by Gabby Fawkes
Backing away a few feet and clutching me tight, he took off running. The hard ground jolted under his feet, the wind raked across our skin. Axel had lost it, couldn’t be doing what I was thinking he was – yep, at the edge of the lava moat, he launched himself forward.
SHIT – yeah, he was certifiable. I clamped shut my eyes.
It was too far. We weren’t going to make it. I clenched all my muscles, preparing to feel the lethal heat of the lava…
The jolt as we landed sent a bolt of pain through my body. My eyes snapped open.
Now we were in front of the dark-wood door that was as tall as ten of me.
The images carved into its exterior swam before my eyes. Dragons: snarling, breathing flames and rearing up, all different shapes and sizes, twisted and contorted together, as if the Phoenix clan had somehow turned its enemies into wood and assembled them here.
"It's the clans," Axel said softly.
He strode forward and, with a big kick, groaned.
The sounds of more blows, hitting, smacking, pushing. Some grunts, then finally an exasperated ‘shit’.
"It's locked."
I was losing consciousness fast. Burn them… Burn them all… PV said blearily.
-Thanks for nothing.
Burn them… Burn… Burn…
My eyes fluttered open and I found myself face-to-face with a streak of black scorch on the door. It snaked through its exterior, outlining everything so that it stood out.
Burn them….
With the last of my strength, I clenched my arms and mustered up my power. Ignoring the shouts and calls of my friends and the blinding, horrible heat, I reared my head back and exhaled what I hoped was fire.
Smoke fluttered up a nostril, I thought… My eyelids were shutting…
I slumped. There was creaking, yelling, movement. It was mine, but not by me. Someone was carrying me. We were inside, and there was more shouting.
Axel was saying, "Come on, Tala. Stay with me. We're so close. Stay with me."
I was moving again. The air here was dank.
And then, finally, I was dipped in coolness, and all was darkness…
7
Cold was in the air. My eyes opened to droplets. I was covered with some, panting.
Axel was gawking at me as if I was a ghost.
…. Was I?
"Wha?" I rasped.
My gaze slid to my side, at the newly-healed skin. What had happened?
It was all there in my hazy mind, a patchwork of memories - breathing fire on the door and bone dragons and coolness. It just wasn’t in order.
Axel looked at me and laughed. He hugged me, still laughing. “You’re okay.”
“I wasn’t,” I said, trying to catch the memory that was at the edge of my mind, yet dodging my attempts.
"No,” he said, the laughter ebbing away. “You blacked out and I thought…I’d lost you."
He threw his arms around me, his lips claiming mine.
"Never do that again," he said hoarsely as he broke away. "Never."
"Trust me," I said, "almost dying isn't all it’s cracked up to be. I didn’t even see the light or anything."
We laughed together and kissed again.
"Is she oh-" Dion and Kian skidded to a stop, Demi right behind them.
"Thank God," they said. Running over, they flung their arms around me.
"You guys," I said.
"Shut up," Kian said delightedly. "We almost lost you! And I won't apologize for freaking over it."
"Guess that's fair," I said ruefully.
"This place…." Demi said, looking around.
For the first time, I noticed my surroundings. I was in what looked to be a low grotto filled with water that somehow cast its light reflections on the ceiling and walls around me.
"Have to give it to your shifter killer dragon people," Kian said thoughtfully, looking around herself. “This is one badass fortress, and one badass pool."
I got up onto my feet. "Let's check the rest of this place out."
All three of my friends grabbed my arm at once. "Tala, don't you think-"
"You just barely escaped-"
"There’ll be plenty of time-"
I ignored and shrugged them off, then strode out. There was a staircase that led up to where everyone else was waiting.
At the sight of me, Artemis raced forward, putting her arms around me. "Oh, thank God."
Jeremy crashed into my other side with a hug. "I tried to go faster, but my leg…"
He indicated his leg, which showed angry scars. "When I was fighting with that big dragon, it caught me a bit. None of the poison spears, luckily. But thank John you're all right."
At the mention of John, we exchanged dire looks.
Back at the School for the Different, John was the supposed founder, the kindly orphan who'd supposedly grown up and founded our school. We had lived there most of our lives, so of course it wasn’t easy to forget – not the Latin, and not even dumb sayings like ‘Thank John’.
"What are you doing standing here?" I chided him. "Go heal yourself in the pool."
After I’d helped hustle Jeremy down into the pool so he'd healed too, we set out exploring. First was the Great Hall we'd entered in, which I hadn't even noticed coming in. Blacking out apparently had that effect on me.
The Great Hall was just that: great. I felt like they should upgrade the name. Call it the ‘Enormous Hall’, though I guessed that didn’t have the same ring to it. Whatever it was called, it spanned up hundreds upon hundreds of feet with different balconies indicating the different levels. At the top, light spangled in through tiny holes. Hanging in the middle was a massive golden beast of a chandelier, holding several candles. As soon as I saw it, I couldn’t look at anything else.
Didn't I say this place was glorious? PV said smugly.
Though seriously, how that golden chandelier would shimmer once flames danced in the candles… Yet, was it really best displayed in such a common area as this, or would it be better in my own room…
"Come on, gold fiend," Axel said knowingly, tugging me along. "There’s the rest of this place to explore."
And explore it did we did – for a good few hours too. Even so, we only managed to get through what was probably a tenth of the rooms. The place was so big it would've taken weeks to go through the whole thing. One floor alone was the size of a small town.
Even the Great Hall itself contained innumerable surprises. As we returned there, exhausted yet pleased, at the far side from where we entered I saw a series of massive dragon heads. Had to be at least fifty.
"Are those…" I begin.
"Likenesses of all the dragon queens over the ages," Persephone said.
"Queens?" I said.
She eyed me incredulously as she pursed her rosebud lips. "You really do know zilch about your family, do you?"
"This is my family," I said quietly, indicating Kian and Demi.
"Exactamente," Kian said, linking her arm through mine, as Demi did the same. "You're looking at them."
Giving us a ‘whatever’ eye roll, Persephone continued, "Dragon shifter societies are matriarchal. The queens are the main rulers and the most powerful. There's a strong sense of tradition but also might. If the current ruler is seen as weak, another female is allowed to challenge her, and assume the throne if she proves herself powerful enough.”
"Do I want to know how that's done?" I said.
"A fight to the death," Persephone said casually.
"Well," Demi said after a brief pause, "Isn't it lucky that Tala ended up at the School for the Different with us then."
Axel snorted. "That's one way of putting it."
I was already drawing ahead to examine the dragon heads. They were a deep green carved stone and the size of a small elephant.
I peered through the open fangs of the nearest one… Was that… gold?
Someone said something else, but I didn't hear them. Drawing in closer, I could see already.
&nb
sp; Oh, yes, yes yes!!!
I breathed it in, the singular scent of gold. I’d never really heard of gold having an actual smell, but here, with so much of it glittering around me – with swords and chairs and sabers and scepters and goblets and boxes and ornaments and jewelry and life-size human and animal gold statues, yes, the very air was infused with it, flickering with it, the glittering, singular scent, almost one I could taste. Like a pristine draught of clarity. Like the sun coming through the clouds after a warm day.
"You good?" Jeremy asked.
I found my breath, trying to assume my features into a normal expression, even though my PV was now purring. "Yeah, why?"
"Nothing, just kind of looks like you…"
"Are in heaven," Kian said helpfully. "But we all know about your gold lust, so it's okay."
I tried to tear my gaze off the golden scepter in the middle but found I couldn't manage it.
"What is this place?"
"God, this is seriously tragic," Persephone said with another barely disguised roll of her eyes. Although she did then explain, “Dragon shifters, at least the affluent ones, preserve their most precious items in their tomb. Those who raid or take them are cursed."
"Like the Egyptians!" Demi enthused.
"Who do you think they got the idea from?" Artemis said, coming in. She hadn’t joined us for our exploring. She’d sat down in the Great Hall.
"Glad you're feeling better," I said. Although I still felt bad for what had happened.
"You too," she said, spreading her arms. “This place-“
“Is amazing,” I said. “Perfect. More than I could’ve even hoped for.”
I realized it as I was saying it. We’d come here hoping for a home and we’d found one. Sure, we’d definitely gotten our fair injuries on the way, but we’d made it. We’d actually made it. And there were no creepy murderous dragons to contend with – just a crapton of rooms and a fortress so big and well-stocked (there were bathrooms, bedrooms) that there was no doubt that we’d hit gold here – literally and figuratively.
“It’s home,” Demi said simply, nodding with a vague smile.
She’d found a small garden room, so she was sold.
“It is pretty magnificente,” even Kian had to admit.
"Come on," Axel said, ushering me away. "Let's see if we can find any food in this place."
"But…" I trailed off. I knew it was irrational, but something inside me compelled me to stay in this place.
Truthfully, the only excuse I could think of for staying here was “But it's pretty.” Although now that he mentioned it, my stomach was doing a furious feed-me-now tap dance in my belly. When was the last time we'd eaten anyway?
"Almost forgot!" Dion exclaimed delightedly, reaching into a pocket.
"Not Nutri-Grain," Kian groaned.
"I'll have you know, these are extremely popular in the reggie community," Dion said haughtily, foisting up a handful of the green-wrapped bars.
Our explorations unveiled more rooms, but no food, which wasn’t altogether surprising. This place looked like it had been abandoned for months. There was a room that spanned several levels packed with books (which Kian dubbed the Many-Levelled Mausoleum of Many Books). Another underground room found skeletons in chains.
"Your dragon family seem like really welcoming folks," Jenna said, eyeing one skeleton that was chained to the wall by its neck.
"Pity they're not here," I said. "I'm sure they’d love to get to know you."
That shut her up.
On a floor farther up, we found an arena the size of several football fields that reminded me of the Roman Colosseum.
"I heard how the shifters like their entertainment," Axel said carefully.
Clearly, there was more to it than that, but I didn't ask for clarification. As it stood, I found my ancestors were bloodthirsty and murderous enough without needing to know the precise gory details. I just wanted to get some food in my belly and figure out how to spirit some of that gold away into… a safer place. No matter the magical consequences.
"Oh, Talaaa…" Kian’s excited voice rang over.
I followed it into a massive room where I had to stop to take everything in.
Demi summed it up nicely. "Your family might be murderous tyrants, but they do have style."
This room’s stone-carved high-vaulted ceilings were probably only half the height of the Great Hall’s, but its ascending stone platforms, filled with stone tables of mounting splendor, more than made up for it. It looked like a strange hybrid of an indoor stone pyramid and a cafeteria.
“This has to be the dining hall,” I said, my belly growling its agreement.
“Let me guess,” Kian said, eyeing the top platform deadpan. “That one’s for dragon VIPs only.”
Based on the fact that it was literally floating high up in the air, with no visible staircase leading to it – magical or otherwise, I’d say she was on point.
"Want me to hold you and jump, so we can check it out?" Dion asked eagerly, his bronzed arms sneaking around her.
"I'm good," Kian said immediately, disengaging herself. "Thanks."
He reached over again, a devilish gleam in his eye. "I could always just throw you…"
Kian blasted him with magic straight in the chest. He doubled over, gaping at her. "Babe!"
"You're a god," Kian deadpanned. "Get over it."
I tried to catch Kian’s eye, but she had her arms folded across her chest and was drumming her fingers on her arm. Although Kian was usually sassy, this was different. Something was up.
Dion tried to smile. "That's my Kian, my furry cactus."
Talk about a weird pet name. Though right now I just wanted to eat.
"This is impressive," Apollo said. "But what are our plans for food? Shall we send Dion back now to fetch the NutriGrains?"
It took a few seconds and him finally cracking a smile for me to realize that Apollo was actually, thankfully, joking.
"The larder can't be far,” Axel pointed out, striding over to one of the far doors. Seconds later, he emerged, shaking his head.
The next door was luckier.
“Over here!” Axel called immediately upon entering.
One foot in and I stopped and stared. Holy… hell. This larder was not just the same crane-your-neck height of the dining room, it was also jam packed with wicker baskets of grains and baked goods, as well as jars of what I hoped were vegetables. And then, on the far wall, piled on top of each other.….
I had to laugh. "They have fridges?"
"Why not?" Axel said. "I told you, the Phoenix clan is the richest in all the land."
"Still,” I said. “How do they get power out here? Are you telling me they had WiFi and IPhones too?”
"Unlikely,” Persephone said. “The only world they cared much for was their own. It’s not like they’d want to keep in touch with the outside world. I’ve heard they’d watch the news for comedy.”
"They laughed… at the news?” Demi said, as if the two were intrinsically incompatible.
“Yep,” Persephone said. “Apparently, even after that forest dragon massacre. At least, they were publicly unfazed and dismissive. I'm told they saw it as lesser dragons picking each other off.”
"Then why leave?" I said, looking around.
Persephone looked at me hard. She reached over, took out a bun and cracked it in two. “That’s the real question, isn’t it?”
"Maybe they didn't realize what was happening until it was too late," Demi said quietly.
I looked around. If the Phoenix clan had been swiftly killed or kidnapped, then why did this place look untouched – like they’d all just gone on a big happy vacation to Thailand and had every intention of returning?
“Starving to death isn’t going to help us figure it out,” Persephone said direly, brandishing a spatula. “Now shoo – I’m going to make something.”
No one argued with that. At this point, I’d rather have eaten one of those dubious pickled jar foo
ds than another NutriGrain. Probably.
Demi stayed behind to help her cook, while Kian looked around at the different levels and muttered, “Food Pyramid”, half to herself, clearly pleased with her on-the-spot naming prowess. In the dining hall, Artemis caught my uncertain look.
"It'll probably be good," she said. "After all, Persephone has a few hundred thousand years’ worth of experience as a housewife."
"Wasn't Hades like, King of the Underworld, though?" Kian asked. "So didn’t he have creepy zombie cooks or servants or anything?"
"Oh, he had plenty of servants all right," Artemis said. "He just had an old-style view of marriage. Wanted his meals, all meals, cooked only by his dear and beloved wife."
"Yep, I can see why she wanted to kill him in his sleep," Kian said darkly.
"Speaking of," I said, pulling her aside.
Ahead of us, Apollo and Axel were talking business with Dion, who was trying to come up with valid excuses why flying his jet back to start getting the kids could wait until tomorrow or days later.
"What's up?" I asked Kian.
We walked to the far corner of the dining hall and sat down at the saddest slump of a driftwood table I'd ever seen. My guess was that the weakest and lowest status lesser dragons were relegated to sit here. Poor guys.
"Can we just focus on the fact that we narrowly escaped death like, seven times?" Kian said.
I shrugged. "Sure. Up to you."
She sat there, her fingers drilling an anxious beat into the table, which ricketed along for a few seconds, until she broke, "Okay, fine. It's Dion."
"Yeah, I figured. What's up?"
"Things are just getting so serious so fast. And I don't see how they can work."
"Tell me about it," I said, immediately understanding what she was saying.
Dating a god was… weird, to say the least. I mean, it was all fine and dandy when Axel and I were kissing, but when actual logic came in, there were a few major areas of concern.
Namely, that:
A - Axel was an immortal god, who would remain pretty and hearty while I wasted away to a dismal sack of bones.
B - We were probably going to be caught by the DSA anyway, and,
C - He still hadn't told me about his murderous past.
