by Aidy Award
“The witch will recover his soul,” Zara stated, in a spooky voice that suddenly sounded nothing like her own. “And reunite it with his body.”
Ooh, Kady hoped the psychic's mouth wasn’t writing checks her magic couldn’t cash. She had to believe it was true and force away any doubts. She didn’t know how, she didn’t know when, but Kady would reclaim her mate.
Rawr. She was woman warrior witch, hear her roar.
Niko’s eyebrows went up. “Did you just growl, dragon witch mate?”
Maybe. She had meant that to be inside her own head, to psych herself up. It had worked. “Yes, I did.”
Ace kicked at a rock. “I hope she does. But remember what I said. In case she can’t.”
The other dragons stayed silent. Kady did too. She would save Neo. She had to.
Kady swallowed down the fear. “You dragon dudes have any idea how we can find where the owl cult might have taken Neo’s soul?”
“Yes,” Cage and Match said in unison.
Match nodded to Cage, allowing him to report. “It pays to have a super-secret sneaky spy web. My Golds have learned a lot reconnoitering this area. About a half hour flight inland from here in the town called Harrisburg there is a facility I believe to be a portal to Hell.”
Niko and Zara both snort-laughed. “You mean Three Mile Island? It's a nuclear power plant that had a meltdown in the seventies.”
“So you have been led to believe.” Cage said meaningfully.
Niko shook his head in disgust. “Fucking dragons.”
With everything that had happened in the past few days, Kady didn’t know what to believe. “You think a conspiracy theory is going to help me find Neo?”
Cage looked at her like she was an idiot.
“Okay, I guess so.” She was willing to admit that there were a lot of things in this world she wasn't privy to and not to question the bizarre. Not anymore. “When do we go, then?”
Zara touched Kady’s arm. “Be careful. We’ve had run-ins with men with crazy fanatical beliefs. They will stop at nothing to get what they want, and they don't care who they hurt in the process.”
“Thank you.” Kady put her hand over Zara’s, so grateful to have met a strong woman who also had special powers, and who she already thought of as a friend. A new thing for Kady. “But I have to go.”
Zara nodded, and Niko came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “I know. I get it. More than you know. Go, rescue your mate, and when you’re safe, come back to Rogue. We've got Jett and Yvaine at Doc's clinic. So we can take care of Neo there too. We'll be waiting for you.”
“Hey, take Herbie with you. You might need him.” Ninsy placed Herbie in broom form in her hand. “We’ll watch after Percy for you.”
Percy didn’t like that idea at all. “I can help. I’ll get a .44 Magnum and those owl cult guys can make my day.”
Kady took Percy aside. He’d been her friend for a long, long time, and she needed him to be that and so much more for her now. “Perce, I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, and I’m scared. I’m doing my best to pretend I’m not, but I am.”
Percy nodded gravely. “Even more reason I should go with you.”
“Everything you said today, about who I am, and who I was meant to be…well, I don’t think I would have believed or even listened to anyone else besides you...” Kady was asking a hard thing from a man who’d been a hedgehog as long as she’d known him. She didn’t have anyone else, and it was her own fault.
If she made it through tonight, she’d have Neo too, and the amazing people from Rogue.
It was a start to building a new existence, one where she didn’t hide anymore. She’d denied herself meaningful connections her entire life, scared of who she was, trying to protect her heart from another beatdown. She hoped Percy understood.
She took his hand, so soft and smooth, like his little hedgehog belly. “Which is why I need you to stay.”
Percy stood a bit taller. “You need me to be Bill Munny.”
“Yeah, because if I don’t come back, I need you to make those cult bad guys Unforgiven.”
“I will, Kaden. Well, I guess they have it comin'. Anybody who don’t wanna get killed better head on out the back.”
She kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
Ace signaled to her to join him. “Match and Fallyn are joining us. Apollo has been volunteered to stay and be the clean-up team. Your choice who you want to fly with, me or Kur-Jerkwad.”
Ooh, Uh. Touch choice. Jerkwad glared at Ace and shifted into his big black dragon form.
“Umm.” Herbie rattled in her hand and flew straight up into the air. Kady grabbed him mid-flight and the force of the forward momentum pushed her back and plopped her down on the ground. “What the heck?”
The wood grain of his handle shimmered and transformed to match the scales of the dragon next to her. His bristles turned black and wings sprouted from his side. Kady reached out to touch it and she could swear he was a living breathing thing.
“Whoa.” Ace examined Herbie. “Your broom is a miniature replica of a dragon warrior. How did you do that?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t. Herbie did.”
“Who is Herbie?”
She pointed to the shiny new Herbie and climbed on his back. A seatbelt snapped across her hips and they lifted into the air.
Cage whistled. “I gotta get me a Herbie. He should come in handy on this op. Ace is on point, so follow his lead. He’s sneaky as a rooster in a hen house.”
They accelerated, but Kady hardly felt the movement. She wouldn’t have known they were even flying if she weren’t seeing the trees shrinking to miniature and four dragons flapping their wings next to her. A few days ago, her only knowledge of dragons was what she got from epic fantasy books and TV shows on HBO. Now she was in love with one, on the way to rescue him with her magic. It was a Game of Thrones geek-girl’s dream.
Except this was no dream. Kady was scared. She swallowed and tried to adopt the same get-shit-done attitude of the Dragon Warriors around her. It didn’t work, but at least she’d tried.
Ace did a quick loopty-loop in the air. I heard that, oh venerable Gold Wyvern. You only wish you could get into all the henhouses I do.
“Do you guys even know what a henhouse is?”
All four of the dragons gave her that look guys get when you ask them if they watch porn.
They flew high above the clouds for what felt like only a few minutes when Ace mentally called to her. We’ve made contact with Trip inside tower one. Touchdown in about seven minutes on his location.
God, that didn’t give her much time. Maybe she had the ability to slow down time? That would be awesome.
She closed her eyes and concentrated, asking the universe to help. Someone flew over her head and looked down at her, upside-down.
You look like you’re going to throw up. Jerkwad’s voice was gentle.
She wondered for a second about who his mate would be. A lucky guy or girl. Not as lucky as Kady, but still, Jerkwad, who really did need to pick a new name, had been protective of his leader, and loyal when it counted. Sure, he came across as a dick, but an alpha male who knew exactly who he was and what he wanted, was undeniably hot.
She closed her eyes and absorbed the bravery energy from him. “I might. Then I could spew all over the men in black who signed up to be in a fricking cult. That would stop them in their tracks.”
You know, if you hadn’t been matched to Neo, my soul shard might have shone for you. You’re quite a catch, Kady.
She popped her eyes open and stared at Jerkwad. So many things swirled in her mind. She should say thank you, she should ask about the plan, and she sure as shinola should ask if anyone else could hear their conversation. The one question she cared about the answer to popped out. “What happens if we can’t get his soul back?”
You will, warrior witch.
“What if that isn’t our fate, Neo’s and mine? What if we’re the star-crossed lov
ers who are meant for the tragic ending and not the romance?”
Fate doesn't know what the fuck it is doing, trust me. Make your own decision. He winked at her.
Cage pulled some fluffy clouds around them which turned out to make for a really bumpy ride, but also great cover for four dragons and a chubby girl on a broom that looked like a dragon. They landed beside a huge nuclear power plant tower and a door swished open on the side. The guys all shifted and Jerkwad extended his hand to her.
Never had she wanted to run and hide more in her entire life. For the first time ever, she wouldn’t do that. She’d fight for what she wanted and deserved.
She took a deep breath, gathering herself and the soul of her magic into the fierce warrior she was destined to be. “Fate or not, I’m ready.”
“Fuck fate,” Jerkwad said, “let’s go get your mate.”
Cult of the Dead
Kady had her hand on Jerkwad's shoulder. He led her around the side of the concrete tower building. Cage and Match sandwiched her in from behind. Fallyn walked beside her, face grim and daggers in each hand. Ace brought up the rear. They were so focused she actually felt safe.
None of them said a word, communicating instead in hand signals. When Jerkwad jogged, she jogged. When he crouched, she crouched. She also promised herself to start doing yoga, Pilates, and Kung-Fu when this was all over.
Jerkwad glanced back at her from their hiding spot behind an open door. He jerked his chin and indicated with two fingers toward a dark corner of the hallway.
She looked but didn’t see anything. Then a set of eyes blinked at her from the darkness and she got a chill. A big burly guy with a mane for a beard crouched in the darkness.
“Crikies,” she whispered.
Jerkwad pressed his lips to her ear and said, “Trip.”
As if that explained anything.
Jerkwad moved their group across the darkened hallway to meet up with the big guy. When they got there, the guy who must be Trip shoved a slab of concrete aside with his hip, revealing a secret hidden fireman's pole that went into a dark hole, not a whole lot wider than her butt.
“Neo is down there?”
Jerkwad covered her mouth with his fingers, shushing her. Then he slid down the metal railing, dropping into the hole, all sexy fireman style. Kady was no fireman. She grabbed onto the pole and her sweaty hands squeaked as she let herself slide a centimeter down, then two. They’d never get to Neo’s soul at this rate.
She took a deep breath, channeled the spirits of She-Ra, Wonder Woman and Princess Leia all at once, and let go.
She landed right on her ass on a concrete floor about six feet down. Ouch. That was going to bruise.
Jerkwad lay sprawled on the floor a few feet away, breathing, but unconscious. Oh, crap on a cracker. Had his soul been stolen? No, she could still feel his life force. But he was injured somehow.
“Ace, Cage, Match, Fallyn, hel—” Before she finished screaming for the dragon warriors the cement slab slammed shut and she heard the sound of weapons being fired.
“Hello, witch.”
Cult leader Douchecanoe stood across from her in a weird space that was half maintenance room and half cave. She expected a Snidely Whiplash evil laugh from him, but he stepped out of the darkness and stared her down as he spoke in the voice of a quiet, creepy human monster.
“You saved me a lot of time and energy coming here. The fear of nuclear fallout keeps most people away.”
Several shadow warriors hovered around him, but none of them was the right one. The hatred and animosity flowed from them, filling the room. Only her light inside kept her from buckling under the darkness.
She stood, rubbed the dirt off her pants, trying to stall while she came up with a plan. “Yeah, I didn’t do it for you. Where’s Neo?”
“There is no Neo, unless you mean his now tainted soul.”
That she would never believe. “His soul is beautiful, and strong, and mine.”
Cult man flung his arm pointing to her, and a wave of shadow warriors screeched and flew toward her, but not fast like before. They weren’t there for her soul.
She called up her shield, pushing it out to a good yard around her, encompassing Jerkwad too. The asshole stared at where she’d been, invisible to him now.
Kady had maybe ten seconds before he figured out she hadn’t moved. The shadow warriors were smarter and barraged her shield, tearing at it, each time losing a limb to its effects. So many attacking all at the same time felt like she was being punched with spiky brass knuckles.
She brought balls of soul-powered light into each of her hands, intending to fend off the warriors. If she flung them now, the enemy would evade her attack like they had before. What else could she do?
A spark of a plan formed in her mind. She would need them to get much closer.
The asshole approached her shield, still trying to see through it to her. “You and your kind are standing in the way of progress, witch.”
Each bite of the shadows to her shield decreased her power, but also their own. That power had to be going somewhere. “How is this progress, you asshat?”
Finally figuring out where she was, Cultman Douchecanoe strode across the room like he owned it. Maybe he did. He wasn’t scared of her even a bit, not with the shadow warriors at his beck and call. Their scratching and clawing at her shield grew harder, hurting her deeper.
“The shadow warriors will allow us to have dominance over the sheeple. We will be able to control the resources, and the morons in charge of this and every country. They've all forgotten where their power came from, but they won’t be in charge for long.”
He reached out and touched the shimmering edge of her shield. His fingers skimmed it and Kady felt something different. Something she could harness.
“We’ve made strides while the dragons warred with Hell. Ereshkigal provided an excellent distraction in her feud with her sister. Nergal appreciates her sacrifice. Fair is fair. After all, he had to sacrifice his life for her rule. The time has come for the males to have dominance.”
Oh. My. Gerrrrd. What a dumbass. But a dumbass with a soul, even if he didn’t know how to use it properly.
Kady did.
She reduced her shield’s range to have the space, drawing the shadow warriors in, hoping the monologuing dumbass would follow. They did, and redoubled their attacks. Scratches filled with blood appeared on her arms and neck. They stung, and she almost pushed them all back again.
She had to get them closer though. Centimeter by centimeter she drew them all in, talking to the douchebag to distract both to them and herself.
“Are you for real? You’re doing this for your manhood? Is this because you can't get laid?”
That’s it, a little bit closer. She could feel the light of his soul. It was scarily dim, but it was there. With every inch that they got closer, the burns to her skin intensified. Much more and she’d be on fire.
“Don’t be stupid, sex is meaningless. The kind of domination we seek is much more all-encompassing, and will make everything ours for the taking.”
Yeah, she supposed with a soul of hatred and evil, the magic and beauty of sex with someone you loved wasn't even on his radar. Probably why this guy’s soul was so dim. Neo's love had certainly made her life brighter.
A little more. Please, universe, don’t let her body give out and collapse before they got to her.
“I’ve seen what your powers can do, how you can interact with the shadow force. Join the Cult of the Dead, and I'll make you my consort as Nergal made the powerful Goddess Ereshkigal his. You will be worshipped as we lay waste to human nature and the natural world.”
His soul wasn’t enough. She needed more. The only one she’d ever drawn on was Neo’s. Cult of the Dead dude felt slightly slimy and was hard for her to work with.
The shadow warriors’ souls floating around her, beating at her, had no light. She couldn’t get anything but pain and despair from them. She examined the horrible beings loo
king for one in particular. Jerkwad’s wasn’t there. Which meant he was still alive with an intact soul.
“First tell me one thing that I've been dying to know. What's with the owls?”
He shook his head, showing her exactly how stupid and inferior he thought she was, and pulled something out of his pocket, clasping it in his hand. “Stupid woman. Don't you recognize a portent of the underworld when you see one?”
She reached out searching for any power that could help her and found a soul hovering nearby. It was hot like lava, a bit broken around the edges, but that burned hot and bright with life, there was still good in him.
Yes. Kady threw gratitude out into the universe and drew Jerkwad’s soul out in swirls of red and silver.
The balls of light in her hands grew bright, then faltered for a moment. A slash cut through the shield, hitting her right over her heart. One more hit like that, and she was toast.
“Huh. I always thought they were symbols of being wise, but I was clearly wrong. Because you're dumber than box of really dumb rocks if you think you can control these shadow warriors.”
He laughed like she’d just told the most hilarious joke ever. “I don’t control the shadow warriors. Someone else does that. But she's in over her head and I can use you to get her back on track. Your powers are too valuable for me not to possess.”
It was now, or never.
“Your shadow warriors and your girlfriend can kiss my curvy ass. I’m getting my mate back.” Kady dropped her shield and dragged all the power and light around the shadow warriors. The orbs she created were slow to move, but they bubbled through the air and divided. She encased one shadow while another lashed out at her, knocking her to her knees.
She reached inside, to the place no one, not even Neo, had ever touched. It was the place she kept the truest part of herself, the one that wanted to be a warrior and a lover and shining light for the world. The one that always had believed she was something special even when the world taught her that she wasn't.
