by Gabby Fawkes
Which meant, as well as the blistering sun (another feature – a sun that never switched over to the moon – particular to the Dragon Badlands, according to Artemis), and the sulfur-scented air, and the ready-to-roll-off legs to contend with, we also had to endure Jenna's steady whining, which she somehow had enough energy for.
At her what had to be 37th "Are we came there yet?" finally Persephone spun around.
"I will kill you," she snarled.
"You may not have to," Dion said, from up ahead.
He’d gone ahead to escape Kian’s telling-off about his drinking. Gallivanting over to us, he hastily tucked something in his back pocket. I wondered if he’d enchanted the flask so that it had a never-ending supply of wine. "We're close, I can see a moat of lava in the distance.”
“Great, now let’s stop and prepare ourselves,” Axel said abruptly.
But Dion was in too good a mood to hear him. “Hey, let’s get a good look at it, and see if we can’t come up with how to cross it!”
Buoyed by the nearness of our reprieve, everyone rushed forward.
“I mean it,” Axel said, still unheeded. “The closer we get to the stronghold, the more likely it is that-”
A scream cut him off.
Axel shot forward, just in time to rush Kian out of harm’s way as rows of stakes sliced up out of the ground.
Dion was hugging a stake that had almost got him. Artemis, who had been just beside Kian, didn’t fare as well.
“Oh crap,” she groaned.
A stake had gotten her straight through the torso. As Apollo hurried over to help her, Dion rushed to Kian. “Lips?”
“Don’t…” was all she could say, her tan face shell-shocked.
“What the hell?” I asked Axel.
“I wasn’t sure, but I’d heard…” He trailed off with a scowling shake of his head. “The Phoenix clan’s defenses are extensive. Deadly.”
“I think we should go back,” Jenna said loudly.
“Thanks for sharing,” I said.
I couldn’t tear my eyes off Artemis, whose dark eyes were squinted and twitching in pain. Her look at Apollo as he reached for her was somewhat pleading, almost as if to say ‘It hurts, but this is going to hurt more, isn’t it?’
Apollo only gave a grim nod. In one swift motion, he grabbed her and lifted her off the stake, like a noodle off a fork.
“FUTHERMUKKER!” Artemis yowled. “OW, OW, OW…”
“She’ll live, right?” I asked Axel anxiously, feeling dumb saying it.
“Yeah, she will,” he said, as Apollo knelt over her prostrate form and applied his hands to her wound. “She would even if Apollo wasn’t here, although she’ll heal faster thanks to him. My siblings and I were born immortal, but our father wanted to make damn sure we respected our lives enough not to throw ourselves into mortal peril without any sacrifice. So our punishment for mortal injuries is pain, not death. Definitely preferable.”
“How about you go and throw yourself on one of those stakes and say that?” Artemis suggested through gritted teeth.
“Poor Artemis,” Demi said, her own palms filled with useless drooping flowers.
“If we’re not leaving, what are we doing?” Jenna complained.
“What we came here to do,” I said, flashing an angry look back at her. “I’ll go. These are my relatives. Besides, I can fly, and maybe the booby traps won’t activate against a member of the clan.”
Persephone snorted. “You’re joking. No one does family drama like dragons, and the Phoenix clan are well-known to be the worst. They wouldn’t want anyone unwanted in there – especially relatives.”
“Not to mention that you’re mortal,” Axel said. “I’ll go first, but I have a better way anyway.”
“Now he says this... ugh…” Artemis eyes rolled back into her head, and I assumed that Apollo’s healing magic was finally, thankfully, taking hold.
Axel picked up a rock as he walked easily through the black sharpened-point stakes.
“You’re certain more won’t come up?” I asked, nervous.
Even if it wouldn’t kill him, seeing a stake go through Axel would be horrific.
“No,” he said. “But I’m fairly sure.”
By now, I could see the lava moat too. It was galling, seeing the long, thick snake of red bubbling liquid circling what I could just make out to be a stony stronghold. Like someone had accidentally spilled a bunch of tomato sauce in there, or something.
The way to the moat beyond the stakes looked clear, though we were about to find out just how clear it actually was.
Axel threw a rock. It sailed up high and far, and, when it landed, I waited, my whole body tensed.
Nothing happened. I exhaled.
The ground dropped from under the rock. As in, the rock tumbled into nothingness, like we’d been on a cliff this whole time and hadn’t noticed.
“Hurry,” Axel said, striding ahead. “The paths won’t hold long.”
By ‘paths’, he had to mean the hand-width rock ledges that snaked through the abyss and looked as stable as a 500-pound elephant on toothpick stick stilts. Not that we had any choice – these were the only way across, by the looks of it.
As we carefully trod past the stakes and onto the thin rocky paths, I grumbled, “What the hell’s with my family? Didn’t they want to be able to get to their own friggin’ stronghold?”
“They would have flown,” Apollo pointed out from behind me, clearly waiting for me to make my slow way across.
“Couldn’t the enemy dragons have just done that too?” I asked.
“They wouldn’t have dared,” he said. “The Phoenix clan had guards and archers of its own, who wouldn’t hesitate to bring them down.”
“Now you mention that,” Kian said darkly.
“Actually,” Persephone said. “The clan would’ve most likely arrived in one of their fancy golden tanks of carriages.”
Gold? Where? PV said. My whole body tingled at the mere mention of the word.
Finally across, I glanced at Persephone curiously.
“I took a course on them, okay?” she said. “Deadly Dragons in Our Current Sociopolitical Climate – 203. Not a big deal.”
“There are magical universities?” I said. “And you went to one? I thought…”
“Duh,” Persephone said. “And duh. A girl gets bored when her husband’s a deadbeat rebel without a cause who can’t even remember her birthday, let alone not to kill her daisies by stepping on them.”
With that, she glided beyond me, clearly unworried at the prospect of more booby traps.
“She had a… difficult marital relationship,” Demi told me in a low apologetic tone.
“My therapist said we were codependent,” Persephone said from up ahead. “And toxic. And that he was a narcissistic sociopath, and that I was a borderline with a serious case of learned helplessness. But I’m pretty sure we just had the avoidant and anxious attachment styles.” She nodded grimly. “Anyway, Hades got fed up and threw the poor bastard into the river of souls, so that was that.”
“She also ended up getting a degree in psychology, I think,” Demi said in a forced pleasantness.
“Drop it, Mom.”
“Please don’t call me that.”
“Can everyone just be quiet!” Jeremy yelled.
“Damn, Jer,” Kian said, voicing what I’m pretty sure all of us were thinking. “Going all mutant bear gave you some cajones.”
“He’s right, though,” I said. “There’s still fifty feet or so before the lava moat. And something tells me that the Phoenix clan didn’t have us get this far just so we could mosey on easy the rest of the way.”
A cry behind me distracted me.
“The ground,” Jenna said.
I turned with a rolled eye at the ready, but ended up just staring. Behind us, the ground– which I had definitely seen drop away into sky and certain death– had regrown good as new.
“Was it just an illusion?” I asked Axel.
/> He shook his head. “If we’d fallen, we would’ve died – or you would have anyway. As for it growing back, that’s some powerful magic. But then again, the Phoenix clan have powerful friends.”
“Witches wouldn’t have helped them if they were psychotic bastards like you’ve been saying,” Kian said, in a tone of her wanting to believe it more than she actually did. She turned to me. “No offense.”
“Not all the witches agree on ethics, and who they do and do not help,” Apollo said.
“Meaning?” Kian said.
“Meaning let’s get on task and worry about the next booby trap before I get another stake in the side,” Artemis grumbled, wincing as she crossed her arms.
“They wouldn’t use the same trick twice,” Axel said. “You’re right, though. Here.”
Picking up another rock, he threw it again and we waited. Nothing happened. Even when my breath snuck out, nothing still happened. Was the way ahead really as danger-free as it looked? I guessed not.
I started ahead, but Axel stopped me. “No, you don’t.”
“I don’t want my friends endangered-” I protested.
“You won’t do anyone any good if you’re dead.”
“I won’t get myself killed.”
“Yes, because I won’t give you the chance.”
“Axel,” Apollo said sharply. “This is bad.”
And that was when, out of the ground, rose the hugest dragon I’d ever seen.
6
It let out an eardrum-shuddering shriek and plowed forward.
I could only gape at it – the thing was constructed of pure bones – a hulking, hideous alive dragon skeleton.
Running ahead, Axel slashed at its leg, which crumpled into a pile of dust.
“Nice one!” Artemis said, already notching an arrow to her bow.
On the ground though, the dust was quivering. Moving – reassembling into – my jaw dropped – another dragon.
“Shit, it’s like a dragon skeleton version of a hydra!” Persephone said.
“Hydra,” Demi explained to me, even though I hadn’t asked. Despite our circumstances, she was somehow wearing a disapproving Mom my-daughter-swore face. “The Greek snake monster who grew back two heads for every one cut off. Didn’t you ever listen in mythology?”
“Die, bastard!” Kian cried. Her raised hands blasted a pulse of magic at the monster’s belly. One that shook the bones, but passed through it easily.
“Do dragons or their skeletons have any weaknesses?” I asked Axel frantically.
My birthmarks were burning – it was time to change – but there was no point attacking if doing so would just make these boney bastards multiply.
“Yeah,” Axel said, getting out his sword. “Fire.”
That did it – I gave the warmth overtaking my limbs free rein.
Go time, PV growled happily.
Scalding heat ripped through me, and I spread my wings.
Airborne, I hovered over my prey. Two pathetic concoctions of bones who fancied themselves as good as the real thing. One was busy lunging at the puny humans, the other creaked its empty head at me and took flight.
Ah yes, burn them – burn them all.
Now we were level, face to face. The skeleton dragon was twice my size and a quarter of my mass. It threw back its head, preparing to attack. I dodged just in time to see several stakes of bones stabbing into the air where I had been.
Only, they followed my dodging too. I ducked and weaved as the spears followed right behind me. Up, down, around – these spears didn’t quit.
Unless… I careened my body into a hairpin turn, then another.
Creeash!
I smiled. That was more like it.
I laughed, and the sound boomed out, chased by tentacles of flame and tendrils of smoke.
I twisted around to face my boney opponent once more. It slashed at me. I slashed back. Our claws locked as we wrestled. The aberration was stronger than it looked. At last, a worthy challenge!
My tail caught it in the neck. It let out an angry shriek and dislodged itself, spilling bones on the ground.
The crackling below indicated the bones were reassembling into another dragon.
I needed to stop wasting time.
As I opened my mouth to unleash my fire, the other dragon blasted me with bone spears. They sliced into my side. I dropped a bit before steadying myself, the stabs piercing into me deeper. The air was thick with rot, decay.
My opponent was dead, long so, and if I wasn't careful I was going to be too. I’d underestimated the beast.
My vision blurred. As I scraped away the bone spears, my opponent was preparing for a second attack, rearing back its head. I dodged just in time.
Shouts sounded far below. I couldn't risk being distracted now. Not with my opponent circling, ready to finish me off.
I shook my head anxiously, trying to reorient my vision. Disorientation on this scale from a mere flesh wound?
Only… it couldn’t be. That was it. The spears weren’t ordinary. They must have been tinged with poison somehow.
That didn't change what I had to do.
My opponent was lashing out every which way with his spear-ridged tail. I dodged one way, then the other. Its tail collided with me square across the neck. I toppled toward the ground, closer and closer… I was going to hit, only at the last minute, mustering the last of my strength – I burst up. I shot through the air, straight up to my opponent, into its mouth that was already open, ready with the knives that would finish me off if they reached me. Only this time I breathed first.
I blasted out my fire with every ounce of strength I had. Everything was warmth, curdling.
“Shreeeee!” my opponent shrieked as it disintegrated into the dust it was.
Movement beneath me.
I wheeled around to see two more bone abominations soaring up to attack. Too bad I wasn’t going to let them catch me unawares this time. Once again, I breathed in fresh air, and breathed out lethal flames.
One to go... It was already shooting its spears at me, the damned tiny homing devices!
I dove, I plunged, and still they zipped after me. My body shook, panged. I was losing energy fast and these spears weren’t going anywhere. Unless – was there enough energy for a final necessary gamble? There’d have to be.
A wrench-around coupled with a blast of flames and… right at my snout, the homing spears crumbled. Ah, yes. Now for the fool who had launched these upon me…
My flames met its oncoming spears. They tangled. And, when it was over, only cinders smoked on the ground.
Excellent.
As I lowered to the ground, I eyed the pitiful humans who were huddled nearby. They didn't seem to be enemies. Burning them all didn't seem worth the effort. Only…
"Dum spiro spero!" they yelled as soon as I touched down.
Hrumph, on second thought…
Dum spiro spero. Dum spiro spero. Damnation.
"Tala, you did it!" Demi exclaimed.
I coughed a bunch, clutching my side.
"Hell yeah, our amiga did it," Kian said, her face going horrified as she leaned down. "Hold on, what happened?"
I felt my side gingerly. Wetness as I lifted my T-shirt fabric.
"Just strip in front of us why don't you?" Jenna said.
She let out a yelp, clutching her thigh, where there was a scorch mark from one of Kian’s spells. "Kian, you bitch!"
"Sorry," Kian said, deadpan. "Thought one of the dragons was coming back."
Axel, close by my side, eyed the wound. "You're hurt. Are you okay?"
"I think there was poison in those bones," I admitted.
"Shit," Artemis said softly.
Apollo came over, pressed his hands down, his face grave. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I can-”
"We have to get to the stronghold now," Axel said, cutting him off and getting up.
Persephone bobbed her head vigorously. "There could be a healing pool in there if we’re lucky,"
she said with a sense of assurance that didn’t fully convince me. "They’re extremely rare, but if anyone would have them, the Phoenix clan would. I mean, they’re the kind of idiots who’d have second thoughts about killing people with incurable poison anyway. Or just enjoying the power trip of having an antidote while their enemies suffered and died."
I shivered then squinted, trying to screw my brain up into proper thinking. Had what Persephone said make kind of sense? I couldn’t tell. I mean, my brain was growing woozier as the seconds clicked on. Maybe I should’ve stayed a dragon.
All my PV could do was snort.
Axel hoisted me up and we all got moving.
No one asked, What if we can't get in? We couldn't afford to think that way right now.
Not that I was having the easiest time doing that anyway. Right now, all my senses seemed outlandishly amplified, leaving little room for thought. Demi's curly hair seemed extra glossy and her green-blue eyes looked like she'd turned up the contrast and color on some Photoshop program. The dust-tinged air scraped my nose as it went in. And the heat felt like I was being roasted on a spit.
"Almost there," Axel was saying, in a voice so gravelly I was pretty sure it was scraping my eardrums. "We’re so close, just hang in there."
We might’ve been close, but we had yet to open the door.
Now that the stronghold itself was closer in view, I reeled, looking up at it. It was as if some giant rock had protruded out of the earth. What resulted was part volcano, part mountain, part fortress. There was no doubt that the bare windows that speckled its exterior were man-made, as were the veins of gold that riddled it in a rough pattern. Then there was the molten lava moat, thick enough that even a running jump would land you straight in it.
Everyone stood at the edge, eyeing its churning hot contents with a dismal feeling of dread pooling in our stomachs. I was in no state to turn back into a dragon; I could barely stand upright without Axel’s support. And who else could get us across?
Just as Dion was asking, "So how exactly are we going to…" Axel said, "Don't move."
