by Bob Dattolo
When I was alive.
Mom never once mentioned dragons, which makes me wonder if any are alive other than these four. If that’s the case, they are going to be lonely very quickly. That means…that means that I have an idea for a gift for them.
Now, let’s see if I can do this.
Magic surged around me as I connected with each of the crowns of steel, and I sank into them, feeling the strain as I built up the power in the magic. One of my abilities as a goddess is that I don’t need spells, per se, to get magic to work. I just have to want it. Picture it. I have to know what I’m going to try for and commit to it.
And I committed to it.
These four dragons have waited for a combined million years for me. Granted, the youngest has only been waiting for about 180,000 years, but the oldest is actually more than 250,000 years into this. They all deserve whatever I can give them. They have guarded these lands and the catacombs for longer than humans have been a being worth worrying about.
When I released my magic, the dragons roared as the power hit the metal in their horns, but I continued pouring it in. My desire to create something for them that will be a true blessing from the goddess of death was such that I would have given them my life if they asked for it. I know that doesn’t make sense, but I would have. That’s how much their plight hit me.
I put it all into the magic, feeling like God’s own blowtorch as the magic turned the metal red, then white hot…then each of them faded one by one, turning black before my eyes and sending me rocking back from the backlash of magic.
There they are. They feel perfect.
“Four masterwork dragon crowns for the guardians of the city of the dead.”
They each reared back and looked at the others, leaning in to see what I’d done.
“My queen, what do they do?”
They never even saw my smile as I looked up at them, “Why…quite a bit. They are a magical battery. A shield against physical and mental and magical attacks. They aid your physical strength, speed, and reaction times. They help you learn. They will aid your flying, allowing you to cover far more ground than you’re used to. And…one more thing.”
“What, my queen…any of that is already too much.”
I ignored his statement, “Tell me…how many dragons still exist in the between lands?”
They each grimaced, “None. We have all died over the millennia. We four are the last.”
I laughed again, feeling my power well up, “In that case, my gift to you is extra sweet. Your gifts will allow you to bring back ten dragons apiece from the dead. Any ten, although they have to be willing to come back. My recommendation? Find mates. Grow the dragon race again.”
They each bowed to me before roaring and flaring their wing, soaking in the sun for the first time in a long, long time.
One by one, they took off, leaving the first one with me as he stared down at me, “You must meet your people. Recharge your power. Then return to the living. The city will grow as it was designed to…once you set it in motion.”
Huh? “Am I supposed to raise everyone here from the dead?”
He smiled again, “From the dead? No…this is the city of the dead. While we are living guardians once again, the city is for the dead. If you allow them their lead, they will expand the city as prophesized.”
“Can I trust them to do this? Who will lead them?”
He nodded again, “You are the queen of the dead, but the dead will rule the city. No harm will fall anyone. The dead know their places and are accepting of everyone. Death is the great leveler.”
“So…raise them and allow…”
He leaned in, bumping his massive nose into my chest ever so lightly. “You will see. Call for your people and they will come. Word will spread. The city will live…” he rumbled a laugh, “or not. It will be a sight to behold, and I for one am grateful that this moment has come.” He pulled back, “Now, with your leave? I have a mate that I believe I would like to see again.”
I could feel the love flowing from the massive, armored breast, “Will she want to come back?”
He flared his wings, “She could not hold on as I did. As my brothers did. She knew of this possibility long ago. Of your coming.”
I sent a shaft of sun-bright golden light at him, then his brothers, and smiled, “Then go with my blessing. The dragon race needs to return to the between lands. Just…as I’ve told others, no destruction with the gifts I’ve given you.”
He didn’t bow this time, externally, he did internally, though, “We follow you, the queen of the dead, the goddess of death, and we will obey. Not that we ever had a plan for that.”
“Then…fly well and love and…thank you. You’ve allowed me to come back to my loved ones as well.”
He blinked massive eyes at me and smiled, “You were never gone. I simply made your return a little easier. It would have happened anyway.”
“It still counts to me.” I hit him with another brilliant shaft of light, “Fly. Live. Love. Guard our people well.”
I could feel the fierce burning inside of him. This is his city. These are his people. His task. His role. He would never forsake them. Endanger them. Leave them. Especially now that they will be rising. He’s waited for hundreds of millennia, fighting through very real death to carry on his task. That, right there, is a level of dedication that I need to mirror myself on.
I need to be dedicated. Focused.
Family. Friends. My people, both human and fey. My people, the residents of the city of the dead.
I can feel it beneath me. It’s lurking. Ready for something to happen. Something, dare I say it, magical.
Noise behind me had me turning, finding Mom and Melissa staring at me. They both had the strangest look of horror and elation on their faces.
“Sorry about that. With the dragons? They’re guardians for the city of the dead.”
Melissa snorted, then looked like she wished she could take it back, “Uhh…not to be a bitch or anything, but you’re freaking dead. You look like…you’re dead…”
Mom moved forward slowly, letting her magical sword and armor fade away. Huh, her helm is really that powerful. Nice! “Daughter-mine…Melissa speaks the truth. You are…you are dead. Yet still here?”
I looked down, finding that I was naked again. Like normal. I’m not sure why I ever bother buying or putting on clothes. Then again, probably to hide the mess that my body is.
Oh, I’m not cut up or anything like that. But I do not have a healthy glow about me.
“Freaking hell, I really do look like a corpse, don’t I?”
Melissa laughed, sounding brittle and nearly insane.
“Do either of you have your phones on you? Can you get a picture of this? I want to see this at some point.”
Mom pulled her phone and took some pictures as I turned around, arms spread.
“Thanks. Now, umm…”
“Daugh…Ceri…how are you back? You died. Again.”
I patted my stomach. I should be starving, but I’m not. “Umm, well, since I am what I am…”
Melissa blurted out, “That dragon called you the goddess of death. Is he…are you…”
Darn it. I missed that. “Umm…yes? I’m the goddess of death.”
“And you aren’t dead?” Mom prompted.
“Oh, yeah, sorry. I’m not dead because I was still there in my body? Like with the vampires? I just couldn’t do anything with my magic because it’s so fried. The dragon connected with me and told me that I can pretty much raise myself as a zombie…which gives me access to even more magic.”
Her smile faltered, “Even more? More magic?”
“Yeah? I have to say, I have access to so much more as a zombie than I did alive. I think maybe because pulling too much hurts me? Or, does when I’m alive?”
She shook her head, “You know that’s impossible, right?”
“Umm…impossible or not, here I am? In fact, hold on a second.” I reached into my safe, getting
a gasp from Melissa, and pulled out a bunch of my unused rings. “Let me see what I can do here.”
Magic flowed, harsh and bright, and I lifted it high before dropping it into the ten rings I separated out. They’re all platinum with tiny diamonds. Bands, not engagement rings. That’d just be weird.
They filled quickly as I worked, concentrating on what I wanted. Magical battery. Protection. Magical multiplier. And then a few other things just for giggles.
They quickly turned red, then white. They stayed at white as I continued to pour power into them, then they moved into black as a group, fading from their bright white silver to darkest black shot through with tendrils of red.
I pulled my magic back, letting it nestle inside again as I held up the rings. “There we go…Come to Momma!” They slid on, disappearing from sight after adjusting themselves. My 500 times magical multiplier went into the safe again and I returned the unused jewelry for use later.
Mom swallowed, “That’s…”
“I know. That’s a lot. I had ten just like it, almost, that I burned through raising you from the dead again. That’s how much power it took to bring you back. Ten multipliers at 10,000 times. Ten batteries. The sickle. Myself.”
She blinked at the admission. I sort of alluded to it being a lot, but I didn’t really explain it beyond that. “Thank you.”
My smile came in hard and fast, and totally devoid of humor, “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do or give up to save you. Nothing.”
She took a deep breath and nodded, “I feel the same way.”
“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been told that I need to wake up my people.”
Melissa moved up next to Mom, holding herself low across her stomach, “I’m sorry? Your people?”
I stomped on the ground, getting a shake through the earth as I sank my magic into it. “The city of the dead. The catacombs.” I looked to Mom, “Do you know how many people are buried here?”
She cocked her head, “Millions and millions.”
I laughed, getting a corresponding rumble from the earth, “By my count there are nearly nine and a half billion. Fey. Human. Orcs. Trolls. Vampires, if you can imagine that. Shifters. People and races I have never even heard of before. All beneath me. The tunnels and avenues and rooms go on for hundreds and hundreds of miles. Thousands, really…and it’s a city in the making. I am going to raise them, and it will be a city in truth.”
“You’re going to…you’re going to raise them all from the dead?” Mom looked horrified at that thought.
“From the dead? No. They will all be zombies. I won’t be pulling them from their rest, but it will pretty much be the same thing.”
“Is that wise?”
That’s a good question. “I believe so. I can feel it. It’s what this was designed to be. There are vast rooms beneath us with tools for expanding the catacombs. With equipment for making furniture. For making a life. A life beyond life. A respite for the dead before they move on. These folks will get a second chance at life…or they can move on entirely. Their choice. I highly doubt all nine billion will want to come back…but I believe many, many will.”
“How will you…how will you call them?”
I raised my arms and turned, facing the massive panels of stone about a hundred yards from us in the wall of a cliff. “Some of my people will be here in a moment.”
Power surged out and dove through the colossal portal, finding a room not too far inside that housed nearly 500 bodies. They varied greatly, and I took me a bit to realize that no species is there twice unless it’s a male and female. Every species is represented by a pair. Or a triple. Or more, based on what I’m feeling. Not every species has male and female, after all.
They all twitched, and I smiled as I felt them wake, power surging into their bodies to heal the damage from waiting for so long. They were coated in magic to begin with, but even with that, they started to deteriorate.
One by one, they opened their eyes, and I felt their happiness at being called upon. Every single one of them woke. Every single one answered the call.
They shared excited looks, then gasps of awe as the huge slabs of stone parted as my magic went to work.
I smiled back at Mom and Melissa. “I’ll be right back. Or I should be. I don’t know how long this will take, but I get the impression it won’t be that long.”
They didn’t get a chance to answer before the room emptied and a tide of revitalized dead poured forth. They joined up not too far in front of me and bowed deep. I did it back and hit them with a surge of golden light as they each pinged me. Their cheers would have raised the dead on their own, but it wasn’t happening just yet as they moved around me and lifted me high atop two beings that I don’t even have names for.
Then we descended into the city of the dead.
The excited babble of voices around me didn’t quite distract me from the grandeur of the place. When I hear catacombs, I think dark, nasty tunnels filled with moldering corpses and bones. Or possibly made of bones. Instead…it’s a city. That’s exactly what it looks like. Granted, in tunnel form, but still. The ceiling goes up nearly 50 feet, and there are openings left and right along with carved windows and doors and planters and stairs and…magic. So much magic. The place is coated in it, keeping doors and windows intact. Keeping dust away from everything.
The dead beneath and around me continued marching, moving far quicker than you would expect. Don’t think shambling zombies. Think sprinting zombies. Ones that don’t want to eat your brain. Or anything else.
Zombies with a mission.
We made it nearly 20 minutes into it before we reached what I can only think of as a throne room. Thank God we entered from behind the massive seat, because the other side, where the seat is facing, goes out thousands of feet. I can’t even guess how many people you can get in here at one time.
The group with me moved around the chair, the throne, and set me down before backing away and bowing.
I bowed back to them again and looked over them as they stood up one by one.
“Tell me, does anyone speak for this group?”
A being that I think is an Ent moved forward. They’re basically tree people, so they’re pretty big. Just not as large as whoever I rode in here on.
“We do not have a spokesperson, but I am the oldest and have been given the task for now.”
He’s amazing to look at. He looks…just like a huge talking tree. And I mean big. Easily 20 feet around at the base and extending up into a bare canopy of branches about 30 feet up. I’m not sure how or why he’s so short and fat around, but it works.
“It is a pleasure to meet you.” He looked rapturous at my comment. “Now…are you the ruling council for the city? How is this expected to work if I will not be here all of the time?”
“My queen, we are the ruling council. The plan since its inception was that we would rule ourselves with your oversight and guidance. Every individual buried here knew of this. All agreed, although not all will want to be raised.”
“I understand. Not that I would force them anyway. How do you all feel about this? I’m not sure how it works with your soul sort of having moved on already?”
“We are at rest. We have moved on. Yet we are also here. We are not the full soul of each of us, but it is close. The part of us that is eternal is still beyond, but the rest of us? We are as we were when we were alive. Just a little more knowledgeable. A little more understanding.”
“And this will be a city of peace?”
The entire group bowed their heads without going into a full bow, “The dead do not know strife. Or hunger. Or ego. We will be a city of peace unlike any other that has ever been…and yet we also do not know pain. Fear. Pity. Any enemies of ours? Any enemies of yours? They will be removed from existence as if they never were.”
The huge group growled at that, echoing in the massive space.
I nodded at them all, smiling wide, “Good. Very good. I can get behind that. Now…how
do I get this started?”
He gestured up towards the chair. “You sit. Sit and reach out to the people. Your people. Your city. We are all yours as surely as you are ours, and they need to feel that connection. Once that occurs, you may stay or proceed with your plans. The city will come back to life, and our rebirth and growth will begin.”
The chair behind me is…pretty swanky. It is predominately black and has an overt death motif going on. In that the huge things looks like a skull. From the front, the arms are the cheekbones. The part beneath the seat is the lower jaw. The carving or forging is exquisite. It’s also…it’s also made of platinum. Black platinum. I never knew that was a thing, yet I can feel it.
It’s…holy. This chair alone is worth millions and millions of dollars, and that’s not even counting the massive gems in various places. Needless to say, most are either a vibrant white or blood red.
Jesus, they’re all diamonds.
I can feel that, too.
Diamonds and platinum…
My people behind me didn’t see my smile as I approached the massive chair. It feels delicious to me. As if it were made just for me. I guess, in a way, it might have been.
Sitting, I can feel the connections between the throne and the city. There are conduits from the chair that extend throughout the city. They run for thousands of miles to the far distant edges of the metropolis. Through the chair, I can reach every inch of the city.
The dead city.
Not. For. Long.
My people moaned as my power surged, appearing behind me as black and red flame that rose far above me as I pulled at the world around me, kicking every ring I have into gear. They all fell to their knees, or applicable body part, and bowed their heads as I clutched the arms of the throne, feeling it deep inside of me.
This is a representation of my power. Of my role as queen. It is more than a throne…but it’s not enough.
My power fell into it like an avalanche, and my nerves screamed at the outlay of power as it began filling the throne. I worked hard to envision what I need for it. What I want. What the city and my people need.
It needs protection. They need protection. The city needs light. Life. The dead need to rise. They need a repository for magic that will help fuel the city’s growth.