“Well, that was certainly worrying for a minute,” Adrian chuckled nervously. He decided it would be best to keep the sword on him at all times from that moment forward. He definitely did not want to be in the middle of a situation where he would need his weapon just to have it not come back to him.
“Alright,” Adrian breathed, turning to face one of the target dummies several yards away. “Other magic, don’t fail me now.” He held his left hand out toward the target and tried to summon a simple fireball. A faint glow emanated from his palm, then brightened into a small ball of dark red fire no larger than a candle flame. Adrian concentrated harder, willing the flame to grow. It eventually heeded his command and grew to the size of a grapefruit, changing from dark red to yellow-white. The spell sat in the demon’s hand as if trying to sputter out, but his concentration held. That is, until a sudden warmth erupted from the flame, threatening to char his hand. He let the spell dissipate, confused. Even on his weakest day, that spell was always the easiest for Adrian to summon and use. It was one of the simplest spells taught to the demons at the magic academy. Remembering a lesson he learned about dominant hands and spells, Adrian switched his sword to his left hand. If needed, he could fight nearly as well left-handed, so he wanted to try the same spell in his right hand.
Holding out his right hand, Adrian concentrated on the fire spell once again. This time, the flame erupted easily from his palm, and he fired it at the target. The spell hit with a satisfying sizzle, and a large burn spread from the point of impact.
“Okay,” Adrian nodded. “Once more, this time with feeling.” He summoned another fireball, but with more force. This caused the fire to turn bright blue, burning much hotter than before. However, before he could launch the spell at the target, Adrian felt a searing pain in the palm of his hand. His concentration broken, the flame disappeared. The magical fire left a black ring of burnt flesh behind, and it refused to heal.
“What is going on?” Adrian asked aloud. “Why the hell is my magic so screwed up?” As he checked the burned area, he gasped in pain as the burn deepened and spread, curling his fingers into charred claws. Slowly, the burn began to grow, spreading from his hand to his wrist, then up to his forearm. Pain and panic began to blur Adrian’s vision, and his mind raced. Once the scorched and blackened skin reached his bicep, he reacted. With one quick swing of his sword, he severed his arm below the shoulder. Blood dripped from the wound, and Adrian’s vision went dark. His knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Jake stood in the gardens again, after several days of practicing to revert back to his natural draconic form. Montgomery stood nearby, watching over the younger man. For the last few days, Jake was beginning to get closer and closer to taking his natural form, but he was unable to focus enough to enact the change. The spell Montgomery had cast to undo Jake’s father’s work had done its job, but Jake was too unaccustomed to the ways of magic to know how to properly use his own abilities. But he was getting closer to figuring it out. Slowly but surely, Jake was forming a stronger connection to his inner fire and was coming closer to manifesting his power.
“Once more, young man,” Montgomery cheered. “I thought I saw some scales last time.”
Jake smiled, stifling a chuckle. He closed his eyes and focused on his latent energy, willing it to spread its warmth throughout his body. Within just a few scant seconds, he felt it. For the first time in his life, he felt his inner fire begin to move through him, like a wave of gentle heat flowing through his veins. He felt his body grow and reform. Opening his eyes, he saw the ground falling away as he grew taller. His hands and feet twisted into reptilian claws on the grass, and he felt his spine elongate into a tail behind him. His nose grew outward from his face, forming a draconic shout. His back heaved and exploded outward, and Jake spread his leathery wings for the first time in his life. The feeling of utter joy and freedom was completely indescribable. It felt as if he was truly a complete being. Finally he was exactly as he should have been his whole life.
Even Montgomery was unable to hide his glee. He looked upon Jake and grinned. The brilliant green scales shone like emeralds in the soft glow of the afternoon sun through the sea above. The young dragon stood just above twelve feet tall, stretching nearly twenty feet from nose to tail.
“I did it!” Jake bellowed, his excitement overflowing. He took several tentative steps to test his new body. His movements were clumsy at first, but he quickly figured out the proper rhythm and was moving with the grace inherent in his species. He broke into a short run and even made several leaps into the air.
Montgomery clapped his hands and shouted, “Good job, my boy! You truly look alarmingly like your father when he was your age. Now, we can try flying when you are ready.”
Jake stopped in his tracks and looked at his mentor, a happy look in his reptilian eyes. “You’re right! I can fly! When can we try that?”
Montgomery placed a hand on Jake’s scaled forearm. “Tomorrow, dear boy. You’ll need your rest. The first transformation is always the most tiring. But, before I let you take your rest, I must let you into our innermost sanctum beneath the gardens to discuss your role in our society.”
Jake concentrated and shifted back into his human form. He immediately felt much less powerful and free, but he at least knew how to operate this version of himself. “That sounds somewhat ominous,” he commented once his mouth was human again.
“Oh, no, Jake, it is no more ominous than getting an exciting new job, or starting a fun project. I promise, you will find your purpose among our people.”
Jake nodded, and began to follow Montgomery back into the mansion. His legs felt weak and shaky, but he managed to keep upright. The fatigue was already beginning to creep into his muscles. He went with the older dragon into the house and followed him through the halls. They stopped at one wall with a portrait of Julius Caesar, and Montgomery pressed a switch under the gilded frame. The wall shuddered and rotated on a hidden axis, revealing a secret tunnel leading underground.
“This is where we meet when things need to be decided,” Montgomery explained. He motioned for Jake to follow him as he descended the stairs. “I have been the keeper of this place for the last six thousand years. Before then, my father was the steward. I had this manor built and the gardens placed here to make the humans think their rich elites were gathering to admire the beauty. What the humans didn’t know was that their supposed elite upper class were almost all dragons, and part of the secret society known as the Firstborn. We have been around since the dawn of life on this planet many billions of years ago. We shaped the world into what we wanted it to be. We steered history to serve our ends. We are the true rulers of Earth, no matter what the humans think.”
They entered into a large cavern under the mansion. It was larger than Jake could tell. The ceiling and far walls disappeared into the darkness. Montgomery snapped his fingers and small, bright fires erupted from tiny alcoves in the walls, lighting the enormous cavern. It was even larger than Jake thought, stretching for hundreds of yards in every direction. His awe was clearly visible in his expression, which made Montgomery smile.
“Most of us prefer the old ways of doing things, so we left our cave intact. We needed a place to discuss our plans and strategies, and we wanted to do it someplace where we didn’t have to hide ourselves. Up on the surface, the humans have forgotten of our existence, which was our plan all along. Too many of us have been killed over the eons by pesky humans on some quest or another. As long as they don’t know about us, we won’t have to worry about premature death.”
Jake was still wrapping his mind around the enormity of the cavern under the gardens, but he looked to Montgomery and asked, “So, you - I mean we - have been pulling the strings from behind the scenes all throughout history?”
“That is correct. Much like the fabled Illuminati the humans were so fond of back in the day.”
Jake’s raised eyebrow asked the question he could not.
�
�The Illuminati was a secret organization the humans made up to scare each other,” Montgomery explained. “It was adorable, really. We figured one of our texts got lost and fell into some poor human’s hands and it decided to copy us.”
Jake nodded, beginning to understand. “So we are all over the world, making sure things go as we see fit?”
Montgomery nodded. “Of course, we do let the humans live their lives as they wish. We aren’t tyrants or wannabe gods. We simply lead them in a direction that would benefit everybody as much as possible.”
“Well, not to sound rude,” Jake apologized, “but history kinda has a way of proving that wrong. Not everyone has lived a good life, and there was a lot of bad that has happened in the past.”
“You’re referring to the most recent war?” Montgomery asked.
“Partly,” Jake replied sheepishly.
“Regrettably, that got out of hand much faster than we anticipated. We were just as blindsided as the humans when the demons invaded and started dropping bombs everywhere. We have since fixed that lapse of judgment. Now we keep tabs on far more than just the humans and other denizens of Earth. We have agents keeping an eye on any and all demon and angel activity here. For instance, did you know that Globe Tech is run by a rather powerful vampire? It is true. We’ve been keeping a close eye in them. Actually, so has a particular group of demons under the authority of Hell’s new king. These assassins have been trying to figure out a way into the Globe Tech headquarters recently, and they’ve been aided by an angel woman this entire time.”
“Forgive me, but I don’t really see how that matters to us,” Jake admitted.
“When was the last time you saw a demon on Earth, Jake?”
“Before the war.”
“And then the war started. We treat suspicious demonic activity with a great deal of concern. The Firstborn does not want another war like that again.”
“Fair enough, I see your point. But what about the other two world wars?”
“Planned and carefully executed. As were a great many other human tragedies. Atlantis, Pompeii, Alexandria, Yellowstone. All our doing.”
Jake was taken aback by the confession. “Atlantis is real?”
“Of course it is. How do you think we got so good at building underwater cities?”
Jake was stunned. All his life he remembered hearing fairy tales about the lost city of Atlantis. “Okay… Why did the Firstborn sink it, then?”
Montgomery let a wry grin cross his face. “The humans had become far too familiar with what they believed to be the work of their gods. They stumbled across a trove of information of ours. So, we made an example of them and sank the city. Those who survived were treated to a good, comfortable life. Until they all died of old age, that is. We created a food source that would render them completely sterile, so we wouldn’t have to deal with them breeding. Same tactic that we used here, to be honest. It was necessary.”
“And Pompeii?” Jake asked.
“Some idiot angel woke a primordial being from its slumber and it had to be killed. Unfortunately, its death meant Vesuvius would erupt. Pompeii was an unfortunate loss, but eventually led to the humans getting excited over their own past again. It was beneficial to them.”
“Uh huh…” Jake muttered. “And Alexandria?”
“The library was a repository of our most ancient knowledge. The humans there found out about it and tried to decipher our language. We heard about this and acted quickly. Once we removed the important documents, we burned it down.”
Jake wrapped his head around the new information and shook his head. “Wait, I thought the Yellowstone volcano erupted on its own?”
Montgomery grinned. “It did, with some of our help. We found a vast army of demons there, so we got rid of them.”
Jake’s entire view of Earth’s history was shaken. He no longer knew exactly which of it was true and what was created or altered by the Firstborn. Eventually, he would learn the truth, but for now, he was curious to know more about the ancient organization. “Tell me more,” he said.
Vincent awoke still strapped to the exam table. His vision was blurry, but he was just able to make out the dark form of one of the vampires near a table on the far side of the room. As far as he could tell, the vampire had his back to him. The angel strained against the straps, but was unable to break them. The dark form turned, hearing the leather being tugged at, and approached Vincent.
“Awake again, at long last,” came Walter’s grating voice. “And how is my star patient?”
Vincent grunted, pulling at the restraints again.
“Well, you’re definitely persistent, I’ll give you that,” Walter quipped. As Vincent’s vision cleared, he could see that the vampire was grinning.
“Let me go,” the angel growled.
Walter made a show of being visibly shocked. “So he does speak,” he said mockingly. “What’s next, you’re going to threaten me?”
“It is only a matter of time before I escape,” Vincent replied evenly. “When I do, you will die.”
Walter nodded, never losing his confident smile. “There it is,” he muttered. “You know, you’re a bit of a cliché, really. You’re ridiculously good looking, you have perfect hair, and you’re an honorable knight who believes in always doing the right thing. Plus, you’re being held captive and threatening to kill your captor. Maybe I’ve just been around way too long, but this is all too familiar to me.”
Vincent glared at the vampire.
“And here you’re giving me the silent treatment. Do you know why? Because I’m right. Sure, you’ve had something tragic happen in your life to put you on whatever path you’re on, but seriously, you have to let it go. Just relax and accept that you are now my plaything.”
Another vampire entered the room, interrupting Walter’s speech. “Are you doing your villain thing again, Walter?” the new vampire asked.
“Of course not,” Walter stammered. He gave Vincent a hard look and turned toward the other vampire. “Do you have the test results?”
The other vampire handed Walter some papers. After flipping through them, Walter gave a short, gleeful laugh, and turned back to Vincent.
“Well, we have some plans for you!” he exclaimed. “How would you like to walk free?”
Vincent gave him a confused look.
“I won’t go into detail,” Walter explained, “but I have your freedom in my hands. Er - so to speak.” He reached for the nearby table and picked up a syringe. “You won’t like what I’m about to do to you, so I’m going to need you to go back to sleep.” He injected more of the liquid into the angel and waited until he was unconscious again.
“Why do you torment him?” the other vampire asked, placing a packet from his pocket onto the table next to Vincent.
“It’s fun,” Walter shrugged noncommittally. “It makes me feel like I’m doing more than I really am.”
“Right… Well, let’s get this done so he can leave. We apparently have demons sniffing at our doors and it doesn’t sound like they’re about to leave us alone. The higher ups think they’ll leave if we give them him.”
“We will just have to see what happens, right? Now help me flip him over.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Zhun walked into the assassin headquarters in Hell, looking for Adrian to give her report. The master assassin was nowhere to be seen. She began to worry about where he could have gone, or what could have happened to him. It was true that this place was the most secure in all of Hell, but Zhun worried anyway. It was not like Adrian to go someplace without telling anyone. She searched the rooms, but found nothing.
“What’s wrong?” Kizrack asked as he entered the headquarters and saw Zhun’s worried look.
“Adrian isn’t here,” she replied, her voice beginning to tremble.
“Odd, but not entirely unlike him,” the imp offered. “I take it he didn’t tell anyone he was leaving?”
Zhun shook her head. “He always tells at least one of u
s if he goes someplace.”
Kizrack nodded, agreeing. “Perhaps he got bored and went to train? You know how he hates being cooped up for too long.”
“Good idea. Let’s check the hall. I don’t know why, but something feels off.”
They left the main room of the headquarters and went downstairs to the training hall. Upon entering, Kizrack screamed in horror. Adrian lay on the ground in a pool of blood, his charred severed arm nearby.
“Who could have done this?” Zhun gasped. Her hand immediately went to her weapon and she looked around the room. The training dummies were still up since the program had never been terminated. She moved slowly throughout the hall, searching for any intruder while Kizrack tended to Adrian’s body.
“Wait, Zhun,” the imp called. The demoness came back to where Adrian had fallen. “Look,” Kizrack said, pointing to his master’s sword. “Blood on the blade.”
Zhun eyed the weapon. “But he fights right-handed. Did the intruder cut his arm off, forcing him to switch hands for the fight?”
Kizrack was shaking his head before she finished. “No, look closer. Look at the wound. The only weapon I’ve ever seen that makes cuts like that is there in his left hand. I think he severed his own arm.”
“But why?” Zhun asked.
Kizrack shrugged. “It’s all burned up. He said his magic was acting up. Perhaps it backfired on him and started to consume him? We all know how dangerous demonic magic can be, after all.”
“Not for demons,” Zhun countered. “That’s why we never teach anyone else.”
“But he died once already. And according to his report, he no longer has a heart. Maybe he didn’t come back to us one hundred percent demon?”
“That’s absurd!” Zhun shouted. “How do you know what you’re saying is true?”
Again, Kizrack shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that he was definitely dead when Vincent stabbed him. Just like he is definitely dead now. Who else do you know who’s died twice?”
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