Tala Phoenix and the Dragon's Lair

by Gabby Fawkes

“Don’t look so happy to see us,” Jenna said smugly, her purple-edged wings flapping languidly. “I mean, you may not have had much of a shot at winning before, but now you at least have a fighting chance.”

  Thankfully, at this point, I didn’t have to fight the urge to smack her, as she was hovering in the air, out of reach.

  “How the hell did you even get here?” Kian asked.

  “Hid in the hold,” Jenna said, clearly self-satisfied, “As soon as you guys were about to take off my wings sprung so it was obvious I had to come along.”

  “Thought it seemed heavier than usual,” Dion muttered, frowning as he gave Kian a quick kiss on the cheek. “Anyway, I’m off. Artemis, you have the walkie talkie?”

  She nodded, lifting the button-crammed yellow thing.

  “Excellent,” Dion said, already reboarding the jet. “Adios amigos.”

  I smirked at Kian. “Aw, you two are rubbing off on each other.”

  “Don’t make me stun you,” Kian said stiffly, although I could see that she was fighting back a smile.

  Timmy flew a few feet away from Jenna and, squinting, said, “So you’re, uh…”

  “A fairy, sprite boy. Duh.”

  I wasn’t sure what the difference between fairies and sprites were, considering they could both fly. But I didn’t care to find out now.

  Sammy wouldn’t meet my eye. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I had to come help. I couldn’t just sit back there and do nothing… I’ll be careful, I promise!”

  “I…” My gaze snuck to the jet, which was already airborne. Yeah, there was no way we could ferry Sammy back – and there was no way to ensure she’d stay in the Underworld if we did leave her here. Who knows, maybe we’d get so desperate that an out-of-control hurricane would actually end up helping us.

  “It’s fine,” I said with a tight smile. “Just remember to aim far from any of our people, and you should be fine.”

  Hopefully, I added to myself privately.

  “Soo… are we gonna go or like, talk?” Jenna asked.

  “You can go up ahead, we’ll be riiiight there,” Persephone said, smiling evilly.

  “She’s right,” I said grudgingly, words I thought I’d never use to describe anything Jenna said, “Let’s get going.”

  The more time we wasted, the less time Olympus had.

  Taking Hades’ ‘back way’ led us past some pretty weird sights. Some were your garden-variety hell ones: a flaming wheel of souls I was pretty sure I’d seen in some Flemish guy’s painting of hell, as well as an area where it was drizzling unsettlingly warm, sticky red rain. Others, like a cheerful pig piddling along with horns, were more random.

  “Impressive, I know,” Hades said, sweeping his hand back at what we’d just passed, as we neared a cave. “Expansions are currently underway.”

  “Barf,” Kian said.

  She was wearing her ‘lucky demon baby lipstick’, as she now called the black lipstick Dion had given her. An apt name too, considering every time she’d worn it, we’d only had close calls – not actually being caught, or killed. Yet. Hopefully that track record is going to stick today too.

  But what if it didn’t? Could I really live with myself if anything bad happened to my friends? Shit, why hadn’t I thought of sneaking out and solo-missioning it, since my PV was so certain of victory already?

  Sometimes I may very minutely overstate the case, PV chimed in.

  As we entered the cave, I pulled Kian, Demi and Jeremy off to the side. “You know you guys don’t have to do this. Seriously. I’m the one who’s so convinced we need to help Olympus.”

  Kian lifted her hand to smack me, then paused, thinking better of it. “Are you loco?” she said. “We’re your best friends.”

  “Honestly,” Jeremy piped in, “if it weren’t for you, right now I’d be some mutant bear…” He shook his head, shuddering, clearly not wanting to go there, even in his thoughts.

  “No,” he said firmly. “We’re going to help Olympus. And kick some gargoyle, btsan ass.”

  “Carpe diem!” Demi said, pumping a fist in the air.

  “What they said,” Kian said, bobbing her head and squeezing my hand. “We got this.”

  We were barely a few feet into the cave when Dion joined us, out of breath and out of sorts. Apparently, he was fully capable of using his Olympian speed when the occasion called for it. He was just normally too lazy.

  “Thanks for checking the walkie talkie,” he hissed to Artemis. “I had to go off a hunch.”

  “Whoops,” she said. “Knew I shouldn’t have stuffed my pockets with your damn battle snacks.”

  That shut Dion up, although he did take a strawberry-açai Nutrigrain for the road.

  Turned out, Hades’ back way took us a bit closer to home than the Olympians would’ve liked.

  “Hey,” I said as we passed familiar stalactites and stalagmites, “isn’t this the cave where…”

  “You have a way into our Headquarters?” Apollo said with thinly veiled rage as we passed Artemis’ stash of made for TV stuff. I recognized the NoNo, Bootypop, and that poor saggy-planted ceramic dog.

  Hades let out a bored sigh. “Knew I shouldn’t have given away all of my secrets at once.”

  “Forget it,” Artemis said, touching Apollo’s arm. “Hear that?”

  She was right. Even here, deep in the cave, we could feel the earth trembling and hear resounding yells. The battle was raging.

  A minute or so later, we were out of the cave and splashing out of the river. Just beyond, we saw a scene that had me clutching Axel’s arm for support. Olympus and its formerly peaceful fields were…

  “Ravaged,” Demi said hoarsely, teetering as Persephone held her upright. “All the beautiful trees, the flowers… the crocus, cliff roses, poppies, hyacinths, barley and bougainvillea…”

  “The timples are gone,” Kian observed dully.

  Normally, from where we stood, they would be too far to see beyond the hilly, lush landscape. But everything was so completely devastated that we could see into the far-off distance, where scorch marks and rubble were where the timples should have been. There were the motionless corpses of bronze and red soldiers – the Spartans – strewn everywhere, though a few immobile btsan and gargoyles too, at least.

  “We’d better get to Hera’s palace,” Axel said. “If she’s even still here, that’ll be where she’s making her last stand.”

  “Okay, we can just fly over,” Jenna said, clearly delighted that she and Tania would be able to bypass all the on-the-ground fighting, “while the rest of you can…”

  “We’ll pair up with Olympians,” I cut her off. “Every Olympian grab a non-Olympian to help them get there quickly.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Jeremy growled as he changed into his bear form.

  Hulda echoed with a growl of her own as she shifted.

  “No Olympian is touching me!” Jenna said, fluttering her wings angrily. “Well, maybe the cute one.”

  She winked at Apollo, who swiftly grabbed Tania.

  I had just enough time to witness Dion grumbling as he heaved Kian over his shoulder before I’d been grabbed by Axel, who raced off with me in his arms. The landscape blurred, like a movie stuck on fast-forward. Smoke clogged my nostrils, stung my eyes. A cough ripped through me.

  Not my preferred method of transportation, nor the most effective, PV commented.

  Oh yeah, why did I keep forgetting that I could change into a freaking dragon and just fly there?

  Because you eternally doubt the innate superiority of my ways, PV lamented.

  Anyway, we had already arrived on the scene. The weird, darkly inversed déja-vu scene – wherein Hera’s once shining, intimidating opal castle was a blackened hulk of broken stone, bordered by more bronze and red bodies of the Spartans.

  A gargoyle lunged toward us. Axel jabbed out his fist, shattering its torso with a single blow.

  Its head rolled across the ground, its fangs still gnashing.

  Hiiihh
hh, a horse whinnied.

  I turned, just in time to see a btsan charging straight for us. Its red cloak billowing as its auburn horse charged, it swung two curved blades.

  “Since when do the btsan and gargoyles work together?” Apollo shouted, presumably to Axel, as he shot an arrow into its side.

  “Since gargoyles and btsan attack Olympus,” Axel yelled back, slashing into its other side.

  As it toppled, meanwhile, the heat licking up my spine was clearly an invitation to help.

  -Okay, I told my PV, it’s your time to shine.

  About time, too, PV said crisply as heat swallowed me.

  When I emerged, I had fire bristling in my belly, eager to get free.

  I raised my head, taking in the destruction. Not bad, for red-ridden pony-riders and toothy blocks of stone.

  I smiled. Now, I would teach the fools a very important lesson. A lesson about choosing your enemies wisely.

  Someone slashed at me, but it was merely a light flesh wound. I was already airborne, swooping higher, breathing downward.

  Haaaaaaaaaaaa

  This breath of fire was more like a song, a lazy, fun exhale. And, just like that, twenty of the reds were engulfed in my flames. The smart horses tried to fling off their masters as they reared to escape.

  Shame there’d be none. I would bathe this land in flames until they knew who was in charge here. Who they had dared attack.

  Yes. I would burn them. Burn them all.

  “Tala,” a familiar voice said as I swooped close to the ground to finish them off, “Remember, don’t breathe fire on the gargoyles.”

  I paused, hovering.

  “Who dares mount and command me?” I boomed, as I felt movement on my back.

  “Your best friends, Kian and Demi,” the witch human replied.

  “And why are you not helping the others?” I demanded, trying to decide whether to roast them or buck them off.

  “We’re making sure you don’t go all kamikaze-burn-them-all dragon,” the same voice said.

  “You presume to order me around, like some common steed?” I hissed.

  Well, if the fool humans think themselves capable, I will show them who is in control here.

  At top speed, I swept into the air, high, high and higher.

  Was that screaming I heard? Good.

  I dropped, did a corkscrew turn, dove straight through the branches of a tree, and roasted a group of gargoyles pelting pathetically toward me. As I soared past them in order to turn, I heard the plant human cry, “Ah! Tala, look at the gargoyles!”

  Tala, Tala, Tala… why was it always the incompetent human everyone addressed? Never me. No one had ever asked my name, Tabaluga, the great, unbeaten, mighty…

  Where was that smoky smell coming from?

  Behind me, the blocks of stone were… not dead?

  I squinted at the repulsive fire-crackling sight. Hm, not exactly. No, now the blocks of stone were… flaming blocks of stone. Who knew?

  Oh well. Everyone makes mistakes. Moving on…

  “Oh no you don’t!” the witch human yelled.

  The puny human had… actually pulled on my spike! As though I were a ridiculous rodeo show pony.

  “C’mon,” the witch human said. “You scared?”

  “You should be,” I growled.

  I would let the irritating humans live… for now. Of course I wasn’t scared. I had been merely moving on to use my talents elsewhere. Obviously.

  Might as well get this over with.

  “Agh!” I growled, heat searing into me.

  One of the flaming blocks of stone had actually dared fly into me! And now the unworthy beast was biting into my leg!

  Flinging my tail back and forth did nothing. Judging by the grunts and groans of frustration and the continuing searing pain in my leg, the puny humans did nothing.

  I flung my leg about, but that made the beast only bite down harder. Finally, I careened down, whacked my leg into a tree and-

  “Gotcha!” the witch human yelled, letting fly a spell.

  It slammed into the airborne gargoyle, sending it spiraling to the ground, where it didn’t get up. Hm, who knew. Humans could be useful. Sometimes.

  Further on, by a split-in-half tree, some clearly intoxicated men and women climbed up trees and flung themselves on the btsan below, while another woman with wild hair swung around what looked to be wind chimes. Strange, strange place, this.

  “We have to go help our friends,” the witch human urged.

  I snorted.

  Friends? What friends are there in battle? There is only kill or be killed.

  Couldn’t they see that this entire land was littered with the carcasses of the fools who had fancied they could defeated me? That there were still too many pebbley and red-strained fools cragging about?

  Yes, I have to burn them. Burn them all.

  “Okay, that’s it,” the witch human said. “I hope I don’t regret this but… Dum spiro spero.”

  I flew over to some oncoming btsan and breathed out fire.

  “Was that supposed to accomplish something?” I asked, bored, as I burned another one of the btsan who’d taken a run at me, his sword drawn. Something stabbed at my side.

  Oh, they are going to pay for that. Another stab into my abdomen. Fools. They will burn like they’d never…

  I blasted one btsan with flames, and then another. Something clamped onto my throat, a gargoyle. I slashed at it with my tail.

  “Why isn’t it working?” the plant human said.

  “I don’t know, maybe her crazy dragon instinct is going on overdrive because of all the danger?” the witch replied.

  These mortal trespassers were getting on my nerves. I knew my human form had some affection for them, but if I happened to accidentally drop them while spurting into the air…

  “Dum spiro spero!” the two voices yelled.

  Yawning with smoke curdling out of my nostrils, I flew off toward more prey. It wasn’t as though they were causing me any tangible harm.

  Farther on, there were Olympians and shifters fighting. One blonde one with a glittery magenta belt seemed to making decent work of it, while a dark brown wolf was ripping into a btsan.

  Yes, their attempts are not completely unfruitful, but can’t they see that this is best left to a dragon? If only they’d go away and let me fix this, I could have all of these relegated to a nice pile of ash in, say, two minutes?

  Amongst them, there was a girl with orange-red hair, whose thunderstorm was raging, spreading… Ah!

  I fell to the ground. Curses, why must rain and water affect me so?

  I shivered and growled.

  “Dum spiro spero,” the annoying humans chanted again.

  I closed my eyes. Can’t they see that…

  I opened my eyes.

  “Thank John,” Demi said, hugging me, as a strange plant started blooming from her palm.

  “Uh…” I said.

  Part of me wanted to know what the hell had just happened, while the other part wanted to know what that was.

  “Is that a Venus Flytrap?” Kian asked, reached over a finger, then withdrawing it, thinking better of it.

  As the plant continued growing from Demi’s palm, developing an unbelievably large jaw, it chomped at an oncoming btsan, taking it neatly in its mouth.

  “Yeah,” Demi said, oddly unconcerned. “Why?”

  “No reason,” Kian said. “You do your Mario Kart thing.”

  Folding into a crouch, she threw out her arms. Several oncoming gargoyles collided, one after another.

  “Nice one, Mom!” Persephone called to Demi, seconds before something flung her to the ground.

  “Persephone, no!” Demi shrieked. Two gargoyles had Persephone pinned to the ground. Demi raced over, though Kian stayed by me.

  “You okay?” Kian asked.

  I shook my head. “I need to change back. To help!”

  Kian kept the firm grip on my arm. “No. We’re actually doing pretty okay
, thanks to your flaming bloodbath a few minutes ago. Right now, we need to go help Hera.”

  She gestured to the Palace’s top window, where I could see Hera clad in… was that diamond armor? I wasn’t even going to ask.

  Point was, with matching diamond swords in each hand, she was fighting an entire circle of at least ten btsan. Yeah, I’d say she needs help.

  “But what about Persephone and Demi?” I asked.

  More gargoyles had massed, pinning Demi to the ground too. But just then, angry music blared all around us.

  “Oh no you don’t!” Hades bellowed, racing in with a pike.

  “Wondered where that sneaky bastard had got to,” Kian said, as his pike smashed a hole into the gargoyles piled on top of Persephone and Demi.

  I felt a distinctive gloom settle around me, and looking around, I saw the reason. Finally, Hades’ souls had joined the battle, gliding morosely and flinging themselves on the btsan. About time. Had they needed a rah-rah speech or something? Or, more likely, Hades had gotten distracted sneaking or snooping around.

  “What?” I could hear Hades respond to Persephone’s berating as he helped her and Demi up. “My souls need a bit of encouragement, y’know? They’re not like a vacuum cleaner you just plug in and turn on. Besides, you all were performing quite admirably without us.”

  Further in the fray, Axel, Apollo and Artemis were fending off btsan and gargoyles from a group of cowering villagers, while Dion pointed some price scanner thing – he was actually using the taser again, seriously? – at some oncoming btsan. Marley and Tania were off to the side of the palace, mostly out of sight, while Marley nursed Tania’s slashed leg. Several woman soldiers with red and golden armor – Athena’s – were helping the fight too.

  Farther off, I could just see the huge brown shapes of Jeremy and Hulda fighting a whole mass of btsan, as well as the half-naked pudge balls of Aphie’s cherubs swarming a particularly unlucky gargoyle.

  “Tala,” Kian said, pulling me along.

  Hera, right.

  Cutting our way to the palace wasn’t easy. Seemed the btsan and gargoyles were well aware that this was their ultimate target. They didn’t even bother going after the screaming villagers I could see fleeing ahead, instead focusing their might on stopping us from getting in.

  As we fought them, I was basically useless as Kian’s magic and spells cleared us a path.