by Aidy Award
Head back in the game. Warrior mode on.
He could turn back toward the houses and drop Jules off. The horde was moving forward, toward the wolves and the beach. She could run back to the house. Which was already compromised and not safe in the least. Even if she made it there on her own without attracting the notice of the wyrms, he couldn't be sure she'd be safe.
So that was out. Dax circled over the top of the horde, looking for any breaks in the line, any weakness in their defenses, and keeping one eye on Niko. He was kicking ass and not bothering to take names, but the demons continued to attack. They were moving as one, creepily hive-mind like. Since Jett's Demon Dragon Wyr had come into their powers and freed themselves from the Black Witch's control, the remaining demon wyrms acted much more controlled and coordinated than before. Gone were the days where they could be tricked. These things were nothing more than mindless death drones.
Which made them easier to kill, but there were more of them. It also meant someone used them as a weapon from behind a coward's curtain. Either the Black Witch or the Black Dragon, rulers of hell, were somewhere nearby. The odds were stacked so far against the good guys tonight a chunk of dread sunk into the pit of his stomach like a lump of coal coated in broken glass.
Quit thinking. The only choice was to get Jules out of here and defend the pack until reinforcements could arrive.
Jules. We need to grab Niko and get the fuck out of here. We can't hold this horde off on our own and I won't let Niko sacrifice himself in this battle in the dragon war.
"Oh, Niko is not going to like that. Can you carry him in one claw and me in the other? Far, far, away from his teeth?"
She was completely right. Niko was going to be pissed. But this wasn't the first time that Dax had carried Niko. He hoped the wolf part of him remembered that and would know that Dax was there to help not harm. He shifted his wings and Jules so that he could grab the wolf off the ground and get back into the sky, out of reach of the demon wyrms as quickly as possible.
The horde was already closing in on the other wolves and Niko wasn't going to be able to hold off the group surrounding the massive wolf much longer anyway. Pissed or not, he would still be alive and the rest of the wolf-shifter world wouldn't be out for dragons’ hides for causing their alpha's death.
He flew in on a silent draft, not wanting to give Niko any warning of this plan. At the very last second he grabbed the wolf around the shoulders and shot an arc of flame at the demons closing in. The wolf howled and growled and snapped its teeth.
Jules held up her hands, palms out and made soothing sounds, like she would a child, but they didn't help. Niko snapped his jaws at her and wriggled so that Dax was close to dropping him. Hold still, wolf. We're saving your life and the lives of your family, so knock it off.
The wolf growled, then shifted, finding his own grip on Dax's claw. "What's your plan, Red?"
Get to the kids, get them out of here. Regroup. Call for reinforcements.
"Not good enough. Your demons are a threat to my entire territory. My people, humans and beasts alike, are not prepared for a battle. They've barely recovered from the last one."
Like I told Jules, I'm open to suggestions. Lass? She might not be a warrior, but so far had kept a very cool head in the midst of overwhelming odds. He'd love to hear any ideas she might have on how the hell to get them out of this shitshow.
Niko harrumphed. "She is covering her eyes and appears to not be able to hear us."
"I can hear you fine. I'm trying to avoid looking at your nakedness."
Fucking wolves. The magic they used to shift was not the same as dragons. They burst out of their god-damned clothes every time they went between forms. Thank the First Dragon and the White Witch dragons were a bit more refined than that. Dax turned his claw to the side, even if it was an awkward position to face Niko away from her view.
Jules body shook with laughter. Wait. He didn't hear the sweet sound of her giggling. Fuck. She was convulsing, which meant another vision. He needed to land. Now.
He scanned the ground, looking for any safe place, or even a spot he could defend. There was nothing. The ground writhed with the bodies of a full-on demon wyrm stampede. They were moving fast now that none of them were distracted by fighting. The black beasts torpedoed toward the wolves and beach.
Fuck. He sure as shit could use a Gold Dragon around now to give them a boost from the wind. He had only his wings and his will to rely on. This was what he was trained for - saving the world. Even if that meant one human woman at a time. Dax rhythmically tapped one of his talons against Jules's leg hoping it would have the same effect as squeezing her hand did. He had no idea if he helped or not.
"Dude. She is glowing, like light is pouring out of her eyes. Red light." Niko's voice sounded both awed and worried. "Find my brothers and drop me. We'll meet you at the beach."
Dax pulled up a reserve of energy he didn't even know he had and put on a burst of speed. He found a sweet spot on a current and the horde fell behind. The other wolves came into view and Dax dropped quickly to get to them. He would get to the beach a lot faster if he wasn't carrying two passengers. Niko obviously felt the same. He shifted back into his wolf form a meter above the ground as Dax flew in low. He opened his claw and dropped the wolf at the front of the pack.
Niko hit the ground running, the power of his alpha showing. The other wolves couldn't keep up with him. Even with Niko's speed, Dax beat his wings hard, found that air current again and left the wolves behind. The beach came into view within seconds.
Hang on, Jules. We're almost there. A puff of wind pushed him from behind and Dax barrelled toward the ground. He tucked Jules in close to his body, wrapped his wings around her and made a controlled crash onto his back onto the stony pebbled beach. He skidded to a stop, holding her tight.
"Well, that's one way to land, I guess."
Phew. Dax's heart began beating again. Are you okay? What did you see?
And can it help them not die in about five minutes from now?
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for grounding me again. I felt you tapping my leg. It was a weird one, but I know that if we get the kids off the beach, they or it, or something will take care of the demon dragons."
Take care of? That sounded fishy. All of Jules's visions had been helpful so far, it would be stupid of him to doubt one of them now. He scanned the beach and didn't see anyone, pups or toddlers. Maybe those two young punks over there had scared them away. If they'd harmed the little ankle-biters, Dax would destroy them. He rolled and carefully and opened his claw so Jules could climb out.
The second she was on her feet she made a mad dash toward the punks. "Tristan, Ellie."
Uh. Seriously? The two kids standing on the beach were barely prepubescents. If they were the Troika’s pups, there was some insanely powerful magic going on here. Like beyond what any of them knew the Black Witch could do. She had no control over life. She was the Queen of the Dead. Who else would the Black Dragon be working with that had this kind of power? He couldn't imagine who or what would want baby brains in the bodies of pre-teens.
Dax shifted and ran after Jules, eyeing the kids and looking for signs they were who Jules thought they were. He also looked for signs of dark magic, like shadows that were too long, too dark, or not where they were supposed to be. The moon was high and full, so there were plenty of shadows, but none out of place. They were perfect places for the demons to pop out of as soon as they figured out where the kids were.
"Jules? Did you shrink?" The girl addressed Jules and obviously knew who she was. She was wearing an oversized leather vest and leggings big enough she had to hold them up with her hand. They looked well worn, but not by this young lady. They barely fit her.
The young man had on nothing but a pair of shorts. With those colorful round Christmas ornament bulbs all over them. Kids were weird. Or these weren't kids at all. Dax narrowed his eyes at the boy, who glared right back at him.
"Jules. Be careful." S
he was too trusting that these were the Troikas and that they wouldn't hurt her. If they were tainted by the forces of hell.
"No, honey, you've gotten bigger. A lot bigger." Jules slowed and approached the pair a bit more cautiously now.
Tristan picked up a piece of driftwood and held it aloft like a sword. "Ellie, stand back. We don't know who these people are. They could be the ones she warned us about. She said they would take on a disguise to look like people we know, to garner our trust."
Garner their trust? Who talked like that? Especially a child.
"Tristan." Jules stood very still and bowed her head slightly, smartly showing this young man her throat, which was a sign of submission to wolves. He turned his eyes to watch her approach, studied her, but didn't move to attack.
He couldn't hurt the kids, but he wasn't going to let them hurt Jules either. He approached the young man. He wouldn't show his throat to him. Whether this was the Troika boy or not, he needed to understand that there were bigger and badder monsters in the world and that he needed to decide who was an ally and who wasn't.
"Son, We are here to help you. But you need to make a decision. There's a horde of demon wyrms coming this way and there is very little way we can defend you and ourselves from them in this position. The water doesn't help us and while I can keep them held back for a while with my flame, ultimately we will go down. We must retreat. Look into your heart, you know this woman. She cares for you. She will never let any harm come to you or your sister."
Tristan glanced warily between the three people around them. The blue spark of his wolf soul shined through his eyes as he considered what Dax said. By the way he was still holding that stick like a sword, he didn't look apt to believe anyone. Just like an alpha wolf. That more than anything helped Dax to believe this was the son of Maxsim Troika, alpha of the Grimm pack.
The girl touched him on the arm. She was no shy flower this one. That alpha glow was in her eyes too. "We should trust them. Something bad is coming. She said so."
"Who is this she you keep referring too?" Jules used each interaction with them to move closer.
The girl stared at Jules for a minute trying to decide if she should trust her with the answer or not. "The woman in red."
Who the fuck is the woman in red. Wasn't that a song? It certainly wasn't an answer. "Can you give us anything more than that? Is she someone we and your family need to be worried about?"
The kids exchanged looks and used some sort of communication that only the two of them understood. It could be mindspeak like shifters used, but as far as he knew, none could use it in their human forms. Maybe it was one of those twin connection things. Dax used the opportunity to check the perimeter and move closer to Jules. The time to placate these kids was going to run out soon. He needed to figure out how he was going to get the three of them out of here if the wolves didn't show up before the demons. "Tell us on the move, kids. We need to get you out of here and to safety."
The girl shook her head. "She said not to move from the beach until we got the signal. It's not safe."
No shit, Sherlock. "That sounds like a trap. Demon wyrms are stampeding their way here right now. If we don't get you off the beach, we're all dead."
"Then go."
"Not on your life, kid. Literally. It is my duty to protect you and her, and everyone else from the demon plague. I will fight to the death if needs be."
That made the boy's eyes go wide. "You don't owe us your life. Why would you do that?"
"Because warriors protect the world from evil."
Just then evil showed up.
Demon wyrms rose up in the shadows, forming a wall in front of them. "Get behind me and stay near the water. These beasts are made in the pits of hell and don't like the water."
Dax shifted into his dragon form and blew a long, bright flame at the growing front row of demons.
Watch, dragon. Don't singe the fur. Niko's voice popped into his head. The wolves bounded into the fray and tore demon dragons limb from limb. One smaller grey wolf burst through the line and straight for Jules and the kids behind Dax. She didn't shift, but jumped up on the girl and then the boy and licked their faces.
"Mom. Gross. Stop it. We're a little busy here if you didn't notice." She yipped and pushed the kids behind her, turned and growled at the oncoming line wyrms. A few of them actually slowed their attack recognizing their own deaths in her eyes.
Never piss off a mama wolf.
The children shifted into their wolves too and while their mother didn't let them get past her, they did snap and growl at any demons that even looked their way.
Jules was the only vulnerable human left. Lass, climb up on my back. I can keep you safer out of reach of the demons and the shadows.
"Okay, but I'm not riding you."
We'll save that for later.
Jules smacked his side and then clambered up with a lift up from Dax's wing. "I'm getting a crossbow or something if this is going to be a regular occurance. On your six - two wyrms coming in."
Dax smacked the demons away with his tail and sent them careening into the ocean. They sizzled and sank into the waves.
"Oh my God. Dax, who or what is that? It doesn't look like the others." Jules pointed her baseball bat toward a clump of demons to the right.
No. That wasn't a clump. It was one bigger demon. A mutant demon wyrm? A Demon Dragon who did not escape the spell of the Black Witch?
It threw its head back and roared and that's when Dax saw the collar. Fuck. It wasn't a demon at all. It was a Gold dragon.
We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
Ooh. Dax was about to blow his top. Which was both sexy and scary. She wasn't sure if he was mad that a Gold Dragon was fighting with the demons or that the Gold was being forced to fight on the side of the demons. He'd explained really quickly that a bunch of Golds had been captured and were under the control of an evil succubus queen.
That sounded really horrible. Jules knew about such a small little bit of the supernatural world. She had to think a minute about what a succubus even did. Next someone would tell her unicorns were real, too.
If they were, she was so going to make Dax introduce her to one.
Dax bounded into the fray, spraying fiery death all over the baddies. This riding on top of him thing was not exactly comfortable. His scales were chafing the inner thighs of her jeans and it wasn't like she had anything to hold onto other than a ring and a prayer.
That and her baseball bat. Dax growled and tore into a group of demons moving in on Gal and the pups. He sideswiped the lot of them with his huge tail and flipped one up in the air. Perfect. She used its head for batting practice. So far she was batting a thousand.
There was something wrong with her for enjoying seeing the little wyrms explode into ash and oil. A warm fuzzy feeling she never would have associated with a battle against demons in a supernatural war warmed her insides the same way Dax's kiss had earlier. Which she totally needed to stop thinking about. It didn't mean anything. He was a warrior. She was a chubby babysitter.
Not exactly a match made in heaven.
He was here to do a job, which included finding out who was sending her visions. That was the only reason he was sticking so close to her. It wasn't because he was attracted to her. Yeah. She needed to keep telling herself that so when he dropped her like it's hot tomorrow or the next day, like good-looking dudes always did, it wouldn't hurt so much.
It was just a crush. Brought on by the adrenaline of fighting monsters. She'd get over it. Just like she had every other crush she'd ever had. Because love and relationships were not for her. They were for pretty and interesting women. Like the mates of the Troikas.
She was fine with that. There were lots of other things she could do with her life. Like maybe learning to be a demon spotter for dragon warriors. She was pretty damn good at that. "Two on your four, three coming in on your two."
That sentence shouldn't even make sense, but Dax reacted as if the two of them we
re some super elite Navy SEALs or Army Rangers or something. She and Dax worked as a team. They were connected. There went those warm fuzzies in her chest again.
Ignore it. She lifted the bat up over her head and swung it in a circle, hollering, "Wahoo. You demons are going down. Bring 'em on, Dax."
The wall of demons was getting thicker by the moment and she'd lost sight of the Gold dragon. Dax had to protect the wolf pups and Galyna, but she knew he wanted to get to that dragon they were using as a gladiator. Jules wasn't helping kill demons much, she could at least keep an eye out for Dax's friend in this fray.
She got to her knees and scanned the area. Four wolves were fighting their way toward the beach from the east, leaving a mangled mass of demon remains in their wake. They'd make it to the beach soon. She still couldn't see enough. Dax bounded forward to repel a bold group and Jules almost fell off.
Her shoelaces got caught on one of Dax's scales, saving her from tumbling down his back. She lost hold of her bat, though.
Babe, you all right?
He did not need his attention divided. "Fine. Don't worry about me."
She tugged her lace from under the scale and that gave her the perfect idea. She crossed her fingers this wouldn't hurt him. Jules yanked her shoes off and shoved her toes under one of his scales, then did the same with another one so her feet were shoulder width apart. His skin was hot under her feet, but she could use her toes to grip and hopefully keep her balance.
Very carefully she moved into a crouch. When Dax jerked to the side to avoid some fire spittle from the demons, she moved with him. Cool. She pushed up, stayed half bent over until she found her balance and then stood all the way up. Yes.
From this vantage point she could see the whole beach and the entire horde. Gulp. There were so many of them. They weren't even making a dent in their numbers. For every demon Dax and the wolves killed, more popped up out of the shadows. This was bad. Really, really bad.