly. “There’s a large dragon behind me and he is awake.”
They nodded in unison. Silas dove off the dais and the others broke and ran for cover as a roar of flame engulfed the spot he had just been standing.
Silas felt the heat blast his body, but he avoided the direct flame. From the amount of screaming it didn’t sound like many of the recently restored humans made it out of the way.
The dragon stretched its neck and spread its wings, then arched its body as though stretching like a cat. It was a magnificent creature; silver and gray scales glistened a rainbow of colors reflecting the light from the lamps and fires its breath had created. Its head alone was twice the size of Silas; with its wings spread it could easily reach from one side of the cavern to the other. It let out a roar that shook the rock walls of the cavern.
Yep, they were screwed.
The others had taken cover behind a large rock near the passage they had come through. Silas ran to the others while the dragon was waking.
“So much for not waking the dragon,” Abigail said.
“It had always been awake, at least its mind was,” Silas said.
“What do you mean?”
“Remember when Mephisto said he didn’t think Webb had the skill to pull this off. That he was small time?”
“Yeah he said he would need help. I thought he was talking about the catalyst.”
“No, dragon’s blood was the catalyst that transformed his army, but it was more than that.”
Silas turned to Leonard. “Your Wyrm was controlling Webb this whole time. That’s why his eyes bled. The force of the dragon’s mind in his own was causing a hemorrhage. And that damage is why when the dragon left him he was left deranged. It was using him.”
“So this army was the dragon’s idea? He wanted to attack the city?” Abigail asked.
“Yep, that’s my guess and with a dragon behind them, they would have been a much greater threat to humanity above. With the Pale torn asunder and a dragon as the leader, many other supernatural creatures that hate humanity would have rallied. It would be all-out war and humans wouldn’t stand a chance.”
The dragon finished stretching and eyed the newly restored humans scrambling around the cavern, climbing over each other to get out. It reared back and then let loose a great billow of flame washing across the former dragon army.
“My God we can’t let him just cook those people,” Abigail said.
“Those people wanted to destroy New York just moments ago,” Silas said.
Abigail glared at him. “They were confused. We can’t just let them be cooked.”
“And what are supposed to do? Did you see the size of that thing?”
“I don’t know, but we have to figure something out.”
Leonard crawled closer to them, his face ashen. “It is my duty to stop the Wyrm, but I am weak and I don’t know if I am able fight it.” He held the club out toward Silas, it was glowing softly. “It draws its strength from the wielder, I can’t think of anybody stronger than you to use it.”
Silas held the club in his hand. In vibrated angrily.
“It doesn’t seem to like me,” he said.
“Of course not, you are mahtan’tu,” Leonard said without expression.
“So let me get this straight, you want me to fight a fifty-ton fire-breathing dragon with a stick that doesn’t like me?”
Leonard just stared at him.
“Well I’ve been in worse situations. How does it work?”
“You hit the dragon really hard. I suggest on the head.”
Silas considered hitting Leonard over the head. “I know how to use a club. I mean how to activate its magic.”
“Oh,” Leonard said and scratched his head. “I am not sure. That part of the teachings has been lost for centuries. All I know is that’s the weapon used to stop it originally. Do you know any Lenape chants by any chance?”
There was another blast of flame and new screams from those unfortunate enough not to have made it out of the cavern.
“We have to do something now,” Abigail said and grabbed
a hold of Silas’ arm.
“Okay, okay.”
Silas stepped out from behind the boulder, doing what he did best; winging it. He hid the club behind his back. The dragon had turned away from the fleeing people and charred remains at its feet. It was examining the cavern walls, and particularly the ceiling, looking for a way out. Based on its size and strength, Silas doubted it would have any problem digging its way up to a large subway tunnel or station.
One massive claw scraped the ceiling. Rocks and dirt rained down as it used its second claw to rake the dirt and rock. It was going to cause a cave-in for the rest of the cavern.
“Hey dragon!” Silas called.
It did not seem to hear him, but continued digging at the walls and ceiling some more. Rocks fell from the other side of the cavern. Silas reached for his demonic fury and let it add fuel to his voice.
“DRAGON!”
His voice shook the ground and caused even more rocks and dirt to fall, but it got the dragons’ attention. It spun away from the back of the cavern, its neck snaking around to the same level as Silas.
“Ssssiiiiillllaaasss,” the dragon hissed.
Of course it knew him. It had been in Webb’s head all along. Silas charged at the head, bringing the club up as he ran. The dragon’s eye ridges came together in a frown, but it did not move. He was a mere twenty feet from the dragon’s head when a bus hit him.
Silas was thrown across the cavern and smashed into a rocky wall. He managed to hold the club as he fell to the ground, but just barely. He was stunned, but didn’t black out,. His fury burned through him, keeping him conscious. The dragon’s tail whipped back and forth in front of it. That must have been what hit him. He staggered back to his feet, a whole new set of injuries screaming pain at him.
The dragon saw him and tilted its head like a puzzled dog, probably wondering how he was still standing. Hell, he was wondering how he was still standing. Another blow like that, and he could kiss this mortal form good-bye. He started moving toward the dragon, wary of the tail this time.
