Ashes Of Memory

by Aiden Bates

  I glanced back at Vance and nodded. His magic sang a bit louder as he worked the spell he’d planned. The thoughts in my head grew muted, as if the echo in my mind had been quieted, as he dampened down our psychic footprint to keep DuPont from noticing us.

  “It won’t last very long,” he’d warned us when he explained it. “Maybe... twenty seconds? So we have to be close, and as soon as it’s done, we have to go in.”

  It would take ten seconds to reach the house, which gave us another ten to assess. Not a large window. Vance tapped my arm twice, indicating that he was done, and the countdown had begun.

  The three of us, along with the other ten dragons in the squad, all sprinted toward the house. Liana and Vance fell behind me as she kept pace with him instead of pushing herself.

  I opened my senses, listened for voices or heartbeats. Nothing. It was possible the house itself was warded. There didn’t appear to be any extending beyond its walls—probably to keep from alerting the neighbors.

  The entire squad closed on the house at about the same time. I counted down like all of them undoubtedly were as I slipped up to one of the windows and pressed my ear to the wall below it.

  I shook my head when Liana gave me a quizzical look, the short scales of her eyebrows twitching as she cocked her head to one side.

  The countdown ended. Vance kept it up a moment longer, but then gave a soft gasp as he reached his limit. The echo of my thoughts grew louder. We may have the wrong place.

  Vance gritted his teeth, then shook his head. There’s no other reason to hide this place. They have to be here.

  We need to go in, Liana said.

  I agreed, and relayed the orders to the rest of the squad through Vance. It wasn’t a large house. Possibly there was a basement inside. Possibly, the whole thing was a trap.

  Worried about that, I held a hand out to Vance as I crept around to the door and found it locked—but only by the doorknob. Stay back until we know it isn’t trapped.

  He didn’t like that, but didn’t argue.

  One pair of dragons took up posts at the back corners of the house to keep an eye out, while the others came around to the front. I knelt by the doorknob and gave it just a whisper of dragonfire until the metal melted, and the door pushed easily open. I spread my wings as I did, ready to catch anything that might come blasting through it.

  When nothing did, I tucked them against my back, pushed the door further open and slipped inside, followed by two others, all of us crouched with talons extended, ready to attack.

  The house did not have a basement. That much was clear, because a hole in the living room drove straight down into the bedrock beneath the neighborhood. It’s clear, I told Vance. A moment later, the others entered.

  Vance stared at the hole. “Shit.”

  Can you tell the layout? I asked.

  He squinted, and ultimately closed his eyes, but just gave a frustrated grunt. “Nothing alive down there. The psychic residue’s been scrubbed. Recently, though. They definitely went down there. Or it’s a distraction. But... the Midnight Incident happened beneath Chicago. And River Valley was in a cave. Maybe it’s a requirement.”

  If so, Liana said, then we should follow.

  Leave two more to guard, I told them. I looked to Vance.

  He beat me to what I meant to say. “I’m definitely coming. You don’t have any defense against an esper except me.”

  Another tunnel, another cave. It felt like River Valley all over again. But he wasn’t wrong, and I had to trust him—we had to trust each other if we were going to survive and save Baz. Fine, I said. But stay behind Liana.

  Vance agreed, and Liana picked two of the squad to stand guard. Anything comes up that tunnel that doesn’t smell like Vance or a dragon, light it up.

  The two guards acknowledged, and with my stomach clenched, I stepped over the edge of the hole and into the steep tunnel.

  It was a tight fit, not meant for a hulking half-form dragon. I had to relinquish some of my size and scales, and the possible protection of my wings, to fit through and have room to maneuver. Liana came in behind me, and Vance behind her. The other six took up the rear as we filed in and made our way into the darkness.

  You all can see in this, right? Vance asked.

  Darker without the stars, I sent back, but yes. I’m not blind.

  I felt his mind brush against mine. Mind if I ride along?

  I smiled, despite the situation. It was comforting, having him in my head like old times. You can ride any—

  Yeah, we’re all on the same channel, Vance interrupted.

  Amusement rippled over the group connection from the others, particularly Liana. And from Vance, though his was threaded with a bit of embarrassment as well.

  The moment of lightness dissipated as I realized just how deep the tunnel went. There would be no easy way out, unless it led to some place with a much bigger exit. And I couldn’t help thinking that if someone wanted to, this would be an ideal place to lure one’s enemies and then bury them. I found myself eyeing the tunnel’s ceiling suspiciously.

  There’s no magic I can sense, Vance assured me, reading my worries. Which, honestly, is a little disconcerting. This should all be better defended.

  Perhaps DuPont is full of hubris, I offered.

  I’m not willing to gamble on that, Liana said.

  As deep as the tunnel was, it did eventually reach an opening into a larger cavern. Light glowed there, wavering like candlelight. That likely meant another entrance to whatever the place was. And another exit for our prey.

  I approached the new section ahead of the others, and sharpened my ears. The soft sigh of air over stone rasped. Somewhere, liquid dripped. And very faintly, somewhere deep inside, hearts beat. That’s them, I said. Four of them. One of them must be Baz. So three mages, unless one of them is somehow hiding their heartbeat.

  That’ll be the three we met before, Vance replied, his thoughts growing tense with anxiousness. He summoned up the images of them in his mind, and relayed them to the others.

  Liana divvied up the targets among the eight of us. Eight dragons would be more than enough. No fire, she warned them. Besides the elementalist, it’ll be close quarters and Vance isn’t fireproof.

  Appreciated, Vance said.

  With that plan laid out, we slipped from the tunnel and into the first of what looked like a number of chambers. These were more natural, though, where the tunnel had clearly been carved.

  Moreover, as we spread through the cave, I noticed carvings in the stone. Ancient, the edges worn smooth until it was difficult to make them out. Here and there, ancient pigments marked the walls as well.

  Magic, Vance whispered mentally, as he examined one set. Old. Really old, maybe thousands of years. I recognize some of these. We use variations of them today. I think this is some place of power. The magic here feels... I don’t know. Sharp. If DuPont has learned how to tap this place for power, we should be extra careful. He was already powerful before. Here, he could be a lot more dangerous.

  Then we won’t give him the chance to show us, I growled back.

  That’s why there are no defenses, he mused, almost to himself. It would be hard to maintain wards on a place like this. They’d need constant attention.

  His mistake then, I said.

  There were three branches from this chamber. The acoustics of the place made it impossible to tell which one the sound of beating hearts came from. We split the other six dragons into two teams, and sent each one down the left and right tunnels. Liana, Vance and I took the center branch.

  We were about fifteen yards into a tunnel that gradually narrowed, when Vance’s heart leapt and he stopped me. I lost the others.

  An attack? Liana asked.

  He shook his head. They just cut out. It must be this place. My range isn’t great.

  We’ll have to hope their branches circle around to wherever we’re headed, I said. If not, they know how to take care of themselves.

  We press
ed on, ultimately squeezing through a narrow gap at the end that let out into another chamber. This one had more light. Candles burning in lumps of wax studded the walls and rested on chunks of stone long since fallen to the cave floor. That floor was smoother, as well, as if it had been worn down either by magic or by ages of being walked on by whoever called this place their temple.

  The heartbeats grew clearer, as well, and down another branch there was a glow of light, stronger than before.

  It was them. Just ahead of us. Part of me wanted to rush in, and burn everything before anyone had a chance to react. Baz would be fine. The other part, though, flashed back to the light in the cave at River Valley. The moments just before I lost Vance, that I had relived over and over again in the dream world DuPont trapped me in.

  It will be different this time, Vance promised. We’re together. Remember. We’re stronger.

  I shifted down just enough that my lips were softened, and that my scales were less rough. Liana must have sensed my intention, because she politely turned away as I pulled Vance close and kissed him. A shiver of delight, out of place in this dank cave, with danger looming ahead of us, ran through us both. The taste of him calmed my nerves but honed my senses, as if my whole body responded to him by ensuring I could drink in as much of him as possible.

  He was short of breath when I let him go. Heat in his eyes hardened to resolve. We can do this.

  I know, I told him.

  Liana turned back to us, her talons spread. What’s the play?

  I looked toward the light. You take Leda. Any means necessary except fire. Hard, fast, no mercy. I’ll take DuPont. Vance should—

  I’ll hit DuPont, Vance cut in. He’s an esper, he’ll put you down the second he sees you coming. I can at least distract him. The other guy’s your target, then we all converge on DuPont while I keep him focused on me.

  I started to tell him that was dangerous—that DuPont was my responsibility, that he could take the other mage more easily, and otherwise make the excuses I thought would keep him out of harm’s way. But Vance only leveled a hard gaze at me, and I didn’t even have to hear his thoughts to know what he was thinking.

  Fine, I agreed. But you just have to keep him distracted. Don’t put yourself at risk if you don’t have to.

  Promise, he said. But I could feel that it was only half true.

  The sound of metal sliding from leather echoed down from the lit chamber. Our collective pulses leapt and began to race. Whatever was going to happen, it had to happen now.

  I gave them a nod, and a mental signal to go, and together the three of us raced down the next tunnel.

  I don’t pray, normally. The gods seem to me to be long gone, moved on to whatever had caught their attention ages ago. But I did pray as we approached that light. That we could get to Baz in time, that we would stop DuPont.

  And that I wouldn’t have to survive losing Vance for a third time.

  24

  Vance

  With adrenaline pumping in my veins, my heart pounding in my ears, and the fury of two dragons echoing across the psychic link I maintained between us, I didn’t have the attention to spare as fear began to creep up my spine.

  All of this was familiar. I knew that Tam was thinking it, too. We’d been too late to save the pups in River Valley. We’d rushed into a situation just like this, with the same person our enemy. It hadn’t ended well, obviously. And all those old memories were with me now. They reared up, snapped at my heels like hungry hounds, bayed in my mind as if taking delight in the hunt. If they caught me and dragged me down, then we would all die.

  And even if they didn’t, DuPont might still win. He knew this place, knew whatever power was latent in the stone all around us. I didn’t, and didn’t have time to learn it, make an ally of it. Who knew how long he’d been working in this place?

  As we reached the turn at the end of the tunnel, I had to ignore all of those fears. I withdrew my link to Tam and Liana, though Tam and I had a bond deeper than that now that I could still feel, and focused all of my magic into a single point. A shock attack was the only way I would get the better of DuPont, and he would definitely be ready for me when I turned that corner.

  In fact, he wasn’t the only one.

  We came around the corner, and I had never seen anything move as fast as Tam and Liana did the moment we were in the open.

  Magic cracked the air. Leda and the other mage whose name I didn’t know reacted to the presence of two angry dragons almost instantly. I caught a flash of bright white come from Leda’s side of the cavern, and felt the sudden rush of frigid air from the other.

  That was everything I perceived before I spotted DuPont at the center of a carved floor. He had Baz with him. Seated on a block of stone. Not bound or trapped. Baz’s arms were already bleeding from a short cut on either side. DuPont had the blade raised to make another cut. I got lucky. He’d counted on his two acolytes to keep us distracted while he completed whatever ritual he was trying to pull off.

  It gave me about one second of lead time.

  I struck him hard with everything I had, jabbing at his mind with a spike of telepathic chaos. Instead of making the next cut, he staggered, but didn’t fall. His eyes found me, burning with fury.

  A tidal wave of psychic energy rose up between us and crashed down on me as if he’d collapsed the caves on my head. Which wasn’t far off.

  It felt like my head would split open. Power that I’d never felt before bored down into my thoughts from all sides. Whispers rose up around me. Weak. Worthless. You can’t win. You’ve already lost. You’re too late. The boy is already dead. Look. See.

  It was strong enough that for a moment I did see. I saw Baz, splayed out on the ground. I saw Liana, burning like a pyre. I saw Tam, run through with a spike of ice.

  But under it all, I could still sense Tam. I grabbed onto that to ground myself. And I recalled, somewhere in my rattled brain, the trick the bastard at the cabin had played on me.

  Instead of resisting, and attacking DuPont head on, I turned my focus to the spikes of psychic energy he’d jammed right past my defenses. I sank mental claws into them. I reached for the first and most powerful thing I could get my attention rooted on—what I had with Tam. Our love, tempered by constant fire, and coming out stronger each time. It had served me when I was trapped in my own mind, and it served me now.

  I felt DuPont’s surprise, and felt him try to withdraw his attack. I pulled back. My vision cleared. I could see him, standing rigid beside Baz, his knuckles white around the hilt of that knife, his face twisted to a snarl.

  When I pulled, he pushed. His mind lanced into my own. A chaotic eruption of sensory memories welled up like blood from a wound. The smell of fire. The sound of thunder. The feeling of sandpaper grinding down wood. A moment of dread, right before I saw the naked abyss. The taste of something bitter. Those and a thousand other distracting memories came flooding into the surface of my mind, until I was drowning in them.

  I felt a burst of triumphant cruelty a second before darkness flooded down the psychic connection. If I didn’t let him go, it would pour into me. Instead, I pushed back against it, but it was like holding back the ocean with my pinky fingers. The darkness overwhelmed me. A voice whispered on it, harsh like metal being ripped apart, saying things that my mind wouldn’t interpret. A scent of corruption filled my nose. All around, I felt tiny clawed hands grasping at me, tearing at my clothes, my skin, digging into me and trying to burrow inside.

  Through it all, there was something behind me and beneath me. Something I could set my psychic feet against to push back. I felt Tam supporting me, lending me strength whether he did it intentionally or not. His fury, and the fury of his dragon, swelled up to hold me fast, to keep me from being washed away by it all.

  It gave me enough to push off of. I ignored the darkness, stopped resisting it, trying to hold it back, and instead pushed into it, and into the spikes that DuPont had driven into my mind. My magic threaded into his att
ack, slipped through it, until I felt the mind at the other end.

  This is pointless, DuPont said, his voice all around me as I breached his mind. You must know that.

  He showed me flashes of Liana and Tam both struggling with the other mages.

  Lies, I told him. I showed him a glimpse of what I felt, of Tam’s bloodlust as he jammed his talons into his prey. You’re done, DuPont. There are more coming. Dragons and mages alike. Give up. Maybe the cabals will show mercy.

  He could sense that I was telling the truth. That I had no reason to lie. His snarl was like hot coals being thrust into my ears. They could be steps away, he said, and it wouldn’t matter. The blood is spilled. The old gods are fed. The boy is mine. Even if you kill me here, my work will not be in vain and it will not be done.

  I sensed Tam’s relief briefly, as the mage he was fighting fell. Maybe, I told DuPont, letting my smugness show openly. But it’ll still hurt, I bet.

  DuPont shoved against my mind, his power shattering the grip I had on him. I went careening out of it and back to my own, my attention suddenly freed to see what happened next.

  Liana gave a roar of victory as bone crunched. I glanced to see Leda’s body dropping where it struck the stone, a portal that had barely been opened sealing itself closed as she hopefully died.

  At the same time, Tam closed on DuPont. He was fast. DuPont turned, and his mind would be faster.

  I charged him, screaming a battle cry.

  Maybe he was a necromancer and an esper, and a devotee of abyssal magic. But like all of us, at his deepest core DuPont was an animal. And like any animal, his attention was briefly torn between two charging threats. I wasn’t that fast. I couldn’t take advantage of that window.

  But a furious dragon could.

  Tam swiped a taloned paw, and DuPont sailed across the cavern to strike the wall. Another blink, and Tam was on him, tearing into the burned mage. I had the brief satisfaction of feeling a burst of pain ripple into the psychic field before his mind winked out.

  I pulled Baz down from the stone pedestal before Tam had finished or Liana recovered to join me. The cuts on his arms weren’t deep, but they bled, red staining the stone beneath him. “Baz?”